boats wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2011 at 11:53am:

Boats;
This ain't about cost, it's about erroneous notions that take on a life of their own and confuse new shooters. About incorrect opinion masquerading as fact.
That's what I think it's about.
joe b.

Years ago i put everything i had into one alloy.  Bar solder,WW,Lynotype. I worked for Pepsi Cola for awhile and had a large supply of pure tin soda line. I have 10 Wooden cases filled with ingots we poured back then. My alloy will remain the same untill the last ingot. For me bullet quality, diameter and lube have been the deciding factor in accuracy. I have not bought any alloy since i started casting. A smooth clean bore will prevent leading at the velocities i shoot. If i want to go fast I use jacketed. I have a 311291 2 cavity mould with gc removed from one cavity. When they are sized and lubed the same cant tell the difference in the target. When you find something that works for you stick with it.
My conclusion is DIAMETER AND LUBE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ALLOY.
Tom

Wow - sure are a lot of variables on this thread so far.  Betcha by page 5, it's really going to be an interesting thread.  

My turn to jump in:
*  22 bullets have Sb ... I filed a flat surface on a Wolf Extra Match bullet, put it in the Lee Tester and the Bhn was ... 4.5 (Pure Lead)

Bullet Alloys:  My Best Ever 100yd target was shot about 3 years ago using a 45-70 with black powder.  The alloy used for the Postell bullets was WW (Bhn 15.4) + 1/2% Sn.  With the recent article by Dan Theodore, this 97:1.5:1.5 alloy using a 3:7 of Lyman #2 and Pb ... it got my interest because of the alloy used in my Best Ever 100 yd Target ... with Zero Leading in the bore!

I'm in the process of the 300-MP testing and also believe that a harder bullet will work better if it has some Sb in it.  Have several hundred lbs of WW's that is Bhn 15.4 (same Bhn as Lyman #2), made 20 lbs of the 3:7 alloy.  I flux with borax that the utility companies used to use.  Fluxed the 3:7 twice and only black dross floated on top - no indication of any 'lumpy' metal in the dross.  The resulting melt looked like mercury!  The initial Bhn of this mix was 8.2, exactly what the Lyman#2:Pb is supposed to be.  The ingots and bullets are aging now and they are supposed to harden to Bhn 9.8 ... I"ll see what it is tomorrow 

Now here's something else that's interesting ... using 4 different molds for the bullets to be used in the 300-MP test, the dropped bullets weighed more using the 3:7 alloy mix than I have ever gotten using a straight Sn:Pb mix.  Examples ...
Nominal Mold Supposed to Be Weight v the 3:7 Alloy
180gr v 181gr
200gr v 208gr
320gr v 327gr
320gr v 328gr
Plus the bullets are completely filled out, mirror shiny gorgeous.
All cast with my usual melt temp of 710 to 730 degrees 
Go Figure!

John,
I've had just the opposite luck with Lyman #2. There are a few version of making it but mine was to just add 5% tin to WW. My bullets filled out wonderfully and I never had leading issues with it in GC bullets, as a matter of fact, I've never leaded a barrel with a GC attached to the base.  For a while, I shot my 15 twist Douglas with a sized down 323471 GCed and BSed bullet in CBA matches. My best group with that 2154 fps combo was .43 @ 100. That bullet 1.24 long.

Frank

PS
Many of the CBA records in my day were set with mixtures of either 50/50 WW/lino or 1 lino / 2 WW mixes

It may be too late but this thread keeps talking about adding different alloys like it was all the same. Its not! Listed here is the Industry standard for the different alloys that you are most likely to find. Add to this information that these are only the formulas of what comes out of the foundry. I can tell you from personal experience that commercial printers used the same metal in all their machines. When it was felt that the metal was starting not to cast well an ingot or two of “Enriching alloy” was added to the pot. So it will make a difference where you get your alloy from. As most commercial printing houses have computerized that takes the Linotype & Monotype machines out of the equation that is where most of the scrap “Lino” is coming from. I have not even gotten into Wheel weights as there is no “Industry standard” any more and almost anything is being passed off as wheel weights. Given the random nature of the alloy depending on source and the different alloys effect on shrinkage I wonder why anyone is still using this stuff. You might just as well use range scrap it will be just as consistent. The only way to truly know what you are shooting is to make up the alloy yourself or buy it from a reputable foundry. 
Linotype = 84% Lead, 4% Tin, 12% Antimony
Monotype = 74% Lead, 10% Tin, 16% Antimony
Stereotype = 80% Lead, 6% Tin, 14% Antimony
Lyman #2 = 90% Lead, 5% Tin, 5% Antimony
Foundry Type = 54% Lead, 18% Tin, 28% Antimony

40 Rod

I do have a friend that shoots a nice Aydt. He only uses imported German Alloy.  Wheel Weights from the Mercedes Benz Dealer

Boats