Gunmetal - wikipedia Gunmetal For other uses, see Gunmetal ( disambiguation ). Gunmetal parts Gunmetal, also known as red brass in the United States, is a type of bronze -- an alloy of copper, tin, and zinc. Proportions vary by source, but 88 % copper, 8 -- 10 % tin, and 2 -- 4 % zinc is an approximation. Originally used chiefly for making guns, it was eventually superseded in this department by steel. Gunmetal, which casts and machines well and is resistant to corrosion from steam and salt water, is used to make steam and hydraulic castings, valves, gears, statues, and various small objects, such as buttons. It has a tensile strength of 221 to 310 MPa, a specific gravity of 8.7, a Brinell hardness of 65 to 74, and a melting point of around 1,000 degrees Celsius. Contents 1 Variants 2 Other uses 3 Colour 4 References Variants Gunmetal ingot is a related alloy where the zinc is replaced by 2 % lead ; this makes the alloy easier to cast but it has less strength. Modified gunmetal contains lead in addition to the zinc ; it is typically composed of 86 % copper, 9.5 % tin, 2.5 % lead, and 2 % zinc. It is used for gears and bearings. U.S. Government bronze specification G C90500 is composed of 88 % copper, 10 % tin, and 2 % zinc, as is British Admiralty gunmetal. G bronze ( or Copper Alloy No. C90300 ) contains 88 % copper, 8 % tin, and 4 % zinc. U.S. Government bronze specification H is composed of 83 % copper, 14 % tin, 3 % zinc, and 0.8 % phosphorus. Red brass is used to produce pipes, valves, and plumbing fixtures and is considered to offer a good mixture of corrosion resistance, strength and ease of casting. It typically contains 85 % copper, 5 % tin, 5 % lead, and 5 % zinc. Copper Alloy C23000, which is also known as red brass, contains 84 -- 86 % copper, 0.05 % each iron and lead, with the balance being zinc. Gunmetal can also mean steel treated to simulate gunmetal bronze. Bushings made of this metal are used in machinery. Other uses The Victoria Cross, Britain 's highest award for military valour, is traditionally made using gunmetal from a cannon captured at the Siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War. The British Gwalior Star medal, awarded to the British participants in the 1843 campaign against the Scindias, is made from guns captured at the Battles of Maharajpur and Punniar, during the Gwalior Campaign. Gun money, Irish late 17th - century emergency coins, contain gunmetal, as worn and scrapped guns were used to make them ; but also many other metals, in particular brass and bronze, as people donated pots and pans and other metal objects. Colour Gunmetal Color coordinates Hex triplet # 536267 sRGB ( r, g, b ) ( 83, 98, 103 ) CMYK ( c, m, y, k ) ( 19, 5, 0, 60 ) Source B : Normalized to ( 0 -- 255 ) ( byte ) H : Normalized to ( 0 -- 100 ) ( hundred ) Gunmetal as a colour is entirely different from the reddish alloy of the same name described above. It is a shade of grey that has a bluish purplish tinge. References Look up gunmetal in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Jump up ^ `` Gunmetal ''. Retrieved 2008 - 04 - 09. ^ Jump up to : `` Gunmetal ''. Retrieved 2008 - 04 - 09. Jump up ^ `` Gunmetal ''. Retrieved 2008 - 04 - 09. ^ Jump up to : Brady, George Stuart ; Henry R. Clauser ; John A. Vaccari ( 2002 ). Materials Handbook. McGraw - Hill Professional. pp. 468 -- 469. ISBN 0 - 07 - 136076 - X. Jump up ^ `` C90300 Bronze Navy G - CDA 903 ''. Anchor Bronze & Metals, Inc. Jump up ^ `` Gateway to Metals Steel & Minerals Castings ( Gun Metal ) ''. EuroAsia Softech LLP. December 14, 2015. Jump up ^ Ammen, C.W. ( 2000 ). Metalcasting. McGraw - Hill Professional. p. 133. ISBN 0 - 07 - 134246 - X. Jump up ^ `` C23000 Copper Alloys ( Red Brass, C230 ) Material Property Data Sheet ''. Metal Suppliers Online. Jump up ^ `` Definition : Gunmetal ''. Dictionary.com. Retrieved 8 August 2017. Shades of grey Grey Ash grey Battleship grey Blue - grey Cadet grey Charcoal Cool grey Davy 's grey Payne 's grey Gunmetal Platinum Silver Slate grey Taupe Purple taupe Medium taupe Rose quartz Taupe grey Timberwolf A typical sample is shown for each name ; a range of color - variations is commonly associated with each color - name. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gunmetal&oldid=844180897 '' Categories : Shades of gray Bronze Plumbing Hidden categories : WikiProject Color articles needing infobox sources Talk Variants Contents About Wikipedia Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Gaeilge 日本 語 Norsk Polski Simple English Suomi Svenska 4 more Edit links This page was last edited on 3 June 2018, at 05 : 33 ( UTC ). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: what type of metal are guns made of
Answer: steel