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

[springfield art]

There is a formula which I don't have right now.( I'm waiting my turn in a dentist's office.) You can "unharden" wheel weight lead by adding and remelting pure lead but you'll never get it to 100%.And I recall it is not a 50/50 mix.Can anyone help with this?

Give to a scrap dealer and start over!

 

[Eutycus]

Give to a scrap dealer and start over!

Why give it away? You've got a commodity that is getting scarce, and "more scarcer" as time goes bye.Wheel Weights make some pretty good round balls.

 

[springfield art]

Why give it away? You've got a commodity that is getting scarce, and "more scarcer" as time goes bye.Wheel Weights make some pretty good round balls.

You have a good point!

 

[Whiteoak15]

I sure wish you lived closer! I would be glad to swap pure lead for WW, Linotype, or Babbit metal. I make RB and boolits!

 

[maillemaker]

I use wheel weight / mystery lead to cast round ball for use in smoothbore muskets.

Pure lead is generally advised for any kind of muzzle loading rifle.

Some people like a harder alloy (1:20 or 1:30 tin/lead alloy is common - some people simulate it using wheel weight mixes) in breech loading black powder arms, or revolvers, where the bullet is forced into the rifling from the rear. Hard lead can bend/break the loading lever on revolvers as it is difficult to force the bullet into the chambers.

I personally use pure lead in all rifled arms. I use wheel weights for round ball for smoothbores.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Got 4 six gallon buckets filled with wheel weight that have been melted down into muffin sized ingots.

¿What alchemy or incantation is there to get this wheel weight lead to pure lead?


Do appreciate the help,

Here is what I found, because I’m curious as well.

Refining of bullion​

To remove and recover remaining impurities from lead bullion, either pyrometallurgical or electrolytic refining is used; the choice between the two methods is dictated by the amount of bismuth that must be eliminated from the bullion and by the availability and cost of energy.


The Parkes zinc-desilvering process is the most widely used pyrometallurgical method of refining lead bullion. As in smelting, the lead is first melted and again allowed to cool below the freezing point of copper, which crystallizes and, along with any remaining nickel, cobalt, and zinc, is removed by skimming. The lead mix then passes to a reverberatory “softening” furnace, where the temperature is raised and the molten lead is stirred. A blast of air oxidizes any remaining antimony or arsenic, both of which harden lead (hence the term softening furnace), and these are skimmed off to be recovered later.


After softening, the lead goes to desilvering kettles, where small quantities (less than 1 percent by weight) of zinc are added. With stirring, the molten zinc reacts to form compounds with gold and silver, both of which are more soluble in zinc than in lead. The compounds are lighter than the lead, so that, on cooling to below 370 °C (700 °F) but above the melting point of lead, they form a crust that is removed and taken to a parting plant for recovery of the precious metals. The remaining zinc is then removed by reheating the molten lead to 500 °C (1,100 °F) and creating a vacuum over the surface. The zinc vaporizes, and the vapour is condensed as metal on the cool dome of the vacuum vessel, where it is collected for reuse.

The Harris process of softening and dezincing is designed to remove impurities from desilvered lead by stirring a mixture of molten caustic salts at a temperature of 450–500 °C (840–930 °F) into the molten lead. Metallic impurities react with the chemicals and are collected in the form of their oxides or oxysalts.


Lead bullion containing more than 0.1 percent bismuth can be purified by the Betterton-Kroll process, which usually follows softening, desilvering, and dezincing and involves treatment of the melt with calcium and magnesium. Bismuth unites with these metals to form compounds that rise to the surface. The compounds are skimmed off and treated for recovery of bismuth, a valuable by-product.


The Betterton-Kroll process produces a refined lead with bismuth contents of 0.005 to 0.01 percent. When a refined lead of higher purity is required, or when a lead bullion high in bismuth has to be refined, employment is made of electrolytic refining. This process is costly, but it has the major advantage of separating lead from every impurity except tin in one vessel or one stage, and it does so without emitting lead-bearing fumes or gases. The bullion is cast into large plates, which are hung as anodes in electrolytic tanks where they dissolve. Pure lead is deposited on a thin sheet of lead that serves as the cathode. Impurities left behind can be recovered by many complex operations.

Secondary refining​

Secondary lead is lead derived from scrap. Accounting for nearly half of the total output of refined lead, it is a significant factor in the lead market because it is easily melted and refined and rarely becomes contaminated by impurities during service. About 85 percent of secondary lead comes from discarded automobile batteries. The imposition of stringent environmental regulations governing disposal of spent batteries has led to greater recycling efforts that will ensure the growth of this supply.

The recycling of lead from battery scrap involves treating and separating the scrap, reducing and smelting the lead-containing fractions, and refining and alloying the lead bullion into a commercial product. It is usually conducted in reverberatory and blast furnaces at refineries devoted exclusively to handling secondary lead and lead alloys. However, some primary refineries also refine secondary lead; this has led to a growing use of rotary furnaces, which are batch kilns that are rotated during the smelting process.


The bulk of secondary lead alloy recovered from reclaimed batteries and cable sheathing contains small percentages of antimony and other metals. After this antimony-containing secondary lead is refined, it is largely resold to battery manufacturers. Secondary lead containing tin is most often reused in the manufacture of solder, bearing metals, and other lead-tin alloys.


Calcium-lead alloys can also be made from recycled lead. Antimony is removed by oxygen injection, and, after copper and other impurities are removed, the molten lead is cast into blocks, or “pigs,” weighing 50 kilograms (110 pounds) or more. The molten lead may also be pumped into an alloying kettle for production of lead-calcium alloys, with the optional addition of tin or aluminum.


Secondary raw materials are usually processed separately. Sometimes, however, lead residues, sludges, or flue dusts are mixed with oxides from the battery treatment plant and processed together.

 

[SDSmlf]

I don’t believe the OP stated what they wanted use the lead for, just that they wanted to get the pure lead separated from the wheel weight material.

Got 4 six gallon buckets filled with wheel weight that have been melted down into muffin sized ingots.

¿What alchemy or incantation is there to get this wheel weight lead to pure lead?


Do appreciate the help,

 

[R Ellis]

Like others I have used WW for round balls for 40 years with no problem the patch is between ball and barrel so if it seems tight use a thinner patch I use 0.10 with my loads also have won my share of shooting matches with ww balls

 

[Buckskinquin]

Per Dixie Gun Works…

 

[dehart.stephen]

Got 4 six gallon buckets filled with wheel weight that have been melted down into muffin sized ingots.

¿What alchemy or incantation is there to get this wheel weight lead to pure lead?


Do appreciate the help,

I've used wheelweights for low velocity and casual pistol stuff, but it often contains zinc and other things that make trouble with either metal fouling ( ..357's at 1200 fps in my case) , or; insidious bullet warpage and imbalance on long bullets.that take awhile to freeze.solid in tne mould ( 45 bullets over 500 grs. in my case). The safest bet is use them for non-bullet enterprises/trade off, etc. My brother DID use wheelweights for very accurate pistol bullets, but only on stubby bullets.that cooled.fast in the mould and.even then, mixed with lots of tin and linotype metal.

 

[wganz]

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.

Left off that I wanted to get back to pure lead for Minie balls for N-SSA musket matches.
Got a Pedersoli .32 flintlock already and am building a Traditions Kentucky .50 kit this winter.
Am getting a .69" smoothbore musket for N-SSA smoothbore matches. These matches are at 25 and 50 yards making WW RB's OK to use.

Gonna sell some to fund getting pure lead through the 4th Louisiana Infantry's 4H fund raiser and cast the rest of the WW in RB's.

Do appreciate everyone's time and effort.

Best regards,

 

[Rock Home Isle]

This will probably sound much rougher than it was…

I shot wheel weight lead as a kid. 5 gallon bucket of wheel weights was free for the taking, at the local down town tire shop…just had to ask. We lived on the other side of town, 5 miles out of the city limits. It took me 3 days to get that bucket of lead home. I was 13, and used a wagon to pull it as far as I could…then I’d unload it on the side of the road and take my wagon home…come back the next day…it’d still be sitting there. Huff and puff till I got it loaded back into the wagon and drag it several more miles…rinse & repeat till I got it home.

I bought caps, I bought powder…I shot free wheel weight RBs from 13 up through 15. Nice thing about that hard lead…if I missed, and I saw where my bullet went, I could pull out my pocket knife, dig out the RB…clean it off a bit…load it up and reshoot it. Fond memories, tough times.

At 15, I decided to spend actual money and buy pure plumbers lead, from the hardware store; just to see.

Wow. Huge difference, much more accurate, much tighter groups…my squirrel/rabbit hunting went from 50 yrds to 100 yrds. Prairie Dogs didn’t stand a chance inside of 150 yrds; been shooting pure lead ever since.

Those were shining times…

Used the rest of the wheel weights to caste a couple anchors for a canoe I had built.

 

[Whitworth]

I sure wish you lived closer! I would be glad to swap pure lead for WW, Linotype, or Babbit metal. I make RB and boolits!

Where are you located? I have linotype.

 

[Eutycus]

4 six gallon buckets of ingots? That's alot of lead muffins. Has anyone calculated how many pounds that may be,roughly? Are you sure those aren't 5 gallon buckets?

 

[waksupi]

4 six gallon buckets of ingots? That's alot of lead muffins. Has anyone calculated how many pounds that may be,roughly? Are you sure those aren't 5 gallon buckets?

A five gallon bucket of the old wheel weights would usually yield about 120# of clean lead. New wheel weights are steel, zinc, or some other pot metal. Use of new lead wheel weights was outlawed a few years ago,

 

[Eutycus]

A five gallon bucket of the old wheel weights would usually yield about 120# of clean lead. New wheel weights are steel, zinc, or some other pot metal. Use of new lead wheel weights was outlawed a few years ago,

I'm pretty sure he was referring to the old hard lead clip ons. No one in their right mind would try to melt the zinc or steel "stick ons''.

 

[Eutycus]

waksupi said "Use of new wheel weights was outlawed a few years ago". That is what makes this particular stash desirable. Older Wheel Weights are getting to be a scarce commodity.

 

[RjSixgun]

Ive used WW and some other super hard lead for years in my 1842 Springfield. The lead was so hard that the round balls would break apart out of the mold. So I would cast and drop them in a 5 gallon bucket of water to cool them fast and keep them round.......but they shot great! And it was a smoothbore so hard lead or soft lead didnt matter. Soft lead I keep for muskets and revolvers.

Heres a tip, after you make your hard lead ingots spray paint them so you dont mix them up with your soft lead. Ive used gold spray paint just to mess with people, but I really does help to keep them from going into a soft lead pot.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Ive used WW and some other super hard lead for years in my 1842 Springfield. The lead was so hard that the round balls would break apart out of the mold. So I would cast and drop them in a 5 gallon bucket of water to cool them fast and keep them round.......but they shot great! And it was a smoothbore so hard lead or soft lead didnt matter. Soft lead I keep for muskets and revolvers.

Heres a tip, after you make your hard lead ingots spray paint them so you dont mix them up with your soft lead. Ive used gold spray paint just to mess with people, but I really does help to keep them from going into a soft lead pot.

Note to self: Pick up gold spray paint…

 

[Whiteoak15]

Where are you located? I have linotype.

I live in central Massachusetts, kind of far it would seem.