What BHN for hunting?

[Dusty Miller]

Is 15 BHN to soft for hunting?  Should I heat treat'm and try for BHN 20?

[Steelhead]

Not sure what you are shooting nor hunting, but 15BHN is the hardness of my bullets that I use in a 45 Colt and 35 Whelen. Work JUST fine. Might want something a bit harder if I planned on bunching through a grizzly or moose, but for deer I have no problems.

[jhalcott]

A 50/50 mix of linotype/wheel weight gives about this hardness. Real hard, 22 and up BHN usually act like fmj ammo. They either break or drill thru with out expansion. I use straight ww for normal handgun loads and linotype for target work. A 50/50 mix is used for most rifle type loads. I have found that harder alloys require better lubes to prevent leading.

[Dusty Miller]

I shudda told ya I'm shoot'n a .44 mag.

[Castaway]

For me, it depends on what I'm shooting it out of.  In my Black Hawk (45 Colt) I use water quenched wheelweights.  Velocity is relatively slow (1190 f/s) and I don't want to push a parachute through a critter and stop half way.  In my Trapper (also 45 Colt) I get over 1500 f/s and cast a 50/50 mixture of wheelweights and pure lead.  That gives some degree of expansion and the extra velocity shoves it through one side and out the other of a deer or hog.  I've never recovered one yet.  For my 45-70, I patch a pure lead bullet and it works mighty fine.

[Joe Kool]

I use wheel weights + 2% tin, air cooled and aged for a least two weeks. It works good for velocities up to 1900 fps, and even higher if you have a smooth barrel. In the 44 mag.' I like the Lyman #429244 (250 gr.) and the Lee 310 gr. Both will give good accuracy and good perormance on deer.  

[Sky C.]

Based on much reading on the subject - harder is not usually better when it comes to terminal performance with CB's.  Harder is part of the recipe, necessary at times, to achieve higher velocity without leading, or in some cases - stripping the lands.

If your 15BHN alloy is giving good accuracy in the velocity range you want - it is a very good choice.  FWIW - the 3rd Edition Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook - pg. 96 has an article by C.E. Harris & Dennis Marshal re: cast for hunting.  The conclusion suggests that 16BHN is perhaps optimal.  Your 15BHN is right there.

Best regards-

Sky C.

[Dusty Miller]

Thanks Sky C., that's the info I was looking for.

[Lloyd Smale]

another fan of 5050 ww and lyno. They test out at 15-18 and have allways done the trick for me. They do real well in the penetration tests we do. Hold together real well and do break up the the harder bullets do. They may be on the hard side for handguns but they havent let me down yet.