% of tin--How do you mix your alloy?

[OS OK]

Abbreviations drive me nutz,,Sn is two letters Tin is three. It cant be that hard guys...)

5X-Sn + 5X-Sb + 0X-As + 90X-Pb makes a pretty good alloy....wouldn't ya think?

. . . How's your nutz now?

[MyFlatline]

5X-Sn + 5X-Sb + 0X-As + 90X-Pb makes a pretty good alloy....wouldn't ya think?

. . . How's your nutz now?

Crushed... you guys like showing off

[bangerjim]

My "perfect alloy" is whatever I mix on the fly at the time. No roket science or advanced metallurgy neede here. Guys have been melting, casting, and successfully shooting COWW's for many decades with NO need for extre Sn. COWW's have some in there anyway normally....enought to give good cast boolits.

I keep all my metals in their raw form, making casting alloy only at the time I need it in the casting pot. No hundreds of pounds of "perfect alloy" around here. That way I can change the mix easily and not be committed to some mix I find I do not want today, but thought was "perfect" yesterday.

As the old miners used to say "gold is where you find it". So is Sn. I have been very lucky over the years to find 350+ pounds of pure Sn at the scrap yards for (maximum) a dollar a pound. Never have found one ounce of scrap pewter I would ever melt down. All of it I ever find is antique and worth many X more than the little Sn in it.

But I use very little Sn......no more than around 1% added to any mix I am using at the time. If the boolits are not casting like I want them (with correct melt temp), I add a little Sn and problem solved.

Don't get over zealous on the amount of Sn you THINK you need! A little bit goes a VERRRRRRRRRY long way.

Banger

[lwknight]

It seems that the concensus of this group is that 1% tin will cast just fine.
My experience is that you need 1% tin to every 3% antimony.

Consensus says that extra tin is a waste.
My experience is that higher tin contend is beneficial to terminal performance. ( shooting paper, who cares?)
Higher tin content can cause age softening but will be a tough, ductile bullet good for weight retention in high terminal performance bullets like hollow points. That is why the 5-5-90 is so popular with hunters.

[JNG3]

5% is what works for me so far. Lyman #2 is 90/5/5. 1-20 alloy is 5% tin as well. Besides pure lead for muzzleloading, these are the only 2 alloys I use so far. It was what was recommended to me by an older gent who has since passed on. He told me that these 2 alloys would do 90% of all bullet casting needs. He suggested Linotype for high velocity rifles. I have not graduated to that as of yet.

[MT Gianni]

Most of my target shooting is plain clip on ww, pistols or rifles. If fill out is a problem when using a particular mold I add a length of 50-50 solder purchased years ago and continue. Generally 8"-10" in the pot will work.

[USSR]

Don't get over zealous on the amount of Sn you THINK you need! A little bit goes a VERRRRRRRRRY long way.

This is the result of my being over zealous with the amount of Sn I use. Sn is your friend with handgun loads.

Don

[lwknight]

This is the result of my being over zealous with the amount of Sn I use. Sn is your friend with handgun loads.

Don

I wish we had upvotes.
Beautiful cast. Great mushroom and excellent weight retention.

[OS OK]

This is the result of my being over zealous with the amount of Sn I use. Sn is your friend with handgun loads.

Don

How about some details about these HP's?

*Blend?
*FPS?
*What did you test them in?

[USSR]

How about some details about these HP's?

*Blend?
*FPS?
*What did you test them in?

The alloy was 97 Pb/2.5 Sn/0.5 Sb. The velocity of the middle one was 840fps and the one on the right was 945fps. The were fired into water-soaked newsprint. Keeping the antimony down and the tin up is the key to getting good expansion at low velocities. That .45 caliber bullet on the left came out of my Gold Cup at a leisurely 800fps.

Don

[OS OK]

Just as I suspected, very nice work. I see that you certainly understand Pb/Sn/Low velocity. Weight retention must be 100%!

Beautifully done.

Sn...the magical component in HP success !