Wheel weights

[coloradoclyde]

The worst lead is still better than the best non-toxic offering..... :2

 

[Billnpatti]

The good old days of lead wheel weights is essentially gone. The wheel weights today are mostly zinc and unsuitable for use for casting balls or bullets. You will just have to find other sources of lead. Plumbers and roofers are good sources.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Many of the stick-on wheel weights for the newer rims are lead.....depending on where you live.
Often overlooked.

Lead is everywhere....and that's part of the problem. you just have to have an eye for it...

Myself....I made me a bullet trap and recycle all of my target shots, so I will never run out of lead... a worthwhile investment.

 

[hanshi]

I use to cast for autos and revolvers; that was back in the 1970s. Back then WW was good, uniform stuff and I still have a couple hundred pounds left. I like WW in my smoothbore and have had fine success with it in a couple of rifles. I don't know about the new stuff and I have as much WW as I can ever possibly use. Even so, soft lead is what I like in my rifles.

 

[Twisted_1in66]

Big problem on using Non-zinc wheel-weights is that the old ones weren't 100% lead but were a lead alloy with something like 5% or 10% antimony to make them harder so they didn't just fall off. You may be able to compensate for the hardness by using a thicker patch, but the bigger problem is that they are lighter than pure lead balls are and that affects their ballistics.

That is to say, if you are shooting pure lead the point of impact is going to be different than the lead/antimony alloy balls made from wheel weights. Get them mixed together and you'll never know where your ball is going to hit.

Just say no to wheel-weight lead.

You know you can still buy plumbers lead at hardware stores. Most can order it for you in 5-lb ingots if they don't already have it on their shelves. I bought a couple before I left Virgina and still have one ingot left. It's not going to be much cheaper than buying lead on E-bay, but you don't have to pay the outrageous shipping prices if you pick it up at the store.

Twisted_1in66:thumbsup:
Dan

 

[AZbpBurner]

Whenever I get my tires rotated and rebalanced, I usually manage to score several pounds of the stick-on soft lead weights, but recently most of the weights are either zinc or iron.

I've been buying lead lately from Rotometals whenever they have promotonal code discounts - usually around holidays.

 

[19 16 6]

I used to work in the Mount Isa lead smelter back in 82 (19 that is), so I suppose that qualifies me to interject here.
Gent's, there are worse things than lead. A stick for instance. Just an old wooden stick, when so far up ones r send can cause blindness, deafness, arrogance, self righteousness, constipation and a stiff & unbending attitude. Beware the stick.
However, the right stick can make a very good ramrod If you don't have anything better.
O.

 

[Kansas Jake]

I think the lead paint issue relates to places where there would be peeling paint or chipped paint. I have a grandson who is less than two years old. He will put anything in his mouth. If lead paint chips were laying around or paint could be picked from a window sill or trim, he would probably eat it if no one caught him doing it. It makes good sense to not use lead in paint if there is a less toxic or non toxic alternative.

I live on property that borders a Corp of Engineers managed lake. Lead shot is not allowed, but can still be used to hunt with a rifle. Again, I can understand that some areas with heavy waterfowl hunting developed problems with lead being ingested by waterfowl and problems developing.

There is a tendency for government to sometimes use a sledgehammer as it relates to an issue when a fly swatter would work. There are also those who will totally disregard the larger good for all to protect their own narrow interests. We need to find some common sense in the whole. That is hard to do.

I don't want to have lead banned totally, but also don't dismiss that it is a health issue. Let's not get so hardbound that we can not focus on this activity we love to be involved in, traditional black powder firearms.

I mold round balls and bullets. I also try to be very careful around lead so I don't endanger myself or others. Especially my grandkids when it comes to lead oxide etc.

 

[longcruise]

There is no doubt that children ingesting lead is a bad thing. It does effect brain function.

I don't see that Jethro has anything to apologize for. I chuckled over the humorous twist on the subject.

Here is the irony of the lead based paint (LBP) issue. The problem manifested almost exclusively in government owned, managed or otherwise subsidized housing. Naturally, they are inhabited by poor people. The paint becomes a problem when it peels off the walls and is available to curious children who DO put anything in their mouth at certain ages.

So, the government failed to maintain the property, which was the real problem. Sound familiar? :shocked2:

LBP was officially banned around 1978 although it's use had already fallen off significantly.

Working as a Real Estate Broker for many years, I never personally encountered a dangerous situation involving LBP. If it was encountered, the remedy is to paint over it!

Those of us who grew up surrounded by LBP apparently escaped the consequences as a result of having parents who would not tolerate us living in squalor.

Not condemning the parents who, due to their circumstances, were stuck along with their children in bad conditions.

 

[M. De Land]

So that's whats wrong with me! I much prefer blaming it on lead paint than stupidity! :rotf:

 

[coloradoclyde]

Perhaps we could all agree that...if lead had not been added to gasoline, paint, pesticides, plumbing pipes, etc..........our use of it in muzzleloaders .....would be a non-issue.

 

[hanshi]

:thumbsup:

 

[Zonie]

Well, I for one think we've learned about all there is to know about using modern wheel weights to cast our bullets and balls from.

I guess I'll just add that a few years ago the "Bevel Brothers" did a test to see if using hard lead like the lead wheel weights are made from, could make usable balls for muzzleloaders to shoot.

To make a long story shorter they found that yes, balls cast out of wheel weights could be very accurate when fired from a muzzleloading rifle.

The only fly in the ointment was they usually more difficult to load with the same patch that a soft lead roundball worked with.

Because the hard balls didn't deform as easily when they were loaded, a slightly thinner patch was needed.

 

[longcruise]

The other consideration with Ww is that it cast's a bit larger than pure lead. There is a factor for calculating it but I'm not sure what it is. I do have a .535 mold that drops balls at .533. Might be interesting to try. I have far more WW than lead.

 

[tenngun]

Well, I for one think we've learned about all there is to know about using modern wheel weights to cast our bullets and balls from.

I guess I'll just add that a few years ago the "Bevel Brothers" did a test to see if using hard lead like the lead wheel weights are made from, could make usable balls for muzzleloaders to shoot.

To make a long story shorter they found that yes, balls cast out of wheel weights could be very accurate when fired from a muzzleloading rifle.

The only fly in the ointment was they usually more difficult to load with the same patch that a soft lead roundball worked with.

Because the hard balls didn't deform as easily when they were loaded, a slightly thinner patch was needed.

4000 years ago people learned to make very pure lead. However it was found that lead was more useful if hardend abit, and lots of lead was alloyed, for a lot of years before alchimist started burning fingers and ducking motor framents. In the interest of being hc you can bet a lot of harden lead was rammed down muzzles for a long time.
Although lead paint a la cart is bad for babies, much of the anti lead campainge over the last few years has been political. one aim was to make ammo more expensive, the other was to interfer with people running thier own at home.

 

[brubincam]

I used pursolder balls in a shooting match and shot just the same as lead--my rifle didn't care

 

[coloradoclyde]

I made some once too, out of lead free solder. they worked just fine, but shot higher IIRC.

 

[jethro224]

Folks, I just spent about the past half hour trying to clean up this thread by deleting everything that had absolutely nothing to do with the topic at hand. Figgered it was the least I could do since I started making the whole mess. If I missed a spot, sorry, I tried.
PLEASE, let's all keep it cleaned up now.

 

[Kansas Jake]

Thanks.

One could shoot harder balls in a rifle, but they may be hard on a cap & ball revolver's loading levers with a tight fitting ball

 

[longcruise]

Still waiting for that email. Leaving town soon to Hunt. May not have service. PM won't work.