Question about mixing range lead and solder bar

[phantom22]

I am currently using range lead from our very own TheCaptain. I have also been gifted a few bars of 63/37 Tin/Lead solder. I use an RCBS Easy Melt with a 25lb pot capacity. Assuming a full or near full pot of the range lead, what would be a good amount of the solder bar to put in there so the tin helps mold fill out and also hardens it a little bit?

[PJEagle]

Usually range lead already contains enough tin for proper mold fill out.

You may want to PM BNE and ask if he will analyze a sample of your range lead. That way you will know the percentage of tin it contains.

[phantom22]

I've had mostly good success with the range lead as it is. I've had to run it hotter than the suggested temps in the RCBS manual although just because it says 700 doesn't mean the melt is 700 I suppose. I set it to 725 and have had pretty good results. I still get some issues with the driving bands not completely filling out occasionally and some wrinkled tips. I let my molds heat a lot and have had better results doing that. The sprue generally takes about 5 seconds to "frost" over. I figured a little extra tin wouldn't hurt or should I save it in case I get some "pure" or softer lead not from range scrap?

[ole_270]

The range lead I've been digging out has a little higher concentration of cast bullets in it, been averaging 0.2% Sn, 1.5% Sb according to BNE's testing. I generally add some tin to give more diameter in some molds for some applications.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I am currently using range lead from our very own TheCaptain. I have also been gifted a few bars of 63/37 Tin/Lead solder. I use an RCBS Easy Melt with a 25lb pot capacity. Assuming a full or near full pot of the range lead, what would be a good amount of the solder bar to put in there so the tin helps mold fill out and also hardens it a little bit?

worst case senario, add 2% Sn.

[bmortell]

if my math is right adding half pound of the solder to 20pounds in the pot would add 1.5% tin which should be enough to fill out fine. tin adds hardness pretty slowly so its not ideal for hardness unless you don't mind using it up. but if you got some to spare adding 1.5 pounds of the solder would put you at ~5% tin which is enough to put you a practical step up in hardness. water dropping or heat treating would be better for hardness, idk if your alloy has enough antimony or arsenic to gain much hardness but if it don't adding some wheel weights or magnum shot would make it more heat treatable.

[Dusty Bannister]

if my math is right adding half pound of the solder to 20pounds in the pot would add 1.5% tin which should be enough to fill out fine. tin adds hardness pretty slowly so its not ideal for hardness unless you don't mind using it up. but if you got some to spare adding 1.5 pounds of the solder would put you at ~5% tin which is enough to put you a practical step up in hardness. water dropping or heat treating would be better for hardness, idk if your alloy has enough antimony or arsenic to gain much hardness but if it don't adding some wheel weights or magnum shot would make it more heat treatable.

This suggestion does not take into consideration that when tin exceeds the percentage of antimony, you have created an alloy that will age soften over time. I can not say if it will quench harden to any degree so you might want to try it and see. You already have 1.5% antimony so anything more than a total of 1.5% tin in the alloy might be a surprise in a not good way for long term storage of your bullets.

If you keep adding odd amounts of this and that, you will have some sort of Frankenstein blend that might work, but be difficult to replicate. Better to try to keep it simple at this point.

PS This refers to the alloy contents as posted in #4 and may not reflect your actual range metal alloy not clearly ID in post #1

[kevin c]

The range lead I got from my club's berms averaged 2% Sb and no tin, so I added a bit more Sb and Sn to make the 95-3-2 alloy I prefer. I've read here that I could have just run hotter to get the fill out, but I have the tin and went that route.

I found some variation in different lots of range lead. I'm assuming that comes from the wide variety of bullets shooters use. Even though I coat my casts so maybe the variation in hardness isn't a critical issue, I prefer a consistent alloy so I blended the lots and had the resulting alloy analyzed. This way I can calculate exactly how much Sb and Sn to add to get exactly what I want to cast.

[brewer12345]

Range lead can be anything, so unless you get it analyzed you really have no idea what it is. That said, I usually use range lead for casting lower pressure cartridges where the allow composition doesn't matter that much. Think 45 ACP, plain base 38 special, etc. So when I am doing that stuff, I generally chuck somewhere between a quarter and a half a pound of solder or pewter into my 20# Lee pot just to make sure I get nice fill out. It works just fine.

When I am casting rifle boolits, I am a lot more picky and actually weigh stuff and work with base metal sources with known metal content. So my 30-06 boolits that are intended for hunting I try to dial up 94-3-3. The same intended for target have a little tin (1 to 2%), but I want them harder with 4 or 5% antimony. I cast some plain base 9MM boolits today that are close to hardball (92-6-2) because they will be plain base and it is a higher pressure cartridge.

[kevin c]

I don't push them too hard (900 fps) but my 9mm 147's, made of 95-3-2, with two coats of HiTek don't lead my factory Glock barrels at all, and have the accuracy I need for the action pistol sports.

[phantom22]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm going to try and add between 1% and 2% just to help a little with the fill out. I've been quenching and powder coating these bullets and so far have ended up with cleaner bores than before I started. Accuracy has been just fine as well.

[cwlongshot]

Only problem I have had with too much tin in my pistol Plinker's is it makes my pot a dripper...

CW

[lightman]

Like the others have said, if you don't know the content of your range lead then everything is just a guess. You can send off a sample to get analyzed if you want. But I personally would just try casting a few and see how well they cast and shoot.

[Rich/WIS]

Half a pound in 20# is 2.5%.