Where to buy ingots of Tin?

[S.B.]

What does it run for some of this stuff?
TIA, Steve

[Hickory]

This site may help, but its not the site I was looking for.

http://www.scrapspot.com/03-0136.html

[Hickory]

Here is the site I was looking for.

http://www.nfmetals.com/index.html

[high standard 40]

Also Rotometals. See banner ad at the top of this page.

[badgeredd]

Yep...look up to see a link to Roto....

I haven't a need for tin (I have some high tin babbitt) but I've seen a lot of ingots on evilbay too that are "supposedly" tin or high tin solder, at fairly high prices. One can just buy solder and add it too. None of it is very cheap, but I'd rather go with the pure bars from Roto or 90% to 95% tin solder so I KNOW what I'm getting.

Edd

[jsizemore]

I use this site for determining metal prices;

http://www.scrapindex.com/metal/usa/index.html

Ultimately it's whatever the scrap dealer is charging in your area. I have two dealers in my area and sometimes their prices aren't even close.

I search the yard sales, thrift shops and flea markets for pewter to get my tin. I've accumulated about 10lbs of tin from pewter at a cost of about $4/lb.

[Fugowii]

Is there a convenient way to identify pewter? Tin?

Or is it just experience?

Do you melt it down into ingots for further use? If so, what is the melting point of tin?

Sorry for all the questions but I have no idea how to go about getting some tin except
purchasing it, which I would hate to do if I can scrounge it. :mrgreen:

[S.B.]

Back to my question, I just ordered some from Rotometals. Now, the rest can discuss any topic desired?
Steve

[Fugowii]

My apologies for stepping on your thread sir...


Back to my question, I just ordered some from Rotometals. Now, the rest can discuss any topic desired?
Steve

[mrbill2]

I just bought 10 lbs from Rotometals. Got FREE SHIPPING. Had my tin in two days.
Great outfit.
Mr. Bill2

[XWrench3]

i just bought 4 1 pound rolls of 95% tin, 5% antimony solder off from ebay to add to my mix. i wanted to try adding tin a little at a time, to see if it helps, and how much it helps before i buy a bunch of it.

[peter nap]

I just bought 2, 1 pound rolls from Arcet. Paid $16.00 a roll
Their 50/50 is going for 12.50 so the 95% looked like a better deal.

[Heavy lead]

I don't know where all of you are located, but Menards carries 95/5 for about eleven bucks for a pound roll. I like it for soldering better than other lead free as well (for copper pipe) so have always bought it there.

[fredj338]

I don't know where all of you are located, but Menards carries 95/5 for about eleven bucks for a pound roll. I like it for soldering better than other lead free as well (for copper pipe) so have always bought it there.

Roto sells pure tin ingots for $10.99/# delivered. Buy 25# & they discount it to $10.44/#. Good guys to deal with too.

[jsizemore]

Is there a convenient way to identify pewter? Tin?

Or is it just experience?

Do you melt it down into ingots for further use? If so, what is the melting point of tin?

Sorry for all the questions but I have no idea how to go about getting some tin except
purchasing it, which I would hate to do if I can scrounge it. :mrgreen:

Tin melts at 449.47 deg. F

When you get started look for items that have PEWTER writen on the bottom.

I pour mine in mini-muffin ingots that weigh 2-4 ozs each, about .25-.5" thick. I weigh each ingot on a postal shipping scale and write the weight on it with a permanent marker.

You'll see stuff that says WILTON or ARMETALE or PEWTEREX on the bottom. This is NOT pewter. It's got zinc in it and when you try to bend it, it won't hardly budge.

If it is tack welded or screwed together, it ain't pewter. If it has a rivet, it's not pewter.

Pewter is not magnetic.

When you bend pewter, it will not try to return to it's former shape.

Most pewter I find has a smooth non-porous surface, but is not shiny.

Hope this helps. Good hunting.

[snaggdit]

I, too, buy 95/5 solder at Menards, for soldering. $11 a lb for adding to a melt is too rich for my blood. I have some 50/50 I got to help when I need it, but in most cases why add it? You have a mold that drops good boolits, you know what heat melt you need, why splurge for just ending up with shinier boolits? WW already have some tin, enough for casting, IMHO. Stubborn molds, I can see trying some additional tin. Just my $.02

[fredj338]

I, too, buy 95/5 solder at Menards, for soldering. $11 a lb for adding to a melt is too rich for my blood. I have some 50/50 I got to help when I need it, but in most cases why add it? You have a mold that drops good boolits, you know what heat melt you need, why splurge for just ending up with shinier boolits? WW already have some tin, enough for casting, IMHO. Stubborn molds, I can see trying some additional tin. Just my $.02

I use tin/lead mix for LHP. Adding antimony seems to make the HP brittle. At 25-1, expansion is pretty consistant & uniform. For everything else, ww work fine or if I want harder bullets w/o water dropping, then 50/50 ww & Lino.

[Matt_G]

For anyone buying from Rotometals, I believe I saw a post by 45Nut saying that you can get a 10% discount by using the code castbooli during checkout.
That would knock the price down to $9.89 a lb.

Has anyone tried that and if so, does it work?

I'll see if I can find that post and I'll post a link if I find it...

[Matt_G]

I found that thread.
It's here (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=59189).

[montana_charlie]

You have a mold that drops good boolits, you know what heat melt you need, why splurge for just ending up with shinier boolits? WW already have some tin, enough for casting, IMHO.
Snag, I don't want to start an argument. Much of what you say is perfecly true, but I differ on some of the 'why' in your opinion.

The main advantage of tin is the mould fillout thing...not the shiney surface. I flat don't know if garden variety clip-ons are cast or swaged. But, if they are cast, that measley .5% in the alloy is only enough to get 'car part quality' fillout...and (probably) only enough for one heating cycle.

Once you smelt a bucketful into ingots, then melt those ingots for a casting session, I bet there's only .3 or .4% left.

You see a lot of posts where guys almost brag about how little solder they put in a pot of ww metal. You also see a fair number of photos that show light reflecting from the top corners of the driving bands. Sharp corners don't reflect light...just like a sharp blade doesn't.

What some guys call 'good fillout' would never even get to cool enough to be weighed, by some other guys.

You're totally right in saying that properly managed temperature can produce good bullets from an alloy that is low on tin. Lots of muzzle loaders have cast tons of minie balls from pure lead. And some guns...or shooting disciplines...flat don't require 'match quality' bullets.

But, you might sing your song in a different key if you ever try a tin-rich alloy (say 5%) in a mould you are familiar with. Your shooting success may not improve, but I bet your bullets will.

Continued good luck with your shooting...
CM

[S.B.]

fredj338, What's HP and LHP?
Steve

[fredj338]

fredj338, What's HP and LHP?
Steve

Hollow point or lead hollow point:mrgreen:

[jsizemore]

I'm into the pewter/tin to get good fillout in my Cap'n Morgan 4B mold. I'm anticipating getting a 45acp HP mold in the future to play. A few of the posts I've read mention better fillout and better retained weight after impact from use of additional tin in alloy.

In my scrounging at the flea market today I scored 5lbs 10.4ozs of pewter for $10. Yeah baby!

[geargnasher]

I use tin/lead mix for LHP. Adding antimony seems to make the HP brittle. At 25-1, expansion is pretty consistant & uniform. For everything else, ww work fine or if I want harder bullets w/o water dropping, then 50/50 ww & Lino.

++1 for the hollow points, do them like Elmer did!

I make my 20:1 with bar solder and sewer pipe seals.

Everything else is WW + 4% 50/50 solder, either air or water quenched depending on application.

I get my tin from solder I find on sale from time to time. If I needed more than a few pounds I would buy from rotometals.

Gear

[Dale53]

I am ONLY interested in match quality bullets. I get that, rather easily, with WW+2% tin. When I find a good buy, I buy LOTS. I had an opportunity, a couple of years ago (maybe a bit longer[smilie=1:) to buy foundry direct tin bars for $4.50 per lb. I bought 25 lbs. Then, just another couple of years ago, an individual on this board had tin for $5.00 per lb (it had gone up CONSIDERABLY in the interim) and I bought ANOTHER 25 lbs. You have to "strike while the iron is hot).

Just a few months ago, on this very forum, someone mentioned that Grainger was selling 1 lb rolls of 95/5 solder for about $6.00 per lb. I didn't need any more, so I put a couple of buddies onto it. They jumped on it. THAT is what you have to do. I remember, on that same Grainger web site, they had tin from $6.00 or so per lb up to $35.00 per lb. My buddies preferred the $6.00 per pound.

It's kind of like buying shoes. If you wait until you need some, you'll pay full tilt because there will be NO sales (trust me on this). However, if, when you see a pair on sale like you will need shortly, then buy them THEN (now, I am NOT suggesting you end up with a hundred pair of shoes, NOT AT ALL).

You just have to think ahead and realize that as long as you're going to be alive, you will want to shoot. When the opportunity presents itself, JUMP ON IT! Further, history shows us, metals only get more expensive...

FWIW

Dale53

[snaggdit]

OK, I will agree that tin helps fillout, especially in hp which need the flow to turn out the best. I have found that WW do fine for me by themselves in my pistol calibers. If I am feeling especially rich, I will add about a 1/4 lb of 50/50 per 20 lb of alloy. Yes, the boolits come out better. With the tin in the WW, that nets me around 1%. In rifle boolits, I always mix 8oz foundry type with 10lbs WW and water drop. Lots of tin there and the boolits come out really pretty (and hard). I guess what I meant was tin isn't necessary to cast with. It is a nice addition if you want to pay the price but is not necessary in many cases. I hate to see new casters running out to buy alloy material they really don't need, especially if they are mixing to Lyman #2 levels.

[carpetman]

Dale 53 are you close to Xenia?

[cajun shooter]

snaggdit, I don't know your casting time or what you cast. I will agree that if a person wants to cast a few handgun bullets to shoot on the river bank that they can forgo the tin. But if you want bullets to shoot for hunting and match rifle then the tin is part of the equation. Without tin you would see a lot of unhappy BPCR and Creedmoor rifle shooters. So let's say you are 50% correct in your post. The part about bullets coming out better does not quite cover what tin does. Without it you would have all kinds of problems one being blowby because of round driving bands which could cause leading. I will step down off the box

[S.B.]

How do you know when your adding 2% tin to your alloy, measure by weight or volume? Some of the amounts listed here are confusing? 1/4 lbs: 20 lbs sounds like close enough to me.
Steve

[badgeredd]

I had a problem with a stubborn maxie mold and added 1 1/2 to 2% tin to the mix...instantly I had perfect boolits...and contrary to what some have touted...a little tin doesn't affect the expansion or hardness significantly. I did notice it seemed to enlarge the boolit a bit but I'd guess that was a result of a more perfect fill out as the boolit checked the same diameter with a micrometer.

S.B., yep weight is my method.

Edd

[Dale53]

First of all, my belief is that a beginner needs all the help they can get. Adding 2% tin to the mix helps immeasurably with fill out.

It also makes an antimonial alloy more ductile (less apt to shatter) and can be particularly useful when dealing with hollow point bullets. Hollow Points can be difficult to cast and this eases things considerably.

I keep a little calculator next to my casting bench. I have a kitchen scale there to weigh my bullet mix. I have my WW's in ingots. I put the ingots on my scale just before melting. If I come up with 21 lbs to be melted in my RCBS electric bottom pour pot, I "calculate" the 2% . The easiest way to do it is first convert the 21 lbs to ounces (21X16=336 ounces). Then muliply by 2%= 6.72 ounces. I round that off to 7.0 ounces. Then I pick up a bar or ingot and weigh the bar. Then I merely stick the end of the bar or ingot in the melt and melt off 7.0 ounces. I have one of those small inexpensive postal scales to weigh my tin (it is much more accurate when weighing in ounces than my kitchen scale).

The cost can be easily figured (use the little calculator:mrgreen:). If you have to pay $10.00 per lb for tin (you'll have to hunt for that price but it IS doable) and you are casting 200 gr .45 ACP SWC's, your per bullet cost will be about .006 cents (six tenths of a cent) each. Since I bought tin in quantity when it was available (and it HAS been available for less just recently) then MY cost will be half that. Not bragging here, at all. Just commenting...

Now, this process sounds complicated. It is NOT. It takes maybe two minutes to figure and add the tin. I get better bullets, easier. Well worth it to me. I especially recommend it to beginners. There is nothing like doing well right off the bat to "fire up" a newby:drinks:.

Dale53