current feeling is that 16:1 is hard for pp bullets, many preferring to go softer.
I have lived in fear of going harder, even though the ODGs reported using 11:1, and old ammo packets clearly advertise 12:1.
an interest in history finally overcame the fear of leading, poor accuracy, and unknown things.
at 300 meters there were no dirt diggers.
vertical was on average the best ever.
next week the opportunity exists to shoot at 800 meters, a truer test.
keep safe,
bruce.

Just out of curiosity, what would be the advantage to going to a harder alloy for bore dia. PP? I'm trying to think why - avoid nose deformation/slump in the barrel due to the nose's intertia during acceleration? I'm here to learn. Thanks

Bruce,

What was the BHN of your higher tin content bullets?  It's my understanding that the "hardening" effect of tin in lead pretty much plateaus out at 8 or so and additional tin only serves to add to the swollen coffers of the Tin Cartel.  But, whatever works.  Rowland tried gold bullets once and found out they shot as well as lead ones.

(There really is a Tin Cartel.  I heard one year that they met in an elegant conference room in an undisclosed place in London and could not agree on the price of tin.  So that year, tin had no official price.)

So far, I've found that any lead alloy formulated between BHN 8 and 10 (which includes 16:1) does well, but my paper-patch shooting has mainly been out to 550-600 yards (with one somewhat inconclusive excursion this year out to 805 yards.). Harder alloys, i.e.,water-quenched to BHN 14 and above, were a disaster at 300 yards.  My bullets are in the 0.440-0.441" range so far, patched with tracing paper up to 0.448" or so.

Bruce I also have been using 3/7 with good results with my Money bullets. My smelting pot will handle 80# so my number is 7. 3x7 =21 lbs of lyman#2
And7x7=49 lbs of lead. This is for greasers now since selling my 45-110 I haven't shot many P-P in 45 caliber
Shot my Browning with a 520 money yesterday and at 300 yards it shot in one group on my steel swinger about the size of an egg.

Stay away from anything with alimony in it for plain based bullets. Try 20 : 1 to 30 :1 tin : lead only.

40 Rod

40 rod,
a good place to start is 30:1, then go harder in sensible steps.
just that current common practice is not to go harder than 16:1.
but the ODGs must have used 12 and 11:1 for a reason.
what is your reason for avoiding antimony?
bent ramrod,
could grove diameter bullets be harder than bore diameter?
keep safe,
bruce.

some of dan's alloys were lyman no 2 diluted with various ammounts of lead.
should have taken more notice.
keep safe,
bruce.

bruce moulds wrote on Jul 3^rd, 2016 at 10:03pm:


You are correct Bruce the alloys h experimented with can be made that way.  They started with Michael Rix who has lots of information on those alloys.  He posts on the cast bullets forum still.   

I have some testing summaries that Dan sent me for his bore diameter patching results.  The 97/1.5/1.5 and 96/2/2 alloys were not as good as 16:1 in his chambers.  Basically worse SD's, I imagine from less consistent bump up.  For long range testing I would do whatever gave me the least vertical at distance over a long string of targets. 

Chris.