.300 Blackout Sub Sonic Cast Lead Bullets / Hardness

[jthyttin]

If I can get them to shoot in an un-lubed and as close to "normal" operation as possible, I will be happy. I'm not wanting to dedicate it to only shooting lead subs.

Lubing the bore is supposed to get you going w/o wasting few rounds in the beginning. Same style regime is used for moly plated bullets.

It would be unsual to get both lead subs and jacketed supers to shoot good with no cleaning in between. It might also lead (sic) to cleaning problems later.

In pistols we used few gas checked rounds after shooting lead and before jacketed. Seemed to get rid of most problems. But rifle supers are much higher pressure and velocity.

 

[Jamoy1993]

Lubing the bore is supposed to get you going w/o wasting few rounds in the beginning. Same style regime is used for moly plated bullets.

It would be unsual to get both lead subs and jacketed supers to shoot good with no cleaning in between. It might also lead (sic) to cleaning problems later.

In pistols we used few gas checked rounds after shooting lead and before jacketed. Seemed to get rid of most problems. But rifle supers are much higher pressure and velocity.

If I were to be shooting supers i would probably only be shooting supers. The majority of the time i will be shooting subs at shorter ranges anyways so there wouldnt be really that much wastage in terms of accuracy. So it might just be i need to decide what im shooting through the gun on a day to day basis.

 

[Jamoy1993]

So i did a mix on Saturday there.

4Kg Pure(ish) Lead
220g Pewter
100 Gram Linotype (to balance the alloy a bit more to 5-5-90
200g Antimony

I think i screwed up, i spoke to folks on Cast Boolits and i should have submerged my antimony in a mesh ball to prevent oxidation. I think most of the antimony has disolved into the solution. As a result i was left with a measure of powder on top which i believe was oxidized antimony mixed with other oxides:


I put all the powder into a bucket and wet it, whilst wearing full PPE of course.

I now have bullets of various hardnesses to test out to see what their true hardness is, I ordered myself a Lee hardness tester to be certain as I don't quite trust the pencil tests.

I just need to wait and test them out when i get the chance. They did cast very nicely, even more so than pure lead and a bit more than pure range scrap:

 

[Jamoy1993]

Update on the Alloying session:

I just got my Lee hardness tester today and i tested the alloy itself, the bullets i air cooled from it and the bullets i water dropped from it and the results are as follows:

Air Rifle / .22 LR Range Lead Bullets (Softest Lead i have): 0.075 - 9.0 BHN (Eley and American Eagle are the Club bullets of Choice)
My Custom Alloy Ingot: 0.056 - 16.6 BHN (a little harder than Lyman #2)
My Custom Alloy Air Cooled Bullet: 0.56 - 16.6 BHN
My Custom Alloy Water Dropped Bullet: 0.52 - 19.3 BHN

I think this is a great success.

What i dont understand is my range scrap tested to 0.054 which is about 18 BHN. The bullets i cast from the range scrap gave me 0.06 or 14.3 BHN Which is more in line with the BHN i was expecting. I think it might be closer to 12 BHN which is normal for range scrap. Our range scrap consists of predominantly 12 gauge slugs, .38 / 44 and .22 LR. I pick out most of the larger stuff however so might account for the higher hardness.

Should get my powder this weekend. I will load up each bullet with a test lader going from max charge to minimum, seeing we are working down to a sub sonic load as opposed to working up to a max.

 

[Cold Forged]

Heya,

Any updates on the casting side of things?
How did the bullets turn out in the end? Any barrel leading with subsonics? Are you using any lube at all?

Asking this because I'm also looking at getting a .300 BLK and the plan is to run heavy cast subs pretty much exclusively, so I'm very curious how it's working out in the real world.

From what I’ve read so far, the polymer coat seems to make pure lead much less of a drama.
Minimal to no leading, no need for traditional lube, and the whole process looks fairly straightforward (seen YT videos that shake-and-bake a batch within 20 min).

My current thinking is to keep it simple and as cheap as possible: very soft scrap lead, no antimony, no water dropping/hardening, just polymer powder coating, and a bit of tin/pewter (~1%) purely to help mould fill-out.

Would be great to hear how your setup's been holding up, especially after a decent number of rounds.

 

[Jamoy1993]

Heya,

Any updates on the casting side of things?
How did the bullets turn out in the end? Any barrel leading with subsonics? Are you using any lube at all?

Asking this because I'm also looking at getting a .300 BLK and the plan is to run heavy cast subs pretty much exclusively, so I'm very curious how it's working out in the real world.

From what I’ve read so far, the polymer coat seems to make pure lead much less of a drama.
Minimal to no leading, no need for traditional lube, and the whole process looks fairly straightforward (seen YT videos that shake-and-bake a batch within 20 min).

My current thinking is to keep it simple and as cheap as possible: very soft scrap lead, no antimony, no water dropping/hardening, just polymer powder coating, and a bit of tin/pewter (~1%) purely to help mould fill-out.

Would be great to hear how your setup's been holding up, especially after a decent number of rounds.

Hi bud, thanks for replying. Ive been really busy so i have not been toying around as much. Just moved into my house amongst other things!

So im pretty much going to be sticking to an alloy that is approximately Lyman # 2 Hardness. It is about 5% Tin / Antimony mix.

I tried them naked with some Liquid Allox, and i mag dumped 30 through my rifle with the moderator on it, the smoking was terrible and there were good chunks of lead coming out the barrel once i cleaned it. I dont fancy breathing that crap in, so i moved onto Powder coating. I got a cheap oven and some coating and i have done a batch and it reduced the smoking to copper jacketed round levels.

I have tested them out at 200 Yards as well and they hold their trajectory perfectly and i was getting really decent hits with them ~ 4 MOA. I cannot test accuracy at this distance as i have a small 4x Prismatic on my rifle.

The only issue i have ran into with allowing the bullets to cool without water dropping is i get some Sad bullets, i don't know if its i am running too fast and the mold gets too hot or if its just the alloy i am using cools slower, i have noticed that harder lead tends to cool MUCH slower than just pure lead.

I have shot approximately 100x rounds Powder Coated with Lyman #2 Like alloy and i have to say its a good target to aim for.