COVID Pewter drying up in my sources

[Land Owner]

I buy various silicone molds from the craft store. I bought ones that look like 1” squares. If I fill them about 1/2 way up it’s 3oz about good for a 10 pound batch of lead.

That's an alloy of 3 oz. of tin to 160 oz. of lead, roughly 53 to 1 (Pb to Sn), or about 1.8% tin (good to go by me!).

The other alloy of 16 Pb to 1 Sn is as Markopolo ciphered...



Under State mandated STAY HOME, the pewter "dry out" is not unusual as folks are just not coming out to see their shadows yet.

[Tripplebeards]

I melted four pounds of pewter plates down the other day to trade a member here for a box of 35 cal GCs. I noticed that I had issues trying to get the melted pewter out of my lee 4/20 pot. Maybe the pot wasn’t hot enough? I remember having the same issue last time I tried melting pewter in my lee 4/20 for some reason. I don’t usually melt my pewter into ignots anymore and just brake off a piece and weight it before adding. It’s easier that way so I’m not fighting with a thick ingot that doesn't weigh exactly what I need. It’s way easier to bend or cut a chunk of thin dinnerware and add it to my mix. If I smelt pewter ignots now it’s so I can send them in a smaller box to sell or trade so I can save on shipping.

Landowner, the expanded boolit is 16:1 pewter and pure load flooring mix. Sixteen pounds of lead flooring and one pound of pewter added for a total of 17 pounds is how I mix it. It has a BH of 7.8. I might have to try it on a deer in my 35 Rem. I tested it with clear PC and a GC all the way to max jacketed loads to 2100 FPS out of my chrony with Zero leading. When I was shooting with a 5.5 pound trigger vs a 2 1/4 pound trigger now. My best groups were with 50/50 COWW and pure with 2%pewter added. It shot a 1” group at 100 yards with the heavy trigger. My 16:1 with the same 40 grain varget load measured 2” at 100 yards. After the trigger adjustment my 50/50 alloy shot two, 3 shot groups in a row at 100 yards that Measured .250”! I never retested my 16:1 load to see if the groups shrank as well. If they followed suit I’m sure they are close to MOA now. I’m sure it would make a wicked light skinned game boolit at 2100 FPS. For now I think I’m going to stick with my 50/50 alloy since it shoots tighter at max 35 Rem book loads. Larry has shot quite a few deer and said most only take a few steps and pile up with correct shot placement using the same 50/50 alloy and HPs out of his 35 Rem at the same speeds. After I shoot a deer or two with 50/50 I’ll try one with the 16:1 for comparison. I do have the 16:1 as my goto alloy at 1600 FPS out of my 44 mag rifle In a Lyman devastator HP at 1600 FPS. I just never saw a deer last year to test it on. I’m more interested in seeing how adding 500 FPS with my 35 Rem does on putting a deer down quicker.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

I picked up another 8 lbs. locally last weekend. This was at antique stores where the price is usually higher than Goodwill or thrift shops. Paid $24. You might not need tin for casting boolits but it sure seems to make nice ones when included.