Advantages/ disadvantages ...

CWLONGSHOT

Well-Known Member
To just casting with Pure lead and Tin.

I like 20:1 for my handgun HP molds I want expansion from. Seems to like 1100-1200 in wet pac.

16:1 is one I have t used as much but might prove better for a bit more velocity.

How about 10:1? Or something different? Knowing I powder coat nearly everything I cast. I cast rifle and pistol but my rifle are kept to 2200 and 1800 is seem far more often. I will hunt with them so lil expansion would be nice but not a Requirement.

Would you say I would be happy with just pure lead and tin for my alloys?
CW
 

Missionary

Well-Known Member
If a slug type will cast well with 40-1 that is what I use for lots of applications. I am not of the opinion that using more tin than needed has much value
in my life.
With PC I also like the "sure" expansion factor soft slugs offer. Even in rifles for hunting I figure through all the years popping corn crunchers I only needed one shot for each of them. So even if there was a little sear it was no issue.
Plus as y aging body reminds me there is little fun anymore crawling about like a dog looking under leaves for another little drip of blood. I like big exit holes.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
the factory's have used 40-1 for their revolver and lever rifle alloy since the beginning.[still do for most all their naked lead type bullets]
of course this lead to some issues when the 357 and 44 mag come along, Elmer went to 16-1 for a reason.
[and this has lead us to the harder is better thing the general public sucks up like cookie crumbs off their tee shirt.]
for home type handgun use a lot of guys have relied on 30-1 alloy with a gas check attached to the base and velocities up to maybe 1100 fps for reliable expansion.
under about 850 fps they do much better if you help the nose roll back by notching the nose and filling the hollow.
in a rifle with PC 20 or 25-1 would work just fine at normal speeds.
you'll be working your loads up with your alloy etc. and can put your own criteria on what you are happy with down range.
will it work?
of course it will, most of us use antimony alloys as a matter of convenience and have learned to exploit that additives traits.
if we were stuck with tin as our only additive we would make some changes and carry on experimenting until we were happy.
 

Matt

Active Member
Lead and tin will do fine in my experience. Approximating Elmers 16 to 1 mix has worked for me in the “magnums” without a gas check with the caveat that the bullet needs to fit reasonably well in the cylinder throats and has a big grease groove full of a soft lube ala Ben’s Red, 50/50, etc. I add about 1/2 pound of rosin core solder to a 20 pound pot of ingots rendered from pipe, roofing scraps or plumbing lead. The more I cast and shoot the less enchanted I am with high antimony in any alloy. I think it makes things considerably less ductile and doesn’t “slug” up as well as lead/tin alloy to seal the bore which seems to be really important. In rifles I’ve stopped trying to approximate jacketed velocities; uses too much powder, wears out brass, and seems pointless when a few hundred jacked bullets will last a lifetime of hunting big game that requires jacketed bullets. Even with gas checks cast bullets in rifles I’ve found it difficult to reliably achieve 2,000 FPS in most rifles. Adding one and a half pounds or so of rosin core solder in a 20lb pot of wheel weights is my recipe for rifle alloy gas check or not. Again a soft lube works best for me. I know there’s a bit antimony there but the alloy is ductile and the bullets don’t shatter on steel targets or in my home made snail type bullet trap. Bullet fit is important here too. The big plus is the way lead and tin alloys fill out molds so easily. So yes tin and lead can be all you need depending on your goals.
 

Ian

Notorious member
16:1 plain-based 429421s lubed with Felix lube and pushed along with 19.2 grains of 2400 will kill a pack of cigarettes at 100 yards all day privided your cases are uniform in every way, the neck tension is sufficient, and the bullets fit the cylinder throats tightly.

+1 on the soft lube.
 

Petrol & Powder

Well-Known Member
I have a supply of linotype on hand so that's what gets mixed with lead to make my alloy. A little bit goes a long way.
I have used 30:1 to cast bullets for 44 Special and it makes excellent bullets. That 30:1 came from Rotometals and as much as I like it, cost was an issue.
If I could get pure lead and tin I would be very happy to go that route but reality dictates other alloys.
 

CWLONGSHOT

Well-Known Member
I was able to grab some 50/50 bars today!! Six are the 111 Used for body lead (Pretty sue that 50/50) and 11 are labled 50/50 Bar solder stock.

Was a garage sale, across from the stream I was fishing this AM. Was as if the good lord put me right there. I walked up the bank, They had just set up, I put my rod in the truck bed and walked across the street! There they laid, on a bucket, infront of a card table. A Woman Said, it was husbands lead and too heavy for table. Then called her husband as it was not priced. (In my mind, I see it 18-10$ a stick on ebay...)

He said he wanted 100$ there was 20 bars there. I did my best, & played the game...In the end I paid 60$. I think I did OK. :headscratch:
CW