How to choose Brinell hardness on a cast bullet

[Wreck-n-Crew]

I'll share my experience with the 12 BHN MBC bullets. Very uniform, sized at .452". Still got leading. Melted the hard lube from the groove and replaced with a soft home made Emmeritt's lube. No leading in my 1911.

I hope OP has a good experience with these bullets.

Question: Can you describe the type of leading?

What load did you use? Bullet weight, powder, oal.

 

[340PD]

Thank you everyone for the replies. Since I am lucky enough to live very close to Powder Valley, I will be ordering through them along with some other supplies. They do not stock the coated version of the 200 grain LSWC so I will probably be trying the standard 12 Brinell lead version. Oh and ventilation is not a problem for me because I have never shot at an indoor range. Again, thank you all for the information, it has helped me a lot!

I look forward to your thoughts. I messed with lead bullets for years and always got some leading and a lot of smoke. Moved on to coated bullets and got little smoke and some leading. Went back to plated bullets and little smoke and zero leading. Now a happy camper that will never go back.

 

[Kingcreek]

I've shot thousands of home cast 200gr LSWC at .452 and hardness near the B12 over 5gr of W231. 1911s are colt and springfield. Everybody is happy enough that I probably have another 3 thousand assembled with the same recipe.

 

[stubbicatt]

Question: Can you describe the type of leading?

What load did you use? Bullet weight, powder, oal.

I can tell you a load of 5 grains 231, 200 grain LSWC. I no longer remember the character or nature of the leading. I can tell you it disappeared with a different lube.

YMMV

 

[Arkansas Paul]

You'll be fine with the 12 BHN. I cannot imagine .45 ACP needing anything harder. I've pushed pure wheel weight alloy, which is 10-12 BHN in a .45 Colt at some pretty high velocities with no leading whatsoever.

BHN does factor into the equation, no doubt, but how well it fits your bore is just as, if not more important. If you're bullets are sized even a little too small, you risk leading.

Believe it or not, there are some instances where a harder bullet will lead a bore worse than one that is too soft. One of those situations is what I mentioned above. If your bullet is a couple thousandths smaller than your bore, a harder bullet will lead more than a soft one because it doesn't seal off. Gasses escape around it, causing it to melt in the bore.

Sorry for the tangent, but BHN isn't the only factor to look out for. Assuming a good fit, 10 or 12 is plenty hard for the .45 ACP.

Elmer Keith used bullets at a hardness of 11 BHN to develop the .44 mag.

 

[Wreck-n-Crew]

I can tell you a load of 5 grains 231, 200 grain LSWC. I no longer remember the character or nature of the leading. I can tell you it disappeared with a different lube.

YMMV

Copy that.

I cast and coat my own plus have shot many of their coated and never had an issue with leading and neither are most everyone else out there. Just trying to figure what went wrong in your case.

Heck people are even shooting 44 magnum and low end rifle loads using coated bullets. Even people that had lead in their revolvers stopped leading the barrel.

If you only tried one box or had it happen in one particular box it may have been a bad batch. Cant think of any other reason off the top of my head.

But if you ever get leading again note it. The type and amount of leading tell more about whats going on than anything. Some of these old timers can look one time and tell you whats causing it. I can tell most of the time with a good picture.

Between 9mm, 40, and 45 autos the 45 leading is the most common. Heck i had 3 45's that leaded up all the time to varying degrees using cast bullets. Same signs in everyone. Bullet too hard for low pressures like 45. Managed to get 1 to quit all together changing powder and another to almost quit. But the Ruger p90 still made me do some scrubbing every time i shot a few hundred through it.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I don't know if I'm an old timer (I'm only 35), but I believe if the problem is the lube, the leading will be near the end of the bore. If your bore is clean, except for the last inch or two, your lube is playing out before the bullet exits.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Wreck-n-Crew]

I don't know if I'm an old timer (I'm only 35), but I believe if the problem is the lube, the leading will be near the end of the bore. If your bore is clean, except for the last inch or two, your lube is playing out before the bullet exits.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Yes either lube failure or insufficient lube. And no not an old timer. Well maybe in todays world...lol.

 

[Bama Drifter]

From experienced Missouri Bullet customer, I'd ONLY buy coated or plated. Their cast bullet lube (blue wax) smokes more than anything I've ever seen. When I finish shooting up my current supply of #1 Ranger .357s I'll load coated bullets exclusively. As far as .45Auto, I prefer a plated bullet. YMMV.

 

[Dudedog]

I have used both the BHN12 and BHN18 200gr .45 SWCs from MBC. At anything less than very close to the MAX or MAX loads the BHN 12 shot better for me. At the MAX it was to close to call between the 2. The BHN18s did work ok on the milder loads but not as good as the 12s.
The HITEK coating is worth the few extra $ IMO.

 

[drband]

I have used both the BHN12 and BHN18 200gr .45 SWCs from MBC. At anything less than very close to the MAX or MAX loads the BHN 12 shot better for me. At the MAX it was to close to call between the 2. The BHN18s did work ok on the milder loads but not as good as the 12s.

The HITEK coating is worth the few extra $ IMO.

Good to know. I think I'll order some sample packs and experiment!

 

[Catpop]

Very good thread! Enjoyed following it.