straight WW vs. WW+2%tin

[quack1]

I was casting some 225462's today and tried a quick experiment before I emptied the pot. I normally add a little extra tin, roughly 2%, to my wheel weights when casting 25 cal. and smaller bullets to help with complete fill-out. My thought was to see how much the extra tin helped the WW metal fill the cavities better.
I have a really abused 358495 that I bought for almost nothing. The cavities are pitted and the edges are rounded, making a pretty distinct parting line. I polished out the pitting as much as I could and figured I would have to live with the distinct parting line. Other than the parting line, the bullets come out looking pretty good, and the mold casts and releases as good as any other mold I own. With a magnifier, I can still see the fine pitting in the cavities, but with straight WW metal the bullets show very little pitting. I was wondering if extra tin would allow the pitting in the cavities to show up on the bullets so I warmed up the 358495 mold and cast a few.
A picture is worth a thousand words.
The top row are the bullets cast with WW+ 2%tin.
The bottom row are cast from straight WW.
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll300/1quack1/ww2tinvsplainww.jpg

[cbrick]

Interesting experiment quack, if nothing else it proves that the Sn does indeed aid the alloy in filliing out the nooks and cranny's of the mold.

Rick

[Dale53]

I have run a number of tests of pure WW's vs WW's + 2%tin. In each and every case, the tin alloy filled out better and at a lower temperature.

My standard pistol and revolver bullets are cast of WW's+2% tin.

Dale53

[Larry Gibson]

Yup, definately shows the WW + 2% tin "fill out" better. Been advising adding 2% tin to WWs for some time.

Larry Gibson

[youngda9]

With that mold you don't want better fill-out it seems :) Thanks for posting this.

[prs]

You might find that 1% extra tin is enough. All you need is enough.

prs

[sqlbullet]

and at a lower temperature....

Dale53

Fill out is fine in my normal isotope alloy, but a little tin allows me to consistently get good boolits at a lower pot temperature, and with a faster cadence without getting frosties.

This is the biggest reason I advocate running 1%-2% tin.

[JeffinNZ]

You might find that 1% extra tin is enough. All you need is enough.

prs

I agree. Also, if you plan to heat treat the alloy at any time, the more tin you add the less BHN you will achieve. Straight WW I can get to 33BHN, with 2% tin, 23-25BHN.

[Shuz]

I was casting some 225462's today and tried a quick experiment before I emptied the pot. I normally add a little extra tin, roughly 2%, to my wheel weights when casting 25 cal. and smaller bullets to help with complete fill-out. My thought was to see how much the extra tin helped the WW metal fill the cavities better.
I have a really abused 358495 that I bought for almost nothing. The cavities are pitted and the edges are rounded, making a pretty distinct parting line. I polished out the pitting as much as I could and figured I would have to live with the distinct parting line. Other than the parting line, the bullets come out looking pretty good, and the mold casts and releases as good as any other mold I own. With a magnifier, I can still see the fine pitting in the cavities, but with straight WW metal the bullets show very little pitting. I was wondering if extra tin would allow the pitting in the cavities to show up on the bullets so I warmed up the 358495 mold and cast a few.
A picture is worth a thousand words.
The top row are the bullets cast with WW+ 2%tin.
The bottom row are cast from straight WW.
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll300/1quack1/ww2tinvsplainww.jpg

For many years I have been using ww+1%tin. Personally I think 1% is enuf. Quack I'd sure like to see you rerun the above experiment with ww+1% tin and comparethem with the other sets.
What say?

[williamwaco]

you might find that 1% extra tin is enough. All you need is enough.

Prs


ditto.

[390ish]

Do any of you have more wrinkling when you add tin? I seem to with 9mm lee moulds.

[cbrick]

Do any of you have more wrinkling when you add tin? I seem to with 9mm lee moulds.

No, tin causes the mold to fill out better, not cause wrinkles.

A cold mold causes wrinkles and an aluminum mold disipates heat much faster so you need to cast faster to keep the heat in the mold.

Rick

[Janoosh]

Any increase in size? WW cast larger than pure, so does adding tin to WW increase the size? And, as I'm still learning, any ageing after cast session?

[357shooter]

Any increase in size? WW cast larger than pure, so does adding tin to WW increase the size? And, as I'm still learning, any ageing after cast session?IMHO Adding 1-2% tin is an insignificant change compared to pure VS WW. So I don't notice a size difference. Air cooled WW will harden over a few days to two weeks. The size difference is small, and basically stops from from week 2 to week 4. I rarely have had bullets older than that, but this is in the area of very small differences. Sometimes it may matter to the target, most of the time probably not.

For water dropped or heat treated, aging matters as they will harden over a couple or three weeks.

Usually I size/lube just before shooting, so what the bullets did on the shelf doesn't matter very much. I don't need or use hardened bullets, sticking between 8-12 BHN, sometimes softer.

[reloader28]

I couldnt see wasting money on tin except for hunting.
All of my target shooting is straight WW. If they happen to cast a touch small, I beagle or lap the mold.
I figure for the amount of shooting we do, tin is an expensive waste of time.