BHN overkill?

T

TheBear

New member
Hi guys,

it seems like everyone is using super hard lead alloys for everything nowadays. I see people shooting super weak plinking loads and still using alloys with bhn of 15 or even higher if you ask them why, there are always more ore less the same explanations: soft alloys cause barrel leading, they arent accurate, the bullets could get "ripped apart"....no matter what, a high bhn is the way to go... well i know this is true for shooting at very high speeds but i dont use hard alloys for everything and still have great accuracy and no leading and i never saw a bullet getting "ripped apart". I`m shooting .357magnum at 1450 fps with a bhn of 10 for years now and i never had any problems. I had even stronger loads for my .308, pushing bullets with a bhn of 14 to 1800fps, great accuracy and very, very little leading.
Am i missing something or is it just a trend to use super hard alloys for everything?
 
Am i missing something or is it just a trend to use super hard alloys for everything?
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Not a "trend", it's just an internet myth. You see everybody using the monicker "hard cast" like it was the end all solution to shooting cast boolits without problems.

It actually can contribute to leading problems by PREVENTING the boolit from obturating to fill the bore when using slower burn rate powder for mild loads like in 38 special and 45 auto. A kick in the pants with a faster powder sometimes is needed for the too hard boolits.

FIT IS KING! The proper fit of each boolit in each gun is THE most important item. MORE important than how hard the boolit is. To find the proper fit, you need to slug the bore, then size the boolit to at least .001 OVER the size of that slug. THEN you can play with hardness to meet the goal for the use of that boolit.
 
For what it's worth, I cast all of my bullets from wheel weight lead. That's for 9mm, .357/.38, .38-40, .44 Colt, .45ACP, .30-30 and .30-06. With the correct lube and properly sized, I've never experienced any leading, even in my M1 Garand (well, maybe a tiny amount around the gas port).

Fit really is king.
 
I agree. I had pulled my hair out and almost gave up shooting cast bullets from my rifles because of hard cast bullets.

I had good success with pistol loads so I ordered up 500 lazer cast 170gr fp's for my 30-30.
Best I could get these to do was pattern at 50 yards not much grouping until I got into hotter close to jacketed loads.
I could shoot them but it was not a lot of fun.
Then I started casting for my pistol loads and was amazed how much better my WW bullets shot compared to those 21BN hard cast bullets shot.

So I ordered a LEE 150gr mold for my 30-30.
WOW!!!!
Night and day. I was all of a sudden getting clover leafs at 50 yards and less than 2 inch groups out to 100. With out trying hard.

I still have 1500 of those hard cast bullets, mostly collecting dust or used to add a bit to a soft pot of melt.

I have no want or see no need for any hard cast bullets. If I want to push some thing that fast I use jacketed. I get my Rifle loads to 1900 fps with no leading or accuracy problems at all.
 
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I have to tell many people that fit trumps hardness by a vast majority. Then ask about if they will melt at the base. I have to let them know that the hard cast will actualy melt a lower temp than the softer ones. If it comes to powder being too hot (heat not velocity) then gas checks may be needed.

LaserCast leaded the crap out of my .45 auto pistols. When I started casting my own, and using straight wheel weights, that were air cooled the leading stopped.
 
Hard bullets survive the gentle hands of UPS much better, so that's a big part of it.

You really don't need that high of BHN until you get into high pressures and rotational speeds--the vast majority of handgun applications are perfectly fine 15 - 16 BHN.

My air-cooled wheelweight alloy works great for 100% of my handgun shooting. The only time I go for harder bullets is for shooting cast in rifles.
 
I can't remember how long ago it was but Midway had an extra deal on the Laser Cast bullets. If I remember right it was more or less a two for one type deal on some of the ones they were closing out. Well I jumped in and ordered up something like 4-5K of them with the extras thrown in. It wasn't as bad as it seemed, I simply ordered like a couple of boxes for each caliber and then got the extras thrown in. Well they all arrived, but as mentioned the loving hands of UPS had busted all but two of the 6-8 boxes they had packaged with only the 3" or so pillow packing.

So as the UPS driver was hauling the box up the drive he said he thought something had fallen out. Well there was a trail all the way back, and even into to his truck. We picked up bullets for nearly 10 minutes from both the drive and from inside his truck, I immediately called Midway, but they were closed down for the night. Even so I left a nice message for them to get in touch with me the next day. When they did I explained that I had several 500 count boxes of sorted caliber bullets sprawled out across who knows how many counties, not to mention the mess I had inside the box.

So they said not to sweat it, they had pulled up my order, and replacements were on the way. I asked about a return number and shipping label for the spilled ones and they said don't sweat it just keep them as well.

Needless to say I have shot plenty of them since then and still have plenty of them to go through. I have found they shoot pretty well in everything I had ordered them for. You just need to run them pretty warm. Since I have been casting my own as of late, I have been trapping them as well to recover the lead and re-pour. I find that the OTLC do not deform much if any compared to my bullets. My intentions are to use the recovered ones to pour up some bullets for my Contenders where I might be able to run them pretty warm. That way I don't have to use up my limited MONO or LINO for simply plinking or target practice. I can save it to use for hunting. Who knows the LC alloy might make up a really good 45-270 SAA HP for my 454 to run at higher velocity. Worst case is they lead and I know right then and there to stop.
 
I cast & shot & scrubbed out a many a pound of lead before I figured out to match bhn with pressure.

And FIT is a must !

Once I learned this shooting lead has been alot more pleasureable & a bit cheaper as not using as much alloys to "harden" the mix.
 
I nearly gave up shooting cast bullets from my handguns due to commercial "hard cast" stuff that leaded badly. Now I cast my own, using air cooled wheel weights mixed with range scrap to make it a little softer yet. They are maybe 10-12 bhn but they fit well and shoot great, and with very little leading. I do have alloy that is a little bit harder for magnum pressures but nothing as hard has the average store-bought cast bullets. Most of mine are a thousandth or two larger also, and lubed more effectively IMO.
 
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