Lead, wonderful lead

[hotfxr]

A friend of mine (yes I do have one or two that will admit it) had been stockpiling lead thinking he would make him up some homemade bullets for his many modern guns. well he is in his 80's now and decided the reloading just wasn't going to happen so he asked me if I had any use for it.     I told him I could think of something to do with it. Now I'm not totally sure how to proceed. I now am the proud new owner of about 200 pounds of nice clean Linotype inserts and ingots. I read what I could find here and a couple of other forums and there is no definitive answer out there about yeas or nay for PBR's.

So correct me if I am wrong, but this is my take on it. The patching is what fills the rifling and since I have used solid brass balls with no ill effects on any barrels I put them through, I think I should be fine as long as I patch them. I don't really hunt anymore (this is still Kallifornia where hunting is a cardinal sin) and other than one pesky neighbor, all my projectiles are going into inanimate objects, such as targets, telephone poles, that pesky guys car, the vineyard frost fan that lights off every time it gets cold, things like that.

Since the cannon now shoots skirted projectiles Should I dilute it by melting it with some of my pure lead? Does that even work, melting them together? Now that RB  has become a teacher and all that goes with it, will he ever return to being a regular participant on this forum?

[flintboomer]

Although your linotype is officially TOO HARD you can just cast it up and shoot it anyway.
NOTE: It will cast a little larger than soft lead but it will still work in your muzzleloaders.

Even tho' you are patching it, it will add more wear to your barrel than soft lead. Nothing to worry about, it isn't a lot more, so just shoot it and don't worry about it.

[beowulf]

just remember copper is a lot harder !  both will cause a bit of wear , but are you putting thousands of rounds through your guns every year ? if not I would`nt worry !

[hotfxr]

In truth, with the three rifles I shoot most, they only get a few dozen shots a year. So I won't worry about it for now. I'll just luxuriate in the joy of having more lead hanging around to annoy my neighbors.

[Patocazador]

If you happen to own any suppository firearms, cast the hard stuff for them and keep the soft stuff for your muzzleloaders.

If, however, you don't have any unmentionables, you may wish to pack up the linotype and ship it to me. That way Commiefornia can't prosecute (or is it persecute?) you for having hazardous material within its precious borders.

[William]

As has been mentioned, linotype and anything less than pure lead will cast larger because whether it be tin or antimony, those metals are less dense than lead. For punching paper you simply need to measure the RB diameter and find the right thickness for patch material. You will of course need to know you rifle's bore dimensions too, both lands and grooves.
Now, if accuracy and terminal performance are issues then you may want to use pure lead or add pure lead to your stock of linotype. The addition of tin makes lead flow better and if you are casting bullets, especially those with lube grooves, a small percentage of tin is desirable. If you need to harden your cast bullets then the addition of antimony is required. Folks shooting cast bullets at velocities of more than about 1200 fps that have side meplats need the extra hardness to reduce leading and ensure penetration; that terminal performance I mentioned earlier. Now, when shooting PRB the diameter is an important factor that dictates the patch thickness and the relationship between the two is the key to accuracy. With accuracy you can put the ball in the kill some but what about terminal performance? Pure soft lead will ensure that the ball expands and increases the wound channel. Sudden loss of blood pressure deprives the brain of oxygen and leads to a quick and humane kill. What if the ball strikes bone? This is where it gets interesting and leads to debate. Too much tin and the RB breaks apart after hitting bone. But how much is too much? A hard lead/antimony bullet can shatter when striking something solid, which is great when shooting a steel plate at 7 yards, like the CAS folks do. But that ammo is limited to 900 fps or less at the muzzle. Not desirable for shooting deer with, but maybe when casting .32-.40 cal RB for hunting tree rats and bunnies?
Solid brass RB have been shown to be accurate, game killers and reusable too but because they are lighter than pure lead the down range energy is less. Since they do not deform or expand, or shatter on bone are they better than lead?

I hope this leads to further discussion as well as correction if I have misstated anything because I'm here to learn, share knowledge and pass on experience.

Also, the banning of lead ammo in designated areas without offering alternatives by certain states makes me think that a total ban on hunting is the ultimate goal. Anyone care to comment? Or, should this be made a separate post?

[beowulf]

As has been mentioned, linotype and anything less than pure lead will cast smaller. For punching paper you simply need to measure the RB diameter and find the right thickness for patch material. You will of course need to know you rifle's bore dimensions too, both lands and grooves.
Now, if accuracy and terminal performance are issues then you may want to use pure lead or add pure lead to your stock of linotype. The addition of tin makes lead flow better and if you are casting bullets, especially those with lube grooves, a small percentage of tin is desirable. If you need to harden your cast bullets then the addition of antimony is required. Folks shooting cast bullets at velocities of more than about 1200 fps that have side meplats need the extra hardness to reduce leading and ensure penetration; that terminal performance I mentioned earlier. Now, when shooting PRB the diameter is an important factor that dictates the patch thickness and the relationship between the two is the key to accuracy. With accuracy you can put the ball in the kill some but what about terminal performance? Pure soft lead will ensure that the ball expands and increases the wound channel. Sudden loss of blood pressure deprives the brain of oxygen and leads to a quick and humane kill. What if the ball strikes bone? This is where it gets interesting and leads to debate. Too much tin and the RB breaks apart after hitting bone. But how much is too much? A hard lead/antimony bullet can shatter when striking something solid, which is great when shooting a steel plate at 7 yards, like the CAS folks do. But that ammo is limited to 900 fps or less at the muzzle. Not desirable for shooting deer with, but maybe when casting .32-.40 cal RB for hunting tree rats and bunnies?
Solid brass RB have been shown to be accurate, game killers and reusable too but because they are lighter than pure lead the down range energy is less. Since they do not deform or expand, or shatter on bone are they better than lead?

I hope this leads to further discussion as well as correction if I have misstated anything because I'm here to learn, share knowledge and pass on experience.

Also, the banning of lead ammo in designated areas without offering alternatives by certain states makes me think that a total ban on hunting is the ultimate goal. Anyone care to comment? Or, should this be made a separate post?

would have to agree , they are working on a total ban on hunting , and are also working on a total ban of all fire arms in civilian hands ! easier to push around an unarmed population !

[pilgrim]

     Even if they do confiscate all weapons,  I will always be able to get my hands on FREE weapons. 

[Hanshi]

I wouldn't worry about cannon at all; their original ammo was iron balls.  I've cast many thousands of bullets from WW (my favorite) and linotype.  I've also cast round ball from WW & other alloy.  Ball cast from alloy will be larger than the same ball cast from lead; but not as much as you might think.  Linotype will cast a bit larger than WW but not all that much.  I've fired alloy ball in my smoothbore and a couple of rifles.  I used the same patch thickness in the rifles and fired the alloy as bare ball in the smoothbore.  A .600" lead ball was .606" cast from alloy.  A .390" lead ball was about .392" cast from alloy or maybe .001" less.  No difference in accuracy was noted but my tests weren't as extensive as I'd have liked.  My last move cost me 400 lbs of lead and over 200 lbs of WW & linotype.  So no more alloy casting for me.

There will be no more bore wear with alloy ball as opposed to lead ball.  For hunting, expansion is nice but not necessary.  A .32 or .36 with no expansion is preferred for varmints and small game animals.  The larger bores do just as well on varmints and large game with non expanding ball and are superior to lead if bone is hit.  Nevertheless, I'd save most of the linotype (just me) to use in cf bullets or to mix with a little lead in cases where penetration is essential.

[flintboomer]

One of my rifles actually PREFERS harder lead, I assume because they are slightly larger than what I usually cast in pure (or nearly pure) lead.

My first rifle was used almost entirely with (hard) range lead and a light down the bore showed wear on one side (only) of the rifling and I have never seen that on anything else since I switched to pure lead. It still shot fine and I still wouldn't and don't hesitate to use harder lead when I need to.