Adding tin

[deadarrow]

I have been casting with straight COWW alloy. My first boolits were .358 147g DEWC using a Lee 6 cavity TL mold. Got great results. I have a Lee .356 124g TC 6 cavity TL mold coming. My question is, if I wanted to add 2% tin to get better fill, can I just add the tin to my 10# casting pot and stir it to mix it in? I ordered some tin flakes from Rotometals so weighing the 2% should be easy. I'm enjoying the whole casting experience. Learned alot from this forum along the way. Also does adding tin create a harder alloy?

[Beagle333]

Question #1, yes.
Question #2, see this http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletAlloy.htm

[R.M.]

You don't necessarily need to ADD 2% tin. You might want 2% tin total. Your WW have tin already, though a small amount.

[cbrick]

The vast majority of my casting is with COWW and I automatically add 2% Sn by weight. I weigh the ingots as I add them to the pot & add 2% Sn by weight at that time & then flux with sawdust. WW does have Sn but according to two separate XrF tests done by this forum with weights from two regions of the country both tests said the Sn was about .5%

Rick

[deadarrow]

Thanks for the replies..... This tells me exactly what I wanted to know.

[sqlbullet]

I generally add about 1%.

The general, and good, advice is to have a specific measurable goal in mind when adding expensive tin to your pot. I would suggest you post some good pictures of bullets your are casting now, and let the experienced guys here comment on fill out, and if they think tin would improve things.

Also, it is good to know the temps you are running your pot at, and a general idea of your casting cadence. It may be you just need a little more heat either from turning the pot up, or increasing you cadence to improve you fill out.

[cbrick]

Actually tin is good for more than getting good mold fill-out, it is also important in getting correct as cast diameters and ductility on target. It also adds just a bit of strength for the boolit when engaging the rifling. Wheel weight alloy is well served with the addition of 2% tin.

Rick

[sqlbullet]

Rick, those are exactly the kinds of "specific measurable goals" I had in mind!

[deadarrow]

Recieved my box of tin flakes from Rotometals today. Very fast shipping I have to say. Turned on the old 10# Production pot and added 2 ounces of tin to my COWW. I was quite pleased by the outcome. Very nice fill out and nice shinny boolets. Cast about a hundred just to try it out. Tomorrow I'll do the shake & bake with some HF yellow and run them through the sizer. I'll be anxious to load'em up and see how they run. I'm really digging this whole casting project. I remember shooting my first reloads years ago and think how cool that was. Now shooting reloads using boolits I cast myself is even better. Thanks to all the guys that take the time to share all the valuable info here on this forum. Without that I would have never had the success I have had in this venture.

[Buzz64]

Try just one oz in your 10lb pot and I bet you get just as good a fill-out and make your tin go twice as far. I do 1 oz in a 20lb with COWW and have excellent results. Running a little hotter with brass HP molds.

[deadarrow]

Good to know... I'll try that. Tin can be a bit spendy in the long run.

[dtknowles]

Good to know... I'll try that. Tin can be a bit spendy in the long run.

I don't know how tight money is for you but the extra ounce of tin costs only about a buck and a half, right. I am thinking it adds less than a half a cent to the cost of a bullet. Your two ounces was only one and a quarter percent, add that to the maybe half a percent that was in the CCWW alloy and you are still under 2 percent. I would stick with the 2 ounces.

Tim

[Down South]

Actually tin is good for more than getting good mold fill-out, it is also important in getting correct as cast diameters and ductility on target. It also adds just a bit of strength for the boolit when engaging the rifling. Wheel weight alloy is well served with the addition of 2% tin.

Rick
I have to agree with Rick and that is what I do. On the other hand, I have a lot of Tin that I have collected through the years. Your wallet is the biggest decision maker.

[Wayne S]

Well here's my take on adding Sn. Say you start off with an empty 10 # pot add your WW ingots and the amount of Sn you like. So, as the pot gets down to 1/4 full , do you keep casting, or add more WW and the same amount of Sn, or break out the calculator ? I find it easier to get the pot I use for melting WW, melt x lbs of your ww ingots, add your desired Lbs, of Sn, and pour your ingots. That was all your bullets will be from the same WW/Sn mix till you run out

[Buzz64]

I still say try one oz. If it doesn't do it for you then add another oz - what 'cha got to lose by trying? YMMV but this is what one oz in 20lb does for me...

93247

[catman81056]

Nice looking Boolits Buzz! That HP looks like a crater!!!

[Down South]

Well here's my take on adding Sn. Say you start off with an empty 10 # pot add your WW ingots and the amount of Sn you like. So, as the pot gets down to 1/4 full , do you keep casting, or add more WW and the same amount of Sn, or break out the calculator ? I find it easier to get the pot I use for melting WW, melt x lbs of your ww ingots, add your desired Lbs, of Sn, and pour your ingots. That was all your bullets will be from the same WW/Sn mix till you run out

Me too. See post that I put up earlier.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?226473-Made-50-50-Alloy-Today

[deadarrow]

I agree that adding the tin during smelting and pouring ingots would be ideal. Alas I have a couple hundred lbs. of straight COWW ingots and I don't really want to remelt them. I have been casting today and adding tin to my casting pot. When the level would drop to appx. half I would add ingots and half the tin for a full 10 lbs. It seems to be working fine so far. I'm getting nice boolits this way so far. The tin has made quite a difference.

[cbrick]

I agree that adding the tin during smelting and pouring ingots would be ideal.

Not really. If I have learned anything in the past few decades casting it's that nothing remains the same regarding what your shooting or the alloys used to shoot various firearms, calibers, loads etc.

Mixing everything up all at once limits what you will be able to do later. I blended 800 pounds of carefully sorted clip-on weights into one homogenous lot. It stays that way until I am ready to use it, I make any possible changes to that alloy as I need it and that includes adding tin. Pre-blend it and you have what you have. I highly recommend any changes to the basic alloy be done when you need it in the amounts you'll use. It's a guarantee that down the road you will want something else for a different purpose.

Rick

[Buzz64]

Agree with cbrick - be surprised how much what you think today is 'perfect' won't work tomorrow with different mold or mold material, much less different speed / pressure requirements for different load / caliber.

[Down South]

Same here. My alloys stay as they are until I need to blend a specific alloy. Like the 70 lbs of alloy I blended yesterday, I blended it for my 45 acp's and I'll finish using it up in a few days when I have the time.
I need to cast for my 9mm's. I'll use a bit different blend for that but I will make a batch of it the size I want before I start casting.

[John Boy]

Guess I'm the antithesis for adding Sn for mold fill out using Bhn 15.4 lead, equivalent to clip ons.
I just finished casting 20#'s of Ideal 311413 bullets for the 30-30 that were exact to mold spec's and 2 grs over published bullet weight.
Holding steady at 750 degrees with the Ideal mold, not only were they not frosted but the bell curve weight of the batch ran a 0.6gr variance. A 5 second pour & and 5 second frosted sprue puddle are the keys!

I mix various tested alloys to derive the Bhn that I want to use. 98% of my lead is from the scrap yards and other scrounged sources. And when I infrequently use Sn in the alloy, it is never more than 1/2% of the total weight. Out of 50#'s of Sn I bought about 5 years, have about 45 lbs still in inventory. Quite honestly, the frequent posts to use 2% Sn, IMO and 30+ yrs of casting experience ... is not necessary. Try cutting back on the 2 percent and you'll be surprised the amount is not necessary

BTW, I'm not an infrequent caster. Have close to 7000 lubed cast bullets in inventory for the various calibers I shoot - from 22LR up to 50-70, plus 3 metric calibers

[cbrick]

Have close to 7000 lubed cast bullets in inventory for the various calibers I shoot - from 22LR up to 50-70, plus 3 metric calibers

That's another thing experience has taught me. I used to cast up boxes of the boolits that I used for the firearms I was shooting, no more of that. Just a few weeks ago I once again re-melted well over 100 pounds of cast boolits that I no longer needed, most for guns that I no longer have and I've done that several times over the years.

I have tried casting WW without tin, with .5%, 1% even tried 3% for awhile and I'll say once again . . .


Actually tin is good for more than getting good mold fill-out, it is also important in getting correct as cast diameters and ductility on target. It also adds just a bit of strength for the boolit when engaging the rifling. Wheel weight alloy is well served with the addition of 2% tin.


Rick

[white eagle]

deadarrow
if you get a chance to try an lead tin alloy alone say 16/1-20/1 you might like it

[jmort]

If your bullets are to be used for hunting or self defense and/or hollow-point, then the tin will hold that boolit together, as a much better and more malleable alloy. I'm pro-tin.

[fastfire]

:grin:Falling into that politically correct crowd?not!


If your bullets are to be used for hunting or self defense and/or hollow-point, then the tin will hold that boolit together, as a much better and more malleable alloy. I'm pro-tin.

[cbrick]

:grin:Falling into that politically correct crowd?not!

Huh? :roll:

[Down South]

I'm Pro Tin? I believe that was the Cast Boolit PC statement....