school me on tin

[Superfly]

Ok i read that you can add tin to the pot to make a harder and lighter boolit????

Ok i understand that, But what kind of tin ?????

Where do i get it? What do i ask for ? what does it generally cost?? :confused:

Can i use some of the wifes stuff she wont notice right [smilie=1::mrgreen:


Right now i have about 200 lb pounds of ignots from WW and another few 5 gallon pails to smelt out.

Thanks

Jaime

[Boz330]

You can find 50/50 bar solder at most plumbing supply places, and some of the shooting supply places sell pure tin. Get ready for sticker shock though. The way I understand it tin lowers the surface tension of lead allowing better mould fill out.
If you are looking for lighter boolits I'd try and find some linotype to mix with your WW lead, but it will also make them harder, and the boolits won't be that much lighter. In a 350gr 40cal boolit the difference between WW lead and 20-1 tin lead is about 15gr max and that depends on the WW mix, they aren't all the same.

Bob

[Razor]

MidwayUSA has it...

Ney Certified Pure Tin Bullet Casting Alloy (99.85% Pure) Approximately 2 lbs
Product #:
856328
Status:
Available
Currently
123
available at this price
Our Price:
$29.99 :shock: :shock: :shock:

What kinda shootin' you doin' ??
You may be able to go with straight WW ??

Razor

good info on this site:
http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletAlloy.htm

[kir_kenix]

I get tin solder from the radiator shop here in town. I just run water over it for a few minutes and let it dry before I use it. I also keep my eye out of solder, pewter, or other forms of tin at garage sales. Some times pewter picture frames can be picked up for a couple bucks, or youll stumble upon a shoe box full of solder on the cheap.

You might be able to score the tin they use in industrial AC systems if you ask for it at the junk yard. I'm sure somebody will come along with some better ideas, but I try and keep my eye out all the time for lead or tin, and I get some good scores occasionally.

[Calehedron]

Keep an eye out on Evilbay for 95/5 Tin/Antimony solder. I usually can find 4-5 1lb rolls for $40-50 from time to time. I have 13 rolls now that I picked up about a month ago. Grainger sometimes has clearances on solder and you can sometimes find it under $10 a roll.

[Superfly]

Holy shnikes that suff is spendy i hope to just pour real hot WW into the 45 acp mould, only other thing i was hoping for was the 30 30.

Hmm back to the thinking snow bank.
Thanks




Jaime

[IcerUSA]

You might want to try a 50/50 mix WW/Pure for the 45ACP as it doesn't really need that hard of an alloy to shoot well without leading .
The 30-30 should do well with straight WW's or if your going to push them , then water drop and they will be a little harder .
Lately I have been casting some round balls for the muzzle loader out of pure and getting some very nice balls , just have to run the temp up a little for the pure to fill out .

Keith

[kir_kenix]

I don't use any Tin in mid range 30-30 loadings or .45 acp. My .45 gets casted out of the softest alloy I have available as it is not very demanding. Most of my plinking .30's and revolver shooting requires no tin at all. I do use tin in my .22's, and high velocity .30's.

I say try some mid range .30's without the tin. I get good results with just water quenched ww's in the vast majority of my shooting.

[RBak]

........just have to run the temp up a little for the pure to fill out .
I was just wondering if this is an iron clad rule? Can you trust that all pure lead will "fill" better with higher temps?

One more thing....using a "bar" of 50/50. How much of that bar, or how many bars, would you use to say 15# (right at three-quarters of a 20# pot) of pure, or even WW for that matter.

I ask these questions because I have probably 10 or 12 bars of 50/50 left, and I have been trying different amounts to both pure and WW with what appears to be about the same results....actually no real noticeable difference, although my pot maintains a fairly constant 800 degrees when cranked all the way up

Having said all that, I did notice, on my last batch of 358009 using 1/2 bar of 50/50 and a 3/4 pot of WW, that I got some really nice looking bullets as far as being bright, shinny, and looooking gooood....but that turned out to not mean a whole lot.
I still had a few "throw back" and a couple that, for whatever reason, didn't fill just right, or had a small hole under the sprue, or considerable weight variance, etc, etc, but they were all dang sure shinny and pretty.


Russ...

[felix]

Yes, iron clad rule! Raise the temp to max using the lead you have and the mold you are using. Use nothing but WW, and if you are not getting fill-out, then gradually add a very minor amount of high tin stuff. Usually, when everything is working just right, you will notice that you added less than 5 ounces of tin per 20 pound pot. ... felix

[RBak]

.....5 ounces of tin per 20 pound pot. ...

Great! Exactly what I was looking for.

I don't want it to seem that I meant to take anything away from Superfly's thread, so you fellas just keep on talking.
A feller like myself can always use more learnings, and you just have to forgive me for butt'n in sometimes.

BTW; I have trusted Felix' writing's for years now and see no need for change.

Russ...

[corvette8n]

I bought 10lbs of "block tin" from a scrap yard $2.00lb

[Superfly]

Russ no worries man we are all learning. I learned something from you post too it is all benificall to anybody who reads it.

So jump in anytime you want.


As for tin if i ask at a wrecking yard will they know what i am asking for ????

I don,t really think i need a car fender right?????


Thanks Jaime

[trk]

I have a number of pounds of lead-free solder (Kester) scraps - 96.5% tin, 3% Silver and 0.5% Copper.

I am looking to sell some of it once I figure out what a resonable price would be (I'm inviting comments).

It's in Virginia.

[Tom Herman]

One more thing....using a "bar" of 50/50. How much of that bar, or how many bars, would you use to say 15# (right at three-quarters of a 20# pot) of pure, or even WW for that matter.

Russ...

Hi Russ,

2% Tin is about right. That was good advice from the other fellow: Figuring pure Tin, you have 15 pounds x 16 ounce/pound, or 240 ounces of metal. 2% of that is 4.8 ounces (5 is close enough). Since your bars are 50% Tin, add ten ounces or mark your bar with a magic marker at 5/8 of the length, and melt that into your alloy.

Happy Shootin'! -Tom

[felix]

Sell it as straight up tin. Warn muzzle loaders who use tin that your "tin" contains something that might make a tight fitting ball a little hard to start. ... felix

[RBak]

Since your bars are 50% Tin, add ten ounces or mark your bar with a magic marker at 5/8 of the length, and melt that into your alloy.

Good information folks, exactly what I needed.
And, Tom...your estimation on 5/8 of the total lenth of the bar was "spot on"...weighed out at 10 oz on the money.
I suspect my "pretty boolits" came from the fact that I did in fact add that 1/2 stick of 50/50 to my melt.

I do like pretty, but performance is what wins....every time, hands down.

Russ...

[Tom Herman]

It was basic mathematics: You need ten ounces, but have a 16 ounce bar. Ignoring the effect of rounded ends, you need 10/16ths of a pound... That simplifies into 5/8 of a pound, or 5/8 the length of the bar.
For the next one, you have 3/8 of a pound (6 ounces of 50/50) left over, so you only need 2/8 of a pound, or 1/4 pound. So you can take your leftover 3/8#, take the new bar, mark it at 1/4 of the length, and melt or cut it up to or at that point and you're good to go.
From what I've read from others, anything more than 2% doesn't gain you much as far as mold fillout goes. Tin is quite expensive nowadays, so get by with the minimum that you can. I've got quite a bit hoarded away. I also scrounge rolls of solder at yard sales. It all melts and works!

Happy Shootin'! -Tom

[glicerin]

Superfly: some scrapyards don't know content of various metals, and price might go up if they do. Ask for high speed babbit, "nickel babbit", tin babbit. All have about 80% tin 12% antimony and etc. None have nickel, some have small amounts of copper compounds-no problem. They should ring like a bell, deform but not crack when struck, Zinc(bad stuff rings but will crack with diamond style crystals). This babbit has little to no lead so they shouldn't refuse to sell for environmental reasons. good luck

[Superfly]

Hey i have soe babbit i can get i just have to did it out of the snow bank But which one is the ?

Thanks
Jaime

[Ricochet]

The one with the babbitt in it, of course. :mrgreen:

[Russ in WY]

Thats the recipe that I used yrs ago when casting SWC for 45 ACP . At that time I was able to buy pure tin at large hardware store in AK. Were talking 1970's . My 2¢. Russ.

[glicerin]

Superfly:if your snowbank babbit is marked, do a google on it. Lead babbit(20%tin?) deforms easily, oxidizes faster, and doesn't ring as much. Tin babbit(80%tin).