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BRASS & BRONZE REFERENCE
Brass and bronze alloy numbers, in plain English.
Brass and bronze don't go by cute names in the trade — they go by C-numbers like C360 and C932, stamped right on the metal. Here's the numbering system and the seven alloys sellers meet most, each in one plain paragraph.
THE SYSTEM
C-numbers: the metal's real name
Copper alloys are numbered by the Unified Numbering System (UNS): a C followed by five digits. The C-number is the alloy's real name — 'free-cutting brass' is a nickname; C360 is the name. Mill products, bar stock, and strip are often stamped with it, and buyers sort by it.
Roughly speaking: numbers in the C2xxxx–C4xxxx range are brasses (copper plus zinc), and the C5xxxx–C9xxx range covers the bronzes (copper plus tin, aluminum, or silicon). You don't need to memorize the ranges — you need to read the stamp and keep stamped alloys separated.
THE BRASSES
C360, C260, C330
C360 — free-cutting brass. About 60–63% copper with a few percent lead, the rest zinc. 'Free-cutting' means it machines beautifully — the lead makes chips break off clean instead of gumming up the tool. Turned fittings, nuts, screws, and bar ends from machine shops. If your brass was machined, it's often C360.
C260 — cartridge brass. About 70% copper, 30% zinc — no lead. Built to bend and draw: the classic cartridge-case alloy, and the one behind deep-drawn parts, radiator cores, and anything that was pressed into shape without cracking.
C330 — low-leaded brass. Around two-thirds copper with just a half-percent of lead. The tube-stock brass: bends well, solders well, shows up as brass tubing and formed tube parts.
THE ODD ONE
C752 — nickel silver (not bronze, not silver)
C752 — nickel silver 65-18. About 65% copper, 18% nickel, the rest zinc — no silver at all, despite the name, and it's grouped with the bronzes by numbering, not by chemistry. The nickel turns it silvery-white: keys, zippers, musical instrument parts, tableware. If it's silvery and stamped C752, it's nickel silver — a copper alloy, bought as one.
THE BRONZES
C521, C932, C954
C521 — phosphor bronze. About 90% copper, 8% tin, a touch of phosphorus. The springy bronze: strip, coil, springs, electrical contacts. Full phosphor bronze guide.
C932 — bearing bronze (SAE 660). About 83% copper with tin, lead, and zinc. The lead makes it slippery — the classic bearing and bushing alloy. Full bearing bronze guide.
C954 — aluminum bronze. About 85% copper with 10–11% aluminum plus iron — no tin. Strong, tough, marine-grade: propellers, pump parts, heavy wear parts. Don't confuse it with tin bronze at grading time.
RELATED
Keep reading the brass & bronze dictionary.
Brass & Bronze Dictionary — the full hub of alloy-by-alloy guides. Brass vs Bronze — the field identification guide. Bronze Bearings & Bushings — C932 up close. Phosphor Bronze — C521 up close.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Alloy number questions, answered.
What do the C-numbers on brass and bronze mean?
They're the alloy's official name under the Unified Numbering System — C360 is free-cutting brass, C932 is bearing bronze, and so on. Read the stamp; it's the most reliable ID a piece of metal carries.
Is nickel silver real silver?
No. Nickel silver (like C752) is copper plus nickel plus zinc — silvery in color, with zero silver in it. It's still a copper alloy and still bought as one.
Is C752 a bronze?
Only by numbering. Chemically it's a copper-nickel-zinc alloy — no tin — so treat it as its own thing, not as tin bronze.
Why do buyers care about the exact alloy?
Because the alloy sets what the metal can become next. A stamped C-number is proof of what's in the metal, and proof protects the grade — keep stamped alloys in their own piles: https://ironcrestindustrialsurplus.com/how-brass-bronze-is-graded
Text a photo of your brass or bronze to Sonny at 312-880-8174 — or call 312-880-8174 for today's number.
TODAY'S NUMBER
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Prices move with the market daily. Text a photo of your brass or bronze and get today's number — quoted against the market, honored at pickup. Same-day pickup in Chicago — and I'll travel nationwide for the right load.
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