[arkypete]

I want to use my 45 Colt Anacoda, 6 inch barrel, to kill a large feral hog. I will be using 19.5 to 20 grains of H110, behind a 300 grain GC'd bullet made of babbit metal, sized .454.
This babbit metal is reddish and when dropped from shoulder height onto concret it will show no effect, at all.
I'm certain that I can place the shot where it will be needed and with this bullet it should punch all the way through.
This seems to be a good bit more powerful then my normal 9. grains of Unique behind a 255 PB cast from slightly sweetened with tin WW. Judging from recoil, muzzle blast and muzzle flash.
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
Jim

 

[jim lambert]

Hi Jim, the load should be plenty for the piggies, but its the alloy that might be of question here. how is it going to hold up when encountering bone or gristle plate? (spelling? Its gettin late) even though its not doin mach 2 when it arrives it still might break up. whats your alloy composition? give one the ole sledge test and after a few wacks see if its startin to split or fly all over the place.  I have not played with the babbit any but from your post they sure sound HARD.  Have a nice day.
JIM L.

 

[arkypete]

That babbit is very hard. I've shot completely through a cross tie at 100 meters, using my 375 Whelen. Then on a whim I shot at one of the 6x6 inch plates the smoke pole guys shoot at, again at 100 meters. Put a thumb size hole through. I suspect that the bullets in both cases were totally messed up and never found them.
Hey thanks for the advice and thoughtful insights.
Jim

 

[Contender]

arkypete,

Sounds like you are using the tin based, copper/bronze laden bearing babbitt. The copper was added to give it some durability/lubricity.

My guess is being it is a babbitt alloy the Tin content is quite high. With the antomony being the secondary ingredient.  Also with very little lead if at all.

These alloys actually cast quite well. However, it is a good idea to stir them while casting to keep the copper/bronze in supension. This will keep a good uniformity of the mixture in each bullet.

I would imagine the bullet weights are running on the light side for the moulds spec'd weight. I'll bet the mould fills out beautifully though.

The copper/bronze particles could act as a "roadway" for cracks to follow in the alloy upon impact. I would say to do some impact testing such as Jim recommends above. If it is too hard, you could try mixing it down with some pure lead in an experimental batch to effectively cut the antimony,tin content/percentage. It would also aid in it's ductility.

Being that what you have there is probably a high tin mix. It would be ideally suited to upgrade pure lead or WW metal and you will be able to stretch it much further.

Age softening, due to the high tin content could be a problem however, especially with heat treatment.

Right now, you are basically shooting bullets made of Tin.

A bullet profile with a nice flat meplat of larger diameter will also increase terminal effect.

Just some thoughts.

Regards,

 

[James Gates]

Before I was told that it could not be done, I killed qiute a few big wild hogs with a .45 cal hard cast PB 255 gr bullet on top of 11.5 grs of AA5. I was told this was a pip squeak load! Maybe so, but when I pulled the trigger right on that S&W Schofield, those hogs just fell over.
Best Regards, James