|
The Base Metals. All clip-on wheel
weight (CWW) recipes and percentages used in these recipes are based on the
assumption that CWW has 2% Sb and 0.5% Sn plus a trace of arsenic (As).
Additional tin in the below recipes added as pure bar tin.
My batch of CWW (several batches blended together for a single uniform batch)
with 2% Sn added tests 11-12 BHN. |
|
All stick-on (tape weights)
(SWW) recipes and percentages used in these recipes are based
on the assumption that SWW has 0% Sb and 0.5% Sn. SWW has no
arsenic
(As), it will HT with Sb added (Pb/Sb alloy) but not to the same extent as
an Pb/Sb/As alloy.
Additional tin in the below recipes added as pure bar tin.
My batch of SWW (several batches blended
together for a uniform single batch) tests 6 BHN. |
|
The
percentages of WW alloy are assumptions because wheel weight alloy is scrap
metal, there is no exact formula for making the weights and
percentages vary not only from company to company but even from
batch to batch within the same manufacturer as the price of and
availability of raw materials change. By using these "assumed"
percentages your alloy will be reasonably close to the below recipes
even with some variability with your wheel weight alloy. |
|
All of the below recipes use either clip-on or stick-on wheel
weight as the base metal. These recipes are but a minor sampling of what
alloys Super Hard can be blended into, get out your wizards' cap and calculator and
see what you can create to better suit your shooting needs. For the most part the below recipes were
designed to allow me to experiment with final air cooled hardness,
the aging time curve, as cast diameters, compare the differences and
test to see what useful range 6 BHN SWW could be while keeping the
Sb percentage reasonable. |
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|
|
Super Hard
/ WW Recipes |
(Where no as cast
weight or BHN given alloy not yet blended) |
Top of Page |
|
Clip-on WW - Roto Metals
Super Hard |
|
Notes |
Alloy 1 |
|
15 lb CWW / 1 lb Super
Hard |
Notes |
Alloy 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
Lead
|
107275 Gr. |
92.75%
Gr. |
--- |
Lead |
107275 Gr. |
92.75% |
Antimony
|
3904 Gr. |
3.64% |
--- |
Antimony
|
3904 Gr. |
3.64% |
Tin |
4044 Gr. |
3.77%
(9.26 ounces) |
--- |
Tin |
1930 Gr. |
1.8% (4.4
ounces) |
Total weight |
16.52 lb |
BHN, Min 3 days 15 |
--- |
Total weight |
16.225 lb |
BHN, Min 3 days
12 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Alloy 1-1 |
|
|
|
Alloy 2-1 |
|
15 lb CWW / |
|
15 lb CWW / 2 lb Super
Hard |
Lead |
|
% |
--- |
Lead |
112175 Gr. |
92.65% |
Antimony |
|
% |
--- |
Antimony |
6004 Gr. |
5.35% |
Tin |
|
% ( ounces) |
--- |
Tin |
4206.5 Gr. |
2% (5.1 ounces) |
Total weight |
lb |
BHN, Min
days |
--- |
Total weight 17.48 lb |
BHN, Min 3
days 13 |
Alloy #1 cast
with Lyman #311672 @ 160.0 Gr. (average weight) and air cooled tested 14 BHN with the LBT BHN tester on the
second day after casting - 15 BHN on day 3 - 15 BHN on day 4 - 15 BHN on day 5. |
|
Alloy #2
cast with Lyman #311672 @ 161.0 Gr. (average weight) and air cooled tested 11
BHN with the LBT BHN tester on the second day after casting - 12 BHN on day 3.
The only difference between #1 & #2 is the Sn percentage. Does additional Sn harden
the alloy? It appears so and testing this was the purpose of making #2 identical
to #1 except the Sn percentage. |
Alloy #2-1
cast with Lyman #311672 @ 159.3.0 Gr. (average weight) and air
cooled tested 13 BHN with the LBT BHN tester on the second day after
casting, in 2 weeks it remained 13 BHN, in 30 days it reached 14 BHN. Alloy #2-1 was made by adding 1 pound SH
and 313 Gr. Sn to alloy #2, the Sn added to bring the Sn % up to 2%. |
Sn % added to Pb weight. Sb % added to Pb weight. |
Trace of (As) from CWW in the above alloys. A trace of As is all that's needed for
dramatic HT results with a Pb/Sb alloy. |
1 lb CWW = 6825 Gr Pb, about 140 Gr Sb and 35 Gr Sn - 1 lb SH = 4900 Gr Pb,
2100 Gr Sb. |
|
|
Stick-on WW - Roto Metals Super Hard |
|
|
Notes |
Alloy 3 |
|
15 lb SWW / 2 lb
Super Hard |
Notes |
Alloy 4 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lead |
114275 Gr. |
92.6% |
--- |
Lead
|
114275 Gr. |
94.51% |
Antimony
|
4182 Gr. |
3.66% |
--- |
Antimony |
4182 Gr. |
3.66% |
Tin |
4056 Gr. |
3.55%
(9.3
ounces) |
--- |
Tin |
2022 Gr. |
1.77%
(4.6 ounces) |
|
Total weight |
17.5 lb |
BHN, Min days |
--- |
Total weight |
17.2 lb |
BHN, Min days |
Sn % added to Pb weight. Sb % added to Pb weight. |
1 lb SWW = 6965 Gr Pb and 35 Gr Sn
-
1 lb SH = 4900 Gr Pb, 2100 Gr Sb. |
|
|
Stick-on WW - Roto
Metals Super Hard |
Top of Page |
Notes |
Alloy 5 |
15 lb SWW / 1 & 1.5
lb Super Hard |
Notes |
Alloy 6 |
|
|
|
|
*1
Pound Super Hard |
|
1.5 Pound Super Hard |
Lead |
109375 Gr. |
96.3% |
--- |
Lead |
111825 Gr. |
95.1% |
Antimony
|
2012 Gr. |
1.84% |
--- |
Antimony
|
3153 Gr. |
2.82% |
Tin |
2056 Gr. |
1.88%
(4.7
ounces) |
--- |
Tin |
2180 Gr. |
1.95%
(5.0
ounces) |
Total weight |
16.25 lb |
BHN, Min days |
--- |
Total weight |
16.75 lb |
BHN, Min 2 days 11 |
*This
recipe is close to straight CWW Pb/Sb percentage with
about 1.5% added tin (no As when using SWW) |
Alloy #6
cast with Lyman #311672 @ 162.5 Gr. (average weight) and air cooled tested 11
BHN with the LBT BHN tester in 24 hours after casting. |
Sn % added to Pb weight. Sb % added to Pb weight. |
1 lb SWW = 6965 Gr Pb, 35 Gr Sn / 1 lb
SH = 4900 Gr Pb, 2100 Gr Sb. |
|
|
Stick-on WW - Roto
Metals Super Hard |
|
Notes |
Alloy 7 |
15 lb SWW
w/ 2 & 2.5 lb Super Hard |
Notes |
Alloy 8 |
|
|
|
|
2 Pounds Super Hard |
|
|
2.5 Pounds Super Hard |
Lead |
114275 Gr. |
94.32% |
--- |
Lead |
117775 Gr. |
93.55% |
Antimony
|
4205 Gr. |
3.68% |
--- |
Antimony
|
5241 Gr. |
4.45% |
Tin |
2285.5 Gr. |
2%
(5.2
ounces) |
--- |
Tin |
2355 Gr. |
2.0%
(5.4
ounces) |
Total weight |
17.25 lb |
BHN, Min 2 days 12 |
--- |
Total weight |
17.9 lb |
BHN, Min 2 days 13 |
Alloy #7
cast with Lyman #311672 @ 161.5 Gr. (average weight) and air cooled tested 12
BHN with the LBT BHN tester 3 days after casting. |
Alloy #8
cast with Lyman #311672 @ 161.0 Gr. (average weight) and air cooled tested 13
BHN with the LBT BHN tester 2 days after casting. Alloy #8 was made by adding
1/2 pound and 69.5 Gr. Sn (to keep the Sn percentage at 2%) to alloy #7. |
1 lb SWW = 6965 Gr Pb and 35 Gr Sn / 1 lb SH = 4900 Gr Pb,
2100 Gr Sb. |
Sn % added to Pb weight. Sb % added to Pb weight. |
Top of Page |
|
|
Alloy
9 |
Hardball From 6 BHN SWW |
|
Alloy
10 |
Lyman #2 From 6 BHN SWW |
Notes |
15 lb SWW / 3.45 lb
Super Hard |
|
Notes |
15 lb SWW / 3 lb Super
Hard |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lead |
121380 Gr. |
92% |
|
--- |
Lead |
125475 Gr. |
90% |
Antimony |
7282 Gr. |
6% |
--- |
Antimony |
6273.75 Gr. |
5% |
Tin |
2427 Gr. |
2%
(5.5
ounces) |
--- |
Tin |
6273.75 Gr. |
5% (14.3
ounces) |
Total weight |
18.75 lb |
BHN, Min 2 days |
12 |
--- |
Total weight |
19.72 lb |
BHN, Min days |
|
Alloy #9
cast with Lyman #311672 @ 161.0 Gr. (average weight)
and 12 BHN in 48 hours. |
1 lb SWW = 6965 Gr Pb and 35 Gr Sn / 1 lb SH = 4900 Gr Pb,
2100 Gr Sb. |
Sn % added to Pb weight. Sb % added to Pb weight. |
|
|
Notes,
conclusions & surprises |
Notes & conclusions on alloys 1
and 2: <
Go to alloys 1 &
2 > |
Alloys #1 & #2, blended from the same lot of
clip-on WW, the only difference is the percentage of added tin with
alloy #1 having 3.77% and alloy #2 having 1.8% and yet there is
marked difference in age hardening. In fact alloy #2 BHN in two days
is basically the same BHN as the base metal even though 1 pound of Super
Hard was added to 15 pounds CWW doubling the amount of Sb. |
Top of Page |
Notes & conclusions on alloys 3
and 4: <
Go to alloys 3 &
4 > |
Neither alloy blended as of this writing. |
|
Notes & conclusions on alloys 5
and 6: <
Go to alloys 5 &
6 > |
Alloy #5 not yet blended. |
Alloy #6 took 6 BHN SWW to 11 BHN in 2 days,
basically air cooled CWW BHN. |
|
Notes & conclusions on alloys 7
and 8: <
Go to alloys 7 &
8 > |
Alloy #8 was blended by adding 0.5 pound Super
Hard and enough Sn to keep the percentage at 2% to alloy #7. The
modest gain over alloy #7 in BHN for alloy #8 is not an economical use of
the Super Hard. |
|
Notes & conclusions on alloy 9:
< Go
to alloy 9 > |
Got SWW or other soft lead alloy? With Super
Hard you can turn your soft alloy into Hardball at far less cost
than purchasing hardball alloy. Using round numbers and the costs of
Hardball vs. the cost of Super Hard and tin at the prices as of this
writing the cost to make your own is less than $0.80 per
pound for the nearly 19 pounds in the recipe. Hardball is currently
on sale at Roto Metals for $2.02 per pound plus shipping. At Midway
USA hardball is $3.78 per pound. |
|
Notes & conclusions on alloy
10: <
Go to alloy 10
> |
The 20 pounds of Lyman #2 in the recipe will
cost about $22.00 to make ($1.10 per pound) assuming you already
have the soft lead. By contrast Roto Metals (as of this writing) has
Lyman #2 on sale @ $2.32 per pound, the regular price is $2.73 per
pound with free shipping if your order is over $100.00, Midway USA
does not list Lyman #2. |
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|
|
(Table 1)
Bullet alloy as-cast & final dia. w/.308 sizing die |
|
|
Wheel |
|
|
|
Lead |
Weights |
Lyman #2 |
Linotype |
As-cast dia. |
.309" |
.3095" |
.310" |
.3104" |
Sized dia. |
.3078" |
.3079" |
.3084" |
.3084" |
|
|
|
(table 2) |
Alloy shrinkage
of cast bullets |
|
|
(table 3) |
Composition, % |
|
|
Shrinkage |
|
Shrinkage -
Bullet Diameter, Inches |
Type of alloy |
Tin |
Antimony |
Lead |
BHN |
Linear, % |
|
Alloy |
.308 |
.357 |
.452 |
Linotype |
4 |
12 |
84 |
18 |
.65 |
|
Linotype |
.002 |
.0025 |
.003 |
Monotype |
9 |
19 |
72 |
26 |
.65 |
|
Lyman # 2 |
.0025 |
.0025 |
.0035 |
Antimony |
-- |
100 |
-- |
50 |
.47 |
|
Soft Lead |
.0035 |
.004 |
.005 |
Lead |
-- |
-- |
100 |
5 |
1.13 |
|
|
|
|
|
Tin |
100 |
-- |
-- |
7 |
.90 |
|
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Top of Page |
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Key to symbols/abbreviations used in this article |
Metal |
Symbol |
Abbreviations |
Lead |
Pb |
CWW |
Clip-on Wheel
Weight (w/2% Sn 11-12 BHN) |
Antimony |
Sb |
SWW |
Stick-on Wheel
Weight (Tape Weights) (Straight SWW 6 BHN) |
Tin |
Sn |
WW |
Wheel Weight |
Arsenic |
As |
SH |
Super Hard Alloy (Roto
Metals) |
|
|
lb |
Pounds |
|
|
BHN |
Brinell Hardness Number |
|
|
HT |
Heat Treat, quenching from the mold or oven
heat treating |
|
|
Gr. |
Grains, (7,000 Gr. = 1pound) |
|
|
|
|
Conversion factors: |
To convert
grains to ounces multiply grains by .00229,
example from alloy #1 above, 4044 Gr Sn X .00229 =
9.26 ounces. (rounded
off to nearest 100th of an ounce). |
|
To convert ounces to grains
multiply ounces by 437.5, example from alloy #1, 9.26 ounces Sn x 437.5 =
4051 Gr (rounded off to nearest 100th of an ounce). |
Top of Page |
Roto Metals Super Hard = 70% Pb - 30% Sb /
1lb Super Hard = 4900 Gr Pb / 2100 Gr Sb. |
Roto Metals bar tin = 99.9% Pure |
|
Note: You could create the
above alloy recipes by converting to ounces rather than grains, however,
there are 16 ounces to a pound and 7000 Gr to a pound, any rounding off or
minor errors using ounces would create fairly large variations in pot to
pot alloy percentages (consistency). A 10% error (or rounding off) with
grains is a 70 Gr variation for the entire pot of alloy. A 10% error using
ounces is 1.6 ounces or 700 Gr. By converting to grains and rounding off
to hundreds of an ounce such variations are statistically irrelevant.
|
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There is only one place you can order Super Hard |
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