Wheel weights for larger cal. round balls

[gmww]

As some of us have been discovering for the past several years, things like black powder, and pure lead is getting harder and harder to find.

What pure lead I have left, I'm setting aside for the smaller caliber ML. I'll need them to expand on the game I attempt to harvest.

I'm using my supply of wheel weights (WW) for round balls with the 62 cal. I figure it's large enough where expansion really isn't an issue. Also it's still heavy enough for pretty good penetration. Any thoughts on .54 cal. being large enough? I'm thinking yes. The only issue is finding the right mould size, patch combination to tightly go in and accurately shoot.

I am currently melting all my lead into usable sizes. Pure lead is being poured into my cup cake cast iron tray. The WW is being poured in a different shaped tray to avoid confusion later.

Unfortunately WW is also becoming harder and harder to find. :hmm: My local tire shop was told by the parent company to not give away or sell lead WW. :cursing:

 

[BrownBear]

Back to front, I'd have no qualms about a 54 with alloy balls up through elk, though I'd have to have very good reasons not to use one of my 58's or 62's for moose, whether alloy or pure lead balls.

Once source of lead I scored BIGTIME is waste from the backstop of our local indoor range. They usually sell it for 10 cents a pound to members, but I did them a favor at a time they had too much backlog of lead. With their blessings I hauled home 2400 pounds for free and was invited to get more if I could think of a way to use it.

Yeah, it's "alloy," but in my use it's not even as hard as wheelweights. I originally conceived using it for halibut weights and jigs, but a good portion will now go into roundballs.

 

[Grullaguy]

Back to front, I'd have no qualms about a 54 with alloy balls up through elk, though I'd have to have very good reasons not to use one of my 58's or 62's for moose, whether alloy or pure lead balls.

Once source of lead I scored BIGTIME is waste from the backstop of our local indoor range. They usually sell it for 10 cents a pound to members, but I did them a favor at a time they had too much backlog of lead. With their blessings I hauled home 2400 pounds for free and was invited to get more if I could think of a way to use it.

Yeah, it's "alloy," but in my use it's not even as hard as wheelweights. I originally conceived using it for halibut weights and jigs, but a good portion will now go into roundballs.

I separate the jacketed range scrap from the cast. The jacketed stuff is nice and soft and I make a little cash whenever I recycle the jackets.

 

[BrownBear]

Back to front, I'd have no qualms about a 54 with alloy balls up through elk, though I'd have to have very good reasons not to use one of my 58's or 62's for moose, whether alloy or pure lead balls.

Once source of lead I scored BIGTIME is waste from the backstop of our local indoor range. They usually sell it for 10 cents a pound to members, but I did them a favor at a time they had too much backlog of lead. With their blessings I hauled home 2400 pounds for free and was invited to get more if I could think of a way to use it.

Yeah, it's "alloy," but in my use it's not even as hard as wheelweights. I originally conceived using it for halibut weights and jigs, but a good portion will now go into roundballs.

I separate the jacketed range scrap from the cast. The jacketed stuff is nice and soft and I make a little cash whenever I recycle the jackets.

This stuff is all "splattered" off slanted ballistic steel plates. The jackets are separated and the lead from all sources is mixed. I fill an 8" dutch oven with the mix, melt it down on a Coleman stove outdoors, flux and ladle off the jackets, then flux and cast into 1# ingots for later use. Due to the jackets and air space I get about half a dutch oven of molten alloy for each full batch of waste. Call it somewhere between 50# and 60# of alloy per batch. Just the right amount for a couple of dozen halibut weights.

Dandy sinkers and jigs, and dandy round balls. And I have several years to go before I haul two more loads of it from the range! :grin:

 

[mfim]

I have only been a member of this forum for a week or two.But I have been shooting PRB's over 40 years. I am curious as to why , in several different posts, when using tinned or, hard lead, only EXPANSION in game is mentioned? I use dead soft lead because I want the cloth to EMBED deep into the ball for a perfect and CONSISTENT seal for each shot. You stand a much greater chance of "blown" patches using hard lead because of this. Blown patches equal large groups. I suppose you may get away with hard lead shooting light powder charges. My old Hawken is just starting to shrink it's group @ 80 gr 2f, cloverleafs @ 120 gr 2f

 

[aeatwood]

Well, first off, a .54 is at best a medium bore. Large starts somewhere around .58 or .62. :rotf:

As a general rule, my WW are reserved for boolits for CF guns, and my pure lead for C&B balls, but I have a LARGE supply of range scrap that is between pure lead and WW. I have a fair supply of old ingots that I mixed at 10:1 lead to tin, and I generally add 1 of these to 19 lbs of the range scrap. They cast beautiful boolits for CF handguns, or RB's for ML rifles. And they will cloverleaf out of my GM barrels or my Gibbs .72, and my 16-bore Christian Springs rifle at 75 yards. They would probably do that at 100, but my old eyes are beginning to betray me at that range. You do have to adjust your mould size and patch thickness. The harder balls will cast a bit larger. I had to go from a .715" mould to a .710". The .715 was casting .719. The .710 casts a perfect .714-.715". .018" pillow ticking loads tight, but carries enough lube that I literally shoot all day w/o swabbing the gun, using 2F or 1F Goex. It wipes the fouling from the previous shot, and keeps it soft enough I don't get a crud ring except in EXTREMELY low humidity.

 

[FRJ]

Sorry to hear you guys are having problems getting lead. I just bought 40# for $21.00 and thought that was a good deal. Made over 600 54cal balls and some 45. I can get it even cheaper and its absolutly pure. This stuff casts up some nice balls and they shoot real well. Its the lead from around toilet chimneys that gets replaced when the roofs are redone. FRJ

 

[mfim]

Plumbers lead is pure. Good for you. I was fortunate also 6 or 8 years ago, I got aver 400 lbs from a remodel of a former dental facility. {X-ray area). With the price of copper going crazy I am considering casting some of my CF bullets for plinking. But not with my good stash. :hmm:

 

[hanshi]

I use only soft lead in rifles and use WW in the smoothbore. Some shooters get fine results using WW in small rifles since expansion isn't needed for small game. I plan to test this soon though haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

[LaBonte]

I've used WW lead in my 54 rifles succcessfully on game up to and including elk and big PNW Black Bear (big means 300 lbs plus)
I use a 526 ball and pillow ticking patches with 3F powder (75-90 grains usually - up to a hundred if need be for accuracy). Never had a blown patch in over 45 years. With that load I've broken bear shoulders (my favorite shot on bears of any size since even if it doesn't kill them it breaks them down and they don't go far). Broke some elk bones as well and on one cow (about 400 lbs) I drove a ball the length of the body from the rear - it was a wonded critter and my best shot was a so-called Texas heart shot. Hardened lead balls (and none are really that hard anyway) were used in the past as well, mostly on big game but with any ball of 50 caliber or larger IMO you just don't need expansion.

 

[ronnie_kennedy]

I have a .69 caliber smoothbore, that i shoot .572 balls out of and my pietta navy revolver that i shoot .451 balls out of. I do not hunt with these, just plink at the range. My buddy and i have been talking about using wheel weights for these calibers. He also shoots .451's out of his new army. Would wheel weights be suitable to use for these guns?

 

[nkbj]

The Pietta probably has a chamber diameter somewhere in between the barrel's bore and groove diameters. And, will probably do best with soft lead.