Factory JHP lead BHN
- Thread starter burbank.jung
- Start date
462
California's Central Coast Amid The Insanity
So I clicked on the link to that other site, not that I've had anything to do with the place for closing in on a decade, and not that I'm the least bit interested in whatever the BHN is of my bullets, never mind the almost a ton of ingots, but because curiosity got the better of me. What! . . . only two of the three were banned?
Constancy is easy to get with range scrap. I melt it is 20# batches of ingots, about what I get from the Dutch oven full.
Keep each separate pot in a pile. Then take the same number of ingots from each pile and remelt them. This gives a very large amount of pretty consistent alloy.
Keep each separate pot in a pile. Then take the same number of ingots from each pile and remelt them. This gives a very large amount of pretty consistent alloy.
Nope me either, I was self banned.
358156 hp
At large, whereabouts unknown.
Me too. Enough was enough.
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Okay, 1st question- What makes you think your lead is "too soft"?
burbank.jung
Active Member
I'd have to make a test cast and let it age, then test for hardness.
burbank.jung
Active Member
Right now, I think I'm doing pretty good. I plan to designate jacketed bullets for wadcutter and semi-wadcutter bullets and then use lead that looks like it was originally from FMJ cores and add the hardcast bullets if necessary to bring the bhn up to around 12 if necessary.
fiver
Well-Known Member
at least you have a plan.
most jacketed bullets are pretty close to 1.5% antimony.
some are a click higher.
if you just pile it all together your gonna be somewhere close to 2% antimony.
throw 1% tin/pewter/solder in the mix and give it a run.
if you think you need harder, water drop wait a month, and give it a go.
it's not worth making things hard, until your gonna try hard things.
revolvers, lever rifles, bolt guns, and pistols are not hard to make work [well] with lead bullets.
semi-auto rifles ain't so hard either if you make good choices and think it through.
most jacketed bullets are pretty close to 1.5% antimony.
some are a click higher.
if you just pile it all together your gonna be somewhere close to 2% antimony.
throw 1% tin/pewter/solder in the mix and give it a run.
if you think you need harder, water drop wait a month, and give it a go.
it's not worth making things hard, until your gonna try hard things.
revolvers, lever rifles, bolt guns, and pistols are not hard to make work [well] with lead bullets.
semi-auto rifles ain't so hard either if you make good choices and think it through.
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
So you haven't SHOT ANY but you assume it's "too soft"? Friend, you have the cart waaaay out in front of the horse. May I respectfully suggest, again, that you look at fit a whole big bunch and don't worry about the Bhn number?
I'm done with this.
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burbank.jung
Active Member
I only shoot 1-2x a year so I have to make the best with the time I have.
burbank.jung
Active Member
Thanks for your patience fiver. I need to shop for some tin now. I used up my last batch with lead casting a chess set.
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Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Petrol & Powder
Well-Known Member
I'm pretty cheap and hate spending more than I need to but sometimes you have to spend some money. I follow the practice that 358156hp mentioned and buy 30:1 or some other specific known alloy when I need it. The rest of the time I use what works and that's typically some soft lead like range scrap or whatever, mixed with just enough Linotype to get the BHn where it needs to be.
With non magnum handgun bullets, you really don't need much over about 10 BHn.
I cast some SWC for 44 Special run at the Skeeter Load equivlent and I use 30:1 for those. I also use 30:1 when I want a known, consistent bullet hardness, but thet's rare. I think casters tend to overthink this stuff.
With non magnum handgun bullets, you really don't need much over about 10 BHn.
I cast some SWC for 44 Special run at the Skeeter Load equivlent and I use 30:1 for those. I also use 30:1 when I want a known, consistent bullet hardness, but thet's rare. I think casters tend to overthink this stuff.
Mitty38
Well-Known Member
I kinda go with dilution concept.
I make an alloy of pure lead and pewter at 30 to one, by weight.
I clean the range scrap and put in ingot form.
Then mix all my range scrap with the 30 to 1, half and half by weight.
Label it as pistol alloy. Call it good to go.
Sure I have to buy lead from the local scrap yard , and destroy few pewter items. So have raised my material price per pound from free to 60 cents a pound.
But I have emast a good bit of consistent pistol lead alloy that way.
Where you going to get pistol alloy at 60 cents a pound? Or fifty 9mm bullets for 60 Cents?
I have been down the rabbit hole of BHN. Hardness it just another variable. It is worth noting and considering. However, consistency in alloy maters more.
I really only use Bhn for two things. Test for change or consistancy in my harder rifle alloy.
Identify pure lead. If it is under 10 Bhn then close enough to pure for me.
I make an alloy of pure lead and pewter at 30 to one, by weight.
I clean the range scrap and put in ingot form.
Then mix all my range scrap with the 30 to 1, half and half by weight.
Label it as pistol alloy. Call it good to go.
Sure I have to buy lead from the local scrap yard , and destroy few pewter items. So have raised my material price per pound from free to 60 cents a pound.
But I have emast a good bit of consistent pistol lead alloy that way.
Where you going to get pistol alloy at 60 cents a pound? Or fifty 9mm bullets for 60 Cents?
I have been down the rabbit hole of BHN. Hardness it just another variable. It is worth noting and considering. However, consistency in alloy maters more.
I really only use Bhn for two things. Test for change or consistancy in my harder rifle alloy.
Identify pure lead. If it is under 10 Bhn then close enough to pure for me.
todd
Well-Known Member
i make mine simple...
i have
600-700 lbs "pure" lead (water service lines) for muzzleloaders
15-20 lbs COWW (which i luv, but i can no find...waaaaaaa!!!!!!)
500 or so lbs of Rotometals Lyman #2 ( i bought it cheaply at an auction)
10-15 lbs Rotometals tin because it was the way i was taught. COWW or Lyman #2 with a skosh of tin
i use 250r penta hp with 40 lead: 1 tin in my 44 special. i use Lyman #2 and a skosh of tin for everything else.
i never did a hardness test.
i have
600-700 lbs "pure" lead (water service lines) for muzzleloaders
15-20 lbs COWW (which i luv, but i can no find...waaaaaaa!!!!!!)
500 or so lbs of Rotometals Lyman #2 ( i bought it cheaply at an auction)
10-15 lbs Rotometals tin because it was the way i was taught. COWW or Lyman #2 with a skosh of tin
i use 250r penta hp with 40 lead: 1 tin in my 44 special. i use Lyman #2 and a skosh of tin for everything else.
i never did a hardness test.
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Let me try this one more time guy- Harder isn't better! Harder is just different. Sometimes harder is worse for what you want to do than softer. I would put money down that 95% of the shooters out there could do 95% of their handgun shooting with a tertiary alloy with a Bhn between 13 and 16 bhn. You say you want to make "the best", yet the only way to determine what is "best" is to shoot and see. There is no crystal ball that will say that absolutely must have a Bhn of, say, 20, to get a given gun shooting good with a particular load. You don't say what gun, what load, what bullet, what size, what treatment, what range, what velocity range, what cartridge or ID the "what" of dozens of other variables. You just say, "I have to make the best...". Look guy, there is no "best" in this game. I can give you 3-5 different Bhn readings from the same alloy easily. Or the same Bhn from 3 different alloys. I'm not trying to be a prick, but you're chasing a unicorn. If you want to have "the best", then you are going to have to shoot what you have and then work on FIT, not Bhn. It's FIT that gives you "the best", not Bhn. Bhn is a secondary PART of FIT. You appear to have bought into the Bhn cult hook, line and sinker. If you truly think that's the answer, then take your alloy, cast your bullets and water quench them. That will give you the max hardness you can easily achieve. Then load them up and shoot them. If the gods of lead smile on you, it will all come together and you'll have bug hole groups at a gazillion fps. If not, and that's likely, then you can start learning about FIT because FIT is what makes bullets shoot good, be they soft, hard or in between- not Bhn.
Again, I'm not trying to be a jerk, but I went through the same phase (I drank the Bhn Koolaid by the gallon!!) and I've seen literally hundreds of other people go through the same thing. I'm trying to save you a little time and effort. FIT is KING. Bhn does not equal fit.
Maybe someone can provide a link to the discussion on just what fit is. I couldn't find it.