Lyman no 2 alloy

johnnyjr

johnnyjr

Well-Known Member
Can you use number 2 alloy for light target loads,or is it not soft enough. My plain base bullets are 10 bhn and not very accurate at 50 yards. Yes I've tried a few different powders. I'm thinking to soft. But what do I know. Getting just a tad of leading...
 
Brad

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Not enough info. What cartridge, gun, load? 10 BHN can be exceedingly accurate in the right situation and horrible in others.
 
johnnyjr

johnnyjr

Well-Known Member
Sorry. Savage axis 243. Load 4.5 Winchester wst. Max load was 4.9 gr..shot 5 loads which were pretty good at 50 yards. Shot 3 more and things begin to scatter. Pulled a patch through and t there was the streak of lead.
Brad said:
Not enough info. What cartridge, gun, load? 10 BHN can be exceedingly accurate in the right situation and horrible in others.
Click to expand...
 
D

Dusty Bannister

Well-Known Member
Still a bit short on information. Bullet size is important because if undersized, you will get leading in short order. Sometimes, seating the bullet too far off the lands will also result in hot gas etching the sides of the bullet and depositing the lead on the barrel ahead of the bullet. Sometimes the source of the data can be helpful. If just looking at data and taking a guess, will also be a problem. Since there is no bullet weight or mold number given, one can only guess at the pressures involved.
 
CZ93X62

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
My advice--do not throw in the towel on the 243 with cast. Sized at .245" both RCBS 6mm-95-SP and Lyman Loverin #245496 (85 grains) have done great work for me to 1800 FPS. It's a varmint whacker of the first rank. Mine have been mostly in 92/6/2 alloy, but Lyman #2 is great to cast with and about the same BHn as 92/6/2.
 
johnnyjr

johnnyjr

Well-Known Member
That's a lot for my 74 year old brain to digest. Thanks. I'm going to be trying some of the Lyman 86 gr Loverin at 14 bhn tomorrow, weather permitting. Going to run them over the Chrono. Gas checks and lubed,sized .243.
 
JonB

JonB

Halcyon member
Don't sell the mold, just put it on the shelf and forget about it. You may want to revisit it, in a year or two.
Pro-tip: when I do that, I find it incredibly helpful to write down some notes...detailed notes, of precisely what I tried.
 
CZ93X62

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
I think of something Buckshot told me close to 20 years ago on the subject of "Fatter is better" when it comes to cast bullets--

"When The Big Light hits the bullet base of a too-fat bullet, it will make itself fit the throat."

This has turned out to be a huge turning point in my cast bullet experience. I slug the throats of EVERY rifle I cast for, and size bullets a from a few tenths to .001" larger than that measurement. Bore leading came to a screeching halt immediately, and grouping tightened across the board. My 243 bullets are sized at nominal .245", and the Taracorp of Lyman #2 alloys I have used (14-15 BHn) spring back a few tenths over that nominal .245".
 
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