Alloy recipe??

[arokcrwlr]

I scored 500lbs of soft lead from roof flashing, pipe (some used as sewer pipe, yuck!) last night. I find WW alloy very good for my uses, but have heard of others just adding WW alloy to pure lead for cast bullets. My question is what ratio is adequate, or should I buy tin/antimony to add? Advice appreciated...

[zac0419]

Sixshot should be along shortly. He has a standard formula that mixes pb and ww depending on velocity but I don't have it in front of me. I have still not taken an animal with home cast so I couldn't say myself, but my friends have used the formula with success.

Edit: Found it. This is a copy of one of Dick's post.

Here's the alloy I used, it always worked for me & I had no leading in my guns. Remember in the early days of revolvers the bullets were almost pure lead & worked at a velocity of around 700-850 fps with deadly results. It wasn't until Elmer Keith & many others, including 44man that higher velocities & harder bullets came into use. The 44 special, hot loaded up to 1200 fps made it necessary to increase the hardness of the alloy to prevent leading, even then the alloy of 16-1 wasn't very hard compared to now but it was hard enough to work without leading.

My alloy & velocity starting at 800 fps, this was for HP style moulds.

800 fps I used 50% WW's & 50% pure lead
900 fps I used 60% WW's & 40% pure lead
1000 fps I used 70% WW's & 30% pure lead
1100 fps I used 80% WW's & 20% pure lead
1200 fps I used 90% WW's & 10% pure lead

over 1200 fps, (which is not needed for deer) I used straight WW alloy. Again, remember until the introduction of the 44 magnum velocities over 1200 fps weren't possible & harder alloys weren't needed or desired. If you have good bullet fit (cylinder throats & barrel you will have almost zero leading & excellent results.

[arokcrwlr]

Thanks, I thought I remembered seeing that post, but couldn't remember where.

[Fowler]

Traditionally you add so many parts Tin to pure lead to harden it, 20/1, 30/1 I seem to remember Elmer's favorite was 16/1 ration lead to tin. Or you can go the way the commercial casters do and with a 92/2/6 mix of 92 parts pure lead, 2 parts antimony, and 6 parts tin (I think or the last two are flipped).

I generally use pure lead to soften harder certified 92/2/6 alloy or WW alloy for hollow points to get the noses to open properly.

Lyman has an excellent cast bullet loading manual that they updated last year that goes through all of this in detail...

[sixshot]

Tin in itself isn't a really good hardner, it does work but antimony is a better hardner, what tin does is, it gives some hardning but it also helps the alloy fill the mould better & its ductile & helps with expansion.
Every bullet & every alloy is velocity dependent, if velocity goes up hardness needs to follow, & like wise when it goes down. There's always a trade off with any bullet, jacketed or cast.
I don't usually add the 2% tin that most casters do, doesn't mean my slugs are better, actually they are probably worse but the above formula has worked for almost 50 years. What I do is normally run my pot a bit hotter than most & that gives me good fill out in the mould without the expensive tin being added.
I'll say it again, pure lead killed several million buffalo...wish I could have been there!

Dick

[steve]

Kraig, that is a great score!! If it were me, I'd be looking to trade it for WW. Heavily favored of course. I work construction, and I mostly get roof flashing scraps. I trade it 2 to 1 for WW. The black powder guys love that pure stuff, and WW are perfect for what I do.


Not to hi-jack your thread, or to get political but I do find this ironic. I build houses in CA, sometimes but not always for rich left wing A-holes. It makes no difference to me, as I believe everyone is entitle to their own views. Here's the irony, not all but most of these left wingers want clay tile roofs. The irony is, it takes lead flashing to keep the roof's watertight. These are same exact people that want to ban lead,........... lead, the very thing that keeps the roof from leaking,and they want to ban it!!!! that has always made me laugh!!!

[Cholla]

I used to use primarily straight WW's, but then acquired some pure lead and started mixing the WW and lead 50/50. Bhn is usually 9.5 - 10.0 and I use it in everything up to 1050 fps out of my 45 Colt. No leading at all. Sometimes I have to add a little more lead, maybe a 60/40 ratio to get 9.0 - 9.5 Bhn.

I detest having to mix this alloy for this load or another for that, so I try to keep things simple!

[boatswainsmate]

I have found this website to be a great help!
www.lasc.us/CastBulletNotes.htm

[axel]

A few years ago I acquired some Monotype. I find that 5 parts PB, 5 parts, Clip on Weights, and 1 part Monotype seems to work good in casting .45's, .44's, & .38's; all of which I load and shoot on the light pressure side of the spectrum.