260 vs 360 Alloy Brass Rod, what’s the difference?

260 vs 360 Alloy Brass Rod, what’s the difference?

I’m placing an order from Jantz, ordering some brass 1/6 rod and noticed they are selling 2 different brass rods, a 260 Alloy and 360 Alloy, the 260 is .75, the 360 is .65 each.

Anyone know what’s the difference is? The description in the “more info” is exactly the same for both rods, other than the price.

I have never bought brass rod from Jantz but was ordering some other stuff, so I thought I would just add some to the order. I have always bought brass rod from Texas Knife and they don’t list which rod they carry.

A quick search revealed this about the alloys, it looks like the 260 is softer, but which works best for our use pinning razors, anyone order rod from Jantz or have use both alloys?


260 Brass (Cartridge Brass)
260 Brass is known by about a zillion different names, but the most common are yellow brass and cartridge brass, the second because it is generally used for shell casings. As a rule, it is only available in sheet, and is not very machinable, but is a great combination of formability and workability.


C260 Cartridge Brass
Minimum Properties Ultimate Tensile Strength, psi 61,600
Yield Strength, psi 52,200
Elongation 23%
Rockwell Hardness B77
Chemistry Copper (Cu) 68.5 - 71.5%
Zinc (Zn) 28.5 - 31.5%
Iron (Fe) 0.05% max
Lead (Pb) 0.07% max

360 Brass (Free Machining Brass)
Free Machining brass is the most commonly used of the brass rod and bar items. The presence of lead in the alloy creates a highly machinable material that can easily be cut and shaped into whatever you need. It is not so good, however, at forming operations.


C360 Free Machining Brass
Minimum Properties Ultimate Tensile Strength, psi 58,000
Yield Strength, psi 45,000
Elongation 25%
Rockwell Hardness B78
Chemistry Copper (Cu) 60 - 63%
Zinc (Zn) 35.5%
Iron (Fe) 0.35% min
Lead (Pb) 2.5 - 3.7%

The 360 is softer - it is the one that most people use for razor pins.You can use the 260, but it requires lots of peening to get a head onto it, and more peening means more chances of missing and cracking your scales.I've never ordered from Jantz that I am aware of.Edit:The 360 has a slightly higher Rockwell hardness than the 260, but the yield strength (how easily it deforms) for 360 makes it softer to deform.

Ultimate tensile strength is the "pulling" limit of a material until it breaks, yield strength is the value of which it will no longer spring back to it's original shape. So, ideally, you would go with the one that has lower values. Hardness tests are a little like HHT, kinda valuable to a certain degree. It's based on compression instead of elongation, but not on how the entire material will react under compression loads.

And since he wants to permanently deform the shape into that of a peened head for a razor pin, yield strength is exactly the value that he wants.
The lower yield strength deforms easier, so less peening.

Not disagreeing with you as I too said to go with the one with lower values. Simply adding more explanation since we deal with a multitude of metals, this information could be useful to other members.

Just reread what I wrote, didn't mean for it sound so snarky. Sorry about that.

I ordered some of each and will see if there is a difference.

I ordered both for the same reason as you, and cannot tell a difference in my use.