bullet casting question

[Howie1968]

what causes undersize conicals when casting? the lead does not scratch real easy on a bunch of bullets i have ive been buying from various casters and am finding the lead is a little harder. what is the maximum BH am i looking for for conicals out of my various muzzleloaders. i understand roundballs can be cast harder for a little better penetration any advice is welcomed i thought of melting these down for roundballs or maybe sinkers all of the lead ive purchased new from roto metals 99.9 pure not sure if i want to add these to the pot where this harder lead is

 

[mooman76]

Don't mix unless you are absolutely sure. Once mixed, you can't unmix. Lyman moulds sometimes are undersized. Alloys usually increase the size but doesn't mean they always do depending on the alloy.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

You must remember that some of the bullets, the conicals, that folks are using in their revolvers may be from molds meant to cast modern alloy bullets. So Lee or Lyman molds will give a smaller projectile when all lead is used. There is more shrinkage from all lead than from lead alloy.

LD

 

[Archer 756]

Use ONLY PURE LEAD it is not worth the trouble to screw up any weapon'

 

[52Bore]

I have 3 lead pots.
Pure lead
1:20
Oddball manure I use for RB

Depending on the depth of rifling- how hard you can get way with in conicals.

 

[fleener]

3 pots!!!???? Are you wound a little tight?

I had two and just gave away one to a guy. Might have to ask for it back now.

Fleener

 

[Tom A Hawk]

what causes undersize conicals when casting? the lead does not scratch real easy on a bunch of bullets i have ive been buying from various casters and am finding the lead is a little harder. what is the maximum BH am i looking for for conicals out of my various muzzleloaders. i understand roundballs can be cast harder for a little better penetration any advice is welcomed i thought of melting these down for roundballs or maybe sinkers all of the lead ive purchased new from roto metals 99.9 pure not sure if i want to add these to the pot where this harder lead is

In my view, hard lead is for unmentionables firing projectiles in excess of 1000 FPS. Soft lead is for muzzle loaders. Soft lead will upset better to grip the rifling upon firing and hard lead can be difficult to load. A lot of game has been taken with soft lead balls and the deer will never notice the BH difference. If you feel you need increased penetration - add go up in caliber or add a little powder.

These now flattened .54 Hawken balls were fired over 125 grains FF and recovered from whitetails just under the hide on the off side.

 

[fleener]

What is undersized?

Fleener

 

[Greasecookie]

I'm a 3 pot guy too. Pure lead, 20-1, and hard stuff for unmentionables.

 

[nhmoose]

To small of mold. Hard alloys cast bigger using same mold as pure so the mold is to small.

 

[dave951]

Casting temp and mold temp can also affect size. When we're casting minies, we run the mold and lead as hot as the pot will go to get good consistency.

One thing not mentioned in the OP was- is this a new mold? Molds can and do vary in size output by several thousands and that's a part of how they're made. Eliminating that variation is part of the cost for buying a quality mold.

 

[mooman76]

I have 3 pots. One has soft lead and the other has harder WW lead. The 3rd was just a pot I got cheap as an extra. Lyman is some what typical for having small moulds. They cut with a cherry and they use it too long when they should make a new one. As the cherry wears down, it cuts a smaller and smaller mould. A slightly smaller RB is fine for us usually but in unmentionables, too small a mould can cause leading and poor accuracy.

 

[Griz44Mag]

what causes undersize conicals when casting? the lead does not scratch real easy on a bunch of bullets i have ive been buying from various casters and am finding the lead is a little harder. what is the maximum BH am i looking for for conicals out of my various muzzleloaders. i understand roundballs can be cast harder for a little better penetration any advice is welcomed i thought of melting these down for roundballs or maybe sinkers all of the lead ive purchased new from roto metals 99.9 pure not sure if i want to add these to the pot where this harder lead is

The least shrinkage possible is accomplished with pure lead.
Scratching with a fingernail means nothing. Use a reliable lead hardness tester to test your lead. One vendor on here sells a lot of scrap lead from roof boots and lead pipe - calls it soft but has not had it tested, and it tests out at 11-12 BH - a long way from soft - and it has .005-.010 shrinkage on a round ball mold - likely just as much in a conical mold. Even after being warned about the lead - he stills sells it as "soft" on here and the mods have not stepped in to force him to label it properly.
The more antimony, silver, tin - etc.... that is in the mix - the more they will shrink.
Recommended lead for muzzleloader conical - 99.9% pure. Scrap lead isn't going to cast or perform like you want it to.
If you are patching round ball or paper patching conicals - it is a lot more forgiving of a little shrinkage.

 

[45man]

what causes undersize conicals when casting? the lead does not scratch real easy on a bunch of bullets i have ive been buying from various casters and am finding the lead is a little harder. what is the maximum BH am i looking for for conicals out of my various muzzleloaders. i understand roundballs can be cast harder for a little better penetration any advice is welcomed i thought of melting these down for roundballs or maybe sinkers all of the lead ive purchased new from roto metals 99.9 pure not sure if i want to add these to the pot where this harder lead is

No and again NO hard lead. Use pure and the mold needs to cast the size needed as pure will not grow larger then the mold. True that Lyman and others that use cherries will sharpen when dull so molds get smaller. They are very expensive so I make my own. Other then labor, material cost is 50 cents each. I don't have a swing setup to make round balls but make bullet molds for myself. I get 12 cherries from an oil hardening drill rod.

 

[sportster73hp]

Found the lead soldier i use at work is 97.5% lead ,1.5 silver, and 1% tin. Is this still considered soft? What percentage not lead would you call hard or just not soft?

 

[Woody Morgan]

Oh. Solder. Got it.

Can ya scratch it with a thumbnail? Doubt it. Too hard.

wm

 

[Woody Morgan]

2x post

 

[LawrenceA]

I think what you are asking is what causes the size to change.
Baiscally a hot mold will increase bullet size but a hot melt will decrease bullet size.
The rest is up to the mould's underlying size and the alloy.

 

[dave951]

Found the lead soldier i use at work is 97.5% lead ,1.5 silver, and 1% tin. Is this still considered soft? What percentage not lead would you call hard or just not soft?

No.

Best source I've found for "pure" lead aside from Roto is x ray room lead used to shield x ray rooms in medical facilities. It tests right in there with the pure stuff and I get it at spot. Next up is old school shower pans in residential baths. My local scrap yard has both in stock most of the time and I make sure my fellow contractors know I'm always ready to take lead off their hands so they don't have to haul it to the scrap yard.

 

[59sharps]

3 pots!!!???? Are you wound a little tight?

I had two and just gave away one to a guy. Might have to ask for it back now.

Fleener

I have 4 2 cast iron pots for cleaning. and 2 for casting.