is WW + 2% the same as 20/1

[Cane_man]

Fryxell says he like WW + 2% Tin as an all around general purpose casting allow... so if i have 10lbs of pure Pb i will add approximately 3 ounces of Tin (.02 * 10 = 0.2, 0.2 * 16 ~ 3.2 ounces) and 3 ounces of Antimony? is this the same as the 1 to 20 alloy (or close to it)?

[imashooter2]

No. 1:20 doesn't have any antimony and 4.76% tin.

[geargnasher]

Wheel weights plus 2% tin is just that, and depends a whole lot on what your WW were made from, which considering low-grade, mixed, contaminated scrap balances wheels just fine, that's most often what you'll get these days.

20:1 is jargon for 20 parts pure lead, one part tin, totally different animal. It is a fairly soft, malleable alloy with excellent casting properties and is used (for one example) by a lot of black powder shooters who need the alloy to flow a certain way when fired and find the antimony in wheel weights to disrupt this flow process. It's an old formula that's been around long before antimony was deliberately added to lead alloys for hardness, and before the intermetallic relationships of antimony and tin in a lead-rich alloy were fully understood.

Gear

[Defcon-One]

Yeah, what Gear said!

Gear, I noticed this: "Location: 29˚68’27”N, 99˚22’07”W!"

With Korea on the warpath, I hope you don't get an incoming nuke or something. Me, I'm happy with "Somewhere in Virginia!"

Great answer, by the way!

[DRNurse1]

Excellent information. This also applied to the 10:1; 30:1 and 40:1 I have heard about (but do not use), right?

Any thoughts about how to easily determine the antimony content of an alloy?

And, I think Gear is out of range, but Feinstein may not be when she is at home. Is it okay to post her GPS address in our avatars?


Yeah, what Gear said!

Gear, I noticed this: "Location: 29˚68’27”N, 99˚22’07”W!"

With Korea on the warpath, I hope you don't get an incoming nuke or something. Me, I'm happy with "Somewhere in Virginia!"

Great answer, by the way!

[Defcon-One]

DocN:

Post away, if you have it!

I like and use 25:1 for casting Hollow Points. I don't really use the other ratio blends!

I have enough experience now that I can look at and handle an ingot and get a good feel for the Antimonial content and Tin, too. I'm not a human XRF meter, but I can tell to some degree if it is in there, and to a lesser degree, how much. There is no way that I know of to be 100% sure how much without a tester, though!

These days I think it is harder to find scrap Lead without some Animony content. The really pure stuff is rare, at least where I am. Stick-on wheel weights being my best option for making 25:1.