silver solder.

[Chemoman]

years ago i read that alot of the buffalo hunters would put a silver dime in their lead pot when casting. so i bought some 700 degree silver solder and put about a 12 inch piece of the silver wire in my lead pot. the results were more shiny bullets and they came out of the mold super easy. in other words a better cast bullet. the buffalo hunters were right. i knew two brothers who where pushing their 45 cal bullets to 2200 ft per sec. the pointed nose would bend over. they added a little silver solder to the lead and the bullet never deformed after that. they won a lot of 500 yard matches. just a thought from a 80 year old shooter.

[SweetMk]

Interesting, alloy with silver,, I have 10 pounds of silver solder,, maybe I will try some!

Another thing I have been seeing lately is claims that powder coat allows cast bullets to get up to these speeds,, ? I do not know!!??

[Winger Ed.]

Interesting, alloy with silver,, I have 10 pounds of silver solder,, maybe I will try some!

I'd make at least one or two.
Ya might never have to kill a werewolf, but it's nice to know you can.

[SweetMk]

I'd make at least one or two.
Ya might never have to kill a werewolf, but it's nice to know you can.

So, which pistol bullet? They both are pretty close, in weight

240 grain 44 Magnum?
or
230 grain 300 Blackout?

The 300 Blackout would be quieter, the werewolf would never hear it coming,,
I understand the werewolves have GREAT hearing,,,

I guess I can not powder coat these silver bullets, as the silver has to touch the werewolf?

The 44 Mag would probably only need one bullet, I am pretty good with that,,
the 300 Blackout? I use more of a "spray and pray" technique with that gun,,,

So, the 44 MAG would be a LOT cheaper,,

Decisions, decisions!!??

` ~ ` ,

[Winger Ed.]

Decisions, decisions!!??

` ~ ` ,

Accuracy and shot placement is the most important concern.

A S&W team shooter once said, "You can't miss fast enough to win".

[dtknowles]

You can buy cast bullets with a silver alloy from Oregon trail.

https://oregontrailbullets.com/xcart...st-bullet.html

I have some solder that I bought for the tin and it is 95% tin and 5% silver. I use it to sweeten my alloys so a lot of my bullets have silver in them.

Will a silver dime actually dissolve in a casting pot? How long does it take. I know that when I want to add copper to my alloy I need to use copper filings not an old copper penny.

Tim

[BNE]

Silver will readily alloy with lead. Makes a better alloy and is tougher alloy than if you add Tin.

I think the eutectic point is around 2.6 or 2.7% Silver, the rest lead. (Eutectic point = the alloy with the lowest melt temp of that mix)

So yes, silver is a good toughener.... just not a lot of data on it because of the cost.

[Chemoman]

Remember this tip came from the buffalo hunters of days gone buy. They shot a lot of paper patched bullets.it gave them a very smooth pp bullet.

[beagle]

Bet you're bippy a silver dime will dissolve. I was messing with a mercury dime one time. Pouring lead on it to get a reverse casting. One cast stuck so I dropped the dime in the pot. Only took a few seconds too./beagle

You can buy cast bullets with a silver alloy from Oregon trail.

https://oregontrailbullets.com/xcart...st-bullet.html

I have some solder that I bought for the tin and it is 95% tin and 5% silver. I use it to sweeten my alloys so a lot of my bullets have silver in them.

Will a silver dime actually dissolve in a casting pot? How long does it take. I know that when I want to add copper to my alloy I need to use copper filings not an old copper penny.

Tim

[dtknowles]

Bet you're bippy a silver dime will dissolve. I was messing with a mercury dime one time. Pouring lead on it to get a reverse casting. One cast stuck so I dropped the dime in the pot. Only took a few seconds too./beagle

Thanks that is good to know. I have some silver but I will stick with Lino for now. I have some copper alloy that I can blend as well but too many experiments going already.

Tim

[SweetMk]

I know that when I want to add copper to my alloy I need to use copper filings not an old copper penny.

Tim

This is the copper-lead phase diagram,,
It shows that Copper and lead are basically insoluble in each other. Three different types of mixes can coexist at some temperatures, so you would never really know what you have,,,

[dtknowles]

This is the copper-lead phase diagram,,
It shows that Copper and lead are basically insoluble in each other. Three different types of mixes can coexist at some temperatures, so you would never really know what you have,,,

Thanks. I was going by what others here have done with Cu to toughen Lead, Tin, Antimony alloys. I know that the quaternary alloy is something that is in use.

Babbitt Bearing Grade 6+ Copper Hard Alloy Ingot is a medium speed Babbitt metal consisting of approximately 51% Lead, 36% Tin, 12% Antimony and 1% Copper. The melting temperature is around 360 F, the pouring temperature is 655 F.

The question is how much can you drop the tin content but keep the copper at 1 percent. How tough would that alloy be. The purpose would be to be linotype hard but not as brittle. I would if I can get around to it, test an alloy that is 89% Lead, 5% tin, 5% antimony and 1% copper.

It only takes a few hundredths of a percent of arsenic to make an alloy much more heat treatable. One percent copper could make a lot of difference or not. It would take testing to know.

Tim

[bangerjim]

You have to use OLD dimes.......not new ones! New ones are sandwiched with carp. 1964 or older should get you there, as they are 90% Ag. But you will rarely ever find those in circulation today! So you will have to dip deep into your old coin collection to get one. Better off buying silver-bearing solder and using it.....if it really works at all. I just stick with adding more than 3% Sn for nice smooth boolits. Sn lowers the surface tension of the molten alloy and allows it pour smoother. That is why GOOD pure lino has 4% Sn in it.

[LouB]

Adjust and check your mix?
So why not just adjust your alloy mix (like increase antimony) and use a lead tester and check the hardness increase in the first few out of the pot, even if you need to water quench a couple to accomplish that?
LouB

[largom]

You have to use OLD dimes.......not new ones! New ones are sandwiched with carp. 1964 or older should get you there, as they are 90% Ag. But you will rarely ever find those in circulation today! So you will have to dip deep into your old coin collection to get one. Better off buying silver-bearing solder and using it.....if it really works at all. I just stick with adding more than 3% Sn for nice smooth boolits. Sn lowers the surface tension of the molten alloy and allows it pour smoother. That is why GOOD pure lino has 4% Sn in it.

I have a COMPLETE set of Mercury dimes if you would want to pay the price!
Larry

[charlie b]

Adding silver solder you are adding a lot more tin than silver. I suspect your bullet results are more from the tin.

If you can get pure silver then get it up to 1 or 2 percent and see what the results are. 2oz silver in 20lb pot? Not cheap

To add copper you need to have it alloyed with something else. Copper melts at >1900F so just adding copper doesn't do much good as it won't melt in your pot.

[bangerjim]

There are several Babbitt alloys that contain alloyed Cu in there for toughness. Not easy to add on it's own, so get alloys with a small amount in the mix done by the professionals, not some home penny-drooping lead re-melter. I have 3 different alloys I can use to add Cu.....only a few % but that is all it takes....if you think you need it for toughness, not necessarily for hardness. Hardness comes from your %Sb.



banger