I've been trying to perfect my lead mix for casting, here is the end result, for now. 454 Casull- H110 powder 29.5 gr.; NEI bullet mold casting a 312 gr. bullet using the lead mix which I have settled on with a mix of 70% wheel weight and 30% founders type.; Remington 7 1/2 primer; Winch. 1 fired case; C.O.L. 1.770" before crimp, 1.765" after crimp; Crimped moderately with Lee Factory Crimp; Case was not trimmed because there was nothing to trim; Lee Liquid Alox Lube applied to bullets; Results- 1 round was fired into compressed, alternating layers, of newspaper and cardboard, placed into a box and taped with duct tape to maintain compression, then soaked in water for 2 days. Bullet penetrated all 18" of compressed material and lodged 1/2" into a 4x4 pole behind the material. Very little, if any, expansion is noted. Bullet started out at 312 gr. in weight and after firing and recovering still weighed in at 287 gr., loss of 25 gr. in weight, not bad. ***Avg. velocity for 9 shots was 1,627 fps, extreme spread was 48 fps., avg. deviation was 13.6 fps, ft. lbs. of energy was 1,834 ft. lbs.*** I made another target, this one was @3" of newspaper, compressed and soaked, followed by a 1/2" piece of plywood, then @16" of compressed and soaked newspaper/carboard, followed by another piece of 1/2" plywood as the final obstacle, all of this was compressed into a single target. The plywood was also soaked for the same duration as the paper, 2 days. The first round went all the way through everything, but only dented the last piece of ply wood. The second shot stuck in the last piece of ply wood, and the 3rd shot went all the way through. I attribute the last shots penetration to the fact that even though the bullets all went through a different section of the target, the first two shot most likely loosened things up enough that the 3rd shot completely penetrated the whole target. I dont think I can ask for better than that, considering I had no bullet expansion, not so you would notice anyway, and my final bullet weights were 289, 290, and 293 grains, and this is starting with a bullet weight of 312 grains. So I guess a mixture of 70% wheel weight and 30% founders type works pretty well. I believe the lead mixture is a keeper! I have no idea what the accuracy is, I was not testing that, I was going for internal ballistic figures, velocity, and bullet performance on my test medium. I'm a happy camper.
BER007, I shoot a Ruger Super Redhawk with a 9.5" barrel. I have not tryed any other bullets in my reloads yet, I think I'm going to stick with just one bullet for now, as I really cant afford to buy all the molds I'd like to have. The NEI mold was something like $102.00, and thats a lot of money to me. I would try commercial bullets, but I guess I'm just stubborn about making my own, not only to save money, but for the knowledge of knowing I did it myself.
