Empire Pewter any good?

[phidelt208]

I've found some empire pewter, but it not cheap.
So I don't want to buy it if it's not good for casting or has some other junk in it.

Anyone ever used it or melted it for bullets?

[Shanghai Jack]

So educate me on pewter - I'm obviously clueless even though I've been casting for 50 years. - a quick online search yields this:

Pewter is a malleable metal alloy consisting of tin, antimony, copper, bismuth, and sometimes silver. Copper and antimony act as hardeners but lead may be used in lower grades of pewter, imparting a bluish tint.

Are we melting down scrap pewter as a source of tin and antimony

Inquiring minds want to know.

[imashooter2]

Modern food service pewter is 92-96% tin. With the balance antimony and copper. At the concentrations we use it, might as well call it pure. That is how I use it. There is a sticky thread linked in my signature.

[JimB..]

So educate me on pewter - I'm obviously clueless even though I've been casting for 50 years. - a quick online search yields this:

Pewter is a malleable metal alloy consisting of tin, antimony, copper, bismuth, and sometimes silver. Copper and antimony act as hardeners but lead may be used in lower grades of pewter, imparting a bluish tint.

Are we melting down scrap pewter as a source of tin and antimony

Inquiring minds want to know.

Yes, cheap tin.

[imashooter2]

Empire manufactured pewter-ware in Brooklyn NY starting 1946. It should be lead free and genuine.

http://web.archive.org/web/20111029114314/http://www.empiresilver.com/PR-Categories.asp?Metal=P

[phidelt208]

Empire manufactured pewter-ware in Brooklyn NY starting 1946. It should be lead free and genuine.

http://web.archive.org/web/20111029114314/http://www.empiresilver.com/PR-Categories.asp?Metal=P

You are the man thanks for the help I couldn't seem to find much.
Has anyone else here used it?

[dondiego]

I've found some empire pewter, but it not cheap.
So I don't want to buy it if it's not good for casting or has some other junk in it.

Anyone ever used it or melted it for bullets?

If it isn't cheap then you might want to keep looking. The whole point for pewter is to get the items cheap.

[phidelt208]

If it isn't cheap then you might want to keep looking. The whole point for pewter is to get the items cheap.

What is cheap for pewter?
2 dollars a pound?

[JimB..]

What is cheap for pewter?
2 dollars a pound?

Even double that is a good enough deal if you need it. Look up tin at rotometals for a retail comparison.

[dondiego]

Tin sells for over $10 per pound......so pewter is 96% tin. $2 a pound is a great price. Over $10 a pound is not. You have to make that call.

[NyFirefighter357]

Modern food service pewter is 92-96% tin. With the balance antimony and copper. At the concentrations we use it, might as well call it pure. That is how I use it. There is a sticky thread linked in my signature.

Don't forget, lead free solder is the same composition as modern food service pewter. I have a lot of solder both bars & rolls. Tag sales are a good cheap source of solder and fishing weights.

[Conditor22]

IF the item is marked "pewter" or "Zinn" and is malleable (and the price is right <$4 per #) I will usually buy it.

the pretty/nice stuff goes into my china cabinet (to look at -- for possible resale, or to be smelted IF I ever run out of the "ugly stuff I smelted :) ) the rest will get smelted then cast into .5 oz boolits.

[imashooter2]

What is cheap for pewter?
2 dollars a pound?

The price point for any commodity depends on how much you need it, how much you have and what your prospects are for getting more. I have a pretty fair pile. I bought most of it at under $4 a pound during some pretty dedicated scrounging back when I was selling it here. I sold it for $8 a pound delivered in 5 pound batches. I still see it near that price occasionally in the S&S section.

Virgin metal from an online supplier or solder from the home center will be 3 times that or more.

So… if I had none, and I needed it, I would not be embarrassed to pay $10 a pound or maybe more for enough to tide me over until I could find a better deal.

[imashooter2]

You are the man thanks for the help I couldn't seem to find much.
Has anyone else here used it?

I probably had some at one time or another. Their catalog looks like ho-hum hollowware. Nothing special. I would have melted it without a second thought. You can dig through the sticky thread looking for the touch mark if it pleases you. :)

[imashooter2]

Here you go. Post 822 in the sticky thread.

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?127929-Pewter-pictures-and-hallmarks&p=3180161&viewfull=1#post3180161

[Sasquatch-1]

I usually look for old goblets and picture frames for 25 to 50 cents apiece at yard sales. Pitchers and the like I will spend $1.00 to $1.50 for depending on size. Got lucky once at the old Harper's Ferry Flee Market and got three boxes of assorted pewter for $10.00.

[farmbif]

$2/lb is a good price, no doubt. the first thing I do as thrift store or wherever is try to bend it with my fingers if it is soft and price is right it follows me home.
good bullet casting alloys are getting more and more difficult to find at low cost. experience has taught me not to hesitate on taking it home when I find good alloys.
it does not take much tin to sweeten up wheel weights and other lead, but, bullets just don't cast as good without it.

[Dunross]

My cutoff point for pewter is $10 a pound or half of what new tin sells for (last I looked). Thus far in our searches the most I've paid has been $6.35/lb and the cheapest $2.25/lb. All depends on what we come across. If it's marked "pewter" (important that it is correctly spelled) and it has the right sheen and some heft to it for its size then it should be the real deal.