50-70 Alloy Hardness

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rcbloom2 posted this 07 September 2026

Hi, long time member, casting for 50 years. I have a question. What is the hardness of the 50-70 bullet? It cannot be pure lead? What is the percentage of pure, vice the amount of tin? Thank you!

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JeffinNZ posted this 07 September 2026

Why can't it be pure lead? 

My bet is 40/1.  

Cheers from New Zealand

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steveu posted this 07 September 2026

I don’t know about the 50–70, but the army settled on 16 to 1 for the 45–70 500 grain bullet.

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RicinYakima posted this 07 September 2026

I have two 50/70's I have been shooting for over 20 years. I started with my standard WW's + 2% tin, but that was too hard. Then 20/1, then 30/1 and now 40/1. Every time the bullets were softer, the better the groups became. I tried pure lead, but with the dies that I have, Lyman, the bullets were deformed by the time they were seated. FWIW 

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JimF posted this 07 September 2026

What are your rifles?

Springfield? Sharps? other?

I have three . . . .

Sharps carbine (conversion w/ barrel liner)

Springfield Trapdoor M1870

Springfield M1870 Rolling Block U. S. Navy

I handload pure lead . . . .and don’t worry about deformed bullet nose.

I suppose I could add a pound of linotype to the pot, but I’m not fussy about groups.

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RicinYakima posted this 08 September 2026

That is the difference; mine is a Schutzen Rifle Company and a C. Sharps Arms. I shoot them in matches, with 24 grains of SR4759. 

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Jeff Michel posted this 3 weeks ago

That is the difference; mine is a Schutzen Rifle Company and a C. Sharps Arms. I shoot them in matches, with 24 grains of SR4759. 

I've been using  30 grains IMR 4198 and either a 425 or 450 grain bullet @ 1100 fps. What bullet weight an velocity are you getting with the 4759?

Thanks

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rcbloom2 posted this 3 weeks ago

Thank you. Someone said that they tried pure lead and the results were not optimal.

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RicinYakima posted this 3 weeks ago

450 grain Hoch replica of the origninal bullet. Velocity is an average of 1050 f/s. 

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