Wheel weight lead question

[Johnny Tremain]

I learned empirically that "pure" WW projectiles can shatter at terminal velocities approaching 1200fps

Huh? Wha?
My flinter does 1630fps with a standard load, and 2050fps with a max load.
Even my PBC do 1450-1600fps, down form 1750fps where I started off at.
and them be 460-540gr pills.

 

[VADSLRAM]

I am not going to risk Metal Fume Fever for some cheap wheel weights. I had a friend die from complications of it. His name was Paw Paw Wilson (Jim). If you don't believe me google him.
Inhaling large amounts of zinc (as zinc dust or fumes from smelting or welding) can cause a specific short-term disease called metal fume fever, which is generally reversible once exposure to zinc ceases. However, very little is known about the long-term effects of breathing zinc dust or fumes.

You notice the white residue when welding on galvanized but melting even pure lead without proper ventilation is a bad idea so I can't imagine a time when you could get enough zinc fumes to be a problem. Also if you are getting enough blow by from shooting to effect you... congratualations. I wish I could shoot that much. These are all from WW and shoot dead on every time I get a chance.

 

[Eric Krewson]

Pulling up an older thread to answer my questions; my neighbor just offered me about 150# of wheel weight lead for free, already cast in small ingots, that stuff is HARD and I initially turned him down but I think I will take him up on the deal now.

I stopped by the local small-town garage to get my trailer tires balanced a few days ago, the guy had at least 400# of wheel weights in various buckets that he was selling for 25 cents a pound.

I guess I will be wheel weight lead rich in a few days. I have about 80# of soft lead already but a guy just can't have too much.

 

[Eutycus]

That particular alloy just may be a commodity worth stockpiling.Lead wheelweights are becoming scarce.

 

[Sidney Smith]

I always stay away from lead if it's hard to scratch with my fingernail. I don't scrounge lead at the range anymore because of this.

Yes, you can make balls from wheel weights, but they might not shrink as much upon cooling as pure lead does. You may think you've made a .490 ball when in reality it may be larger. It might load easily, more likely not. And then there's the aforementioned issue if you have to pull a stick ball.

I don't think the harder lead will hurt the bore but it will make loading harder. Best IMO to simply avoid it.

 

[R Ellis]

I always stay away from lead if it's hard to scratch with my fingernail. I don't scrounge lead at the range anymore because of this.

Yes, you can make balls from wheel weights, but they might not shrink as much upon cooling as pure lead does. You may think you've made a .490 ball when in reality it may be larger. It might load easily, more likely not. And then there's the aforementioned issue if you have to pull a stick ball.

I don't think the harder lead will hurt the bore but it will make loading harder. Best IMO to simply avoid it.

could you just use a thinner patch for the slightly larger ball

 

[deerstalkert]

could you just use a thinner patch for the slightly larger ball

absolutely

 

[deerstalkert]

I always stay away from lead if it's hard to scratch with my fingernail. I don't scrounge lead at the range anymore because of this.

Yes, you can make balls from wheel weights, but they might not shrink as much upon cooling as pure lead does. You may think you've made a .490 ball when in reality it may be larger. It might load easily, more likely not. And then there's the aforementioned issue if you have to pull a stick ball.

I don't think the harder lead will hurt the bore but it will make loading harder. Best IMO to simply avoid it.

if you just scrounge jacketed the core is soft. melt it out.

 

[Whitworth]

Pulling up an older thread to answer my questions; my neighbor just offered me about 150# of wheel weight lead for free, already cast in small ingots, that stuff is HARD and I initially turned him down but I think I will take him up on the deal now.

I stopped by the local small-town garage to get my trailer tires balanced a few days ago, the guy had at least 400# of wheel weights in various buckets that he was selling for 25 cents a pound.

I guess I will be wheel weight lead rich in a few days. I have about 80# of soft lead already but a guy just can't have too much.

Take the free wheel weight lead stuff and then hit the garage try to buy the whole batch for a little better price and stash it away. BTW my local scrap dealer is only paying 14 cents a pound for wheel weights . Clip-on wheel wheel weights are hardened with antimony and are great as is when used for modern pistol bullets, high velocity stuff excepted. A little tin solder added will make the WW metal flow better,. The newer lead stick-on weights are very soft, nearly pure to allow them to easily bend to conform to the wheel and will need hardening for modern bullets but should be great for M/L stuff. You can probably mix your WW metal 50/50 your with pure lead and get good results, a test batch in the lead pot will tell. I shot a lot of scrounged wheel weight .44 Mag bullets before acquiring a lifetime supply of linotype which containing 4% tin fills out the molds beautifully. I cast pure linotype hex bullets for my Whitworth. They are so hard they shatter on steel or rock and recovered ones that passed thru logs were in good enough shape to shoot again, the square shoulders are rounded a bit but still very shootable. YMMV

 

[Eterry]

Pulling up an older thread to answer my questions; my neighbor just offered me about 150# of wheel weight lead for free, already cast in small ingots, that stuff is HARD and I initially turned him down but I think I will take him up on the deal now.

I stopped by the local small-town garage to get my trailer tires balanced a few days ago, the guy had at least 400# of wheel weights in various buckets that he was selling for 25 cents a pound.

I guess I will be wheel weight lead rich in a few days. I have about 80# of soft lead already but a guy just can't have too much.

Eric, I've used straight wheel weights for decades for my PRB loads. Minie balls, conicals and balls for my revolvers needs to be pure lead cause you can't pound them hard enough to load.
I also mixed my WW with lead 50/50 and really like it for rifles and smoothbores
I made friends with a local plumber, he brings me all his scrap lead from jobs and I trade him honey. Constantly on the hustle for lead, all kinds of it.

I'm sure you know there's no such thing as pure wheel weights. Every batch can have different alloys, but I don't concern myself with the trivial.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I would imagine somewhere down the road, if the greenies get their way, lead will become public enemy #1 and be hard to buy and possess.

 

[Eterry]

I would imagine somewhere down the road, if the greenies get their way, lead will become public enemy #1 and be hard to buy and possess.

No more lead fishing weights, new wheel weights aren't lead, or have a lower content than before. All AT&T lines were connected with a huge piece of lead. They removed them years ago.
In 1980 when I got my first muzzleloader dad's friend worked at an old garage. He brought me over 100lbs of something resembling lead. I cast all of it for my 45 CVA. I later was told it was Babbitt. Now, owning a Ford Model A, I find that stuff is precious to owners and workers on these cars. But in 1980 it was truly scrap.

 

[fubar22]

Pure (or nearly pure) lead for round balls. Harder lead (e.g. wheel weights and reclaimed range lead) works fine when cast for modern cartridge loads.

I tried using wheel weights for round balls for both .44 BP pistol and .50 BP rifle, but found them very hard to load. They shot accurately enough, but too much stress on the loading lever and too much force needed on ball starter and ramrod.

You can never be 100% sure of the metal composition of wheel weights and need to weigh and measure your molded projectiles to find out if they are in spec, because some alloys fill out the mold better than others. I typically run my cast pistol bullets through a sizing die to make sure. It's pretty common to see weight variations of a few grains from one batch of lead alloy to another, and that will translate into variations in muzzle velocity from batch to batch (although I've never verified this with a chronograph). If the bullets are sized correctly and if you follow load recipes intended for unjacketed lead bullets (generally slower and lower pressure than jacketed bullets), you'll be fine.

 

[bud in pa]

I remember the Bevel Bros. tested WW round balls out of rifles and found no difference in accuracy. When I'm casting I keep a fan at my back to blow the fumes out of the door. As far as expansion goes, that's why I use a smooth 62 cal. I don't need no stinkin expansion! I remember living in Jersey where we could only use buckshot for deer, up to about 25 yds. it worked. When the went to slugs there were some people who wanted to improve the expansion on them! Heck they start out at .72 in. for a 12 ga.

 

[Rawhide67]

I mix WW and pure lead 50/50 for my unmentionable rounds. Have about 350lbs of sheet lead from an X-ray room.

Generally go with pure lead for round balls, cuz I have enough to keep me for a while. I wouldn't worry about using straight WW for round balls if I had enough of a supply, just have to find the right load

I would agree that buying/owning lead will likely become difficult if not illegal in the future. It's on the table as a ban item for hunting in my home state.

 

[Eutycus]

I would imagine somewhere down the road, if the greenies get their way, lead will become public enemy #1 and be hard to buy and possess.

That is what I kind of meant by having a valuable commodity. It may not happen in our lifetime but lead will be scare or outlawed completely some day.

 

[Sudsy]

Your best move with wheel weights is to trade them for pure lead to someone who pours for unmentionables.
Wheel weight alloy is very popular and commonly used for quite a few calibers
With the advent of zinc WW's the lead alloy ones are getting very hard to come by, at least around me in NJ.
My son is an Audi mechanic and never sees alloy WW's anymore, it's all zinc (which SUCKS since I pour for unmentionables)

 

[Sudsy]

I would imagine somewhere down the road, if the greenies get their way, lead will become public enemy #1 and be hard to buy and possess.

No need to imagine it, it's been happening for years and is nearly complete
The Obama EPA placed such overwhelming restrictions on lead smelting plants in the US that the last of them were forced to shut down
Now Fish & Wildlife is starting to ban lead bullets
https://www.themeateater.com/conser...nters-should-know-about-the-new-lead-ammo-ban

 

[hanshi]

Those wonderful old lead/antimony WW are history now. I used to have near 100 lbs of 'em and preferred them to pure lead for smoothbores. I fired WW ball in a couple of my rifles and they worked just fine. Might need a thinner patch but if they seat okay they'll shoot okay.

 

[TNGhost]

Yes. Another one but I haven't been able to find an answer to my question. From what I have read, wheel weights lead is harder than pure lead and might be a couple thousandths oversized (instead of being .440, it might be .443) my question is, what does a harder lead do to the bore that makes it unusable for muzzleloaders? Possible make it wear more quickly? If it's a little big, could use a slightly thinner patch to compensate for this? I do know that it doesn't expand like pure lead when hunting but if all I am is shooting steel and paper, this won't matter for me.

It is not going to obturate in the bore as well and therefore not seal and take the rifling as well, so it will be less accurate, but for steel and paper plenty good.

Don't worry about the wear on the barrel as even wheel weight lead, hardened with tin and antimony is nowhere near as hard as your barrel steel. You are going to get more wear from the patch, and any contaminates like sand or dirt that get on the patch or in your lube.

If you are casting your own though, beware of wheel weights that contain zinc as many do these days. They can be hard to spot and will mess up your mold and pot in a heartbeat.