I recently acquired over 1200 lbs of linotype, melted and refined then poured the stuff into mini meatloaf pans weighing 10 lb each give or take 2 two pounds. I also have on hand a lot of range lead mostly from jacketed bullets. The range lead tested at at BHN of around 6.5-7. I plan to shoot this lead out of a 357, 44, 38, 45acp and a 50 S&W GC.

My question is given a 10 lb of linotype brick, how much of the range lead in pounds do I mix into to get the appropriate BHN to shoot out of the firearms mentioned. I use H4227 powder in all except for the 45acp - I use Bullseye instead.

I have found that hardness is essentially a linear function.

If your Lino (I would not assume it is 22 BHN) is 22 BHN and you're after an alloy that's about 12 BHN then you will have:

7x + 22(10) = 12(10+x); where x is the weight in pounds of your range scrap
7x + 220 = 120 + 12x
100 = 5x
x = 20

Therefore you would need 20 pounds of BHN 7 metal added to 10 pounds of BHN 22 metal (theoretical Linotype) to make 30 pounds of BHN 12 metal.

If your range scrap is 6.5 BHN and your Linotype is actually something like monotype (perhaps BHN 26) and you prefer to end up with Lyman #2 (BHN 15), you'd have:

6.5x + 26(10) = 15(10+x)
6.5x + 260 = 150 + 15x
110 = 8.5x
x = 12.94; where x is the amount of 6.5 BHN range scrap necessary to add to 10 pounds of BHN 26 "monotype" to yield about 23 pounds of Lyman #2.

MC

MC,

Thanks for the formula, I will put it into an excl sheet to calculate for varying proportions.

QUOTE=MarlinCollector]I have found that hardness is essentially a linear function.

If your Lino (I would not assume it is 22 BHN) is 22 BHN and you're after an alloy that's about 12 BHN then you will have:

7x + 22(10) = 12(10+x); where x is the weight in pounds of your range scrap
7x + 220 = 120 + 12x
100 = 5x
x = 20

Therefore you would need 20 pounds of BHN 7 metal added to 10 pounds of BHN 22 metal (theoretical Linotype) to make 30 pounds of BHN 12 metal.

If your range scrap is 6.5 BHN and your Linotype is actually something like monotype (perhaps BHN 26) and you prefer to end up with Lyman #2 (BHN 15), you'd have:

6.5x + 26(10) = 15(10+x)
6.5x + 260 = 150 + 15x
110 = 8.5x
x = 12.94; where x is the amount of 6.5 BHN range scrap necessary to add to 10 pounds of BHN 26 "monotype" to yield about 23 pounds of Lyman #2.

MC[/QUOTE]

You're Welcome,

It's simply:

(BHN_1)(weight_1) + (BHN_2)(weight_2) = BHN_3(weight_1 + weight_2)

Where:

BHN_1 and BHN_2 are measured,
BHN_3 is your desired hardness,
and one of your weights is given while the other is unknown

MC

MC,

I had a chance to measure the BHN on the range lead and linotype. The linotype is 22BHN and the range lead is 9.5BHN. So, for a 38 cal using hogdon H4227 at 10gr, 15,500 PSI would I need a BHN of 12.1. Therefore if my calculations are correct, I have to add 37.3 pounds of scrap lead.

Thanks again.

You're Welcome,

It's simply:

(BHN_1)(weight_1) + (BHN_2)(weight_2) = BHN_3(weight_1 + weight_2)

Where:

BHN_1 and BHN_2 are measured,
BHN_3 is your desired hardness,
and one of your weights is given while the other is unknown

MC

I'm getting 38.1 pounds of BHN 9.5 metal added to 10 pounds of BHN 22 metal to yeild 48.1 pounds of BHN 12.1 metal

let x = the weight of range scrap:

9.5x + 22(10) = 12.1(x + 10)
9.5x + 220 = 12.1x + 121
99 = 2.6x
x = 38.1

Therefore:
9.5(38.1) + 22(10) = 12.1(38.1 + 10)
361.95 + 220 = 12.1(48.1)
581.95 = 582.01; true enough for our purposes