Bullets cast as 180gr but actual weight is 165gr - Questions ?.

J

JensenDK

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So far so good. Managed to cast a bunch of bullets recently. Yeah !.

However having Yomama over to help with trying out actual reloading he naturally weighed them off to ensure that they were the right weight. Why I never thought about checking that myself is a mystery. But of course they turned out to be under weight. They were 164gr and 165gr consistently. Not exactly the 180gr I was casting. Checked all the stuff I cast had similar results.

Obviously I don't have enough lead in my mix. That I can rectify I think (?) next time I cast. But my questions now are:

Could I reload these under weight bullets provided I could find reloading data to use ?.

Is there a danger in using such hard bullets ?. Lead has some flexibility whereas these bullets are just hard.

Do I just add some Lead to the mix until I can cast a bullet and hit the right mix or do I start over with clean lead ?.

Thanks in advance Martin
 
You must have a very hard alloy
what is the bhn ? if you dont have a tester you can get close using the pencil test)
What mould ?
it is not uncommon for a mold to throw a heaver or lighter bullet
what are you using it in/for
depending on bullet shape/velocity you can get bullet slump (when bullet goes down the barrel) that can affect groups (if lead is too soft)

it also depends on the manfactuer what alloy did they do there testing on on what is marked /vers what lead alloy you are using

I have a 165g mold and when i cast with ww+ tin plus GC = 175g with a bhn of around 12-15 and it works in rifle with no leading

fit is more important than hardness

if I had hard lead I would save it to mix with softer lead
 
no problem loading them any lead alloy will not be as hard as jacketed bullets. as for a load go with the 180gr load starting at low end and work up the lighter bullet can be loaded slightly heavier than the 180gr.
add some pure lead to your alloy to get heavier bullets
 
I would also agree that to much tin or antimony in the mix or If your bullets look like crap and have round instead of sharp edges, then I might suggest zinc in the mix.
 
As others have suggested, your alloy probably contains tin and antimony which could account for the lighter weight. As an example, I cast Lyman 452374 which is listed as 225 grs . . . using linotype alloy it weighs 207 grs. Similarly, Lee 324-175 is listed at 175 grs . . . using Linotype it weighs 159 grs.
 
Its Lee moulds that I am using. Initially I was frustrated by using a mould which was too cold. I also suspect that there is a lot of Tin but will test the actual alloy within a few weeks.

Would it be better to just recast them with a load of lead in the mix ?.

Now beer was involved sooo....
 
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Unless you have tons of tin, I would be inclined to remix that tin to make it last longer, lead is the cheapest part of a bullet.
 
just having some fun said:
You must have a very hard alloy
what is the bhn ? if you dont have a tester you can get close using the pencil test)
What mould ?
it is not uncommon for a mold to throw a heaver or lighter bullet
what are you using it in/for
depending on bullet shape/velocity you can get bullet slump (when bullet goes down the barrel) that can affect groups (if lead is too soft)

it also depends on the manfactuer what alloy did they do there testing on on what is marked /vers what lead alloy you are using

I have a 165g mold and when i cast with ww+ tin plus GC = 175g with a bhn of around 12-15 and it works in rifle with no leading

fit is more important than hardness

if I had hard lead I would save it to mix with softer lead
Click to expand...

i would agree with this info'.
as for reloading the bullets you have. .
yes you can.
the fact that the bullet is lighter will actually create less pressure.
just to give you a comperson idea: in your cast bullet manual look at a specific powder type and look at the reference range for a light bullet , something like a 120 grain and look at the charge range for the SAME POWDER for a heavier bullet, lets say a 190 or 200 grain.
this can give you a very general idea as to what to expect in your load development if using that powder (IMR 4759 comes to mind).
you can also reference a Lee manual if you have one you can calculate the 1+ grain factor that is listed on the far right side of the table.
if you dont know how to do it there is a chapter in the lee manual explaining how to use the 1+ grain factor for reduced and cast bullet loads.

Hope this information helps.
 
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