50/50 + 2% confusion

[pdgoutdoors]

I am wanting to try the 50/50 WW/Pb plus 2% tin alloy. I have read that the 2% tin is based on the weight of the WW, and that it is 2% of the 50/50 mixture. Could someone please clarify which is correct, as that is a big difference in tin content.


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[Dusty Bannister]

Two percent tin added the whole amount of 50/50 alloy.

[CastingFool]

I use 10 lbs of wheelweights, 10 lbs lead and add 6.4 oz of pewter

[Larry Gibson]

It's not rocket science and the mixture does not have to be exact down to the tenth of an ounce. Actually, I use and old bathroom scale to do the weighing of the COWWs and lead. For 20 lbs of alloy I put 10 lbs of COWs on the scale. Then I put 10 lbs of lead on the scale, then I add 3.2 ounces of tin. The tin I have is in long 1 lb bars so I divide the bar with a magic marker eye balling it into 16 sections for about 1 ounce per marked section. I go 3 sections then eyeball what would be about .2 of the 7th section and wack it off with a large pair of tin snips. Works for me.

My bad, I have corrected this post. The previous amounts were incorrect for 50/50 alloy I use. I concur with JonB in Glencoe that adding 2% tin to that is too much. Actually, I add 2% tin to COWWs which makes an excellent alloy by itself and is generally a 95/2.5/2.5 alloy as JonB says. For the 50/50 alloy I use i add the 2% tin to the COWWs weight and then add an equal weight [weight of the COWW + the 2% tin] of lead for a 97.5/1.5/1.5 alloy or close thereof.

[jsizemore]

Most of our COWW's nowadays have a little tin (.25-.5%) and around 3% antimony. I started out mixing 2% tin/pewter with just COWW's or with 50/50. With the straight COWW's + 2% I'd end up with at most 2.5% tin and 3% antimony. Worked great with magnum and moderate rifle loads. Real clean results when sized correctly.

2% tin added to 50/50 would leave a little streak of lead on the trailing edge of the lands in the groove just ahead of the throat in my lower pressure target and practice loads. Now my mix had about 2.25% tin and 1.5% antimony. Tin likes to stick things together and to things especially with a little heat and pressure from my fast burning pistol powder loads. I started dropping back that tin/pewter till I was adding 1% of the whole 50/50 mix which now had the alloy at 1.25% tin and 1.5% antimony and still getting excellent bullet fill out @ 700degF. Still shooting my fast pistol powder target loads those nagging little streaks of lead ahead of the throat went away.

A tenth one way or the other doesn't make much difference. If your not getting the desired effect your looking for, try 1 small change and keep everything else the same. If it's bullets that don't work, you can always remelt and try a little more or less.

[fredj338]

It's not rocket science and the mixture does not have to be exact down to the tenth of an ounce. Actually, I use and old bathroom scale to do the weighing of the COWWs and lead. For 20 lbs of alloy I put 10 lbs of COWs on the scale. Then I put 10 lbs of lead on the scale, then I add 6.5 ounces of tin. The tin I have is in long 1 lb bars so I divide the bar with a magic marker eye balling it into 16 sections for about 1 ounce per marked section. I go 6 sections then eyeball what would be about .4 of the 7th section and wack it off with a large pair of tin snips. Works for me.

^^THIS^^^ I think for most handgun bullets, its just over thinking it on alloy. If my alloy isnt giving good fillout, I add a bit of tin, much less than 2%, usually in the form of a bit of lino.

[Land Owner]

The constituents of a WW are questionable (though a reasonable composition can be found). There are no "contents" stamped on their side. Unless you know for a fact, lead too may not be pure. Pewter comes in many percentages of Tin and Lead. Getting the alloy "perfect" is not the rule - per se.

I was fortunate to receive 800#'s of nuclear medicine transportation shielding (true lead). To 50# of lead, I melt 50#'s of Clip On WW's which I pour into 3# ingot molds. I assume the WW's do not contain any Tin (but they do), then add pewter (of known composition) to achieve somewhere in the vicinity of 2% Tin. The resulting 49-49-2 (+/-) percent Pb-WW-Sn alloy is right for my handgun velocities.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I think adding 2% Tin to 50-50 is more than needed, at least to my taste.
I prefer my alloy to have a balanced amount of Tin and Antimony.

COWW can vary, but the consensus is COWW is 97-2.5-0.5
See post #115
https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?213625-First-time-using-sawdust&p=2444177&viewfull=1#post2444177

also mentioned mid-page of this link
http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletNotes.htm

I mix my COWW with 2% tin to get 95-2.5-2.5, that gets used for some magnum pistol boolits that are loaded on the hot side.
If I want a softer alloy for light loads, I mix that 95-2.5-2.5 with 50% near pure lead to get about 97.50-1.25-1.25

Good Luck

[Larry Gibson]

I have corrected my previous post in which the alloy % were incorrect.

[pdgoutdoors]

Thanks everyone for the replies it clears things up!


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[20:1]

I'd suggest adding tin only if it becomes necessary for casting quality. You can overdose your alloy on tin.

[RogerDat]

I use a 11 pound limit digital postal scale to mix stuff for smaller amounts otherwise I tend to favor making alloy in a large batch of 60 to 100 pounds. Helps with the consistency the percentage of antimony in any batch of WW's varies, the percentage of tin in pewter can vary a bit. So having 100 pounds of nominal 49/49/2 will cast and perform the same until it runs out.

As a previous poster mentioned I often mix big batch of COWW's with tin as it is a good alloy on its own. Easy enough to add some plain lead to use for bullets that don't need that much hardness and can work better if the bullet is softer and has more obturation.

My favorite approach is to make Lyman #2 alloy. At 5% antimony and 5% tin it is balanced, the two metals will alloy with each other so they are greater than the sum of their parts so to speak. Cut with plain lead 50/50 yields alloy pretty close to COWW with 2% tin which is an old standby. Can cut to around 2 parts plain to 1 part Lyman #2 to yield a nice pistol alloy. Many molds are sized based on Lyman #2 and it will (with PC) handle use in full power rifle loads without leading.

Largest pile of mixed alloy ingots by far on my shelf is home brewed Lyman #2. Making it does depend on having access to a high antimony alloy to add to COWW's and some high tin to bring the whole mix to that 5/5 for those two ingredients.

I'm going to suggest the alloy calculator by member Bumpo that is available for download in a sticky thread on this forum. Easy to plug weights of common alloys in and have it calculate the final alloy percentages and approximate BHN.

[RogerDat]

The alloy calculator link
https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?105952-Lead-alloy-calculators