I have started to smelt all my WW metal into 1 pound ingots. My plan is to add the 50-50 solder to the WW ingots as they go into my Lee pot just prior to pouring the bullets.

My question is how much 50-50 solder do you add to 1 pound of WW to get a BHN of 11(16-1 alloy)?

Thanks

MB

None!

Depending on your WW's, and if you sort out the mostly pure lead stick-ons, they will run 10-14 Bhn air cooled. This varies acrossed the country. Some will add just a bit of 50/50 solder to aid in fillout. About 4 ozs in 10 lbs. I've never found it necessary myself. 16 to 1 alloy is made of pure lead and tin. Its hardness is derived from the tin content. The WW's get their hardness from antimony, tin, and arsenic. They are totally different animals although their hardnesses are similar.

If you want a soft more malleable alloy, sort your soft stick-ons and smelt them seperately. A mix of 50% WW's and 50% Pb will yield an alloy that is 9-10 Bhn air cooled. it will water drop or OHT to 19-22 Bhn.

Babore, Thanks for the reply. I smelted the WW a year or more ago and made them into LARGE 3lb ingots that don't fit into my botom pour pot. Now I have made them into 1lb ingots and will try them with about 70grains of solder as I go.

MB