Lead hardness test kits

[BubbaDX]

Anyone have experience with lead hardness test kits? There are several out there, some more expensive than others. I found one made by Lee Precision that was under $70 shipped to my house. I watched a couple Youtube videos and it looks fairly simple to use. It should give me an decent idea what the hardness of my lead stash really is.

 

[SkipD]

I've never measured the hardness of the alloys I've used even though I could take them to any number of heat treat shops where I worked as an instrumentation contractor to have checked. I simply checked the performance of a batch of alloy before going whole-hog making bullets from it. I have always had some tin pellets around to add if I needed to increase the hardness and some pure lead if I wanted it softer.

 

[RICHGCOOP]

Years ago to test the hardness of bullets from different batches I would put two in the Vice nose to nose and squeeze them down. The one that mushrooms the most is a softer of the two.

RICHGCOOP



DROID3 - Tap talk

 

[Denny4kids]

Here is a site that has always had the info I needed: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/

At work we have a cool tool that is used to check the hardness of steel. It has never been used, Mercedes sent it to us years ago. You place it in position and a weighted rod is dropped. You then measure the divot the tool has made. Those Germans! I may bring some lead projectiles to work and see if it works on soft materials. It' a really small tool, 150mm or so.

I compete with 147gr 9mm flat point coated lead projectiles. The coating reduces leading and keep the lead off my fingers. My seating die doesn't get gunked up with lube as coated bullets are lube free. The best part is my weapon doesn't smoke as much at my once a month indoor match.

Some shooters coat their own with powder coat dust. They mix the powder with lacquer thinner and shake the bullets in the mix to coat them. They spread them out and let the thinner evaporate then bake to harden the coating.

This summer I plan to gear up and start casting 1oz slugs for my shotty. One 3gun match we used 30 slugs...that gets expensive. Den

 

[BubbaDX]

I did some tests with Lee's lead hardness test kit last night and it's pretty simple to use. I tested a few ingots from each box I purchased and my samples ranged from 12.5 BNH to 16.6 BNH. The ingots were pretty consistent per box for what they tested.

 

[RICHGCOOP]

Have you cast any Bullets yet.

RICHGCOOP



DROID3 - Tap talk

 

[BubbaDX]

I had planned to cast a couple pounds of bullets today but the day got away from me. Tomorrow is supposed to be fairly warm so i am planning to try casting tomorrow. We'll see

 

[SkipD]

I had planned to cast a couple pounds of bullets today but the day got away from me. Tomorrow is supposed to be fairly warm so i am planning to try casting tomorrow. We'll see

One thing you're going to find out is that in order to get good quality bullets, both the metal and the mold have to be at the proper temperature. This is achieved by making a mess of lousy bullets that you'll put back into the pot. The speed at which you work also figures into the equation. Ultimately, you need to find the proper balance of metal temperature in the pot and how fast you work to keep producing fully formed bullets with good clean sprues on the base of the bullets.

It will take you a while to figure out the proper temperature for your pot and how long it takes to get the mold to the proper temperature plus the best production rate. These figures can be different for each mold that you use. I suggest you keep a notebook handy.

 

[BubbaDX]

A notebook will be handy because I know it will take some trial and error to get a nice looking bullet. So far I have cast round ball and conical slugs for black powder firearms, but this is my first time casting for smokeless powder. I know its going to need to be a little more precise. If I give it a shot today, Ill post my initial results.

 

[SkipD]

Do you have a temperature indicator for the lead temperature? I went one step further and rigged up an electronic industrial temperature controller to control my lead pot at whatever temperature I dialed into it. I was in the industrial process control business and happened to have a few surplus controllers and temperature sensors lying around as junk so the price was right (0$). PM me if you need something like this.

 

[blitzfike]

I use the Lee hardness tester to set my large batches of alloy, then I just cast ingots and use them until I need to do it again. Skip I'd like some info on what thermo couple you used in the pot, I have a couple of controllers that I got for another project that should work fine for the lead pot. When first starting to cast I often set the mold on top of the pot to let it heat as the lead gets to temp. Most of my casting today is with Lee 6 cavity aluminum molds, but I still have a variety of cast iron molds from two to 8 cavity. They are easier for me to maintain temp with, but so darn heavy for my old hands that they are relegated to the back of the casting bench most of the time.

 

[SkipD]

Skip I'd like some info on what thermo couple you used in the pot, I have a couple of controllers that I got for another project that should work fine for the lead pot.

Bear in mind that I was working in the industrial controls systems business when I put together my system so I was able to find surplus industrial grade materials to use.

The thermocouple type that I used is a Type K (Chromel/Alumel) thermocouple in a 1/8" diameter 304 stainless sheath with mineral insulation inside the sheath (called a Megopak assembly by Honeywell, my former employer). The element is about 12" long and has a quick-connect plug mounted on the end where I connect a cord to it. The other end of the cord goes to an instrument that can measure temperature with a Type K thermocouple.

The thermocouple is mounted in a way that puts the tip (where the temperature is actually measured) slightly above the lead furnace's discharge valve. With the sensor mounted this way, I know the actual temperature of the lead that will be discharged into my mold.

This type of thermocouple assembly is sold by several manufacturers and readily available through vendors like Omega. Call them and they can easily help spec a sensor for you.

Of course, you will need an instrument that can measure temperature with a thermocouple. These days there are several electronics multimeters (which typically are used to measure volts/amps/ohms) which have the ability to measure temperature using a (typically Type K) thermocouple.

 

[Liberty]

I cast a boolit and wait for it to cool. Then I chew it like a piece of gum for 10 minutes. If the corners are deformed but you can still see the lube grooves it is good to go in a handgun.

I joke, I joke.

 

[blitzfike]

Bear in mind that I was working in the industrial controls systems business when I put together my system so I was able to find surplus industrial grade materials to use.

The thermocouple type that I used is a Type K (Chromel/Alumel) thermocouple in a 1/8" diameter 304 stainless sheath with mineral insulation inside the sheath (called a Megopak assembly by Honeywell, my former employer). The element is about 12" long and has a quick-connect plug mounted on the end where I connect a cord to it. The other end of the cord goes to an instrument that can measure temperature with a Type K thermocouple.

The thermocouple is mounted in a way that puts the tip (where the temperature is actually measured) slightly above the lead furnace's discharge valve. With the sensor mounted this way, I know the actual temperature of the lead that will be discharged into my mold.

This type of thermocouple assembly is sold by several manufacturers and readily available through vendors like Omega. Call them and they can easily help spec a sensor for you.

Of course, you will need an instrument that can measure temperature with a thermocouple. These days there are several electronics multimeters (which typically are used to measure volts/amps/ohms) which have the ability to measure temperature using a (typically Type K) thermocouple.

Thanks Skip, I have a couple of multi-meters that will read K type thermocouples, but I also have a couple of temperature controllers that take K type TC's as well. One I used on my tempering oven, and the other I was going to use on one of my kilns. You can get the Chinese controllers for anywhere from 25 bucks to a hundred fifty or so. Sometimes the quality isn't much different either. Right now on the Kiln, I'm working with about 2100 degrees F max. It never occurred to me to put one on the lead pot. We get blind spots in the simplest areas sometimes. Thanks

 

[SkipD]

Thanks Skip, I have a couple of multi-meters that will read K type thermocouples, but I also have a couple of temperature controllers that take K type TC's as well. One I used on my tempering oven, and the other I was going to use on one of my kilns. You can get the Chinese controllers for anywhere from 25 bucks to a hundred fifty or so. Sometimes the quality isn't much different either. Right now on the Kiln, I'm working with about 2100 degrees F max. It never occurred to me to put one on the lead pot. We get blind spots in the simplest areas sometimes. Thanks

I am using a surplus Honeywell UDC-4000 temperature controller as both a temperature indicator and as a fairly sophisticated controller.

The output of the controller drives a solid state relay that turns the power to the lead furnace on and off. The controller is configured to use a time proportional control mode (meaning that the power to the heaters can be on from 0% to 100% of a programmable time interval such as 10 seconds). This way, the lead temperature in the pot stays much more constant than it does with the simple on-off switching of the furnace's built-in controller.