Cerrotru c de p ???

[natty bumpo]

So i got an ingot of this in some scrap lead and wondering what it's best use would be. Looked it up and it's a non lead substitute but not much info on what it is. Looks like it should be good for something. Don't want to waste it.

[Dusty Bannister]

Melt off a drip and send it off for the scan to see what it is. Is the subject line a typo, or is the name obliterated on the ingot?

[country gent]

That may be an industrial version of cerro safe. Lead wires and such are used for checking cleaences and cavities where its impossible to measure other wise.

[natty bumpo]

Melt off a drip and send it off for the scan to see what it is. Is the subject line a typo, or is the name obliterated on the ingot?

Yeah. It's stamped on the ingot. They have a picture of the ingot and a description of its uses but no list of alloy percentages. It's a Bolton metals (I think) product. I was thinking possible lead bullet alternative to meet our non lead requirements for hunting. $13 bucks a pound. They sell bismuth too btw. I was thinking add som tin to harden it up? Looks like it could be useful. Close to lead in density.

[natty bumpo]

I might send it off for scan. Never done that. Wonder what the cost would be for that. I only have the one pound ingot but in its pure form would still yield a substantial amount of bullets for hunting. At least for me. A hundred bullets =100 deer. Uhh huhh

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Not if it has a melting point anything like that of Cerrosafe. There is also an alloy called Cerrobend, which is used to fill the place where you want to bend a metal tube without buckling. But Cerrotrue sounds more like it is for taking casts of something. I wouldn't be surprised if that is the same as Cerrosafe, or very nearly. You should see if it will melt in hot water before it boils.

There are lots of ways you can have fun with it, besides making chamber casts or having your bullets fly off sideways. I once cast a little sugar cake ornament in Cerrosafe, dissolved it out with water, and filled the resulting mould with the bronze version of precious metal clay. After melting away the Cerrosafe in hot water and firing the mould at high temperature, I had a perfect little bronze dog.

[pete501]

58%Bi 42%Sn 281*F Melting point

[M-Tecs]

Trade it to folks that want to do chamber casts. Not sure how it will hold tolerance.

http://hitechalloys.com/hitechalloys_002.htm

I may be interested in trading

[Ballistics in Scotland]

58%Bi 42%Sn 281*F Melting point

Yes, that is the composition of Cerrotru, although I only know because I looked it up.

http://www.csalloys.com/products-cerrotu-alloy.html

One good point is that it doesn't include cadmium, as most of those others mentioned do. When cadmium is heated it gives off dangerous fumes. When I posted earlier I thought it was only at the high temperatures required by certain silver solders which include it. But I now find it can happen at around 250 Fahrenheit, making it quite dangerous to melt into a bullet alloy.

Wikipedia says Woods metal and Cerrobend are the same, and gives Cerrosafe a melting point of 165 Fahrenheit. Brownells say Cerrosafe has a melting point of 158 to 190 degrees, and say it is superior to Woods metal for its slight and temporary shrinkage, whereas Woods metal will swell and jam in the chamber. It certainly doesn't have the lowest metal point of any similar alloy, but some are expensive, and they may not have the same characteristic of contracting enough to loosen a chamber cast.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood%27s_metal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood%27s_metal

Woods metal/Cerrobend is a eutectic alloy, which means that it suddenly turns liquid at a specific melting point. Cerrosafe is non-eutectic, meaning that it starts to go mushy at a lower temperature than it flows freely at.

[natty bumpo]

Trade it to folks that want to do chamber casts. Not sure how it will hold tolerance.

http://hitechalloys.com/hitechalloys_002.htm

I may be interested in trading

not sure it would be good for that. It says it expands when cooled. Brinnell hardnes of 22

[natty bumpo]

58%Bi 42%Sn 281*F Melting point

i saw that too. Funny because the first webpage I couldn't find that and now it's the only page I can find. Oh well it said it was a certain kind of alloy. Forget the name but I googled it and it defined it as an alloy that has certain characteristics when combined in this combination of and in no other. ???so does that mean it will act differently if I add lead?? Sounds like it but i think i will add some to a small smelt and see if i can bring the hardness up. I don't know didly about it but I'm down with trying it out. I love that stuff. I meed a hardness tester. Grrrr

[natty bumpo]

Ok. I took out my hardness tester (aka. Pocket knife) and itsmuch harder than lead. Probably due to being 58% bismuth. Based on the description I'm surmising that the intent is to make it hard like bismuth but half the melting point. Makes sense. So if I add it to lead I'm thinking it will raise the melting point some but still retain or rather raise the hardnes of the original alloy. Sound like it would work. So maybe ten percent by weight cerrotru to my original alloy??? Sounds like a good starting point. Gonna need something better than a pocket knife though to test it. Any recommendations?? Like I said, I've never done this and I don't need an expensive paperweight.

[natty bumpo]

Sure as heck don't need a brass dog either.

[natty bumpo]

A brass chess set would be way cool however.

[natty bumpo]

A brass chess set would be way cool however.

[natty bumpo]

Shoot. Sorry. Anyhow I looked it up. Cabin tree. &100 bucks on enay but it's sold. I'd have to wait on that anyhow. Got tons of other stuff to buy for now. For now I think I'll settle for casting some bullets firing into sand and see what happens. What the heck.

[M-Tecs]

not sure it would be good for that. It says it expands when cooled. Brinnell hardnes of 22

I would use it to make laps. If you are interested in a trade let me know.

[natty bumpo]

I would use it to make laps. If you are interested in a trade let me know.

Not interested in a trade as I only have one. You can buy it at bolton metal products for $13. I need mine to try to make a better alloy for for 2300 fps for .223.

[natty bumpo]

Looking at the cabin tree hardness tester. Looks like more than i need. Back in high school shop class we had a pen looking thing that you push down on the material with which caused a pointed tip to strike leaving a mark. The deaper the mark the softer the material. Anyone know what that tool is called? Sounds like what I need. Don't need to shoot a rabbit with an elephant gun. I just need to know if bullet a is harder than bullet b. The rest can be determined when I shoot a few into sand bags and see what happens.

[aspangler]

Hardball alloy water dropped. I shoot these at around 2400-2500 in my AR without leading.