tire weights and "pure" lead

[bavarialand]

OK, from what i understand you should only use "pure" lead for casting, correct? but, i can get all the tire weights i want for free. is there an easy way to sepperate the "pure" lead from the molten tire weights??? i will be casting RB's for a .45 and .50 cal. rifle. thanks, Dave :hmm:

 

[SCATTERSHOT]

The old British hunters in Africa used hardened lead balls, so it has been done. I got some a few years ago that were pretty hard, and they worked fine. You won't hurt anything if you try them. Go for it and see how they shoot in your rifle.

There is no practical way to separate the antimony and other hardening agents from your wheelweights, but you can soften the alloy by adding pure lead if they prove to be too hard for you.

Luck!

 

Wheel weights also tend to be covered with imbedded dirt,so skim carefully when casting, Bob

 

[capt-pp]

Just my opinion. I increased my agg. by 15 points when I started shooting pure lead. I do not honestly know if that is the reason but, I'm not going to change back now

 

[bavarialand]

thanks for the info. folks. i have used tire weights for cartridge reloading but never for RB's. so i did not know if it would work. i figure when i melt it i would let it "cook" for a little while so all the contaminates would either sink or float to the top,them skim. as for adding more lead to "Dilute" the mixture, well i hadn't thought of that. so thanks agian for all the help. Dave

 

[Old Ironsights]

IIRC wheel-weight balls come out under-sized, which is OK since you should probably use a thicker patch to grab the rifling anyway.

OTOH, tha harder ball will not obturate, nor will the patch bite the ball as well.

IMO WW/Hardcast balls = OK for smoothies but not so good for rifles.

 

[Russianblood]

Actually, I believe that wheel weight lead balls are oversized as they don't shrink like lead does. They will also be lighter than pure lead balls.

 

[Landngroove]

From the T/C handbook " Shooting T/C Black Powder Muzzleloading Firearms." " Muzzleloading projectiles must be cast from pure lead. Alloys containing antimony are harder, and lighter, than pure lead. Consequently projectiles cast from such materials will be overly hard, and somewhat lighter, than the bullet weight listed on the mold. The biggest problem however is that antimony alloys have less a shrinkage factor than pure lead. Antimony alloys produce an extremely hard, oversized projectile, which is very difficult to load properly." So if at all possible, pure lead seems the way to go. :grin:

 

I think that if you make all your balls out of wheel weights and develop a load for them that shoots well for you, why not use them? just dont mix them with the pure lead. Bob

 

[bwhoffman]

Granted, they will be harder.
They will start harder and push down the barrel a little tougher, all things being equal, since you are not getting as mush imbedding of the patch to the ball and give with the rifling.
I did the same thing, found a slightly thinner patch that held up and all was well.
WW has a lot of unknowns in it, so a good patch is a must or early barrel wear is a factor.

As long as you can keep them wrapped in a blanket on their way out the tube, you should be just fine.

my $.02,
Brett

 

[sledgemeister]

From the T/C handbook " Shooting T/C Black Powder Muzzleloading Firearms." " Muzzleloading projectiles must be cast from pure lead. Alloys containing antimony are harder, and lighter, than pure lead. Consequently projectiles cast from such materials will be overly hard, and somewhat lighter, than the bullet weight listed on the mold. The biggest problem however is that antimony alloys have less a shrinkage factor than pure lead. Antimony alloys produce an extremely hard, oversized projectile, which is very difficult to load properly." So if at all possible, pure lead seems the way to go. :grin:

Also note that they have a lower melting point than pure lead.
Even in cartridge loading I prefer the use of pure lead, I hate cleaning lead out of any barrell, despite the type of lube you use.

 

[TN.Frank]

"Hard" is a relitive term. IIRC WW metal comes out at around an 11 on the hardness scale, pure lead is around an 8 so it's just 3 points harder, noting like a 20:1 alloy which is a 14 or linotype which is around 22. Just remember to stay away from shinny WWs, they contain zinc and will stop the lead from filling out your mold. As long as they're dull grey they'll be ok. I've cast hundreds of ctg. and muzzle loading bullets from WW metal and they work ok for me to plink and play around with and heck, they're even good enough to hunt with if your gun shoots em' well enough. I'm sure for compitition where money and honor is on the line only the best pure lead balls will do but for me WW metal is a cheap(read "Free") source of casting metal. :v

 

[ktw]

The easiest way to transform wheel weights into pure lead is to trade it to someone who has pure lead and would rather have wheelweight alloy.

The centerfire bullet casters, in most cases, would rather have wheelweight alloy (for their application they like the added hardness provided by the Tin and Antimony in the WW alloy, both of which can be difficult and/or expensive to add to pure lead). Sometimes they end up scavenging scrap metal that is pure lead. If you go to one of the places where they hang out (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/ is a good one) and let it be know that you are interested in trading your wheelweight alloy for someone else's pure lead, you could easily find someone in your local area willing to swap.

-ktw

 

[kenneth strickland]

I use both types of lead for shooting. Pure lead for my rifled long arms and pistols, harder lead for the smoothbores like the double barrel 12 gauge and the .62 TVM Tennessee pistol. I don't make hard lead balls for the bp revolvers because it is much harder to load them with the hinged rammer. I trust the strength of my Ruger but would worry about an Italian replica. I use lubed patches for the smoothbores and the shotgun is surprisingly accurate with both barrels shooting close to point of aim and each other. I guess I got lucky when I bought it used.