My mystery ingot

[jeff100]

I have some mystery material, a large ingot that came with a large batch of scrap lead I recently purchased from an ad on Craigslist, for bullet casting. I was hoping the ingot would be tin. If I know what is the melting point of tin, it would help me identify the mystery material. The ingot is shown here with a set of dykes for scale.



The ingot had some text characters stamped on it. NF FA 281.



Turned out that mystery material isn't tin as I hoped. With a bit of internet sleuthing I learned that FA281 designation is for a 'low melt' alloy comprised of 58% bismuth and 42% indium. I'm assuming the 'NF' in the designation stands for Non Ferrous. Disappointing to me, is there any use for bilsmuth or indium in bullet casting? Do either of these elements have the same effect in helping with fillout that tin adds?

[KenT7021]

Might be good for chamber casts.

[jeff100]

Might be good for chamber casts.

Good call, didn't think of that. Thanks.

[lwknight]

It is $$$ worth of good stuff. Just not usually preferred for bullet casting.

[runfiverun]

bismuth has use in bullet casting.
it hardens the alloy similarly to the way antimony does.

Indium is found in lead in many instances but in small amounts [like the .0?% area]
it affects the alloy similar to the way calcium will and isn't so desirable.

[Smoke4320]

main use is to power the illudium Q-36 explosive space modulator

[jeff100]

main use is to power the illudium Q-36 explosive space modulator

I was thinking the same thing. I think it can be used to fuel a flux capacitor too.

JJ

[Smoke4320]

I was told but a very elderly gentleman that a indium projectile fired from a Aspery Aimless would travel 12 miles before breaking into multiple warheads ..and reek destruction the world has not seen since Tesla's USSR experiment
maybe we could use some against rocket boy

[jeff100]

bismuth has use in bullet casting.
it hardens the alloy similarly to the way antimony does.

Indium is found in lead in many instances but in small amounts [like the .0?% area]
it affects the alloy similar to the way calcium will and isn't so desirable.

I'm ignorant to the effects of calcium in lead. What's the consequences, what's the effect calcium has with lead alloy?

JJ

[RogerDat]

google using your stamped characters of NF FA 281 which brought up this alloy with a "281" designation. http://www.csalloys.com/products-cerrotu-alloy.html And again the 281 designation is used for same alloy at bottom of this page. http://www.boltonmetalproducts.com/

And Rotometals also lists a bismouth alloy with 281 designation. As I recall it will be very hard, but melt at very low temperature. Wire like that as I recall could be melted with a bic lighter but was hard and brittle. https://www.rotometals.com/low-melt-fusible-alloys/ Last two items in table / list of materials on page.

Lists same percentages as other pages with melt temp of 281 http://www.belmontmetals.com/product/bismuth-alloys/

These sources put the alloy at 58% Bi and 42% Sn

[jeff100]

google using your stamped characters of NF FA 281 which brought up this alloy with a "281" designation. http://www.csalloys.com/products-cerrotu-alloy.html And again the 281 designation is used for same alloy at bottom of this page. http://www.boltonmetalproducts.com/

And Rotometals also lists a bismouth alloy with 281 designation. As I recall it will be very hard, but melt at very low temperature. Wire like that as I recall could be melted with a bic lighter but was hard and brittle. https://www.rotometals.com/low-melt-fusible-alloys/ Last two items in table / list of materials on page.

Lists same percentages as other pages with melt temp of 281 http://www.belmontmetals.com/product/bismuth-alloys/

These sources put the alloy at 58% Bi and 42% Sn

Hmm, then it seems to me that I could use this alloy for it's tin content, if I use 1-2% in my lead alloy, the amount of bismuth in the alloy (1-2%) should be negligible and have little effect on the hardness of the alloy or it's malleability as a boolit. I guess I'll have to just run some tests.

JJ