When I was a teen, my father had us casting lead bullets from wheel weights, as well as "recovered" lead from range backstops. Who knows what hardness, or kind of alloy those were!? We didn't have a lead hardness tester back then( 1950s).
We did OBSERVE that bullet cast from alloys were much Harder to size in our sizing dies, and if we didn't get to sizing cast bullets for more than a month or more, they got even HARDER to size! Dad called me down on evening to take over the "duty" of cranking the handle on the reloading press to size some bullets, because he arm had simply become so tired, and sore, that he could not continue! I thought it was going to be a " piece of cake", as I had no trouble sizing some of the same bullets for him right after they were cast. BOY! Was I wrong!
Now, 50 years later, I know that alloy bullets come out a bit Larger( .001-.0025" ) than bullets cast from soft lead. Back then, we had micrometers- but never thought to use them to measure the diameter of the bullets frequently, much less sort bullets by diameter- after all, they were all going to go through the same diameter Sizing Die!? :idunno:
I also now know that the weight of alloy bullets( and balls) will be lighter, depending on the actual alloy used, compared to pure lead castings. I didn't know that back then, so we didn't sort the bullets or balls by weight.
What we did do back then was wonder why a load that had shot well the last time we were at the range, now was spraying bullets all over the target! And, there seemed to be NO consistency as to where the "fliers" went on paper!?? :haha: :surrender: :hmm: :thumbsup:
We read everything we could find about casting, and shooting cast bullets. There simply was not much information available. But, as the years passed, more and more information came available.
I remember returning from college on vacation one year, and Dad excitedly told us he had read an article that told him that there was a wide variation in bore diameters for the Springfield .45-70 rifles. He had run a slug down the barrel of his rifle, and found out that it miked .463" instead of the nominal .458"! He had been sizing all his cast bullets down to the .458" diameter.
The next time at the range, he shot some cast bullets he didn't size( hand lubed-ugh!) and got much better groups at 100 yds. He then cast some bullets of pure lead, thinking they might expand a bit better, and he got even better groups with those bullets, but they struck lower on the target. I think he found a 5 grain weight difference for those pure lead bullets, compared to the alloy bullets in his inventory.
I have No doubt that alloy lead "hardens" with time, or "Age", while pure lead doesn't, but that is not the result of using test equipment like this Cabin Tree LHT. Its on my list of gear to buy. Now that I know there is some science behind my experiences, all those years ago( Thank You, IdahoRon) I want to know how "pure" the lead is that I am buying. Thanks, Again. :hatsoff: :hatsoff:
Very stuck minie ball, tried everything having to pull the breech plug
