Regular vs hard cast lead ???

[Te Anau]

What's the difference? Are they completely different materials? Is hard cast the same but coated with something? How do they compare in terms of fouling the barrel?

 

[mete]

Some bullets are pure lead others are alloys containing tin etc. In general the higher the velocity the harder the bullet should be.Too soft for the velocity and you get leading .Leading is also reduced by using gas checks on the base of the bullet and good lube.

 

[Te Anau]

thanks

 

[gb_in_ga]

"What's the difference?"

Hard lead is ... harder.


"Are they completely different materials?"

Yes and no. Both are either entirely or the majority part lead. The harder varieties contain increasing amounts of tin and antimony, creating an alloy that is both harder and has a higher melting point.

"Is hard cast the same but coated with something?"

Nope. Different alloy.

"How do they compare in terms of fouling the barrel?"

In general, the harder the lead, the less fouling, especially when dealing with higher velocity loads. But a certain amount of softness is needed when dealing with light, low velocity loads. That's why there's so many different alloys floating around out there. No one alloy does it all. Oh, and as was previously mentioned, copper gas checks can be added to the base of bullets that have appropriate seating provisions, those go a long way towards eliminiating barrel leading with high velocity loads.

 

[timothy75]

Hard cast bullets dont deform like regular bullets do. Yesterday I shot a 45lc through a 2x4 and could have reloaded it.

 

[HSMITH]

The problem with most commercial 'hard cast' bullets is that they are WAY too hard. Lead that is too hard for the pressure is as bad or worse for fouling barrels than bullets that are too soft. The alloy really needs to be matched to the loading.

 

[John Limbach]

In applications where you're looking for maximum penetration with little or no expansion (think grizzly) hard cast is just the ticket.

John