Best Lead alloy for multiple uses??

[JohnnyE]

There is ALWAYS 3% antimony. Always.

This right here. Your mouth to God's ears!

 

[Texasgrillchef]

Do you have any recommendations on grills?

I started to cast bullets about a year ago. I ended up losing interest and moth balled the equipment. A bud turned me on tho Matt's Bullets and were far cheaper than me just buying the lead. I still have all my equipment and will keep it as the SMHTF and you just never know.

230 Grain Government Profile Round Nose (.452) [452-230-GVMT] - $21.00 : Matts Bullets

Matts Bullets 230 Grain Government Profile Round Nose (.452) [452-230-GVMT] - This bullet was designed to copy the profile of the standard FMJ hardball military issue ammunition for the 45 ACP. Its nose is a little longer than our 225 grain round nose.

www.mattsbullets.com

I would for all the other bullet calibers I want and it would be fine.

The main reason I am because I can’t find 30 Luger bullets to reload.

 

[Brickman301]

$6-$8/lb You may want to buy your lead from somewhere else..

yeah, that’s what I was thinking! You can make them far cheaper. Once you get everything up to temperature, and get into the groove, you can roll a bunch of bullets out pretty quickly.

 

[Brickman301]

You should always size your lead bullets .001 to .002 over groove diameter. If you size them smaller, you will get gas blow by and possibly leading.
As Brickman301 stated, you can shoot PC bullets to pretty high velocities without leading.
That said, you want to stay slow for your 1917 as it has shallow rifling and will strip the rifling if you shoot lead bullets too fast.

This is correct. Go .001-.002 bigger. Keep your velocity slow, and you should be ok with your 30 Luger

 

[Brickman301]

OP, bullet size/fit is IMHO, more important than hardness of the lead alloy. Powder coating, is definitely a game changer. With proper sizing, powder coating allows you to use softer lead at higher velocities than what is possible using traditional lubes.

 

[Harrys]

$6-$8/lb You may want to buy your lead from somewhere else..

Nope I buy LYMAN lead $40.00 for ten pounds when you add in tax and shipping costs we are talking $58.00 total. So per pound the lead costs $5.80. This does not include gas checks and lube or time to make them or the power to run the melting pot. So the cost of the premade rounds are awash.

 

[Brickman301]

Nope I buy LYMAN lead $40.00 for ten pounds when you add in tax and shipping costs we are talking $58.00 total. So per pound the lead costs $5.80. This does not include gas checks and lube or time to make them or the power to run the melting pot. So the cost of the premade rounds are awash.

Like 85Mike TPI stated you’re paying way to much for your lead. I sell pure lead ingots for $1.50 a pound. Linotype in type form, for $1.75 per pound. sheet lead in 30 pound sheets for $1.16 a pound. I also get monotype lead from time to time, and I sell it for $1.90 a pound. I don’t ship, it’s available for pickup only in Frederick.

 

[Harrys]

Like 85Mike TPI stated you’re paying way to much for your lead. I sell pure lead ingots for $1.50 a pound. Linotype in type form, for $1.75 per pound. sheet lead in 30 pound sheets for $1.16 a pound. I also get monotype lead from time to time, and I sell it for $1.90 a pound. I don’t ship, it’s available for pickup only in Frederick.

Yup and I live 2 hours away so for me driving there and back would expensive and there would be no savaings. The other thing I use 5% antimony and 95% lead for my casts.

 

[Brickman301]

Yup and I live 2 hours away so for me driving there and back would expensive and there would be no savaings. The other thing I use 5% antimony and 95% lead for my casts.

Understood, if you’re coming for just a small amount it’s not worth it.
If that’s the alloy you use, look into chilled shot. The type sold for shotshells. It’s typically 3-5 percent antimony. Shot is expensive but Still cheaper per pound than what your are paying. Just a thought

 

[Pinecone]

I am just now getting into making my own lead bullets.

2 reasons for doing so, is for two different calibers.

1. Finding ammunition, or even pre made bullets for my German DWM 30 Luger is near to impossible. So it seems I will have to make, resize, lube and reload my own. Reloading is not an issue as I reload many other calibers already.

2. I have a U.S. Army 1917 45acp and would like to start using and reloading more authentic WW1 Style 45acp ammunition. Which mainly used 45acp 230 grain bullets.

I have allready obtained the bullet molds for both of these.

My main question is what would be a good lead alloy to use for both of these calibers?

I can get the following lead ingots at decent prices.

99% pure lead,

Tin/Antimony/Lead
0/30/70
2/6/92
4/12/84

Can someone tell me in order of most soft to most hard? And which is the best one to use for As a happy compromise between the two?

I would also like to make bullets for a 45 colt black powder loading in 250 grain, and for my 45/70 535 grain postnell black powder loading.

What would be the best allow to use for a happy compromise for those two?

What would be a happy workable and safe compromise if I wanted to use the same lead allow for all 4 bullets?

thanks

Lyman #2 is 5/5/90

So I would go with the 2/6/92, and possibly add a bit of tin.

The antimony is for hardness. The tin to help the antimony mix in and makes it cast better. So being short on tin will just make casting a bit more difficult.

 

[teratos]

How much depleted uranium? Asking for a friend...

 

[Texasgrillchef]

Lyman #2 is 5/5/90

So I would go with the 2/6/92, and possibly add a bit of tin.

The antimony is for hardness. The tin to help the antimony mix in and makes it cast better. So being short on tin will just make casting a bit more difficult.

Tin will still make the hardness go up. While the additional hardness would be ok with the 45 colt, and 45-70 bullets. I could even go with true hard cast on those. It might be a little to hard for the 30 Luger. Or 45acp since I would be exclusive firing those in a U.S. Army 1917.

However One person suggested taking th Antimony % down by 2% and using the tin content 1% and the lead another 1% making it 93/4/3

ThoughtS?

 

[dannyp]

i need a bartender to explain all of this!

 

[Todd S]

i need a bartender to explain all of this!

I just poured a couple fingers of Proper Twelve. It helps!


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