How much Tin to add to WW's?

[mtgrs737]

I cast and shoot pistol boolits made out of WW's, mostly in 38 spl. and 45 acp however I sometimes will need to cast up some .357mag, 41 mag, or 44mag SWC boolits. What percentage of Tin for all the boolits above would be best? I have some 63%Tin/37%Lead solder to use in alloying the mix. Should I just stick to Linotype for the magnums and use the tin to help fill out the mold better on the lower speed boolits?

[Blammer]

Howdy, I'm not the most knowldegable but...

I cast for my 357 mag and just use straight ww's and it does good for me! I'd try just the WW's before adding tin.

[Lloyd Smale]

what i usually do is mix my wws in about 300lb batches. Then i fill my small 10lb pot with just ww and try to cast a mold that is notorious for being a little tough to fill out. If the batch casts fine i leave it alone. If it doesnt i start adding lead. I start with 2 percent and have found some batches that up to 5 percent is needed. I think what happens is that a little zinc will sneak into a batch occasionaly and the extra tin will kind of offset the problem that it causes. I try to melt slow and get them all out but im sure one of the evil little buggers finds its way in once in a while. its pretty hard to avoid when you do batches as big as 300 lbs. Lately though wws have been getting tougher and tougher to get ahold of in any quantity so ive been using them mostly for making #2 and 5050 ww/lyno and use recovered range lead for most of my plinking bullets. I kind of have it nice in that im the only one that shoots at my range so i know the recovered lead is pretty much the same thing everytime. I just keep a controled 4570 bullet and melt the range scrap down in a 300lb batch cast one and weight it and add lineotype or pure to get the weight back to the control wieght. I try to keep it about in the range of #2 as that is probably about my most used alloy.

[MT Gianni]

I would use straight ww unless mould fill out was a problem. Gianni

[NVcurmudgeon]

I have two marks on the casting bench to measure 140 gr. of lead-free solder (that's 2% of a one lb. ingot of WW.) Then the solder is pre-cut to length and a piece added with each ingot. Just figured out that 2 % may be unnecessary, because there is about 1/2 of 1% already in wheelweights. Next time I'll try 105 gr. with each ingot.

[mtgrs737]

Thanks for all the answers, I will try to use the WW alloy as is on the slower speed plinkers and mix a bit harder alloy for the magnums using some linotype so I get the antimony that I need for a harder bullet.

[Single Shot]

From this web page: http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletAlloy.htm



To 20 pounds of clip on WW metal add 6.4 OUNCES of tin and you get an alloy containing:
2¼% Tin 4% Antimony and 93½% Lead.

Adding 9.6 Ounces of Tin will give you 3% tin in the alloy.

Adding 12.8 Ounces of Tin will give you 4% Tin in the alloy.

The Bullets can still be Heat Treated and still will not shatter on metal targets.

If you use 95%Tin / 5% Antimony Lead Free Solder to add your Tin, just add 5% more to the OUNCES NEEDED. On a calculator just enter the starting Ounces then + 5%. This will automatically give you the total needed. DO NOT USE LEAD FREE SILVER SOLDER. It does not have the Tin Needed.

[TAWILDCATT]

you dont need to harden til you get 1600/1800fs and over

[versifier]

I would use straight ww unless mould fill out was a problem. Gianni

Likewise. Why waste the lino on handgun boolits? I save that for high velocity rifle boolits.

[mtgrs737]

I agree that WW's will be fine for lower velocity bullets, I was considering the extra tin to help in filling out the mold. I have purchased some 63/37 bar solder just for the tin.