Gary Reeder
I am sort of the same mind. And I worry when I agree
Thursday, February 11, 2021, 16:57

with WB on anything that shoots. For around a hundred years now I have been casting. Mostly wheelweights with a piece of linotype about as thick and long as my litle finger. I cast one bullet, let it cool and put it on an anvil and hit it with a hammer, pretty hard. If it shatters, too hard. If it mashes way down, too soft. If the nose just deforms a bit, then it is OK for me.

I also try the thumbnail trick. If I can scratch it fairly deep with a thumbnail then it is too soft. If I can just make a shiny spot with my thumbnail then it is OK. I very seldom use gas check even though I have a gazillion of them. The standard bullets like the 44 mag 429421 I load for the 44 Special shooting here in the shop. It is a bit heavy but is accurate. Another one for the 44 Special is a 215 grain SWC. I don't remember the mold number but it works too. That is for guns that are lighter and a bit more fragile.

Like you mentioned I don't go by any special secret formula as most of that is BS anyway. lead composition changes just as wheelweight composition changes. If they were all the same a formula would be fine but they aren't. I used to buy the big 2 foot long 25 lb bars of linotype but those are really hard to find these days. I also found that monotype and linotype were different even though they were mostly used in type setting businesses. The monotype seemed a bit harder than the linotype. Years ago when I lived in Nashville I used to buy buckets of both monotype and linotype from the Methodist Publishing House.

Anyway, I know that my bullets are either too hard or too soft by the hammer and anvil test. Old fashioned but it works for me.