I finished up a batch of 9 mm cast lead, powder coated 130 gr. HP loads I ran on my new to me Lee 4 hole turret press. I have a couple of hundred loaded up now and will be casting more tomorrow. The bullet is a NOE 135 gr. HTC design cast from 2 parts pure lead and 1 part clip on WW's powder coated with Eastwood Silver Vein, cured at 400 degrees for 20 minutes after powder flow out and sized to .357"
A couple of recovered bullets fired into 4 layers of denim and larger water jugs.
COWW or clip on wheel weights used for balancing tires, they generally run around 12 BHN in air coled ingot or bullet form, sometime a little harder or softer depending on what region of the country they come from. In the old days I could get buckets full just for the asking, these days not so much but they are still out there but lots of steel and zinc weight mixed in with the good lead weights.
Those are pretty. They can't be hard cast though, if they're expanding like that, they have to be a bit softer on the Brinell scale to get that kind of expansion. Either way, I like those a lot.
Lead wheel weights contain around 1% tin and sometimes 2.5-3.5 % antimony, both of which harden the lead. The tin also makes the lead wheel weights more corrosion resistant to road salts.
Unfortunatly, lead wheel weights are becoming rare as the EPA trys to eleminate lead.
I just finished up smelting COWWs and transferred the ingots to a steel bucket. I'm around 160 or so pounds left after casting a bunch (about 500 I'm guessing) of 230 gr .452's and about 200 160 gr .309s. These are dropping in water to about 18 BRN.
Very nice indeed. Have to say though that at this point I'm not bold enough to try hollow point. I'm just now getting my 45acp bullets worked out. Oh, and haven't tried coating yet either.
The expansion looks to be optimal for cast bullets, I wouldn't mess with success. If they expand and stay flat right down to the bottom of the cavity. They double in caliber. They do not split or peel or lose a chunk of the nose, they are just about right. You are trying for expanding bullets, not fragmenting bullets.
The 9 mm bullets were the last on my list to have my own cast lead HP's for all my handgun calibers. I already have cast lead bullets that expand well in my 38/357 loads as well as 45 ACP. My first batch of 9 mm HP bullets did okay but tended to fragment some as my alloy was a bit too hard but I got that fixed on the second try.
Can't say that I have ever had any feed problems worth mentioning with cast bullets in my semi autos. I'm shooting a Romanian PA-63 in 9 × 18 MAK, CANIK TP9SA in 9 mm, a Ruger P-90DC in 45 ACP and a Hi Point 45 ACP carbine. Some issues that cause feed problem is rough feed ramps, bullet nose profile and how it feeds from the magazine to the feed ramp and if you finished cartridge passes the chamber plunk test, if any one of those is wrong you're going to have feed and or chambering issues or both. If a semi auto want feed factory FMJ ammo then there is a problem with the gun or magazine one.
I was over at my friends house yesterday doing so shooting and we were running our cast loads in several semi-auto handguns including all mine above as well as a couple SIG P3226 in stainless and blue in 45 ACP as well as a Ruger LCP in 9 mm and even and old ASTRA 9 mm to test out a couple new mags he had bought and everything fed a functioned fine.
The majority of bullets I shoot in my semi's are either TC or RN designs all bullets are powder coated as well which is pretty slick and probable adds to the reliably of feeding but I've shot several of them in the past just using traditional lube as well with no feed problems.
Here are my big old 45 ACP HP's
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