Wheel Weight Lead

[tcheek]

I'm going to get all the wheel weights that I want from a friend who owns a tire store.
Will this lead work for round ball and stabot's? Is there a adaitive or anything I should add. I wil be making 32 and 50 Cal.

Thanks
Tom cheek

 

[Tahquamenon]

Hey Tom,
Check out the thread in this index called "Lead".

 

[blackpowder shooter]

The balls cast from harder lead may or may not be as accurate as softer lead. The thinking seems to be that softer lead conforms to rifling easier. The real problems occur when and if you forget the powder. If a ball puller is your choice of extraction, you might find the screw will not thread into the harder lead. As far as conicals, I would suggest a 40:1 lead / tin ratio.

 

[domino]

Tom, I tried wheel weight's in .54, and they were to hard to even get them started. I would think about it quite a bit before I hammered them down the barrel. checker

 

[brushbuster]

what i do with wheel weights is melt them down and keep shimmingthe tin off until my lead takes on a bluish color.
once you reach that color it's almost pure lead.
this takes a lot of time and effort to do .
since wheel weights have a not of tin and antimony ,your yield of pure lead will be about 1/3

 

Use what you skimmed off for sinkers. No waste then.

Woody

 

[RussB]

Wheel Weights make fine Roundball.....some even prefer it to pure lead. However when bump-up is required, such as conicals, Lee REALs,[url] etc....in[/url] a front loader, I think Wheel Weights may be a bit too hard....depending on powder charge.....the harder the alloy, the stiffer the necessary powder charge. IMHO.
The BHN of Wheel Weights runs around 9, water dropped wheel weights will go 11, while the BHN of Pure Lead... (or near pure lead...as pure lead is very hard to find)....will run about BHN 6.

When shooting round ball, cast from Wheel Weight, the patch is the "most" important thing.

You use a bit thicker patch, as the ball will be a bit smaller when using Wheel Weight.....also, a few grains lighter....this combination makes for a great roundball.

Of course, until you work things out in your own gun...it will take a bit of experimenting, and :results:

Russ

 

[Slamfire]

what i do with wheel weights is melt them down and keep shimmingthe tin off until my lead takes on a bluish color.
once you reach that color it's almost pure lead.
this takes a lot of time and effort to do .
since wheel weights have a not of tin and antimony ,your yield of pure lead will be about 1/3

You can skim off tin, but the antimony get homogenized with the lead, and won't come back out. 3% or so won't hurt that's what's in chilled shot.

 

[domino]

what i do with wheel weights is melt them down and keep shimmingthe tin off until my lead takes on a bluish color.
once you reach that color it's almost pure lead.
this takes a lot of time and effort to do .
since wheel weights have a not of tin and antimony ,your yield of pure lead will be about 1/3

hello brushbuster. when you keep skimming the tin off you say that YOU WIND UP WITH 1/3 OF YOUR WEIGHT IN lead,how is this possible? 2/3 of your weight would be in tin and antimony ,woulden't this be awfully hard for wheel weights? I really want to know as I have about 400# of weight metal. and does it really seperate that well ::

 

[thehorn]

I use the wheel weights (instead of the more expensive pewter) for pouring nose caps for rifles and for knife pommels. Too much work to separate from the tin for getting it pure for running ball.

 

[bshultz]

I've used wheel weight lead for about 2 years and have had no problems with it. :imo: :results: :m2c:

 

[brushbuster]

that was just a rough guestimate but wheel weights are VERY hard ,what i was referring to mostly was the time involved .
from my own experience i have casted wheel weights for .357 and .45 auto .the bullets were so hard i could almost dig them out of an old mesquite post and re use them,since i became a plumber i have quit casting wheel weights and started useing lead pipe that i had removed from old houses,the only thing i worry about there is splatter from miosture ,what helps there is i melt the lead VEEEERY SLOOOOWWWWLY to give time for the miosture to evaporate before reaching casting temp :imo: :results:

 

[riarcher]

I've used it,,,,, PLENTY! The "trick" is to use a "smallish" ball and a thick patch,,, with a higher temp "patch lube". theory (mine) is that the balls were to hard and britle to conform to the rifling,,,, so I used a smaller ball and thicker patch to fill the rifling and better grip the ball. Seemed to work alright,,, however, the dead soft lead with the apropriate patch/lube was a 50% reduction in group size.
Wheelweights are cheap (I've 50# clean to dispose of), but for the effort to make a good shot,,, they are not worth the time nor effort. :imo:
After all,,, when your shot isn't where you want it, and you start wondering what went wrong, it's nice to know your balls were in hand. :what:

 

[FearNot]

What about using wheel weight balls in smooties, where rifling isn't a concern. Since the patch provides the gas seal, wouldn't a harder ball be better?

 

[domino]

:thumbsup: Hi all, Just wanted to say Thank you to everyone on this thread. I have been lurking in the shadow's reading all these post's on the board, and have come away with a bushel full of info. I Thank you all checker

 

[bbuck]

I've used wheel weights (WW) for years. I use soft lead (SL) in my revolvers and my new flint. My mustkets shoot WW best. I have found that overall the WW will shoot about 4-6 inches lower at 25 yds.

WW is harder but lighter, SL is softer but heavyer

Some peoplr swear that WW will wear out the rifling in your gun. I disagree...big time....

The only way that can happen is if the lead touches the rifling and if that happens then the patch will be cut, which means to thick of patch or to big of ball.


:results: :m2c: :: ::

 

[bbuck]

I've used wheel weights (WW) for years. I use soft lead (SL) in my revolvers and my new flint. My mustkets shoot WW best. I have found that overall the WW will shoot about 4-6 inches lower at 25 yds.

WW is harder but lighter, SL is softer but heavyer

Some people swear that WW will wear out the rifling in your gun. I disagree...big time....

The only way that can happen is if the lead touches the rifling and if that happens then the patch will be cut, which means to thick of patch or to big of ball.

CORRECTION:
I found that overall the SL will shoot about 4-6 inches lower at 25 yards :sorry:
:results: :m2c: :: ::

 

[tcheek]

Can you please till me what diameter ball you use in your 32??? I have a Crockett and would love to shoot both Round and Conical.

Also if you know what is each for .50 and .54 ?

I have a unlitited supply od Wheel Weights

 

Generally .32 cal would use either .31 or .315 ball depending on the patching, and lube used. .50 would be .490, or .495, and .54 would be .530, or .535 dia. Most round ball in rifles are .005 to .010 smaller than the bore. Cap and Ball revolvers are generally .001 to .003 over bore diameter, with no patches used. Bill

 

[Rebel]

I used .311 rd balls in my Crockett's. In the .50 cal either a .490 or .495. In the .54 cal either a .530 or .535.