Mike’s Modern Gunmetal 62x28x10mm

This type of tin-zinc-copper alloy was used to manufacture cannon barrels before it was replaced by cheaper cast iron. Similar in composition to bronze used by our ancestors in the Bronze Age, this alloy maintains the attractive reddish-brown color we associate with bronze. Unlike gunmetal used in the 13th-19th centuries, the gunmetal I produced contains deoxidising and grain refining elements. These remove gas bubbles and give the ingots a grain structure that maximizes toughness. Phosphorus and cerium were used to accomplish this. 

This alloy consists of 3% tin, 3% zinc, 0.1% phosphorus, 0.1% cerium, and 93.8% copper by weight.