Is it Tin?

[EdsPlace]

Was cleaning out the old shop and came across a couple of ingots of some hard metal.  It obviously wasn't lead.  I suspect it's tin.  Is there a way I can tell? 

Another question:  "Does a hardness tester tell you everything you need to know about an alloy's suitability for shooting?"  The reason I ask is I have about 1000 lbs of hard to "so hard you can't use straight" lead laying around.  I also have some "bricks of virgin lead laying around, but mixing the two is just guess work on my part.  I had some "guess work" bullets laying around that I moulded about 6 years ago and noticed some funky corrosion going on.  I used one bullet to slug the bore of a 0.43 Mauser and it worked, but was a bit on the hard side.

If I can determine if these mystery ingots are indeed Tin, I can mix a repeatable alloy.  Any suggestions?

Ed

[john boy]

Tin:
0.2637 Density
450°F Melting Point
5 Bhn Hardness

[EdsPlace]

I suppose I could apply the principle of Archimedes.  What units be these?  Obviously not g/cc!

[john boy]

What units be these?

A.  0.2637 Density
B.  450°F Melting Point
C.  5 Bhn Hardness

A.  http://www.simetric.co.uk/si_metals.htm
B.  Turns from a solid into a liquid (like an ice cube?) - use a thermometer to measure the temperature of Sn when it turns from a solid to liquid.  If you have no thermometer - Buy One!
C.  Brinell Hardness (BHN) - measured with a hardness tester.   If you have no hardness tester - Buy One!
D.  Might be advisable to but a good book on Casting and for starters, read this website link in detail ... http://www.lasc.us/

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Ed - if it IS tin, consider yourself lucky!

As to the "lead too hard to be used by itself" you may have linotype.  To give you a sort of reference, John Boy wrote that tin has a BHN hardness of 5, pure lead is about 6: linotype is (IF I remember without my chart) is about 22.

Buck knives are from 55-65, and I believe the scale ends at 100 with diamond.

[john boy]

IF I remember without my chart) is about 22.

You have a good memory Bailey.  The only other Bhn I have seen for lino is on the LASC site and it is listed as Bhn 23.  But the bullet will never know the 1 Bhn difference!

For the good of the Forum - stick this link in your references ... http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletAlloy.htm 

[litl rooster]

good reading and in the saved file........    thanks

[Adirondack Jack]

One characteristic of tin is it squeaks when bent.  Hammer a bit of it until maybe 1/8" thick or less, grab with two pair of pliers and bend it.  If it's pure tin, you'll hear an audible "cry" when ya "hurt" it