Gunmetal vs. Steel — What's the Difference?

Gun metal, also known as red brass in the United States, is a type of bronze; an alloy of copper, tin and zinc. Proportions vary but 88% copper, 8–10% tin, and 2–4% zinc is an approximation.

Steel is an alloy made up of iron with typically a few tenths of a percent of carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to iron. Many other elements may be present or added.

A grey corrosion-resistant form of bronze containing zinc.

A hard, strong grey or bluish-grey alloy of iron with carbon and usually other elements, used as a structural and fabricating material

An alloy of copper with 10 percent tin.

Mentally prepare (oneself) to do or face something difficult

Metal used for guns.

A generally hard, strong, durable, malleable alloy of iron and carbon, usually containing between 0.2 and 1.5 percent carbon, often with other constituents such as manganese, chromium, nickel, molybdenum, copper, tungsten, cobalt, or silicon, depending on the desired alloy properties, and widely used as a structural material.

A dark gray.

Something, such as a sword, that is made of steel.

(historical) A type of bronze used for making cannons.

A quality suggestive of this alloy, especially a hard, unflinching character.

An alloy of 88% copper, 10% tin and 2% zinc, originally used for making guns.

Steel gray.

A dark grey or bluish-grey colour; gunmetal grey.

Made with, relating to, or consisting of steel

A type of bronze used for parts subject to wear or corrosion (especially corrosion by sea water)

Very firm or strong

Of a steel gray.

To cover, plate, edge, or point with steel.

To make hard, strong, or obdurate; strengthen

An artificial metal produced from iron, harder and more elastic than elemental iron; used figuratively as a symbol of hardness.

(countable) Any item made of this metal, particularly including:

Bladed or pointed weapons, as swords, javelins, daggers.

A piece used for striking sparks from flint.

Armor.

A honing steel, a tool used to sharpen or hone metal blades.

(sewing) Pieces used to strengthen, support, or expand an item of clothing.

(dialectal) A flat iron.

A sewing needle; a knitting needle; a sharp metal stylus.

(printing) An engraving plate:

Projectiles.

(sewing) A fringe of beads or decoration of this metal.

A type of slide used while playing the steel guitar.

Medicinal consumption of this metal; chalybeate medicine; (eventually) any iron or iron-treated water consumed as a medical treatment.

(countable) Varieties of this metal.

The gray hue of this metal; steel-gray, or steel blue.

(figurative) Extreme hardness or resilience.

Made of steel.

Similar to steel in color, strength, or the like; steely.

(business) Of or belonging to the manufacture or trade in steel.

Containing steel.

(printing) Engraved on steel.

(transitive) To edge, cover, or point with steel.

(transitive) To harden or strengthen; to nerve or make obdurate; to fortify against.

To back with steel.

To treat a liquid with steel for medicinal purposes.

To press with a flat iron.

To cause to resemble steel in appearance.

(transitive) To steelify; to turn iron into steel.

(transitive) To electroplate an item, particularly an engraving plate, with a layer of iron.

(transitive) To sharpen with a honing steel.

Coldbath Fields Prison in London, closed in 1877.

A variety of iron intermediate in composition and properties between wrought iron and cast iron (containing between one half of one per cent and one and a half per cent of carbon), and consisting of an alloy of iron with an iron carbide. Steel, unlike wrought iron, can be tempered, and retains magnetism. Its malleability decreases, and fusibility increases, with an increase in carbon.

An instrument or implement made of steel

A weapon, as a sword, dagger, etc.

Fig.: Anything of extreme hardness; that which is characterized by sternness or rigor.

An instrument of steel (usually a round rod) for sharpening knives.

A chalybeate medicine.

A piece of steel for striking sparks from flint.

To overlay, point, or edge with steel; as, to steel a razor; to steel an ax.

To make hard or strong; hence, to make insensible or obdurate.

To cause to resemble steel, as in smoothness, polish, or other qualities.

To cover, as an electrotype plate, with a thin layer of iron by electrolysis. The iron thus deposited is very hard, like steel.

An alloy of iron with small amounts of carbon; widely used in construction; mechanical properties can be varied over a wide range

A cutting or thrusting weapon with a long blade

Knife sharpener consisting of a ridged steel rod

Get ready for something difficult or unpleasant

Cover, plate, or edge with steel