The Accurate Reloading Forums
SHOT AS HARDENING AGENT
23 December 2012, 20:04
M 98SHOT AS HARDENING AGENT
Can any one point me in the right direction as to what shot to get which has a adeqate arsnic content , as im planning to oven heat treat my cast bullets for hardness and use shot to achive this
regards Daniel
24 December 2012, 00:34
DoublessUse Lawrence premium brand hardened shot, but be very careful, and don't use too much. The Internet should give you weight percentages to add to your melt... the biggest issue with using lead shot is that it contains arsenic, and the fumes are to be avoided at all costs.
Best of luck to you, and be careful!
24 December 2012, 16:13
M 98D
thanks for the info, in a 10 lb mix im useing 4.5 lbs of WW 4.5 lbs of lead half LB of Lino and half lb of shot.....i think that should give me a good mix for the 416 cast proj
24 December 2012, 22:10
DoublessIf you have lino, I would mix it half and half with WW and see what you end up with. Lino was still cheaper than shot the last time I checked, and it is possible to get
too hard.
You can also water quench cast WW projectiles and significantly harden them. And water is a lot cheaper than lino OR chilled magnum shot!

25 December 2012, 01:35
Low WallM 98,
This website might be some help with what you are trying to do:
http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletNotes.htmCommon Bullet Alloy Hardness
Alloy BHN
Lead
5
WW (stick on) 6
Tin 7
1 to 40 tin lead 8
1 to 30 tin lead 9
1 to 20 tin lead 10
1 to 10 tin lead 11
WW (clip on) 12
Lead Shot* 13
Lyman # 2 15
Water quenched WW 18
Linotype 18 - 19
Monotype 25 - 27
Oven heat treated WW 30 - 32
Antimony 50
*Tip: Lead shot has .5 to 1.0% arsenic (As) (depending on the manufacturer) and can be used as a hardening agent when heat treating lead/antimony alloys. 1/4 of 1% arsenic is all it takes. Adding any more than this adds nothing & will not further harden the alloy. Additional hardening can be achieved by heat treating when arsenic is present to approximately 30 to 32 BHN.
Also check out the castboolit website:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forum.phpSome there are alloying copper into their melt to get a "tough" rifle bullet for shooting at high vel.
Two threads on that subject:
http://castboolits.gunloads.co...discuss-this-furtherhttp://castboolits.gunloads.co...lloy-for-tougher-CBs
25 December 2012, 19:39
M 98LW thanks
D
i had a look at the lawrence shot, the only shot i can find is the LAWRENCE CHILLED SHOT ,is that the same as the Lawrence premium shot
Daniel
25 December 2012, 23:07
Low Wallquote:
Originally posted by M 98:
LW thanks
D
i had a look at the lawrence shot, the only shot i can find is the LAWRENCE CHILLED SHOT ,is that the same as the Lawrence premium shot
Daniel
I don't know as I don't use Lead Shot myself.
You might call or e-mail Lawrence and ask them how much arsenic is in their different shots.
They don't seem to list the arsenic content on their website.
http://lawrencebrandshot.com/
26 December 2012, 14:25
Don Edwardsquote:
Originally posted by M 98:
LW thanks
D
i had a look at the lawrence shot, the only shot i can find is the LAWRENCE CHILLED SHOT ,is that the same as the Lawrence premium shot
Daniel
The "HARD" Lawrence shot referred to is in the BLACK bag, labelled "magnum". Lawrence "Standard" shot is in a red bag and won't add much to your alloy.
26 December 2012, 17:27
M 98DON
thanks much appreciated
02 January 2013, 23:41
50 CalshtrDan,
I don't know what the alloy of your down under wheel weights might be but here in the states I use clip on weights and water cool the bullets right out of the mould as soon as the sprue hardens. I'm shooting gaschecked 420 gr bullets out of my 425 WR at 2150 fps with no problems. May want to give it a try and save the fancy mixing.
Best
03 January 2013, 00:57
SmokinJDepends what you want to use the bullets for. If for hunting and any type of good expansion you don't want to use 50/50 wheel weights and lino type. A better alloy for that is 50/50 wheel weights and pure lead and either water quench it or heat treat it. Pure wheel weights isn't too bad either for expansion, but fragments more then the above alloy.
07 January 2013, 20:33
M 98Im useing 50%WW anbd 50% Lead from the range ... (22lr bullets) mix in a pound of lino and a pound of shot, this gave me a BNH of 27-30.. heat treated in 400 gn 416 bullets
07 January 2013, 22:40
SmokinJquote:
Originally posted by M 98:
Im useing 50%WW anbd 50% Lead from the range ... (22lr bullets) mix in a pound of lino and a pound of shot, this gave me a BNH of 27-30.. heat treated in 400 gn 416 bullets
That's sounds about right on the BHN. What are you shooting with those bullets? I find the larger caliber bullets don't have to be as hard as the smaller caliber ones especially at the higher velocities.
08 January 2013, 20:34
M 98Just punching paper, working up a load which is going to be eqivalent to my load for jacketed bullets, for practice more then anything else...its a lot more pleasant shooting the 416 with cast proj then with swifts or TSX s which cost $110 for 50....an afternoon shooting session gets pretty ugly after burning up a few boxes of swifts
08 January 2013, 21:12
SmokinJquote:
Originally posted by M 98:
Just punching paper, working up a load which is going to be eqivalent to my load for jacketed bullets, for practice more then anything else...its a lot more pleasant shooting the 416 with cast proj then with swifts or TSX s which cost $110 for 50....an afternoon shooting session gets pretty ugly after burning up a few boxes of swifts
Sound great then, enjoy.