too much tin?

[Mntngoat]

Whats are the issues if i add too much tin to my 50 lbs of pure lead.
Will it affect my alloy? I'm looking for a 25:1 ratio.



ML

[R.C. Hatter]

To attain a 25:1 lead to tin ratio use 2 lbs. of tin with your 50 lbs. of lead. Anything over 5% tin in an alloy for bullets is a waste of tin. The tin adds a little hardness, but its value is in causing the alloy to flow more freely, thus giving better mould fill-out.

[DLCTEX]

Too much tin will make lighter boolits and is a waste of money.

[fredj338]

Keith swore by 16-1 alloy, so anything w/ more tin than 15-1 is probably a waste. I only add tin to HP alloy. Everything else is ww.

[grumpy one]

In in a lead-tin-antimony alloy, if you have more tin than antimony you may get nasty results - there is an article by Dennis Marshall in the RCBS Cast Bullet Manual explaining the problem. However in a lead-tin alloy there are no metallurgical problems - you can use as much tin as you want, but you might find it makes your results a bit worse rather than better if you go too far. Adding tin makes your bullets lighter, a bit harder, and when added to pure lead it makes the alloy less malleable.
Adding up to 5% tin will improve your castings, keep your bullets from going dull, and give you a more suitable hardness for most shooting purposes (the main exception is muzzle-loading applications). If you want a harder alloy than lead plus 5% tin, you should go to lead-tin-antimony, which is a whole different ball game.

[wistlepig1]

I was Dosing a melt today and got a Black colored dos and it wasn't magnetic. Is that tin or just junk. Temp was 650-700. I saved it just in case.

[lwknight]

It was probably some kind of carbon junk. Tin turns a wheatstraw color.