Adding Tin solder to alloy mix

[tink77]

I was wondering if you could use 97% Tin, 3% Silver solder in your alloy mix? I have 700 lbs of pure lead and can get more. I can also get this type of solder.

Thanks,
tink77

[MBTcustom]

Sure you can. Haven't you ever heard of the lone ranger?
Seriously, I would thing it would alloy just fine, but I dont know what the silver will do for the hardness of it.
Was I you, I would jump in and try it in a small batch. The very worst thing that could happen is that you mess up 10 Lb of alloy, but I seriously doubt there would be a problem there.

[Jim]

I used a lot of that stuff in soldering copper tubing when I was fittin' pipe. The silver is bonded to the tin at a molecular level because the two metals are blended at terrific temperatures.

Silver melts at 1,764* F and tin melts at 449.5* F. The solder will melt just fine and the tin will help in fill-out and add a small bit of hardness.

You might see some gremlins floating at the surface. If you see anything, it will look like very small flecks of something. That's the silver that has been released and reformed into tiny particles. You can skim it off if you like or just ignore it and carry on. It won't really affect anything negatively.

[41mag]

IF you do a search for "calculator", you can find the post that Bumpo628 put up. He built a spreadsheet calculator that has a Lead Free 95/5 Solder (Ag) line on it. It might get you close if you want to look into it.

[southpaw]

The percetage of silver in the mix is going to be so small ( < 0.15% silver for a 20-1 mix ~4.6% tin). I would not worry about it. Mix, shoot and be happy.

Jerry Jr.

[bumpo628]

Southpaw is right, the % of the silver will be so low that any effects will be negligible to your alloy. If you put 2% tin in your alloy, the silver will be 3% of 2% or about 0.06%

You can always update the silver solder line on my calculator to match your alloy.

[darkroommike]

Lasercast bullets, Oregon Trail Billet Company, have silver in their alloy.