Beginner questions

U

underhills

Inactive
I am just getting started in reloading and have a friend that has reloaded for years who is going to mentor me, but he doesn't cast any bullets himself. So here is what I'm dealing with and my questions. I am reloading .40 S&W for a Glock 23 with a factory barrel. I have shot Black Powder for 35 years (started when I was 10) so I have casting equipment, except a 10mm mold, and several hundred pounds of pure lead. I know the pure lead is to soft to use in a modern cartridge. How easy is it to add the alloy to make it harder or closer to wheel weight lead and is it worth my time? Will I experience to much leading with the factory barrel? A match barrel is in the works but right now I'd rather spend my money on putting rounds down range. If I decide to cast my own I will want to keep the smelting pots separate to keep the impurities out of my soft lead for my flintlock and I will have to make sure I don't get the two mixed up.
Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.
 
You can still buy wheelweight ingots here and there, for about a buck-fifty shipped. I'd collect some of that and save your pure lead, iff'n it was me.:)
 
How easy is it to add the alloy to make it harder or closer to wheel weight lead and is it worth my time?
Click to expand...
It is very easy to add Tin to pure lead to get it harder. However, finding a source for Tin is harder to find than lead itself. Wheel weights are considered a little too soft as cast and contain too little Tin to make good bullets. But, heat-treating wheel weight alloy will produce hard bullets without adding anymore Tin and if you run your pot at a high enough temperature, you can produce well-filled out bullets.
Pure lead, without any added Tin can be problematic in autos which usually require a little harder bullet. Last I checked, pure Tin was about $14.00 a pound and that was some years ago.
 
You really are not going to need much tin and for a .40 order the mold you want and a Lee sizer die and some powder coat from harbor freight tools and make the jump to casting and powder coating.
 
Welcome to the forum.

Wouldn't want to tell anyone what to do, so I will make some wild statements.

Don't know nuttin bout glick factory barrels, so can't say anything.
Get some boughten bullets with a known/stated hardness and see how they do in your glick.
Keep that pure lead. It has greater needs.
You cast, you will need to size, that is a given in most cases (yes, I have shot many a cast and unsized bullet but that was then and cleaning lead for hours wasn't much more than a pass time).
Give 'shake-n-bake' powder coating a quick look. You can get by with any junk lead with no leading.
Take your time, read everything on the subject, think about it. Then spend your money.

Enjoy and be safe,

OSOK
 
Quote:
How easy is it to add the alloy to make it harder or closer to wheel weight lead and is it worth my time?


It is very easy to add Tin to pure lead to get it harder. However, finding a source for Tin is harder to find than lead itself. Wheel weights are considered a little too soft as cast and contain too little Tin to make good bullets. But, heat-treating wheel weight alloy will produce hard bullets without adding anymore Tin and if you run your pot at a high enough temperature, you can produce well-filled out bullets.
Pure lead, without any added Tin can be problematic in autos which usually require a little harder bullet. Last I checked, pure Tin was about $14.00 a pound and that was some years ago.
Click to expand...

Adding tin alone will not harden pure lead much at all. The main function of tin in bullet casting is for fill-out of the bullet, sharp corners on the driving band(s) and the base.

What hardens lead is the percentage of antimony AND tin in the pure lead. Antimony alone with no tin will produce a pure lead bullet with suspended crystals of antimony, resulting in little increase in hardness.

92% lead, 6% antimony and 2% tin will make a good hard bullet with a BHN of around14. More than 2% tin would be wasted.

Running your pot at more than 725 degrees will make the tin oxidize out of your alloy. The hotter, the faster the tin will oxidize out. A balanced alloy @ 710 degrees AND a pre-heated mold, will result in well filled out bullets hard enough to run in most handguns.
 
Ok, let's back up here a bit.

While I had zero leading in my factory 45 acp barrel using wheelweights, 40 S&W is a much higher pressure/velocity round and you will have a greater chance of dangerous leading in the 'smoothbore' polygonal barrel, as I like to call it.

You can approach this a couple ways...

1. Powdercoat your pure lead bullets, shoot out of factory barrel.
2. Sell some of your pure lead, exchange for wheelweights, buy aftermarket barrel.
3. Buy expensive antimony and scrounge pewter for tin, alloy your pure lead, shoot out of aftermarket barrel.

Basically as I see it, you're better off buying FMJ bullets or powdercoating what you have.
 
Just a littl Tip from a old timer flux'er: Got any Lawrence Magnum Brand bird shot handy. A lb of that Flux'ed in the ye old pot will harden up that soft lead you got there. High in antimony it is just the material you need to toughen up your soft leads BHN figure.
 
For you to get the alloy you need for your soft lead go to this site and you can get what ever you like and they also have some made up also just melt and cast.
http://www.rotometals.com/Bullet-Casting-Alloys-s/5.htm

Also get your self the Lyman cast book number 3 it will help you to do what you looking to do the 4th one dose not explain as good as the 3rd that I see.Also you will need to slug your barrel to know what size you need to size your boolit to.PM me if I can help any other way and see if I can.also for the site that is stated of cast boolit it will help you also that is what it is all about for what you asking and there is some on there dose do glocks with cast just do the search on there.Yes I am on there website also.
 
I did my best to attempt to make a video for new casters here. we probably get someone every couple of weeks asking about the basics, so I made a video just showing the basics of casting(for the layman) equipment, ingot making, simple casting and powdercoating. I don't get technical with slugging, sizing and alloys, just on how to get started casting for very cheap to see if it is something you want to further explore. sorry, I haven't done any video work, so it's a little long and boring, but hopefully it can help people see what they are dealing with.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSuPTxfuXMA

I ma by NO means a pro, just a beginner, so use your own judgment on safety issues and equipment choices, please. I am open to criticism as well

I think on the opening scene, you'll see some of your bullets beagle, ill send you a chunk of all the huge profits I make from the vid that a whopping ONE person has watched(ME!!)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top