Hi percentage Antimony

[RedHawk357Mag]

Good afternoon. I came into some alloy that is 88 Lead, 10 percent Antimony, and 2 percent Tin. Probably just under 80 lbs. I believe it was purchased from a commercial endeavor that was shuttered.

I shoot 357, 44, (1150-1200 fps),40 SW and 45 ACP. What would be a good use for this alloy in mixing with range scrap from personal range and hand sorted COWW. I tinkered around with Bumpos alloy calculator playing what if. But not sure if that's a good use of this alloy. I don't heat treat my alloy, which I believe high antimony kinda shines in. I am open to any suggestions as it's been sitting in a bucket for a couple years and hasn't eaten much. Thanks.

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[kevin c]

That's fairly hard alloy you have there, harder than I understand is really needed for any of the pistol calibers you list. COWW is nominally 2.5 to 3% Sb with ~1% Sn and a bit of As (which is what I've read is good for heat treating), and is considered a good alloy for pistol velocities by itself or even cut with pure 1:1.

You have your own range? Lucky man! If you know what gets shot into it, you know what you're digging back out of it. Otherwise content is highly variable, ranging from hard from hand and commercial cast to soft from jacketed, pellet and .22. Mixing it with what you have will be softer with the exact BHN depending on the range scrap.

Maybe get some pure and tin? That way you can mix most anything you want.

You could shoot the alloy as is, but it's seems kind of a waste.

[RedHawk357Mag]

Just some random stuff I What If'd...50 lbs of the 88 percent stuff, 100 lbs of COWW, 15 lbs of pure and 29 ounces of tin would in theory yield...2% tin, 4.8 antimony,.15 arsenic, 93.1 lead. That should be around 13.6 bnh

Just not sure that's really an effective use of it though. Although I get most of it back multiple times. So there is that.

My last 200lbs of range scrap tested at 94.3 lead, 4.17 Antimony and 1.2 tin by Rotometals tally. It was mostly recycled twice with some first time COWW plus 2 percent Tin.

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[kevin c]

I'll let others comment on what they actually use in the calibers you listed (my main experience is in casting 9mm). My one other observation is that most sources I've read say UP to 2% tin is useful for fill out, but that there are folks who state they don't need it - they just cast with alloy that's a bit hotter. Tin at higher percentages is used by some because apparently balancing the tin and antimony confers benefits to the alloy (think Lyman #2, which is 90-5-5), but can start to be pricey using that much tin.

[Bookworm]

I can only tell you what I would do with it.

I would cut the 10% antimony down to about 2 or 3% with straight Pb, then add Sn to about 1%. Then I'd shoot it.

If you don't have Pb, then perhaps trade or sell some of the 10% Sb mixture to get some Pb.

I would think someone on this board could use some high Sb mix.

[ole_270]

Yeah, I try to stay under 3% for most of my shooting. Some of it half that

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I shoot 357, 44, (1150-1200 fps),40 SW and 45 ACP.

I would mix your different alloys to get a alloy that is approximately 94-3-3
I'd use that in your 40 and your Mag calibers.
I'd cut the 94-3-3 with 50% pure/near pure lead for 97-1.5-1.5 for 45acp and 38spl.
In my area, pure/near pure lead is much easier to find that COWW or other desirable alloys.
Alloys with balanced Sb and Sn are tougher, and IMHO is better in most shooting applications.
That's my 2¢

[Larry Gibson]

If you mix it with 150-160 lbs of lead that cuts the antimony to 3% +/-. Then add 2.5% tin. That will give basically a 94-3-3 alloy which is excellent for all the cartridges mentioned. Save your other alloys for other uses as trying to conglomerate them with the other hi-antimony alloy will not prove to very successful. The 94-3-3 alloy will be a superb solution.

[RedHawk357Mag]

Thank you folks I will give that a try. Much appreciated.

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