K Mac said:
As Aquila Blanca said, most (if not all) metals used in modern firearms are alloys, i.e. non-homogeneous.
That's not quite what I said. My point was that, absent a rather strange definition in statute of the word "Homogeneous," I would not consider any metal alloy that is formed from a liquid mix to be "non-homogeneous."
Merriam-Webster on-line defines "homogeneous" thusly:
Definition of homogeneous
1 : of the same or a similar kind or nature
2 : of uniform structure or composition throughout a culturally homogeneous neighborhood
3 : having the property that if each variable is replaced by a constant times that variable the constant can be factored out : having each term of the same degree if all variables are considered a homogeneous equation
What is "homogenized" milk? Unless you buy straight from a farm, today all milk is homogenized, but I'm old enough to remember otherwise. When I was a kid, milk still came in glass bottles, and the cream always separated out and rose to the top. Before pouring a glass of milk, we had to shake up the bottle to mix the cream back into the milk. Homogenizing somehow magically keeps the cream in suspension throughout the milk.
Zamac is an alloy of zinc with varying amounts of aluminum, magnesium, and copper mixed in. (There are actually several "official" types of Zamac, and the amounts of the alloying elements vary from one type to another.) Once the alloy has been mixed and melted in a pot -- you can't separate out the distinct alloying elements from the zinc, so IMHO it IS "homogeneous." It's just not pure zinc -- it's a homogeneous alloy of zinc plus aluminum plus magnesium plus copper [plus whatever].
For comparison, a "Scandium" alloy such as used in sporting equipment is comprised primarily of aluminum, with trace amounts of lithium, magnesium, scandium [in a really tiny percentage], and titanium. The alloying elements are distributed "homogeneously" throughout the alloy at the molecular level.
What Illinois was apparently trying to do was to ban so-called "Saturday night specials" like the Wilkinson/Jiminez pistols based on the melting temperature of the zinc-based alloy. Whether or not the Zamac is homogeneous has nothing to do with its melting point. If they're going to ban firearms on the basis that the metal they're made of is an alloy, and alloys are "non-homogeneous," then ALL modern firearms are prohibited. All the steels and aluminums used in contemporary firearms are alloys.
You tell me.