Tumbling bullets

[TCMonts]

Just my 2Cents. If those big conicals aren't stabilizing it may be that they aren't spinning fast enough. I personally would consider 80 grains a light charge for a conical, even in a.50 caliber. A well made .54 should handle up to 120 grains with no trouble. a big charge will give it a kick that will bump it up and make it grab the rifling, give it more velocity and more RPM for more stability and better accuracy. That being said, an 80 grain charge and a 54 caliber ball will kill any game in this hemisphere. in the end, do what works best for you.

 

[M. De Land]

Antimony has too high a melt point to be handcaster friendly, and lead wheelweights are very hard to come by.
BPCR guys harden lead with tin only, 20:1 mostly. Both tin and lead are easy to find. Some places like RotoMetals sell ingots of pert near any alloy a shooter would want, including Bismuth for lead-free hunting requirements.

I'm a BPCR guy, cast all my own bullets and balls and use antimony in my alloy routinely, have for years. Tin will only harden marginal-y I think about 9 BHN C scale if I remember correctly. It's main purpose is to make good fill out of the bullet in the mold. With antimony and heat treat you can get lead alloy over 40 BHN C scale which is much to hard for most bullets and ball use but does have some application. My alloy with just a trace of antimony drop about 9.5 BHN (Brinnell Hardness Numbers) and as stated do not shrink up as much as lead tin or lead alone castings when it solidifies.
Antimony not only hardens alloy it also strengthens it by forming crystalline trees in the matrix, it doesn't really de solve in the alloy more like mixes with it. Kind of like flock in glass bedding or stones in concrete to form an aggregate and give it more strength.
It doesn't take much antimony to reduce the shrinkage and you don't need to mix it directly as it is quite poisonous. I get it already mixed in lead range scrap bullets and old wheel weights. One will need a hardness tester to check consistency and it works fine with patched ball as well as bullets.

 

[SDSmlf]

For most of my conicals I use as 40:1 lead tin alloy, resulting in a Brinell of around 8.5 on my hardness tester. Shoots as good or better than ‘pure’ lead (BHN of 5) and fills out the molds real well for many of my conicals. The ‘thumbnail’ crowd typically can’t tell if it’s 5 or 8.5 BHN unless they have a large certified sample of pure lead to compare a bullet with, and even then are wrong nearly half the time. I’ve also have been testing the 40:1 alloy on 58 and 62 caliber roundballs and it showing promise, and easier to cast in my opinion.

 

[Griz44Mag]

For most of my conicals I use as 40:1 lead tin alloy, resulting in a Brinell of around 8.5 on my hardness tester. Shoots as good or better than ‘pure’ lead (BHN of 5) and fills out the molds real well for many of my conicals. The ‘thumbnail’ crowd typically can’t tell if it’s 5 or 8.5 BHN unless they have a large certified sample of pure lead to compare a bullet with, and even then are wrong nearly half the time. I’ve also have been testing the 40:1 alloy on 58 and 62 caliber roundballs and it showing promise, and easier to cast in my opinion.

I add about 2oz of tin in each 8# of pure lead that goes into my pot for the same reason. Castability. (Is that a word?)
I have not tested the BH of this mix as it is always added at time of casting and I know what the resultant lead balls (or minnies) will look and shoot like.
From the percentage I suspect the BH is change is negligible as book metallurgy states 1 oz tin per 1 pound of lead results in .1 BH hardness increase.
It is however - enough to make some really shiny balls!

 

[ord sgt]

With all this talk about boolits, got to thinkin' (dangerous stuff), what about.... I got a box of 40 calibre copper jacketed (.401) bullets, a T/C Hawken in .45 (slow twist) and some pillow ticking (0.018). Have to get to the range and try that combo, just for grins and giggles.

 

[Griz44Mag]

With all this talk about boolits, got to thinkin' (dangerous stuff), what about.... I got a box of 40 calibre co(.pper jacketed 401) bullets, a T/C Hawken in .45 (slow twist) and some pillow ticking (0.018). Have to get to the range and try that combo, just for grins and giggles.

SHHHHHHHHHH - Don't say that here...... Thoughts are not prohibited - but open talk of forbotten items is!

 

[Col. Batguano]

What is the twist rate of your barrel?