Too Soft, Too Fast - more Cast Bullet Alloy Results

[MtJerry]

Found a nice load a few days ago with my Ruger GP100 and Security Six using Lyman 358439 hollow point and a stout load of H-110.

Tried the same load with a Lyman 358429 solid and the same load cast from 40/1 WW/Pure

It was too much for the alloy ... extreme slumping!! And a bore that was starting to lead after 12 rounds. Accuracy was good, and expansion was good as well. I've just never seen a bullet slump so much.

The groove you see in the boolit is the crimp groove. It really shortened the projectile!! Retained weight of all the rounds was within 1 grain of the starting weight.

I also tried the same load with Ranch Dog 175 and got the same results - this time case of 50/50 air cooled

Last but not least, I shot some Lyman 358439 HP over 6gr. of Bullseye ... this time I found that this load out of the 4" Security Six will EXPLODE at 25 yards. Can you imaging this on small game!! Devastating!

After the hollow point expanded, it sheared the petals off and made some interesting wadcutters!!

Anyway, the moral of this story is if you want to know what YOUR load/alloy is doing out of YOUR gun .. you should do some testing. It's fun too! Never a dull day at the range

 

[M'BOGO]

So, what's plan B with the alloys?

What are you using for test media?

 

[MtJerry]

Gett'em a smidge harder ... possibly 50/50 wheelweights and pure lead. I like the blended alloys. They will give some expansion without shattering.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

What are you using for test media?

That would be my question also. 8) 8)

...Jimbo

 

[tek4260]

Never seen any of mine obdurate to the point that the grease groove was gone even with pure lead and H110 on a checked boolit.

 

[pisgah]

Never seen any of mine obdurate ...

Pet peeve of mine, but "obdurate" and "obturate" are different words ... and the one for bullets is obturate.

 

[MtJerry]

I fired these into 3 water soaked phone books backed up by a cooler filled with water. They penetrated all three books and were caught in the water filled cooler.

I am beginning to wonder if the plastic outer shell of the cooler may be part of the mystery.

 

[Iron Mike Golf]

...I am beginning to wonder if the plastic outer shell of the cooler may be part of the mystery.

Quite possibly. You might consider a cardboard box filled with rubber mulch instead.

 

[Frank Castle]

great pics, and I use water jugs lined up in a row.

 

[tek4260]

Never seen any of mine obdurate ...

Pet peeve of mine, but "obdurate" and "obturate" are different words ... and the one for bullets is obturate.

See what happens when I try to sound smart :lol:

 

[Boge]

Are you planning on being attacked by Ma Bell? :lol:

 

[Lefty SRH]

Where do you get pure lead? When you say 50/50 (ww/pure) is it mixed or calculated by weight of each? Where do you get tin to add to the mix to change the alloy?
I'm just starting to get into casting.

 

[MtJerry]

My pure led came in the form an of sheets of lead that covered the walls of the radiology department.

I have a 10lb pot so I add 5lbs of pure lead, 5lbs of wheel weights and then 1/8lb of tin solder.

 

[Lefty SRH]

My pure led came in the form an of sheets of lead that covered the walls of the radiology department.

I have a 10lb pot so I add 5lbs of pure lead, 5lbs of wheel weights and then 1/8lb of tin solder.

Ok, this is starting to come together: 5 lb of pure, 5lb of WW, and 1/8lb of tin solder. Now what is this mix commonly refered to as? Are the bullets then water dropped? What BHN are the bullets (typically) with this mix?

 

[MtJerry]

This is what is called 50/50. Tin is added to help the mold fill out well and give good sharp edges and proper diameters.

If I used 10lbs of lead and 1/8 tin I would have 40/1.

I'd like to suggest visiting this forum if you are serious about learning to cast your own. Nothing against RugerForum, but this one is THE authority on casting.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/

 

[SAJohn]

Jerry, You are probably aware of this information on velocity versus lead harness but others here might not:
http://www.lasc.us/FryxellCommentsCBAlloys.htm

John

 

[MtJerry]

Great link John, I have read Glen's writings many times.

And a compilation by Glen that he recently released is now availible online.

http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm

 

[Lefty SRH]

Thanks Mt Jerry, I'm registered on Castboolits and I'm slowly making my way thru the site but I find the info slightly overwhelming but very informative at the same time.

 

[GP100man]

Add some tin ,slowly , it will tuffen the boolit without hardening it to the point of not obturating.

I cast my HPs from an alloy of 4% tin at least .

This is a plain based 358156 (gas check shank removed) pushed to 1100fps into a styrofoam cooler with water saturated builders sand , I was checking to see if the nose would hang on .