The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Guns, Politics, Gunsmithing & Reloading Cast Bullets Copper Alloy CastGo | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
| Copper Alloy Cast | Login/Join |
| One of Us |
Okay after talking to EDD and LAMAR I finally blended up a batch and cast. I used "put the copper into tin method" and had no problem what so ever melting it in. I did use some 60 year old soldering flux that I got from my dad and it seemed to help the melting in. So I took this little ingot of copper tin and blended it in my pot with 15 pounds or so of basically a tad harder alloy of 50/50. The bullets cast well and filled out well. They also dropped right out of the mould. Speaking of which some of the casters of the 30 silhouette mould on the CB forum are having trouble with a few cavities not wanting to release the bullet. Now my 22 NATO started to do that and the reason was the sprue plate became a tad lose. I tightened down the pivot screw where it was originally set and locked it having no further trouble. So those of you that are having problems might check that. Also don't run your alloy too hot. I cast those bullets on the 10th. Right after casting I measured them. They dropped from the mould at .225. The next day they were .2255, and on the 11 they were .226. I didn't measure them today which is the 12th. I have sized and lubed some I couldn't really say if you could tell any difference sizing them compared to my regular 50/50 alloy because of the small diameter bullet. I can say I really had to whack the sprue plate hard to cut the sprues so will say that was definitely a difference from 50/50 alloy. Now letting them age so I can test them out in that fast twist Colt HBAR. | ||
|
| One of Us |
Joe you gonna be rich. Price of copper is high. The way those bullets are growing, they'll weigh 10 pounds each by summer. Think I'll cast up some using pure copper and maybe a couple out of gold. Wont do any silver ones as we don't have any werewolves in this part of Texas. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Yeah if you have and shoot silver bullets an Indian will follow you around! lol | |||
|
| new member |
SmokinJ; any idea of the % copper you have in this alloy, and do your bullets cast with your normal alloy grow like these do? Elmer | |||
|
| One of Us |
Less then 1/4 percent. On growing let me tell you that the plain 50/50 alloy makes very noticeable growth changes. Here's some pics miking those 22 NATO bullet: 22 NATO | |||
|
| new member |
That is an extremely small percentage, but if it gives your alloy the desired properties so much the better. I take it that the addition of copper is to toughen the alloy up for acceleration down the barrel with minimized deformation of the projectile. With the current prices of jacketed bullets being able to get jacketed performance with cast is quite a boon. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Joe--People solder copper using blow torches and propane torches---and don't melt the copper. Melting point is 1984F which is way higher than casting temperature. You aren't melting copper with normal casting equipment. Cutting torch?? | |||
|
| One of Us |
EDD, I know you'll read or get news of this post from the two little snitches on this forum. Anyways I just read your post and now you're back to saying there is evident that it may take up to 6 months for copper alloy to age. In emails you told me that 3 months should be plenty enough. Which is now? One would have to cast all his bullet styles and calibers that he intends to use the copper alloy in by literally thousands if he has to wait 6 months to even begin to shoot them. With all the people fooling with this alloy on CB and for quite some time now one would think someone would have a definite aging answer by now. I just measured those 22 NATO bullets five minutes again and now they are .227 | |||
|
| One of Us |
joe i am waiting to see what scott does with that alloy he made up with .9 and .8 copper from the sulphide method. there is some growth then stabilization. it's also why i mentioned using the low copper amounts and the waiting period. there is something that goes on here,i keep getting all kinds of conflicting reports about time, and copper amounts,and growth and lack of it. | |||
|
one of us |
SmokinJ the 22Nato linky no workie.  Doug Humbarger NRA Life member Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club 72'73. Yankee Station Try to look unimportant. Your enemy might be low on ammo. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Yeah. I used 1/4 % or less per your instructions and I'm monitoring it to see where it stabilizes at. Then I'll shoot it and we'll see if it does better in the 7 twist then the 50/50 does. I sure as hell don't want to wait 6 months. Heck the black POTUS many have our guns by then! I hope not. | |||
|
| One of Us |
i wanna get a handle on this stuff too. i have that 7 twist 6-H. and the cherry for the hybrid saeco/rcbs mold was ordered for it today. i want to start on it after some more work with the AR-30. i bumped the load for it some more, but it's been in the minus temps here lately. i am gonna have that wildcat coming probably this summer or late fall and if it comes first, the 6-H is gonna be put on the back burner for sure. i can fall back on what works now but i'd sure like to make another step forward if possible. | |||
|
| new member |
SmokinJ; so you're saying these copper alloyed bullets have grown .002" in 3 days, that's a bunch. I can see where this could be beneficial if a person had a mold that cast too small, especially on the nose, driving bands could keep be sized back until alloy stabilized. Did you do any hardness testing, I mean air cooled and water dropped right after casting, then in daily increments.I do agree 6 months would be a long time to wait for age up, I see Lamar post here but no posts by Edd? Elmer | |||
|
| One of Us |
I think EDD is Erectile Dysfunctional Dick and if so I could see how he would be shy about posting. | |||
|
| new member |
? That seems inappropiate for a discussion about cast bullet alloys, I don't understand. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Has been mentioned that EDD has not logged in. I really don't know who EDD is--was just my guess. He might be hibernating in a house trailer in Montana for all I know. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Or Even an All Hat,NO cattle,hero from Texas...Nate | |||
|
| new member |
Are you guys having fun? From what I've seen so far, this forum has little to offer since many of you are legends in you own minds. Edd | |||
|
| one of us |
What a great first post....... you must be proud of that witty response. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Careful,now,45 2.1's next move might be to call you down for Un-Christianlike behavior..Nate | |||
|
| new member |
Thank you Bob for proving my point. Edd | |||
|
| One of Us |
Natedon'taskdon'ttell---Could be a military cop(wannabee cop) from WV that walks around B-52 in either hot or cold weather and makes sure nobody steals them. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Let's keep this thread on track. Fight in pm. EDD I measured those bullets today and they have slowed down. I got maybe a couple ten thousandths over .227. Previously they've been growing anywhere from .0005 to .001 a day. | |||
|
| new member |
Joe, A little back round is in order I think. I have mixed alloys that stabilized by 30 days and others that seemed to change just a little for up to 60 days. I believe I mentioned 3 months to either you or Bob which was me being a little conservative for safety sake. ANOTHER individual said his alloy didn't stabilize until nearly 6 months. I'd guess you'll see little if any growth after another week or two at most, BUT I have been wrong before. One thing that sucks is I am a bit confused by some stuff I've read as to what elements should be balanced against what other elements. Edd | |||
|
| One of Us |
EDD, That's sounds like a plan to me. I'm going to measure them every day down to the ten thousandths and see when they basically come to a stop. I'll note the days and use the 50/50 aging time as a basis. I'll try to compare hardness to some very well aged 50/50 ones I have. | |||
|
| One of Us |
that's one of the other things i have seen is the hardness. it's somewhat there quickly then it lags behind and comes up slower. but achieves the final hardness the regular alloy would. it has to do somehow with the copper matrix forming and the antimony/tin chain doing it's thing at the same time. i wonder if an oven treatment wouldn't help things along better. i'd think a 2 hr soak at 200-f would maybe speed things along. | |||
|
| One of Us |
I tried that over soak on 50/50 alloy and it did hardened it in a faster time, but as time when on they went back. | |||
|
| new member |
SmokinJ I hope you mean down to the ONE ten thousandths of an inch, ten thousandths isn't nearly close enough a measurement for ammunition/bullets. Elmer | |||
|
| One of Us |
Saved  | |||
|
| new member |
sue happy, entitled little twat saved | |||
|
| new member |
From what I've read here this Edd guy has more knowledge in his little finger than you, Bobby and the Texas clown have combined. | |||
|
| new member |
BJ, how fitting  | |||
|
Administrator |
 Don | |||
|
| One of Us |
Don: how is nate still a member here?? 28 posts and not a single one that has contributed anything to a thread. nothing. not even a question. just a "new guy" making personal attacks on anyone involved with a thread in this section and nothing on topic. even the junk he posted in the 375 win thread was just bragging about owning a few rifles. what a waste of electricity and time. it's no wonder there are no topics or traffic here except a few attemppts at some decent discussions. they all get ruined by 1-2 guy's just throwing personal attacks out on anybody trying to learn something new or explore new options. maybe i'm out of line pointing this out on open forum, but it sure is getting old. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Joe, What brand hardness tester are you using or going to use to measure the hardness of those little .22cal bullets? Thanks | |||
|
| One of Us |
Well,let's compare my latest two post re:375 Win.with what you had to say earlier re.that cartridge,and Don can assign a relative value..But then ,WTH,it wasn't about Dan Wesson revolvers and how many who owns,was it??..!!! While researching backgrounds I found this gem in the archived stuff here: "Hell,If Rich had a shoot, I'd drive over just to meet him'" By "lamar",10-5-09...The" Rich " you spoke of then,is aka "Idaho Sharpshooter"..I guess one or the other of you has had an "awakening" since..BTW: THERE is NO ONE @ either Lothar Walther website that will buy into being the "C.E.O" that doesn't want any barrel bizness from competitve riflemen..Probably doesn't surprise anyone born before last night...Nate | |||
|
| One of Us |
nate i have also invited rich to come over here. i fail to see your post as anything other than another lame attempt at starting another arguement. i'd still drive to twin falls to see him. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Mr. Williams, why are you such a bitter old man? | |||
|
| One of Us |
Sixth day from casting and the bullets are now .2273 | |||
|
| One of Us |
Below is a micrograph take at 125x of lead-tin alloy composed of two phases. The light colored regions are a tin-rich phase and the dark colored regions are a lead-rich phase.  | |||
|
| Powered by Social Strata | Page 1 2 |
 | Please Wait. Your request is being processed... |
|
Visit our on-line store for AR Memorabilia