Speer lead bullets + how muck WW?

[eli]

I've have a 500 ct. box of .44 240 grain bullets sitting in my work area for three or four years now and because I've been reloading my own .44 stuff out of a RCBS 250 grain Keith mold with water cooled WW, I've come to the conclusion that I'm never going to use these as cast.

What I'd like to know is what sort of ratio of this Speer alloy to mix with WW can I try to push up the volume of hard casting metal or should I simply forget about it, cast using the Speer stuff alone and stick to dropping lead free solder into the wheel weights when I need a fast rifle bullet?

Cheers

[9.3X62AL]

Assuming good dimensional integrity between firearm and boolit--mixing those Speers half-and-half with wheelweights would still yield a BHN of around 7-8. This is a very fine alloy for 38 Special/44 Special/45 ACP level loads. 32-20 or 45-70 at 1873 levels should be do-able too. Dimensions are EVERYTHING--all the metallurgy on earth, and the best lube ever concocted won't matter a damn if the boolits don't fit.

[azrednek]

Can't give you a direct answer. If the Speer bullets are swaged chances are good they are pure lead. If they are cast it would be pure speculation on my part and I'd start with a 50/50 mix and test the results. Me being an extreme cheapskate though, I would put the unwanted bullets on the trading block before I melted them down.

[Bass Ackward]

As Al said, good 50/50 with WW or you can water drop those for somewhere between 15 and 22 depending on caliber and bullet weight. Don't add any tin.

On the other hand, bullets were made for a purpose. And who are we to judge. Those can and will make excellent practice rounds. Or Kid / grandchild fodder. My wife considers shooting to be therapeutic and you hate to use your stuff for ..... treatment. Load them for kids, they'll shoot anything and go around bragging that they shot a 44.

[hershey]

i second the sell the bullets suggestions, i'll trade you linotype printers lead for them or wheel weights, or softer stuff if you want it..........

[Echo]

I go with the popcorn loads. I load some light stuff in .38 Special (105 gr SWC, 3 gr PB) that I carry to the range where I volunteer. Often there is some guy (who doesn't know better) who tries to get his 12-year old son to shoot his magnum, or .45ACP, or whatever - maybe it's his wife, or GF. In any case I offer the loan of my Combat Masterpiece and these popcorn loads, gratis. I figure if they have a positive experience, they will become more interested in continuing this shooting thing.

So load up some .44 Specials with these bullets and a light load of Bullseye, or whatever, and keep them in the background for those occasions when you might be able to light a fire of enthusiasm, rather than blow it out completely.

[eli]

Thanks for the input guys. I believe these are swaged bullets and as I have plenty of WW to cast .44sp and other 'slow' bullets from, I may just keep them a bit longer as they are.

Hershey, thanks for the offer of a swap but I think for the moment I'll pass. If I change my mind I'll let you know first.

Cheers

[dubber123]

If they are the same alloy as the Speers I just melted down, very close to pure is what they are. They certainly will not produce a "harder" alloy, just the opposite. I went 75% Speer, to 25% WW and got a very soft alloy to cast into .38 S&W for a fellow who needed them.

[eli]

What I don't get is why Speer places these soft lead bullets in a 'general use' or "7" category for use in the .44 sp/magnum?

Does swaging compensate for the lack of hardness that much?

Cheers

[dale2242]

Load them with 8gr Unique and shoot them up. Nice mild load. ---dale

[runfiverun]

the only thing swaging does is produce a boolit that weighs the same as there are no air bubbles in it