I have acquired some foundry cast ingots (<40 lb) foundry stamped “2 7 91” which I presume is the tin/antimony/lead makeup. What BHN do I have?
Sometime within the past year I read an article describing a method of finding approximate BHN of a sample ingot using a drill press and a bathroom scale. Have turned my “library” of gun mags upside down and can't find the dang thing now that I want to use it. Can anybody help?
Wes
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Without having my reference stuff with me on the road I will take a stab at it and say what you have is about Lyman #2 alloy and I believe that ran between 14 and 18 bhn if my feeble memory is functioning..
I would see what a few others have to say before commiting to that number though..
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Check this out
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Without having my reference stuff with me on the road I will take a stab at it and say what you have is about Lyman #2 alloy and I believe that ran between 14 and 18 bhn if my feeble memory is functioning..
I would see what a few others have to say before commiting to that number though.. Isn't #2 5-5-90? Seems there would be a noticeable difference. And when an alloy is defined that way, x-x-xx, is it tin-anti-lead or anti-tin-lead? -Don
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Do note I use the word “about” because even though it is not the exact composition alloy it is closer to Lyman #2 than to Lino or anything else. Maybe Taracorp would be closer.. Again “ABOUT” as in close to but not exactly....
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Sorry, I did not mean to sound picky, and yes I did see the “about” in your post. I just thought 2-7 and 5-5 seemed pretty far apart. Maybe not with regards to hardness though...
And about my question, which number is tin and which is antimony? I'm guessing 2-7 means 2% tin and 7% antimony. -Don
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Wes
The information I have says foundry type contains copper, which is bad for casting bullets. However it can be removed by the “freeze out” method. The melting point of copper is much higher than lead. Raise the temp just enough to melt the alloy and let it set; the copper will collect on the surface. THen skim off the copper. It would probably be a good idea to do this a couple of times.
cityboy
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Jim,
Have you gotten this methodology to work? I read Dennis Marshall's article years ago and tried it, as I have about 50 pounds of high speed babbit metal. I have even tried it with a digital control and I get freeze out of copper only mixed with antimony crystals. It kind out worked, but I ended up with about 25% of the antimony being skimmed off with the copper. Tell me more!
Ric
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Ric
Sorry, but I can't give you anymore info because I got mine from the same source. I m on the CB-L list and tomorrow I will try to find out more about.
Jim
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I have acquired some foundry cast ingots (<40 lb) foundry stamped “2 7 91” which I presume is the tin/antimony/lead makeup. What BHN do I have?
Could that be a date code? Feb 7 1991? Foundry type would be a different composition. An alloy of 91-2-7 would be close to 92-2-6 for content and hardness.
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I believe that 92-2-6 is what Taracorp sells as Magnum alloy. It might be a variant of that.
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We could always refer to Joe Brennan's new “BOOK” since he has all of the answers in it....:sbox:
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The stuff I have is foundry cast ingots; ingots cast by a foundry that specializes in alloying non-ferrous metals - NOT foundry type. It was produced recently, so the stamp refers to the alloy, not the date. I believe it was produced as part of a much larger order, for an outfit that casts pistol bullets commercially. I merely wondered what BHN that particular alloy would give me.
Apparently, I'm the only guy who participates in this forum who saw the article I referred to regarding testing for BHN with a drill press and a bathroom scale, because nobody answered that question.
And finally, Jeff, quit picking on Brennan. He seems to have been pretty quiet lately - please try not to stir him up.
Wes
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Wasnt trying to stir him up, just mentioning his book has all of the answers thats all. I dont have the files on my laptop here in AZ, and my memory aint what it used to be. I remember an eariler discussion Joe was involved in about this subject and something close to the taracorp magnumand how the relationship of the percentages of the metals in a given alloy couldnt be used to determine the bhn of the alloy, or something like that....
Nope I dont want to stir him up, hopefully he is out enjoying the cooler weather and getting some shooting in....
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Wes,
I know the article you are referring to. However I seem to recall that it was in “Handloaders Digest” about 15 - 20 years ago? It works by comparing sizes of dimples made by a stylus onto a flat surface. The same priciple that Lee now uses.
Taracorp Magnum alloy of 2/6/92 has a BHn of 15, 30 days after casting when air cooled.
Ric in Yakima
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Wes,
I know the article you are referring to. However I seem to recall that it was in “Handloaders Digest” about 15 - 20 years ago? It works by comparing sizes of dimples made by a stylus onto a flat surface. The same priciple that Lee now uses.
Ric in Yakima
There is a similar one in in “The Art of Bullet Casting” by Wolfe Publishing.It was a compilation of Handloader Magazine articles on casting from the 1960's &70's.A pretty good book to own.
Geo.
"if it was easy we'd let women do it" don't tell my wife I said that!
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Looked it up in the old Cast Bullet book from the NRA. Basically you need a sample of pure lead and a ball bearing preferably of about 1/2” to 1” diameter. Squeeze it between the 2 samples in a vise and not to more than 1/4” depth as compared to the diameter. You can measure the indentations with a vernier caliper (a magnifying glass helps). The sample is assumed to be 5 BHN.
Then divide the larger indent by the smaller and square the result and multiply this by 5. If you're careful measuring it should be with 1 BHN + or - which ought to be close enough.
for example measurements of .210” and .103"
210/103 = 2.0388349
2.0388349 squared = 4.1568477
4.1568477 x 5 = 20.78 BHN
Should put you in the ball park.
As a side note years ago I asked a buddy where a 1” ball bearing could be obtained and he happened to have one in his pocket, which was odd even considering the fact that Joe was a bit odd himself. I've got to look and see where I stuck that thing, haven't used it in years!
Mike
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7/2 is very close in hardness to 5050 ww/lyno. Its a great alloy and should test out at about 18 bhn.
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