Exactly!Originally Posted by NyFirefighter357
There are only two things to do with unknown alloy. Have it tested for composition. Or for hardness. One doesn't really have to care about composition, it is as a practical matter a means to have a consistent hardness, casting characteristics, at the lowest cost for premium alloy components.
Experience will tell us that some harder metal is due to high tin content OR modest amount of antimony. How it melts, and at what temperature, how brittle, the smoothness of the surface or grain when broken all provide a clue. But if a BHN of 10.5 to 12 is what we need for our revolver that can be made up of different ingredients and the revolver won't care. We might if we are using a bunch of tin solder to get the hardness we could have gotten from adding 50% COWW lead at $1 a pound instead of $4 a pound solder.
Hardball or Lyman #2 are both about the same BHN of 15 - 16 hardness, the Lyman has more tin, costs more to make, but the bullets are less likely to shatter on bone than hardball so if hunting game the cost may well be worth it. Punching paper, not so much worth the money. Maybe the Lyman casts easier in a certain mold, or comes out closer to desired size making the cost of extra tin worth it. Or maybe not worth it but the firearm probably won't notice much difference.
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