hey everyone, i picked up a cva scout in 45-70 a few weeks ago and will be doing some casting for the projectiles. would it be recommended to use pure lead or ww for the projectiles. have several molds in 300 to 500 grains and a variety of powers. or, am i overthinking this a bit too much. thanks
45-70... pure lead or ww??
- Thread starter gregc
- Start date
It's not as simple as that.
Your lead hardness should be relative to pressure.
But that may not matter depending on whether tha bullet accepts a gas seal or not.
You have to experiment a bit.
For my 45-70 I do half-half for mild to mid loads.
Your lead hardness should be relative to pressure.
But that may not matter depending on whether tha bullet accepts a gas seal or not.
You have to experiment a bit.
For my 45-70 I do half-half for mild to mid loads.
Pure lead isn’t good. Will cause leading real quick. Wheel weights will work. I usually harden them up to 15-18 bhn. WW is usually 9-10 bhn. As long as you have a good lube WW will work. You will find certain hardness may shoot better in your rifle.
I would use the ww alloy for most applications.
antiqueguy
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Bullet fit is probably more important then alloy tbh but pure lead may be a bit on the soft side.
WW mixed with pure lead would work, better yet also powder coat for additional protection. My favorite bullet for the 45/70 is the Lee 405 gr. hollow base, very accurate will also seal the bullet base, skirt flairs out like an airgun pellet seals the bore and reduces gas cutting, so leading is minimized once again. Keep your velocities within reason, the Lyman cast bullet hand book is great source of reference material.
I use WW for all my 45-70 casting and all casting I am doing. It work great - no reason to play with combinations of alloy.
gregc, friere gave you some good advice about powder coating.
Powder coating is likely best for all of your cast projectiles, pure lead or composite.
You didn't mention if you were going "traditional" with Black Powder as a propellant, or more modern, with smokeless powder.
If you are going "traditional" using Black Powder then a pure lead bullet, which has been Powder Coated is your best venue IMHO.
I found that soft, powder coated, pure lead bullets shot better for longer strings, which can happen when shooting gophers and gongs.
When shooting smokeless powder loads, composite mixes, around 12-16 Brinnel hardness, which is about what wheel weights measure out to, work best.
If you haven't tried Black Powder, you should at least experiment with it.
The 45-70 was originally loaded as a BP cartridge, and depending on the rifle, it will shoot more accurately than with smokeless powder, even with composite bullets.
Powder coating is likely best for all of your cast projectiles, pure lead or composite.
You didn't mention if you were going "traditional" with Black Powder as a propellant, or more modern, with smokeless powder.
If you are going "traditional" using Black Powder then a pure lead bullet, which has been Powder Coated is your best venue IMHO.
I found that soft, powder coated, pure lead bullets shot better for longer strings, which can happen when shooting gophers and gongs.
When shooting smokeless powder loads, composite mixes, around 12-16 Brinnel hardness, which is about what wheel weights measure out to, work best.
If you haven't tried Black Powder, you should at least experiment with it.
The 45-70 was originally loaded as a BP cartridge, and depending on the rifle, it will shoot more accurately than with smokeless powder, even with composite bullets.
