Tin

[James C. Snodgrass]

:confused:Is it just me but adding more than 2% or so to WW is it a waste? I remelted a pot full of sprues and culls and went inside and forgot what the alloy was and added tin. I thought about it about a minute later , I figured what the hell they will be great bullets instead of just good. To my surprise the didn't seem to look any different than my normal boolits. So what gives? James

[Ricochet]

I've long felt that more than a tiny bit of tin (<1%) to improve the sharpness of mould fillout was generally a waste. After reading that stickied post on metal toughness, I'm not so sure now.

[HeavyMetal]

One of the great controversy's is if you should or should not add tin to WW metal.

I used WW metal for years as my pistol alloy in all calibers and never had a problem.

As I gained experience ( and read to much) I decided to experiment with higher tin and antimony content alloys.

I got mixed results, pistol boolits, the low pressure stuff like 38 Spec. and 45 auto, didn't seem to notice the difference the high pressure stuff, 44 mag, 357 mag, 9 mm really noticed an alloy change!

The info on alloys in the stickies worth reading as well as the section in Lee's reloading manual on lead ( second editon).

Study up on the tin issue, look at what your casting for and then decide if you need a better alloy for what your shooting.

[James C. Snodgrass]

I know if you water quench WW they are as hard as woodpecker lips and can be driven 2200 fps with out problems. But I don't see much more that I can ask for from my cast boolits. Will adding more tin allow a significant improvement over this?

[felix]

No, unless your boolits are cracking upon rapid cooling, or breaking up when shot into soft mud. ... felix

[felix]

The very best toughener I have found is copper. However, you have to have an excellent casting session to make the boolits accurate. This is because there is no good way (at home) to keep the copper uniform throughout the entire boolit (for mushrooming purposes). Copper solidifies way before the other constituents in the alloy and therefore migrates to the coolest part of the alloy, such as to the surface of the metal being dropped into the mold cavities. Migration can be very rapid indeed. ... felix

[James C. Snodgrass]

They don't bust up on steel targets, I mean they don't just shatter or goof up. I have been playing with air cooled with idea of obturation will seal and accuracy in a revolver.