Hardness of centerfire salvaged outdoor range lead

[Steve762]

Does anyone have a guess on the hardness of salvaged outdoor range lead. Lead would be from cast centerfire pistol bullets and jacketed pistol/rifle bullet cores picked up from the backstop of an outdoor range. No .22s, car batteries or other industrial scrap.

Need an estimate for Brinell Hardness (BHN). I understand that hardness will very melt lot to lot. Just need an approx BHN number.

Thinking of casting .45-70 bullets for mid-range rifle plinking not competition or hunting-1200-1400fps, Looking for a BHN approx 10-12 or an alloy of 20/1 without doing my own hardness testing and alloy work. Thx. Steve

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[MasterChief]

"...plinking not competition or hunting..."

Embedded within this quote is the philosophical answer to your question. Just experiment and analyze your results. I have cast many a projectile from range lead, wheel weights, linotype metal and babbitt. And alloys therefrom. Good luck and best wishes. Dave

On the other hand, if it's Marlin and Micro-groove...better stick to jacketed.

[Steve762]

Master Chief:
Agree. Was just trying to save all the load development time and have fun shooting a good load from the get go.
Is that possible? LOL Thx, Steve

[browningautorifle]

I too have collected and cast from salvage and your results are going to be all over the board. Bullet jackets aside, the core of those will be 10% tin and 90% soft lead. Then the concoctions done by shooters and professional bullet makers are going to vary so much you can't even guess. If casting the mix you have for handgun, you should be ok but use a good grade of lube. You'll still get leading. If you drop fresh cast into water to quench you'll achieve a higher BHN and might be satisfactory...for handgun. Rifle still needs a gas check.