Curing the 30 Caliber Blues... Part I
Posted: 28 Dec 2015 08:29
Similar Topics should pull up the "Blues" topic started by Maximumbob54 that details the comments of the BHN of aging bullets. The following is from an email that I just sent a friend that is very involved in the cast bullet business, who has been very instrumental in my success, and who wanted to see my results from the heat treating.[hr]Wanted to wait a bit for the hardening results from my oven treatment. Looking pretty good! I baked some water quenched bullets that had been 21 BHN but over the years went down to 13 BHN, discovered this while trying to figure out why my loads had gone to heck.
I baked them for an hour at 450 and then dumped them into a Igloo cooler full of water that I chilled with ice from my ice machine, removing the ice from the water prior to the drop. Immediate after the drop, they remained at 13 but started to harden over the next couple of days. At 48 hours they sat at 21 and at 52 hours 28 BHN.
I haven't gone out to check the bullets this morning yet. The question remain as to the why they went flat. I have some Beartooth Bullets that are at least 10 years old and have not changed a bit from the 21 BHN they arrived at. Marshall, of Beartooth, and I visited last year and I remember him claiming that a minimum of 5% antimony was everything when it came to hard bullets. So, I went back to your Alloy Calculator to see what I did wrong as I thought I was casting at that level.
I worked with my mix a bit and I think the mark that I was missing was not properly accounting for the lead that in the #8 shot that I was using. Using the component make up listed on RotoMetals, I made a custom alloy (#8 Shot) and immediately saw the adverse effect of the volume of pure lead in that shot.
What I'm thinking is that for all my future casting, I will start using the linotype that I have along with wheel weights and tin to achieve a Lyman #2 clone for use with my bullets that are .375" or greater:
After speaking with a friend that has some printshop knowledge, I think I need to determine the specific gravity of the "type" that I have because it could be a mix of lino, mono, or stereotype as it they were probably indiscriminate in their use of the type. In that it was a very small newspaper and I have several large bars of linotype stamped stock from the shop, my hope is that paper was small enough that they ordered only it.
I've also never determined the specific gravity of my wheel weights simply because I only have the Lee balance beam scale (Safety Scale) and it is rather limited in weight capacity. I just bought a like new Lyman Pro 1000 on eBay ($25!) and once it arrives will use go through the procedure outlined with your Alloy Calculator to determine both my type and wheel weights.
Where I hope to go with my 30 & 35 caliber bullets is the following mix. The linotype might very a bit after the SG determination and I have quite a bit of pure lead that has a builder has brought me. This fellow specializes in rebuild the century old homes in our area and there is quite a bit of lead in them from the plumbing through window sash weight bars. I probably ought to get a reading on both the SG and BHN of that alloy as well.
I've actually shot a bunch of pure linotype bullets a decade ago and did not have fragmentation issues that are claimed. Killed a bunch of hogs with them, never recovered a bullet and there was a always huge cookie cutter hole cut through them from the meplat.
I hard hunting bullet for the various bolt guns that I now shoot, I would like to get them up to the jacketed bullet accuracy and speed if possible but it will take a better alloy than I've been casting with. Thinking of going with straight linotype for my 22 bullets.[hr]The oven...
I baked them for an hour at 450 and then dumped them into a Igloo cooler full of water that I chilled with ice from my ice machine, removing the ice from the water prior to the drop. Immediate after the drop, they remained at 13 but started to harden over the next couple of days. At 48 hours they sat at 21 and at 52 hours 28 BHN.
I haven't gone out to check the bullets this morning yet. The question remain as to the why they went flat. I have some Beartooth Bullets that are at least 10 years old and have not changed a bit from the 21 BHN they arrived at. Marshall, of Beartooth, and I visited last year and I remember him claiming that a minimum of 5% antimony was everything when it came to hard bullets. So, I went back to your Alloy Calculator to see what I did wrong as I thought I was casting at that level.
I worked with my mix a bit and I think the mark that I was missing was not properly accounting for the lead that in the #8 shot that I was using. Using the component make up listed on RotoMetals, I made a custom alloy (#8 Shot) and immediately saw the adverse effect of the volume of pure lead in that shot.
What I'm thinking is that for all my future casting, I will start using the linotype that I have along with wheel weights and tin to achieve a Lyman #2 clone for use with my bullets that are .375" or greater:
After speaking with a friend that has some printshop knowledge, I think I need to determine the specific gravity of the "type" that I have because it could be a mix of lino, mono, or stereotype as it they were probably indiscriminate in their use of the type. In that it was a very small newspaper and I have several large bars of linotype stamped stock from the shop, my hope is that paper was small enough that they ordered only it.
I've also never determined the specific gravity of my wheel weights simply because I only have the Lee balance beam scale (Safety Scale) and it is rather limited in weight capacity. I just bought a like new Lyman Pro 1000 on eBay ($25!) and once it arrives will use go through the procedure outlined with your Alloy Calculator to determine both my type and wheel weights.
Where I hope to go with my 30 & 35 caliber bullets is the following mix. The linotype might very a bit after the SG determination and I have quite a bit of pure lead that has a builder has brought me. This fellow specializes in rebuild the century old homes in our area and there is quite a bit of lead in them from the plumbing through window sash weight bars. I probably ought to get a reading on both the SG and BHN of that alloy as well.
I've actually shot a bunch of pure linotype bullets a decade ago and did not have fragmentation issues that are claimed. Killed a bunch of hogs with them, never recovered a bullet and there was a always huge cookie cutter hole cut through them from the meplat.
I hard hunting bullet for the various bolt guns that I now shoot, I would like to get them up to the jacketed bullet accuracy and speed if possible but it will take a better alloy than I've been casting with. Thinking of going with straight linotype for my 22 bullets.[hr]The oven...