Add Pure to WW?

[Jevyod]

Just started casting, and in my first cast, I used straight WW. I ordered some pewter, and plan on using it to help with fill-out. My question is this, should I add 2% to straight WW or should I add some pure as well? What are the advantages? I know some use 50/50 WW and Pure with 2-4% Tin. what is the advantages of this? Is it only to keep the lead a bit softer?

[waksupi]

It would help to know what you are casting for. I don't add any extra tin to an alloy until I start casting 6mm and smaller.

[Jevyod]

Am sorry, I should have clarified. I plan on loading for a 1951 Marlin 336 in 35 Remington. I want to load up hunting loads, so I figured that softer is better. I thought maybe I should add pure to help soften it, and tin for good fill-out. Am looking hard at the RCBS 35-200-FN mold.

[RickinTN]

The RCBS 35-200-FN is an excellent mold for the 35 in a Marlin. The NOE version is the only 35 rifle mold I have. I would start out by adding 2% tin to your wheel weights and see how that goes. The 16-twist with the Ballard rifling shoud be very cast friendly.
Rick

[Larry Gibson]

The RCBS 35-200-FN is an excellent mold for the 35 in a Marlin. The NOE version is the only 35 rifle mold I have. I would start out by adding 2% tin to your wheel weights and see how that goes. The 16-twist with the Ballard rifling shoud be very cast friendly.
Rick

I use the 35-200-FN and it is an excellent bullet for the 35 Rem. I also suggest you add 2% tin to the COWWs and AC them. Use them for load development, zero and practice. I size mine at .360 and use a soft NRA lube and Hornady GCs. With just the COWWs + 2% tin you can shoot them all day long and not have to clean the barrel.

Then for hunting simply add 50% lead to that COWW + 2% tin alloy. Cast them and let AC/age harden for 7-10 days before use. Use the same load. I also clean the barrel after every 7-8 shots to maintain best accuracy with this hunting alloy. I also HP them 3/16" deep with the Forster 1/8" HP tool for hunting.

Larry Gibson

87279

[felix]

I don't add any extra tin to an alloy until I start casting 6mm and smaller.

Agree, NO tin, unless the boolits are junk by form or weight after a test run THAT DAY with any caliber design. Tin is just too valuable. ... felix

[gwpercle]

When my friend had a tire shop and I could get all the free wheel -weights I wanted I cast with straight wheel-weights. Now that he is no longer in the business, I have started stretching the wheel-weights with pure lead with a 50/50 mix. I actually have come to prefer this mix and wished I had started doing it years ago to make the ww's go farther. For hunting it is a much better bullet may be just a tad more accurate in my rifles. Give it a try.
Gary

[waksupi]

Well, I've killed deer, elk, bear, buffalo, and antelope with ww boolits from the .358, so that WILL work.

[jmort]

Tin has more than one benefit and is not expensive for what you get in return. I'm pro-tin.

http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Chapter_3_alloySelectionMetallurgy.ht m

"OK, here’s a subtle point, WW alloy (3% antimony, 0.3% tin) can fall prey to this issue (brittleness) as well, although not as severely since its not as hard. But by adding tin and making the alloy slightly harder, the alloy also becomes less brittle and more malleable due to the formation of SnSb and the elimination of the precipitated Sb phase. Thus, WW alloy with approximately 2% added tin makes an excellent bullet metal with hardness suitable for a variety of applications, and it still can be made harder through heat treating or water quenching."

[cbrick]

Tin is just too valuable. ... felix

Well, not always. :mrgreen: Back in the day when Sn was $5.50 - $6.00 a pound and Midway sold it in two pound orders I threw in a tin order with every Midway order. Did that for several years and today Sn is the least of my worries and I add 2% by weight of added ingots to all of my WW alloy. Did the same with gas checks when they were one third of what they are today.:mrgreen:

The Sn as mentioned is a benefit, it's not mandatory but it is beneficial.

Rick

[paul h]

I've never had a problem with straight clip on ww's filling out a 35 caliber mold, and I've cast from 105 to 286 gr and most increments in between. Simply put, if you're having an issue with fillout you need to get your mold hotter and/or cast faster. Straight ww's cast great and fillout fine, but you have to cast them hot. If the bullets aren't coming out frosty, turn up the heat.

For a rifle, IMHO, air cooled wheel weights are just about the ideal hardness to produce accuracy, prevent rifling stripping, expand upon hitting game and not shatter when hitting bones.

Certainly you can add some tin as it will make the alloy slightly more ductile, but it isn't needed. Wheelweights are running $1/lb so a 10# pot is $10. If you buy lead free solder for $20/lb and add 1/5 pound to make your alloy 2% tin you've increased the cost of your bullets 40%, but IMHO they aren't 40% better.

As far as cutting ww's with straight lead, I've started doing that to make the most of my remaining stash of ww's. They seem to work great in handguns at 800-1200 fps. I haven't tried that alloy in rifles. My rifles have faster twist barrels, so I'm not inclined to try softening my rifle bullets.

[Airman Basic]

When my friend had a tire shop and I could get all the free wheel -weights I wanted I cast with straight wheel-weights. Now that he is no longer in the business, I have started stretching the wheel-weights with pure lead with a 50/50 mix. I actually have come to prefer this mix and wished I had started doing it years ago to make the ww's go farther. For hunting it is a much better bullet may be just a tad more accurate in my rifles. Give it a try.
Gary
Where do you find the pure lead? Can't get any 'round here.