Ian
Notorious member
I want to continue the "Condor Cuddler" thread here but more to the point of attempting to find a lead-free substitute for cast bullets rather than resorting to the usual Barnes et alia solution for hunting in areas which no longer permit the use of lead bullets.
As mentioned on the other thread I discovered a technical article which explored the addition of ternary additives to bismuth/tin for the purpose of altering the grain structure for increased ductility. Small additions of antimony to eutectic 57/43 bismith solder showed a dramatic reduction in grain size and equally dramatic increase in ductility. My hope is that a similar ductility increase can be achieved with an 88/12 alloy (more suitable to making bullets) with the small antimony addition. This should be the case because the precipitation mechanism of ductility is primarily a function of Sb/Sn intermetallic forming along the bismuth lattices and this should occur at least to some extent independently of specific tin or bismuth concentrations.
I contacted Rotometals to forward a copy of the article and the interest of their production staff was piqued sufficiently that they prepared some sample alloy for me to test. I should be receiving this alloy in the coming week.
First order of business with the new metal will be figuring out how to cast a bullet with it, then on to the physical testing and if all that looks promising enough, then on to some shooting tests. Stay tuned.
As mentioned on the other thread I discovered a technical article which explored the addition of ternary additives to bismuth/tin for the purpose of altering the grain structure for increased ductility. Small additions of antimony to eutectic 57/43 bismith solder showed a dramatic reduction in grain size and equally dramatic increase in ductility. My hope is that a similar ductility increase can be achieved with an 88/12 alloy (more suitable to making bullets) with the small antimony addition. This should be the case because the precipitation mechanism of ductility is primarily a function of Sb/Sn intermetallic forming along the bismuth lattices and this should occur at least to some extent independently of specific tin or bismuth concentrations.
I contacted Rotometals to forward a copy of the article and the interest of their production staff was piqued sufficiently that they prepared some sample alloy for me to test. I should be receiving this alloy in the coming week.
First order of business with the new metal will be figuring out how to cast a bullet with it, then on to the physical testing and if all that looks promising enough, then on to some shooting tests. Stay tuned.
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