60/40 Bar Solder

[pdgh59]

I have been given a heap of 60/40 bar solder by a retired plumber. Is there any real need to adjust proportion of solder when substituting 60/40 for 50/50 bar solder when making Lyman #2?

[Mitch]

yes it is 10%.so if you use it as 50/50 you will not have lyman No.2.and you will be wasting some tin that you do not need to.
say you were making a 100lb batch of alloy is you use 50/50 solder you would need 10 lbs to get 5lbs of tin to mke 5% tin for your #2 alloy
if you use 10lbs of 60/40 solder you would be using 6lbs of tin or 6%tin in your alloy this is not #2 alloy.you could use the extra 1 lb or 1% for something else.but like all else it is your choice to do as you like.BTW what are you going to cast from the #2 alloy?

[pdgh59]

Thanks for the advice. I am going to have an annual mega casting session and cast 6.5, 7 & 8mm plus various .30 and .31's.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

I can't imagine that it would be any worse if you just use the same amount as you would 50/50. The alloy will be slightly harder, as it will still be well short of the 10% or so at which hardening stops increasing. But I doubt if this is worth the extra use of tin. Even though it was given to you, you may never be given any more.