cheap source of tin?

[lyinhunter]

I am brand new to making boolits. I have read that adding 2% tin into the WW alloy can help with the metal filling the mold properly.

Tin, like most commodities now days (thanks Bernanke!) is very expensive. Lead is very expensive as well but I've managed to scrounge around and find several hundred pounds of ww's and lead pipe, however I'm stumped when it comes to tin. I tried melting down some "tin cans" but I think they ended up being steel cause those suckers wouldn't melt.

So, what, where and how does a guy get a few pounds of tin without paying commodity prices?

I have made a few hundred boolits out of pure WW's and they shot fantastic in my 1911, I would like to improve the boolits by adding tin, but not if it actually makes my boolits triple in price. Any help is much appreciated.

[Max Brand]

The last pure tin I bought was $11 a pound and that was after a lot of looking. Nowadays I just try to make the best boolits I can with what I have on hand, usually a combination of pure lead and WW and they shoot fine in my .45's

Max

[uscra112]

"Tin" cans haven't had tin plating on them for a good many years. Even when they did, it was just a flash coating, maybe a milligram per can. It all went away when the deep drawn can replaced to soldered design. Which was giving us all lead poisoning, BTW. Good riddance.

Watch surplus sellers online - I once bought 10 lb of surplus "leadfree" solder for 50% of retail, including the shipping! That's 95% tin, and that 10 lb. will keep me going for a long while. Lotta guys scour junk stores for pewter. Real pewter can be as much as 90% tin, and often the sellers don't know what they've got.

[John Boy]

I have made a few hundred boolits out of pure WW's and they shot fantastic in my 1911, I would like to improve the boolits by adding tin, but not if it actually makes my boolits triple in price. Any help is much appreciated. If your WW's bullets are currently fully filling out in the mold and obturating in your 1911 for 'fantastic' accuracy, there is absolutely no reason to make the alloy softer by adding more tin. In fact, even adding more Pb

The question back to you is - why do you believe tin should be added to the mix anyway to make a softer alloy?
Yes, the cost of casting would increase substantially!
Sn has a Bhn of 7 and pure Pb has a Bhn of 5. Tin is selling for around $17/lb and pure Pb costs around $2/lb. Plus, there is no cheap source of tin

[Gunslinger1911]

Rotometals is your buddy if you need tin or alloyed antimony to add to your melt. Sponsor here - look at top of page for link

[captaint]

I like to buy pewter at the second hand stores. It's cheap enough and usually available. Just make SURE it's marked PEWTER. Nothing with Wilton name on it. It's aluminum. enjoy Mike

[rockrat]

I can sell you some tin/antimony alloy 92/8, for about $6/lb. Probably ,you only need about a pound per 100 lbs of your alloy

[lyinhunter]

Rockrat, Thanks for the offer that is cheaper than I've seen.

I guess I should have asked, how much of a difference does adding tin to WW alloy make? Does it make enough difference to be worth the money?

the bullets I have made out of "pure" ww's shot as good as I expected, I don't think there was ever a time when I thought, " that bullet didn't go where I was aiming!" however I have since read that adding tin makes the alloy "better" In that it will fill the mold "better" whatever that means.

When I was making boolits at the time, I figured the defects such as dimples, frosting and lack of shine were because of poor temperature management on my part, however after reading a little bit I was wondering if my boolits weren't shinning and perhaps minor dimples being caused by a lack of tin?

[nanuk]

I bought 10# lead free solder cheap one time, due to damaged rolls. 2x5lbers. I paid about $2.20/lb

[SlowSmokeN]

I found linotype for $1 a pound today. Guy had a 5 gal bucket 3/4 of the way full. I hear about it like tin, but have no idea what to do with it. I wonder if I bought it I could make a little off it?

[mtgrs737]

SlowSmken,

If you would like to sell the type metal I would take a 60 lb. Flat Rate Box of it at 1.25 a pound. PM me if interested.

[bfuller14]

Lyinhunter,
Get you a small amount of tin and see the difference for yourself.
The small amount is very helpful.

Welcome to CB,
Barry

[Jailer]

If you've got a radiator shop in your town, you could stop in and ask for the solder drippings. I got a bucket of 60/40 solder drippings for $20 from my local shop and ended up with 22lbs after I melted and cleaned it.

[fryboy]

tin as noted can sweeten a pot , if your not getting complete fillout ( like say around the lube/driving bands ) and rounded corners where the mold doesnt have them a bit of tin can help , it also ,very minutely, helps make the casting a wee bit bigger/lighter ( as does antimony ) if i cut ww's with lead i like to add some tin , it cast better then because the ww's have a skosh (.5 - 1% on a good day ) while the lead doesnt , cheap tin is the misc you scrounge around , solder does have a advantage of being easy to measure and cut ( and the rosin core kind also fluxes somewhat ) but unless you scare up a deal or a few rolls at garbage sales it gets kind of expensive , my best luck was/is with pewter

[runfiverun]

tin has it's uses.
if you are doin fine without it. then why bother?
i keep ww's, tin, linotype,stick-on's,and pure separated.
i mix what i need when i need it, it all has a use.
i use a lot of different alloys [i have 4 different pots all with different alloys in them]
ww's and soft [old stick on ww's] 3-1 with 1/2% tin added.
4%tin and 6% antimony. [lead and lino 1-1 with 2% tin added]
pure lead. [round balls,muzzle loader,and swaging cores]
and ww's with 1% tin added [this is the wifes alloy and all she uses to cast with]
these alloy's let me scrounge anything i can find, then i can mix and match whatever i can find wherever i can find it.
by using a hardness tester, the lino,4/6 alloy,and the lead, I can make mystery metal cast some real nice revolver boolits.
quite often just adding 1/2-1% tin will bring things around and save me a lot of grief.
adding tin to an antimonial alloy will also add toughness to the alloy [lowering the brittleness]

[lyinhunter]

Thanks alot. I'll try the radiator shop, flea market... for solder or pewter and see how much of a difference it makes.

[GT27]

I am brand new to making boolits. I have read that adding 2% tin into the WW alloy can help with the metal filling the mold properly.

Tin, like most commodities now days (thanks Bernanke!) is very expensive. Lead is very expensive as well but I've managed to scrounge around and find several hundred pounds of ww's and lead pipe, however I'm stumped when it comes to tin. I tried melting down some "tin cans" but I think they ended up being steel cause those suckers wouldn't melt.

So, what, where and how does a guy get a few pounds of tin without paying commodity prices?

I have made a few hundred boolits out of pure WW's and they shot fantastic in my 1911, I would like to improve the boolits by adding tin, but not if it actually makes my boolits triple in price. Any help is much appreciated.

If they shot great,why fix what isn't broken? Harder isn't always better in the case of boolits,IMHO!

[randyrat]

Check your Wineries, if they bottle themselves and they use Tin/Sn for bottle/cork top covers.. they are 99.99% pure Sn. Unless they use Aluminum, covers.

They always have rejects and they may have a testing bar, have them save the top peal off Tin Offer to recycle at no cost to them. Of course, you use them to make Tin/Sn statues or other little trinkets.

The pure tin/Sn is an off silver color and the Aluminum is bright silver

[Bob Krack]

I very seldom add Tin to any alloy and have cast for target shooters shooting 1/2 inch groups.

If it will help your comfort level, go on down to the local friendly hardware store and buy the small 1/2 pound or so size roll of solder and add it to 10 pounds of what you are casting with right now and see if that makes a difference to the appearance and/or performance of your boolits. Avoid the acid core solder.

$5 or $10 one time will be a very inexpensive education for you (I think). If ya like what it does for you and your firearm(s) then start searching for reasonably priced Tin.

Welcome to the forum and good luck,

Bob

[Iron Mike Golf]

I use pewter gathered at local auctions and flea markets. I find it faster than I can use it at under $5 a lb. I treat it as 92% Sn and 8% Sb. I go for the items that was used for food: cups, creamers, sugar bowls, coffee and tea pots. The assumption there is no lead. I don;t worry about traces of Cu or Ag that might be in it for strength. By the time it's in my alloy, it's diluted so far down as not to have any effect.

I only use things stamped "Pewter".

[DLCTEX]

I think adding 2% to WW is wasting tin. 1% should up the total to all that is needed for fillout.

[filric48]

I love Rotometals they are 2 miles away here in San Leandro they are selling Tin Pellets I have not tried them yet. If you spend a 100.00 the will ship for free.

[shadowcaster]

Try adding some tin to a small batch and cast some boolits. See if it makes a difference for you. If it doesn't, it'll be one less thing to be concerned about and save some money too.

[Kfn2]

I too am new to bullet casting. I was given about 60 lbs of lead in the form of a boat anchor and down rigger weights. The alloy that I have been using weighs 93.8 grains when cast into a 95 grain bullet mold. The new lead that I was given weighs 100.8 grains when cast into the same 95 grain mold. Other than the difference in weight the castings are visually identical. Should I proceed with casting and using this heavier metal or look for tin to add to my lead? My concern is leading of my barrels and any other issues that I am not aware of. I thank you in advance for any advice you would be willing to give.

[merlin101]

I too am new to bullet casting. I was given about 60 lbs of lead in the form of a boat anchor and down rigger weights. The alloy that I have been using weighs 93.8 grains when cast into a 95 grain bullet mold. The new lead that I was given weighs 100.8 grains when cast into the same 95 grain mold. Other than the difference in weight the castings are visually identical. Should I proceed with casting and using this heavier metal or look for tin to add to my lead? My concern is leading of my barrels and any other issues that I am not aware of. I thank you in advance for any advice you would be willing to give.

Tin isn't really used to lighten up a boolit even tho it has that effect, BUT you would have to use quite a bit to change the boolit weight 7grains. You can add a bit of tin to make the mold fill out so edges are crisp and clean more than that is a waste of money.
Barrel leading is more of a size issue than alloy ( softer will lead easier than hard)

[Sur-shot]

I found linotype for $1 a pound today. Guy had a 5 gal bucket 3/4 of the way full. I hear about it like tin, but have no idea what to do with it. I wonder if I bought it I could make a little off it?

Carlton Shy's (IHMSA Cast Bullet editor) formula for precision match bullets, cast bullet matches, is:
7 parts by weight cleaned wheel weights
2 parts by weight Linotype
1 part by weight chilled lead shot

When water dropped the bullets BN at about 23 and can be heat treated or pushed to over 2K with a good lube, like LBT Blue, as is. I mix this alloy in a 100# plumber's pot and just add a 0 for pounds. The Chilled Lead shot can also be Magnum Shot and contains antimony and arsenic for hardness. I buy any old left over full bags of odd size pellets at gun shows that meet the specs. I shot cast only in silhouette competition for 25 years.
Ed