too much Tin?

[gofastman]

I want to make some very tough bullets that will expand at high pistol velocity, but not shatter.
does more Tin=tougher alloy, or does it top out at some point?

Right now my alloy is more or less lyman#2 with a trace of Arsenic, but I plan on adding a few dozen more lbs of mixed clip and stick on wheel weights.

I actually would like to make the mix a bit softer than it is now, but keep or improve its plasticity.

[runfiverun]

tin add a little hardness but really tops out at like 8-10%.
adding antimony makes the alloy harder but also adds more brittleness.
a balanced alloy of tin/antimony makes a good SbSnPb chain in the alloy.
about 3% of each is hard/soft/malleable without being overly brittle or too soft to take the pressure from being fired.
for revolver velocities about half that works quite well.
if you want to use a hollowpoint and enjoy the opening of it without the petals shearing off,and having the softness needed to open at lower velocities then an alloy of 30 parts lead and one part tin with a gas check will do what you want.
if you are looking for deer hunting with a 357 and just want the boolit to mooosh on the nose then a mix of ww's and soft lead will get you there easily.
you can look at other alloys with copper in them to add fluidity to an alloy but it requires tin to keep the copper in suspension and to play nice in the alloy.
about 1/2% is good 1% is doable over that things get too hard for your requirements.

the first thing i'd try is to cut what you have in half with the soft lead/then cut that again about 20%.

[captaint]

gofastman - You're on the right track. Softer. If you're gonna run them really fast, you may need some gaschecks. General rule is more than 2% tin mixed with WW's and similar alloys.
However, back some years ago common practice was nearly pure Pb mixed with tin @ about 20-1 and even 30-1. I think Elmer was fond of 20-1 and he ran some pretty stout loads eh ?.
enjoy Mike

[imashooter2]

http://home.comcast.net/~imashooter2/pictures/fig8-sm.JPG

[gofastman]

^ good chart, thanks!

it seems to be on the soft side though, I thought air-cooled Lyman #2 was around 19 BHN :confused:

[imashooter2]

Lyman #2 is 15 BHN.

[gofastman]

thanks for the help all!
Im going to add 2lbs of Tin to the total mix, that should get me where I want to be, really malleable and about 14 BHN, with the option of being much harder with oven heat treating.

I do have a PBCheckmaker en route, FWIW

[canyon-ghost]

Pay close attention to Runfiverun, he more than likely has done it personally.

[Larry Gibson]

I want to make some very tough bullets that will expand at high pistol velocity, but not shatter.

I shoot a variety of GC'd cast bullet HPs out of the .357, .41 and .44 Magnums out of 6 - & 1/2" revolvers, 8 - 10" Contenders and 16 to 24" rifles. I use 2 alloys; COWWs + 2% tin + 50% lead and a 16 - 1 lead - tin alloy. Both provide excellent expansion charactoristics. The 16-1 alloy is better for 1350 - 1450 fps loads but the WW=2=50% alloy does well also and is the better for 1600 - 2200 fps. I use Javelina lube and get not leading BTW.

Larry Gibson