Making Lyman #2 alloy

B

BJung

New member
I have range lead that's mostly from jacketed bullets and expect to find wheel weights. I have not found a recipe to help me make Lyman #2 with it yet. The only other source I have is tin and an old jar of lead shot. Would 95% wheel weights and 5% tin help me cast something close to Lyman #2 alloy? I an PC the bullets and add a GC.
 
With what you have, you will come up short on antimony. You really need some linotype to get your antimony level up to 5 percent.

Don
 
Go to this site then scroll down to "Alloy Recipes".
http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletNotes.htm

As for your lead shot, it may or may not have a high antimony content. If it is "chilled lead shot", it has been heat treated and contains antimony and arsenic.

If you are interested in extra-hard cast lead bullets, you may want to investigate heat-treating cast bullets.
 
Last edited:
You can purchase antimony at several online stores. First you need to know the hardness of the metal you already have. Then add antimony and tin to get the hardness you desire. Midway USA has several options available for alloys. They also carry the Lee lead hardness test kit. It is fairly easy to use and not overly expensive.
 
Lee Test Kit vs Lead Pencils

How accurate is the Lee Test Kit compared to the using the lead art pencils?
 
Uknown shot

I pulled the shot off my shelf and it's in a MEC container. I don't know what brand it is and it's definitely lead because it smashes flat easily on the concrete floor with my hammer. I'll buy a set of lead art pencils to get a general idea what the lead hardness is.
 
Thanks for the link Dahermit. Roto-metals is about 15-20 minutes away from me so I'll phone them. Maybe if I bring some random lead pieces melted and cast into a bottle cap, they can measure the hardness for me and sell me the needed material.
 
Yes. I tend to quench my bullets after I PC them. I don't have a tester to confirm whether reheating bullets to PC effects BHN but according to my YouTube source, it does. I may quench in ice water too. My only experience with quenching is with autobody. If you overwork metal, it will stretch. To shrink it back to size, you can use a torch to heat the metal and then quench it with water. I increase the shrink, use ice water. The end result was metal that was harder to file and grind too. And so, I think the same applies with casting. The extreme chill forces the molecules to shrink faster and harder.
 
You should get the information you need from the pencil test. It is fairly accurate. The Lee tester is only going to be better than the pencils when the alloy is harder than the pencils.
 
Wheel weights generally run harder than #2 alloy and range mined bullets could be made from anything up to and including zinc. YMMV

My water quenched 2.5% tin* added wheel weight bullets run 15-18 bnh. I'd
stick with wheel weights but as they are becoming scarce as hens teeth. As range mining lead is becoming more "popular" I fully understand its economic reasons.

RJ

*to help the mould till better
 
Last edited:
Wheel weights generally run harder than #2 alloy...
Click to expand...

Uh, no, clip on wheel weights generally contain 3% antimony, which is why you need to add something like linotype to it to bring it up to 5%. Here is a recipe for creating some Lyman #2:

8# COWW
3# Linotype
0.75# 60/40 Solder

Hope that helps.

Don
 
How accurate is the Lee Test Kit compared to the using the lead art pencils?
Click to expand...
The question should be reversed:
"How accurate is using the lead art pencils compared to the Lee Test Kit ?"

The Lee Hardness Test is an exact Brinell pressure/yield-limit/depression-diameter measurement.
Whereas Pencils are in the eye of the beholder. (sorta like what got us in trouble w/ Low-Numbered Springfields)
 
Which is why I said "generally" not "always".

As an aside I've never run my cast bullets over 1400 fps, so I have no idea how they'd run over that.

Anyways.

RJ
 
It sound like I can use water quenched wheel weights to make 30/30 bullets hard enough for hunting. My brother has diving weights that were exclusively made from wheel weights too. In fact, I bet most home made diving weights were made with the old wheel weights because they were easies to get.
 
Admissions

Okay, I'll put it down on my To Do List.

I will admit, I'm cheap and am directing my money towards moulds right now.

Thanks for the recipe.
 
If you want to play around with alloys, you might go to the Lead and Lead Alloys section of the Castboolit site and find the calculator posted up by Bumpo.

Lead Alloy Calculators


Most of the metals he put in the basic spreadsheet are of known composition from Rotometals. Others are standard industry. It will let you input the pounds of what you have or think you have and gives an approximate hardness at the bottom..

I've used this quite a bit and my hardness tester is usually with one to two points of the spreadsheet. That said its best for letting you put small batches together and see where your at before you blend up a big batch. Once you find what you're looking for simply use the spreadsheet to add up a bigger weight batch where you might have to tweak the formula a bit.
 
If you want to play around with alloys, you might go to the Lead and Lead Alloys section of the Castboolit site and find the calculator posted up by Bumpo.
Click to expand...

Yep, exactly how I create the various alloys I use. Thanks Mike.

Don
 
Yes. Much easier. 40 years ago I worked the mixes out on paper as a simultaneous equations. Life is much easier in the personal computer age.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top