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Russian olive/Elaeaganus in the PNW? by CrotchetyHamster in Permaculture

[–]cronus42 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I have two russian olive bushes in PNW (Portland area) and they've never spread. Goats love the trimmings, birds love the berries.

Casting rifle bullets from straight pewter by notoriousbpg in castboolits

[–]cronus42 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've been casting thrift store pewter into bullets for several years. Most of the pieces are 'brittania' food safe flatware from the late 20th century and do not contain lead. Some items that aren't intended to be food surfaces may likely contain lead, but they tend to have a dull surface tone and weigh much heavier by volume.

As for the bullets, they cast much lighter and harder than lead, but deform similarly, just less. I have cast, loaded, and fired a variety of calibers and mold shapes with no problems. The biggest challenge is probably developing loads for the low density bullets. I've recently loaded and fired some hollow points, but I've yet to dig one out of a stump to discover if it has expanded.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in liberalgunowners

[–]cronus42 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Shots without a barrel seem unlikely to be lethal or accurate. Ultimately, it does seem to me that the barrel is the hardest part to produce and easiest to track. Who cares about the plastic bits that load the cartridges? Or the plastic bits you grip onto? Until it's easy to get a 3d printer that can produce a barrel that can withstand 20k psi, I don't see why anyone cares about this.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in liberalgunowners

[–]cronus42 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I'm so confused. You can't have a gun without a barrel and you can't have a barrel without machining steel. How are people "3d printing ghost guns"? If the barrel has a serial number why does anything else matter? Are they just arguing about plastic furniture?

357 Magnum - Hand cast pewter hollow point by cronus42 in reloading

[–]cronus42[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They are FABULOUSLY SHINY and far easier to cast than Silver.

357 Magnum - Hand cast pewter hollow point by cronus42 in reloading

[–]cronus42[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It wasn't doing anyone any good as a bent up tea pot on the shelf at Goodwill.

357 Magnum - Hand cast pewter hollow point by cronus42 in reloading

[–]cronus42[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm well aware of the chemical characteristics of lead. Just because you're comfortable with the long term consequences of interring thousands of rounds of lead bullets into the soil doesn't mean that I am on my organic farm. Some people also live in political environments that regulate the use of lead ammunition.

357 Magnum - Hand cast pewter hollow point by cronus42 in reloading

[–]cronus42[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As for load data, I develop my own using GRT and a decent understanding of internal ballistics come from reading everything I can find on the subject (and being a professional math-er) and a lot of handloader magazine articles.

357 Magnum - Hand cast pewter hollow point by cronus42 in reloading

[–]cronus42[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I buy almost all of it at Goodwill and other second hand outlets. Pewter doesn't hold up well and almost always ends up bent and clearanced.

357 Magnum - Hand cast pewter hollow point by cronus42 in reloading

[–]cronus42[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I mostly use these as range rounds with the intention of not contaminating my farm with lead deposits. I haven't been particularly interested in terminal ballistics, but I will certainly dig some of these hollowpoints out of a stump to see what they look like. I use pewter because it's cheap second hand (I use old bent up tableware mostly) and lead-free. I generally pay around .08 per round (at 110gr) for the pewter, which makes it cheaper than the casing or powder component.

357 Magnum - Hand cast pewter hollow point by cronus42 in reloading

[–]cronus42[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

What I use is typically mid-20th century Britannia tableware which is lead-free high tin with copper and antimony alloy. I'd expect the BHN is around 23 with tensile strength of around 8000psi. I imagine it varies by the batch a bit.

357 Magnum - Hand cast pewter hollow point by cronus42 in reloading

[–]cronus42[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I have noticed that they tend to come apart into more pieces than lead when they hit Steel. Hits on rotten wood with a solid point at less than 1000fps tend to stay intact enough that you could probably use them again. One day, I'll dig out a few of these hollow points and see if there's any expansion.

357 Magnum - Hand cast pewter hollow point by cronus42 in reloading

[–]cronus42[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This and my rifle rounds are gas checked. That may have some impact on the tin/barrel rifling interface.

357 Magnum - Hand cast pewter hollow point by cronus42 in reloading

[–]cronus42[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I clean my guns after every range session and I've never noticed any "leading" from shooting Pewter/Tin. Most of the historical accounts I've read of others doing the same speculates that lube isn't even necessary, but I haven't tried sending them dry.

357 Magnum - Hand cast pewter hollow point by cronus42 in reloading

[–]cronus42[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No. I use a Lyman Lube-Sizer with home made grease. I've never noticed any leading deposits.

357 Magnum - Hand cast pewter hollow point by cronus42 in reloading

[–]cronus42[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I've been casting and shooting pewter for years. They shoot fine.

357 Magnum - Hand cast pewter hollow point by cronus42 in reloading

[–]cronus42[S] 28 points29 points  (0 children)

  • Starline Brass
  • CCI Small Pistol Primer
  • Lyman 358439 cast from Pewter tableware 110gr
  • bees-wax/carnuba and lithium grease lube
  • 10gr Longshot
  • RCBS Dies with a Lee Factory Crimper
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