Binary lead tin alloy

[hunter74]

I'm having trouble with finding lead with sb or pure sb to alloy up pure lead.

For target loads in 38 cal at 800-900 fts, what binary alloy would work? 25:1 or do I need more sn?

Thanks!

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[JSnover]

I like to cast mine at 20:1 but at the velocity you're probably ok.

[hunter74]

With 20:1, how fast do you shoot em without problems?

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[Larry Gibson]

25-1 alloy will work just fine. I used 30-1 for my 800 +/- fps 38 SPL target loads.

[Soundguy]

ebay and rotometals both have tin for sale. nuggests... ingots. occasionally on ebay you can find tin babbit that is 95% tin and about 2.5% copper and 2.5% antimony. Great stuff for hardening bullets.. I labeled my tin babbit collection boollet ******...

[hunter74]

I know, but shipping to Europe is expensive. Last time I asked Rotometals refused to ship to my country. Over here they're charging 100 USD/kilo for pure sb and 30 USD/kilo for pewter so it's getting difficult....

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[Soundguy]

try to find 50/50 solder bars in your country at a plumbing supply place.. or even high tin babbit.

[samari46]

Maybe start checking out places that do radiator repairs. Tin, lead alloys are used to solder any leaks. Maybe they will sell the drippings from the pots used to melt the alloys. Frank

[RogerDat]

Zinn or pewter items from a thrift or second hand store can be a source. Scrap solder from electrical manufacture such as printed circuit boards can end up in scrap yards. Maybe you can buy it there or find a shop that will sell you solder drippings instead of selling to scrap yard.

Pewter has the added advantage of adding some antimony so it will take less to harden plain lead.

Babbitt metal already mentioned is used to make bearings for equipment. Trains used it, I read of a member that got some from a sawmill. The bearings of the big saw blades wear out and are replaced frequently those bearings are Babbitt. I think in the US some tractor equipment the bearings were made of Babbitt.

Lead free fishing weights are often tin in this country. Might be worth looking into as a source.

Doubt it would be cheap but some leaded glass is soldered with high tin solder. If you can find a place that has classes or makes leaded glass you may be able to buy the solder at a better price or purchase the "mistakes" then cut off all but the tin joints. The came (frame parts of leaded glass) was lead but these days it may be zinc. Can melt solder off of zinc pretty easy with a torch or electric soldering gun. Tin melts much lower temperature than zinc is why melting off the solder is possible. Small amounts but maybe cheap.

I would say used pewter items are the best shot. The Netherlands and I think Germany had and still have a pewter industry. That is the stuff that will be labeled zinn. Here in the states I have gotten lucky pewter is expensive at some second hand resale shops but they figure zinn isn't pewter so the price is cheaper. Bet it doesn't work like that in Europe where the zinn term is probably better known.

[RogerDat]

Wow a quick check of shipping prices USA to Norway show 5 pounds or 2.26 kilos is $65 plus the cost of the alloy call it $40 so at least $105 to get 5 pounds of alloy from US to Norway not a whole lot cheaper than the $30 a pound you would pay for pewter. In Euro that would be 90.5 Euro.

Works out to about $21 a pound which is $9 less than the $30 you mentioned but I used the going rate for scrap pewter here on the forum which is $8 a pound. I'm sure rotometals or foundry alloy would be more expensive than that price.

My guess is pewter at around 2 or 3 percent might give the hardness you require since it has Sb as well as being around 85% - 90% Sn and Sb boosts hardness a great deal more than Sn.

Sometimes there is a sweet spot with shipping. I just used 5 pounds for weight It may be that a couple more pounds wouldn't add significantly to shipping or it could be that being under 5 pounds drops the price. The only thing that makes less sense than shipping prices would be airfares. Both seem to be sort of random and detached from anything in the real world that one would think impacts price.

[Sasquatch-1]

If you can find a stain glass shop you can buy spools of solder. Not the cheapest way to get tin but it is a source. The shops I deal sell 50/50, 60/40 and 63/37. May have some others also. The more tin the more expensive.

[JSnover]

With 20:1, how fast do you shoot em without problems?

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I've had no problems with pistol boolits 20:1 at 800-900fps, 1100 in my 45-70.