Suburban Commando Posted June 9, 2018 Share Posted June 9, 2018 Gearing up to start casting bullets, trying to figure stuff out. To get started out, at least, I will be loading 124 grain 9mm at about 130-135 power factor with fast burning powders (TiteGroup mostly, maybe Clays). Maybe not the ideal place to start, but that's what I shoot the most. The lead alloy that I have all measures about 11 to 13 bhn air-cooled, but I know that water quenching can harden that up quite a bit. Has anyone already figured this out, and can recommend a bullet hardness for coated bullets? The formula for bullet hardness from chamber pressure gives me 25 bhn, but that was for lubed bullets, not sure if coating changes things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oteroman Posted June 10, 2018 Share Posted June 10, 2018 With coated bullets that hardness formula is toast. 10-12 BHN works fine at that PFTote group is the worst powder for coated Bullets. Clays can be dangerous for inexperienced reloaders, especially heavy Bullets. Enjoy. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb3 Posted June 10, 2018 Share Posted June 10, 2018 I use range scrap that is 12 BHN to cast and powder coat an NOE 128 gr RN (130 gr coated and sized). I've loaded these to 132 -135 PF with Bullseye, HP38/231 and Zip with no issues at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suburban Commando Posted June 10, 2018 Author Share Posted June 10, 2018 Tote group is the worst powder for coated Bullets. Clays can be dangerous for inexperienced reloaders, especially heavy Bullets. I've used both Clays and TiteGroup for commercial coated bullets with good results. TiteGroup is smoky with lubed bullets and I wouldn't do that again.Agree that Clays may not be safe with 147gr bullets, however. I have seen some flattened primers.Thanks for the feedback on bullet hardness.Sent from my LGLS755 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72stick Posted June 10, 2018 Share Posted June 10, 2018 You didn't include your lead recipe? Your hardness will vary directly with the % of antimony in your lead. More antimony gives you a harder bullet up to about 3%. You can help harden a low antimony bullet with the water drop method. That also helps when powder coating the bullets since you get real close to the temperature that softens the bullet when you bake on the powder coating. If you size your bullets after PCing that also softens the lead when you push it through the sizing die. The forum Cast Boolits is a good resource for casting your own bullets. I learn a lot every time I visit their site. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?173064-BHN-of-Air-Cooled-Versus-Water-Cooled-Bullets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suburban Commando Posted June 10, 2018 Author Share Posted June 10, 2018 You didn't include your lead recipe? Your hardness will vary directly with the % of antimony in your lead. More antimony gives you a harder bullet up to about 3%. You can help harden a low antimony bullet with the water drop method. That also helps when powder coating the bullets since you get real close to the temperature that softens the bullet when you bake on the powder coating. If you size your bullets after PCing that also softens the lead when you push it through the sizing die. The forum Cast Boolits is a good resource for casting your own bullets. I learn a lot every time I visit their site. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?173064-BHN-of-Air-Cooled-Versus-Water-Cooled-BulletsI have about equal amounts of range scrap and clip-on wheel weight alloy. That's as much detail as I can give you.Sent from my LGLS755 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beef15 Posted June 10, 2018 Share Posted June 10, 2018 You don't need to be anywhere near 25bhn for lubed lead in minor loads, have fired thousands of COWW bullets without issue. PC or HiTek can be used with softer than typical lead as the coating creates a much harder surface. Water dropping before coating accomplishes nothing, the heat of baking undoes it. My understanding is they're not hot enough long enough and/or the coating is a thermal barrier preventing water dropping from doing much/any good post baking. COWWs and range scrap will work fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suburban Commando Posted June 10, 2018 Author Share Posted June 10, 2018 (edited) 2 hours ago, Beef15 said: You don't need to be anywhere near 25bhn for lubed lead in minor loads, have fired thousands of COWW bullets without issue. PC or HiTek can be used with softer than typical lead as the coating creates a much harder surface. Water dropping before coating accomplishes nothing, the heat of baking undoes it. My understanding is they're not hot enough long enough and/or the coating is a thermal barrier preventing water dropping from doing much/any good post baking. COWWs and range scrap will work fine. TATV Canada did some interesting testing, air cooling and water quenching before and after coating, although it seems he didn't check for either age-hardening, age-softening, or checking hardness after sizing. https://youtu.be/2fbjs-lErL0 I will certainly try air cooled bullets. If the easy way works, then I will happily do it that way. Edited June 10, 2018 by Suburban Commando Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAP Posted June 10, 2018 Share Posted June 10, 2018 I have been casting my own and use HI TEK to coat my 9 mm and .40 bullets for a few years. When using cast bullets, proper bullet to barrel fit is more important than hardness. With bullets I have cast and coated over the years my hardness has ranged from 11 through 16. With proper bullet fit I haven't noticed any difference in group size or barrel leading, etc because of bullet hardness. An example I cast a 147 no lube groove bullet and size them .357 to shoot in my CZ P09 for carry optics. They are very accurate don't lead and are reliable. I have loaded and shot ACME 147 HI TEK coated bullets sized .356 and they shoot just fine. Its just the .357 sized bullets are more accurate out of my CZ. (The ACME and my cast bullet are very similar in profile.) Also, I no longer use wheel weights and scrap lead. I buy commercial 92-6-2 lead. Its clean and easy to find. Wheel weights and scrap lead seems to be getting harder to find around here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickey Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 Have questions about cast BULLETS. How does this work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickey Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 5 minutes ago, Mickey said: Have questions about cast BULLETS. How does this work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 3 hours ago, Mickey said: Have questions about cast BULLETS. How does this work. Start reading http://castboolits.gunloads.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmer Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 (edited) As long as your coating holds up I think you could run down to 8-10 Bhn. When this coating idea started, guys were using HF powder paint on 12-15 Bhn bullets for rifles with good results. It just has to protect the base and prevent stripping on the lands. I always thought that with a good coating that one could use softer bullets, but they also should be sized properly. Edited January 25, 2021 by Farmer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AverageJoeShooting Posted January 26, 2021 Share Posted January 26, 2021 10-15 is fine if you are shooting paper and steel targets dont know the difference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now