Is lead content consistency important?

[Dusty Miller]

Just how important is it to use lead that is consistent in content?  It seems to me that if a guy casts one batch of bullets with wheel weights and another with some other concoction that bullet performance would differ?  Am I all wet on this?  In the past I've bought my lead from a single source and paid a premium price so that every bullet I cast would have the same metal content.  Was I wasting my money?

[Lloyd Smale]

yes and no. A change in alloy will change a bullets accuaracy and weight sometimes alot and sometimes not at all and sometimes even for the better. I try alloying in at 100lb batches of a certain alloy.

[BamBams]

Consistency in weight is what you want.  As for "special" alloys, I don't bother.  I just use wheel weights.  If a bullet doesn't obturate properly then it's too hard.  If I am shooting high velocity cartridges, then I use gas checks.  If my wheel weight lead turns out to be too soft for some application, then I'll just harden them in an oven.

[Flash]

I have been casting for a quarter century and it never mattered to me. Wheelweights will cast a respectable hardness and weight for most handgun applications. When it comes to mixing alloy, I wouldn't be bothered by it too much unless it's an extreme hardness difference. Babbitt and Linotype are some good examples of extreme hardness. Zinc is another metal that is often added to an alloy for hardness and should be avoided if possible. Lead alloys can often be deceiving so simply test your's with a fingernail. If you make an impression in the lead, it's plain base bullet metal. If you can't get a fingernail into it, it's gas checked bullet metal. This is the rule of thumb I follow.