lead alloy 1:10 TIN:LEADii

[hank woll]

i would like any opinion out there on an alloy of 1:10 - i think the hardness is sufficient for magnum .44 rem loads but don't know where i can find a source-any ideas-thanks

[jmort]

http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletAlloy.htm

Lymans Cast Bullet manual

"Elmer Keith's favorite cast bullet alloy was 16-to-1 lead/tin, which has a BHN of only 11. This is the alloy that gave a roaring birth to the .44 Magnum using plain-based cast bullets loaded to 1400+ fps. Properly loaded and lubed, Elmer's alloy will leave a magnum revolver barrel shiny and clean after a long day shooting."
​http://www.lasc.us/FryxellCommentsCBAlloys.htm

10 to 1 seems too "rich" for me, but would work just fine.

[Outpost75]

With the cost of tin these days 1:10 tin/lead is a costly extravagance and unnecessary.

I use 1:30 for hunting alloy in my .45 Colt, .44-40 and .44 Magnum rifles and revolvers.

It works fine up to 1200 fps in a revolver and 1450 in a rifle.

I don't use gaschecks because I am a cheap SOB. The deer can't tell the difference.

159106

[jmort]

I like 1 to 20 in certain applications.

[Blanket]

I shoot 1-16 with a gas check out of my 35 whelen at full velocity, I would add lead for what you are doing

[Outpost75]

I like 1 to 20 in certain applications.

1:20 is a good, general-purpose alloy which will almost do it all if bullets fit correctly and are properly lubricated. About the only application where harder alloy is needed is in gaschecked rifle loads above 1800 fps.

[Rattlesnake Charlie]

jmort gave you the link.

I think you are wasting tin. More lead if you are wanting to stay soft for bullet mushrooming, or are using hollow point bullet.

Myself, I've been shooting range scrap and clip-on wheel weights at 50/50 for decades. Never any leading in any plain based bullets for handguns, even .44 mag in micro-groove rifle and stiffer-than-I-like .45-70 out of Marlin 1895. With GC, no leading up to and including 2450 in .303 Brit.

[Blanket]

I would much rather shoot a Tin/ Lead soft bullet that was the right size than an undersized hard bullet.

[GhostHawk]

Save the tin, find or buy something with antimony if you really want hard.

For me range lead sweetened with about 2% tin works great and costs a lot less.
Spot price for US tin is 6$ a pound compared to lead which vary's widely from 25 cents a pound for stuff that needs to be smelted to just over a dollar for range lead ingots. The range lead may have some tin and antimony in it.

Your money, your choice.

[ccjcc81]

I keep reading that as long is the bullet is not too small, it's ok. But what if the bullet is too small? I just bought a Lee mold, and there were no options for larger or smaller diameter bullets. So if my mold is throwing smaller bullets, or if my barrel is larger than standard, how do I make the bullets bigger?

[Blanket]

lap the mold, buy another or bump them

[runfiverun]

send it back, lap it, or add antimony to the alloy.

other than that you got nuthin.

[ccjcc81]

Thanks.

[white eagle]

i would like any opinion out there on an alloy of 1:10 - i think the hardness is sufficient for magnum .44 rem loads but don't know where i can find a source-any ideas-thanks

That alloy is tin rich and like many have said expensive in tin
it will work but there are other alloys that will get the same BHN more inexpensively
proper fit is important more so than alloy BHN
once you find the correct size for your gun you can shoot just about any alloy
you have to do your homework

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

i would like any opinion out there on an alloy of 1:10 - i think the hardness is sufficient for magnum .44 rem loads but don't know where i can find a source-any ideas-thanks
A few years ago, I bought a load of lead (for 60¢ a LB) from a guy who use to cast . In that load, there were 4 large ingots that looked like half a ostrich egg, the seller said he got those from a plumber. I melted them all together and had it scanned. It was 100 LBs of 'about' 10:1 (Lead-Tin). Must have been scraps of Lead and solder melted by the plumber, in an old plumbers furnace as they are typically the shape of half an egg. I generally use it to mix with pure for 20:1 or 30:1, because as everyone has already said, 10% Tin is just a waste.

[vzerone]

It's a revelation to see so many have finally realized that you don't need all that tin especially after a certain member was telling you to add 2% tin to everything you use even if it already had tin in it like WW's.

[MT Chambers]

Bullets such as 10-1 and 16-1 seem to expand better without any fracturing.

[ccjcc81]

If I mix a lead/antimony mix to the same BHN as a lead/tin mix, the antimony mix will still react differently when it hits a target, even though the alloys have the same BHN, right? I want to mold some HP pistol ammo, I would want tin instead of antimony, right?

[RogerDat]

Bumping the nose to "squish" the bullet will bump the diameter a bit. Metal muffler tape as a spacer to keep the mold halves apart a tiny amount. Spinning a bullet covered with abrasive in the mold to increase its size. Or powder coat can add a thousandth All can work but if you want good accuracy and consistent results you might need to order mold to size. Or check out places such as NOE that will often have "oversized" versions such as .314 or .316 molds that will work for oversized .303 British that would nominally be fit by a .312 size mold. But they tend to be oversized or worn.

[runfiverun]

for hunting or defense work antimony and tin react differently they also react differently if you have some of both in the alloy.
if I were making self defense rounds and wanted a hollow point to expand.
I would use a gas check mold and 30-1.
this would insure I could push it fairly hard [hard enough to open consistently] and that the alloy would retain it's malleability.
conversely an alloy with 3% antimony and about .25% tin would also do the same thing.
antimony is used to extrude lead into stuff like pipe and is also used for swaging.
tin alloy is not used in those applications.

[Bigslug]

Other than being than being the authentic alloy for the British/Confederate Whitworth sniper rifle, there's precious little out there that NEEDS that high a tin percentage. Your best source of information at your current point in the game: http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Contents.htm