Gunmetal or brass

[Maurice Cox 1Participant @mauricecox1]

I have a slab of material, about six inches by nine and an inch thick, which has a label describing it as gunmetal. Is there a way to tell if it really is gunmetal and not brass, other than chemical analysis please?

Maurice.

[Maurice Cox 1Participant @mauricecox1]

[David George 1Participant @davidgeorge1]

Try you local metal scrap dealer many have a metal analyser and will test it for you.

David

[Alan Waddington 2Participant @alanwaddington2]

If it helps Brass is yellow, Gunmetal is darker and more orange, looks like brass and copper mixed.

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

It could also be another type of bronze.

Gunmetal is a bronze – an alloy of copper, tin and zinc. Proportions of its metals vary. 88% copper, 8-10% tin and 2-4% zinc is usual. Originally it was used for making cannons.

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