Bullet Alloys for Black Powder

[john boy]

Jack, in my neck of the woods, those bullets gets one 10 years and with good behavior, release after 7
And remember, in the dark with the yellow stuff running down your leg - low probability of hitting a man size target in the vitals using centerfires of ANY KIND.
Might want to consider a 12 ga with 00 buck shot that does a 30 inch pattern
OK, back to the main topic of the thread 

[Bryan Austin]

Jack, in my neck of the woods, those bullets gets one 10 years and with good behavior,

Thats why I live in Georgia! Perfectly legal!

Ok, back on track. I melted some wheel weights last night and cast about 75 nice 454190s. I only have two molds (the other is the 44 Mac Ducth 4 cavity) and a third on the way...sort of....when its finished its the 427098 group buy  

[Springfield Slim]

Mako: I mix my alloy so that it measure 9-10 on my hardness scale, and I try for about 1% tin. Some molds are fussier than others so maybe more tin  then but not to often, why waste it if fill-out is good? Except for when I am doing hollowpoints, then more tin. Helps keep the bullet from breaking up too much.

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[Bryan Austin]

Mako: I mix my alloy so that it measure 9-10 on my hardness scale, and I try for about 1% tin. Some molds are fussier than others so maybe more tin  then but not to often, why waste it if fill-out is good? Except for when I am doing hollowpoints, then more tin. Helps keep the bullet from breaking up too much.

Springfield, is that how you get a mold to drop a certain diameter? Right now I am strictly WW and am dropping a 452 out of a 454190 mold. Some times it might get down to 451. Weight seems ok at 254 but many fall at 252-253. I am getting there!

[Adirondack Jack]

When you cast your own bullets for black powder shooting, which alloy and hardness do you use.


For my Henry 44-40 and my Sharps 45-70, i use a 20:1.
 

The softest I can get to cast well with the mold in use.  Generally somewhere between 1 lead to 4 WW and 50/50 Pb/WW

[Springfield Slim]

I never adjust alloy to make up for moulds that drop the wrong size, I just don't have time for that. One of the reasons I have had some of my own moulds made, and I have them made large, always easier to size down than size up!

[Ranch 13]

You can change the final diameter by changing the temperature of the melt.

[Mako]

You can change the final diameter by changing the temperature of the melt.

Wow...Talking about trying to teach your grandmother to suck eggs.

[Ranch 13]

Wow...Talking about trying to teach your grandmother to suck eggs.

 

[Mako]

Well aren't you trying to instruct Mark in the ways of bullet casting?  It's possible he may have cast more bullets than all of us put together.

~Mako

[Ranch 13]

 Uhhh no wasn't doing that. Altho Savvy Jack may of been interted in an answer as to why he had such wild swings.
 Besides, I'ld be curious to know how the sam hell you have any idea about how many bullets I've cast over the last 40 years, when I'm betting you don't know how many pounds of alloy I ran yesterday afternoon.

[Mako]

Ranch 13

If you didn't see Springfield's post or didn't realize it directly followed his I apologize.  It looks like you are telling him he can control his sizes by temperature instead of him buying custom sized molds.  

Regards,
Mako

[Bryan Austin]

Actually I was expecting John Boy to answer to something similar    I have cast only about 500 bullets.....I am shocked they came out as good as they did! Only kept about 300 of them.

Here are a few, I kept the one with lube on it.

[Ranch 13]

Jack all in all those bullets don't look bad. The bullet on the far right is obviously frosted, keep in mind the longer the lead is melted and the lower the level in the pot the hotter the alloy will get.
 It's hard to tell from the picture but it looks like you might have some inclusions in the melt, a bit more skimming and fluxing might help.
 Keep your cadence at a pace that the mould blocks don't get to hot,slow and steady will produce more good bullets than fast and irratic.
 
The #1 best thing you can do to even up your bullets is to get one of the locking mould handles from Cabine Tree products, either order direct or get from Buffalo Arms.

[Bryan Austin]

Jack all in all those bullets don't look bad. The bullet on the far right is obviously frosted, keep in mind the longer the lead is melted and the lower the level in the pot the hotter the alloy will get.
 It's hard to tell from the picture but it looks like you might have some inclusions in the melt, a bit more skimming and fluxing might help.
 Keep your cadence at a pace that the mould blocks don't get to hot,slow and steady will produce more good bullets than fast and irratic.
 
The #1 best thing you can do to even up your bullets is to get one of the locking mould handles from Cabine Tree products, either order direct or get from Buffalo Arms.

Thanks for the positive reply!
Yeap, you guessed it. From left to right is in order of heat. Using the Lee Pro V bottom drop, without having a thermometer yet, heat setting of 6.5 is great. Allowing for melt use/adding and getting use to the Lyman 2 cavity mold vs Lee 6 cavity mold. With the 6 cavity mold I usually only use up to three cavities. I did notice I have to hold the lyman mold closed really good while the lee mold (44 Mav Dutch mold) locks pretty good. I'm not use to the fluxing yet. I am simply using some oak wood shavings. Some lead that I use is melted bullets made from wheel weights. Some bullets I did not want to use. I still have a tremendous amount to learn but I am happy so far with no frustrations to amount to anything.....yet.

[Ranch 13]

Thermometers really aren't necessary.
If that pot you're using is the big 20lb thing you'll play holy ned getting consistant bullets out of it using the bottome pour, to much pressure from the weight of the melt, and the spout isn't all that controllable.Works good for ladle casting tho.
 The little 10 lb pots will bottom pour very consistant bullets once you get it figured out how the cavities want the lead dumped into them.

[Bryan Austin]

It is the 20lb but I only use half. Adjusting the pour has been a pain. I finally gave up and just use half the pot, throw in a ingot ever so often. Seems to work fine once I get on a roll!

[Ranch 13]

Yeh I can't get the dang thing to bottom pour worth a flip, so I just use it for ladle pouring.
 My old production pot will bottom pour as uniform as ladle casting, especially with the locking mould handle.

[hellgate]

I love my bottom pour pot. I keep a pair of vise grips with a small finishing nail (1" long brad) clamped in the jaws. Whenever the pour spout gets clogged or begins to dribble I shove the nail up into the spout with one hand while holding the spout open with the other hand. A couple probes and the debris is pushed out of the way and the pot is peeing lead like a racehorse. The vise grips keep a good hold on the small nail and keeps the heat away from my hands. I spill a few drops but that is what the aluminum sheeting under the pot is for.

[Stu Kettle]

I love my bottom pour pot. I keep a pair of vise grips with a small finishing nail (1" long brad) clamped in the jaws. Whenever the pour spout gets clogged or begins to dribble I shove the nail up into the spout with one hand while holding the spout open with the other hand. A couple probes and the debris is pushed out of the way and the pot is peeing lead like a racehorse. The vise grips keep a good hold on the small nail and keeps the heat away from my hands. I spill a few drops but that is what the aluminum sheeting under the pot is for.

I use that same tool, but I also keep a Lee ingot mold under the spout to catch any drips or spills, makes it easy to dump back in the pot.