Going from wheel weight to pure ML lead. ¿Possible?

[Whughett]

Pack a “if it fits it ships” USPS box with ingots. Weight it then PM me with that weight. With pure lead that’s generally 50 or so pounds I’ll pay you $2 a pound.

 

[tenngun]

It’s not the best for rifle ball. Will work better in a smoothie
Also makes good ‘swan shot’
Swan shot is a size of shot but folks today like to call frontier improvised shot. And in cylinder bore ranges it works well

 

[Whughett]

It will make acceptable round balls, but not ideal roundballs
no good for conicals in muzzleloaders

you can shoot just about any hard spherical object from a ML
some work much better than others, lead being the best (I bet pure gold would work also....)

we had a member here years ago who did a bunch of bench testing with brass and steel ball bearings and he got acceptable groups, and those are a damn sight harder than wheel weights

I lay odds as a patched ball or bullet there are applications where the harder projectile would out perform the pure lead. The only problem I’ve encountered with hard cast round balls in revolvers is the strain put on the loading lever in pressing them home. Loaded off gun with a press they are just as accurate a pure lead.

 

[hanshi]

I've always preferred WW for smoothbore ball and it is excellent for that use. I've even cast rifle ball from WW to use as prb and it works a lot better than you might think.

 

[andy52]

Trade it off to or sell it to a cartridge gun shooter. They love it and it's ideal for a lot of their reloads.

This is what I would do. I cast both round ball and bullets for modern guns. Wheel weights are just about the right alloy for hard cast cold dropped bullets.

 

[deerstalkert]

Pack a “if it fits it ships” USPS box with ingots. Weight it then PM me with that weight. With pure lead that’s generally 50 or so pounds I’ll pay you $2 a pound.

what Whughett says only PM me instead!
i wish i had a penny a round for all the ww i have fired down range in the last 60+ years. tire shops used to give them away. now they laugh at ya!
ww is close to the old Lyman #2 alloy. for driving fast without a dress.
not being dirty Cynthia, just what we used to call gas checks.

 

[nkbj]

Go ahead and learn how to make hard balls accurate.
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."

 

[Tasbay]

I must be missing something from the author's original post. I just shoot round ball made from either soft lead or wheel weights, both shoot just fine. I do however shoot .562 wheel weight or .570 soft lead from the .58cals and .490 wheel weight or .495 soft lead from my .50cals. Seems as long as its a good tight patch fit they shoot well.

 

[Freedom]

Patched round balls cast from pure lead seems like a foolish waste of lead to me.

WW = Round balls. Shots out to 100 yards, the alloy will make no difference.

Pure lead should be saved and mixed with pure tin, then cast into bullets for 500-1200 Yard matches.

 

[DuncNZ]

Any hardening can affect accuracy when it comes to lead ml projectiles , a mates .50 conical shooting Hawken started throwing the bullets sideways at 25 yards when he added 3oz of shot salvaged from shot shells which had misfired , that tiny amount of antimony in a Lee production pot of pure lead made all the difference

 

[Walkingeagle]

Shot far too many critters and targets with WW cast roundballs to even question it’s accuracy or effectiveness. But, it’s yours so do as you like.
Walk

 

[Mknight702]

As already stated, you can't easily remove any alloying material from WW in the same way that you can't scoop the milk out of a white coffee.

 

[Rudall]

Or expect the alcohol in a bottle of whisky to float to the top.

 

[Whitworth]

Sell it, buy pure stuff.

 

[Walkaheap]

What I found with the harder lead balls is that it made the coned barrels on my 1792 Contract Rifle and Tennessee Mountain rifle difficult to use with just the wooden rammer. I could get the ball started, but it hung up just where the coning ended. Gave up on that experiment, used the hard lead for 45-70 Trapdoor bullets and .58 Mini balls. Took the suggestion given here and ordered pure lead from Rotometals. I'll see if Justin.44 has more lead avail once I need more.

 

[Whughett]

Any hardening can affect accuracy when it comes to lead ml projectiles , a mates .50 conical shooting Hawken started throwing the bullets sideways at 25 yards when he added 3oz of shot salvaged from shot shells which had misfired , that tiny amount of antimony in a Lee production pot of pure lead made all the difference

Chances are the “few ounces” of lead shot changed the cast bullets weight and by tiny fractions it’s dimensions. Had he taken the time to adjust his powder charges to those changes the results would be different. I doubt the hardness was the culprit.

 

[Eterry]

I've been casting a mix of 50/50 wheel weights and roofing lead for years. This works fine in my rifles for hunting. They WILL NOT WORK FOR CONICALS or REVOLVER ammo!!
I know a guy who uses pure wheel weights for his musket, he reports no problems and great penetration.

If I was hunting something big and nasty I'd want some antimony in my lead to increase penetration. That's what ivory hunters did in the days of muzzleloaders.

 

[Eutycus]

I would say that you find yourself in a delightful situation. You're in a position to do alot of experimenting. Try mixing WW lead with pure lead half and half, a few ingots of 25/75 or 75/25 or and mix that suits you. Anywhere from a 10/90 or even a 90/10. Maybe a 60/40? You're in the "drivers seat" as far as hardness of the batch.Experiment but by all means label the ingots.

 

[waksupi]

As has been said, you can't change it to pure lead with any at home method. I've been using wheel weights for ball for nearly 50 years. Equal accuracy to pure lead, plus deeper penetration on bigger game. With a patched ball, no harm can come to your bore.

 

[Eterry]

As has been said, you can't change it to pure lead with any at home method. I've been using wheel weights for ball for nearly 50 years. Equal accuracy to pure lead, plus deeper penetration on bigger game. With a patched ball, no harm can come to your bore.

+1