Mixing new alloy

[easy ed]

Getting ready to mix up this alloy. Any thoughts on improving or changing the mix. Thanks in advance for your input.

Going to be used for 9mm, 45ACP and 45 Colt.

1.4 pounds 50/50 Solder
1.5 pounds Tin
10 pounds Lino
140 pounds clip on wheel weights

Tin 2.16%
Antimony 3.53%
Arsenic .23%
Lead 94.1%
Est Hardness 12.5

Total weight 152.9


Easy Ed

[Doc Highwall]

The questions that are going to be asked is. What are you shooting it in and what are you using it for?

[randyrat]

What are you planning using this alloy for?

I never like to mix such a large batch at one time, what if you want to change it slightly. Just a suggestion, why not make 10% of that until you know for certain it is the alloy you want.

I have a tough time going by percentages, I go mostly by weight and toughness of a proven boolit and try to duplicate it.
Lighten it up a bit= add some Tin or Antimony....
Make it a little heavier= add some pure lead to the mix

The whole problem is, we really don't know the exact content of most lead alloys, including WWs..So it is a **** shoot. Unless you weight your final product, even then it can be a **** shoot.

[454PB]

Looks like a marvelous alloy to me!

[captaint]

Yes, it does look like a very friendly alloy. However I, too, would mix in smaller batches. Just because. What if you decide later it needs something else to be harder, softer, lighter.... It's east to modify any alloy if it is in smaller batches, and then see how it works out. Just MO. enjoy Mike

[bumpo628]

Like the others said, make a smaller batch to start.

It looks like the tin is too high. I would leave the 1.5 lbs of pure tin out of there unless you have mold fillout issues. Then you can add it as needed. The only exception would be if you were making hunting bullets. The extra tin would help give you weight retention of the boolit.

With the 1.5 lbs of tin left out of your original recipe, the percentages would still look pretty good:
1.19% Tin, 3.57% Antimony, 0.23% Arsenic, 95% Lead, Hardness @ 12.2

[Doc Highwall]

I see you added a use but is this for hunting, target, or plinking.

[Defcon-One]

I cast and shoot an alloy of 2% tin, 3% Antimony and 95% Lead in all of my handgun loads. It works well for me and is a good balance between cost and performance.

Your proposed alloy is almost identical to my standard alloy. It will cast beautifully and shoot well too.

I typically make batches of 20 lbs. at a time and I agree that 150 lbs. may be overkill, but if you do that, you will have a whole lot of identical alloy. Even if you want to change it later, you still can ad more of or water down any component. As long as you know about what you have, you can get to what you want.

The only thing that I would say is that there is really no point in going over 2% Tin!

[cbrick]

easy, I'll also go with the smaller batch.

I blended several small batch's of CWW together for one uniform 800 pound batch, but it's all CWW, I added no tin or anything else. When I cast and these ingots go into the casting pot I weigh the ingots and weigh out 2% tin. That's my mormal alloy for the majority of my casting. Should I have a need for a different alloy I have my WW to do it with and I haven't used up all my tin or other supplies.

I did the same with 800 pounds of 6 BHN SWW, all blended together into a single uniform lot but nothing added until I know what it will be used for.

As for your question on your alloy, I didn't do the math but it sounds fine, possibly a tad harder for the 45 ACP and 45 Colt than needed but will probably be fine. For my 45 Colt and 44 Spl I added a 1/2 pound Super hard & 2% Sn to 18 pounds SWW for 9 BHN air cooled and both guns and myself are happy campers. Because I didn't alloy all of the metal I had into something else at the git go I had the SWW, the tin and Super Hard to do this and I have only a small 18 pound batch of this alloy. If/when I need more it's very simple alloy it again and I'll have the metal to do it.

Hope this helps,

Rick

[fredj338]

I just don't see why you are adding solder & tin & linotype unless you just have a bunch of solder & tin to use. I would drop the solder out. For 45acp & 45colt, straight ww run fine to over 1000fps, water drop them for the 9mm to 1200fps. If they don't cast well, add some tin, 1%-2% as needed, but you really don't need a hard alloy for those calibers.

[easy ed]

Thanks to everyone for your comments. Guess I will make up a small batch of alloy and see how it works. Most of my shooting is done at the rifle range. I also cast for 45-70 use 20-1 for that. What hardness of alloy should I use for 30-30 and 30-06? I have Ranch Dogs TLC-311 165 GR mold for the 30-30. Don’t have a mold for the 30-06 yet. I have had trouble in the past using straight wheel weights, bullets would not fill out. Started adding 2% tin to my mix and the bullets started filling out and looking good. Any help is appreciated.

Easy Ed