How hard is this bullet?

C

C7AR15

New member
I have a lot of cast bullets for handgun, and I am wondering how to determine
how hard they are.
Just reading OutdoorLife, I see bush pilots carry .44 mag with hard cast
bullets(300gr)

It seems every cast bullet I have ever bought is sold as "Hard cast"
using the best alloys!!

How can I test these bullets of mine ???

Thanks JD
 
Y

YARDDOG(1)

New member
How easy does it mark with your fingernail?? The ? to ask does it fit your chamber & bore ; ) PS If good fit dos'nt really matter how hard they are ;)

Y/D
 
R

Robert Palermo

New member
Unfortunately there is no industry standard for what constitutes "hard cast" The term is almost meaningless today.
Some have used BHN numbers to test alloys and state a hardness related to this number and while only having a very limited usefulness it cannot be used to compare and contrast various alloys.
Some have used the fingernail test in that if you can't scratch the metal with your fingernail then it considered "hard" a poor test by any standard.
I have more information under my reloading tips section on the web site at www.pennbullets.com.
 
A

AlaskaMike

New member
Robert gives good info, but it's probably worth pointing out that most commercially bought cast bullets these days are almost too hard. The most common reason I've heard for this is so that the bullets will survive the gentle hands of shippers whose employees seem to like to see who can throw packages the farthest. If the bullets weren't in the 18-24 BHN range they might show up at the customer's doorstep looking like little wads of chewing gum.

Honestly I don't pay much attention to cast bullet hardness unless I'm loading for a rifle. As long as the bullets aren't swaged, pure lead (very soft), then they'll probably do just fine in any handgun application. Even for my .44 mag loads I use plain air-cooled wheel weight alloy.
 
N

noylj

New member
Most will tell you the alloy and approximate hardness.
I have never needed hard cast for .44 Mag.
Most commercial cast bullets run 18-20BHN. That hard alloy will not be easily damaged during round shipping and the customers tend to be happier with pretty bullets.
Before ordering bullets, unless you just want to order a 100 or so to see how they perform, you need to check your revolver.
The lead bullets should be a tight slip fit in the cylinder's throats and the bullets should be at least 0.001" larger than the barrel's groove diameter. There are some revolvers with tight throats and large groove diameters that would require reaming out the throats for lead bullets.
 
R

Robert Palermo

New member
The hard bullet vs the shipping thing is another misnomer.
Even soft swaged bullets have been shipped across country without ill effects.
I ship 12BHN and soft 30-1 BP bullets with no ill effects.

The usual standard of the infamous 2/6, 16-18bhn mix was developed more for its ability to run in casting machines than actually being a good alloy for cast bullet use and thus many experienced the "hardcast" being too hard failure of the alloys shortcomings. Softer alloys actually had better tin/antimony ratios and thus better alloy strength and better results followed with the new trend towards softer is better mindset.

Alloy strength and ductlity are the more important factors than BHN numbers.
 
R

reloader28

New member
Fit is the absolute king with cast bullets. It dont matter how hard or soft the bullet is, if it aint a couple thou over the bore diameter, you'll have to scrub the lead from the barrel.
 
M

Mike / Tx

New member
Well this will get you in the ball park if you want to spend the money,

Testing hardness with pencils

I realize it isn't the most scientific test, but like mentioned will get you a ball park idea. I used it when I first started casting simply to test some purchased alloy and it worked just fine for determining about where they were in relation to what I already was using. I have since purchased a Cabine Tree tester which is a lot more user friendly and works a lot better. In checking the previous mentioned alloys with it they hit within an acceptable range of what I got with the pencil test. The thing with the pencil is you have to be sure your posts are sanded correctly. Once you seen how it works it is VERY easy to repeat.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top