Wheel weights

[1eyemountainmen]

I am trying to extract pure lead from wheel weights. How hot does the lead need to get before it will seperate out the tin, ect?
I have a 5 gallon bucket full. Also any tricks or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks......

 

[paulvallandigham]

Sorry, you can't separate lead by heating it alone. Its done electrically in industry. If you want pure lead, start with pure lead.

 

[bingo1952]

Paul is right: there is no way for a home caster to separate the alloying elements. The tin is the least of your worries the antimony is the real problem. Just a little of that stuff will ruin a bunch of good lead if soft balls are what you are looking for. A couple of ounces of tin per every ten pounds of lead actually helps out in the moulding process by letting your mould fill out better and your balls will still be pretty soft.

 

[1eyemountainmen]

Thank you. I'll start with pure lead

 

[LaBonte]

Just cast those wheel weights into round balls as is - myself and many other experienced shooters have been using them for many a year (for me that's 40+ years).
Despite the claims of some pure lead is not the only PC or "right" material to shoot from a muzzleloader - hardened lead projectiles were used throughout the 19th century by the English and others for big game all over the world.
Many of the experienced hunters out here in the west prefer a harder projectile for the same reason - better penetration on mulies and elk. Even on smaller game like pronghorn there's not a whole lot of need for expansion when you start out using a .45+ caliber ball - on the other hand most out here prefer 50's and 54's for the extra weight/mass.
Wheel weights will cast a slightly larger and lighter ball than pure lead so use a slightly smaller ball (i.e I normally use a .526" in my .54's with a pillow ticking patch - easily loading and accuracy is plenty good out to 100 yds as long as I do my part) or a use a thinner patch and then adjust your powder charge as needed - as always each gun is different so work up what load works best for that gun.
The Bevel Brothers wrote up an article in Muzzleblasts over the last couple of years regarding using wheel weights and they found that they are just as accurate as pure lead and IMO for hunting a the extra hardness is the cats meow - that includes experience on many elk, moose, BIG mulies, and black bear - hit them where it counts and they don't care what you used to cast your balls.........
The idea that wheel weights are "too hard" for a muzzleloader is lack of experience with them or pure balderdash........

 

[Rancocas]

Round balls from wheel weights have served me well for more than 20 years.

 

[LaBonte]

Yep it's too bad they are becoming a thing of the past in many areas - all them wild critters chowing down on the cast offs along the road and getting lead poison you know. :hmm:

 

[mckutzy]

shoot it if u have it and see how it works for your gun, if it doesnt then switch to something a little softer. i now use roofing lead because my friend is a roofer and he got it for free. that stuff is really soft and works great.

 

[cutshurt]

I have wheel weights that I cast for other guns I have, and thought about shooting them from my TC 50 flint lock, I was told to shoot only pure lead from the gun, but I didn't see why it wouldn't work, the only thing I noticed that was different was that I used the same patch material as I had for the pure lead and it was a bit harder to get it down the barrel. But with a switch to a thinner patch it went down just fine and my target got hit the same... holes!!! the only gun that I would worry about shooting pure lead from that I have is my ROA it has to have pure lead balls or they wont go in the cylinder ...I found out the hard way :shake:

Darrel

 

[musketman]

I am trying to extract pure lead from wheel weights. How hot does the lead need to get before it will seperate out the tin, ect?
I have a 5 gallon bucket full. Also any tricks or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks......

I actually contacted several chemists about this very subject a few years ago and they all (except one) came up with the same conclusion, the home roundball caster cannot do it without considerable danger to himself and the people around him. (toxic fumes and such)

One chemist did come up with an radical idea though, he said to spin the molten wheel weight lead in a heated inclosed centrifuge at great speeds (so the heavier metal moves outward by centrifugal force), then turn the heat off and keep spinning until the metal cools and sets. It has to be inclosed to prevent the molten metal from working up the sides of the melting pot and spilling out as it spins. (ouch)

Once it is cold, cut the outer edges off where the purer lead will be trapped and discard the core of tin. (that's as far as he went on the subject)

Of course I would just shoot the wheel weight lead if given the choice, or work it away with pure lead a little at a time.

 

[MSW]

ayup, Paul is right, but all is not lost, 'cause cutshirt is right, too, cast your wheelweight, get some thinner patch, adjust the charge, and

make good smoke!

 

[ohio ramrod]

while I continue to use as pure lead as possible in my rifles, saving the harder lead for my smooth bore, I am often (well actually always ) beaten in competition by my nephew and his boys who shoot balls made from wheel weights.WW lead will work as long as you have the proper patches for your rifle.

 

[JackAubrey]

I have shot wheel weights in round ball but got away from it when I started shooting minies in my rifled muskets,now that's when you want pure lead.Paul,once again,my hat is off to you.I have been "cleaning" my lead with poor results.Now I know I have been wasting time,lol.I want to say I read it in one of Dr.Sam Fadala's books on "cleaning lead".In his defense,he wasn't specifically discussing wheel weights,per se,nonetheless, I won't be wasting my time on that endeavour.You are a real asset to this forum! Best regards,JA

 

[mazo kid]

No, you can't separate the lead out of wheel weights using home methods, as others have explained. I have a couple hundred pounds of lead and also wheel weights. I have always used as soft lead as I have for round balls as that is what I mainly shoot in M/L guns. The WW I cast for use in my suppository guns. If I run out of lead I guess I will resort to using the WWs. I would like to cast up a few sometime just to try them out. Should work just as good as Bill's marbles!! :rotf: :hmm:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

trade or sell those weights to a caster for centerfire guns and buy soft lead.
you're better off IMO.
don't cast any slug intended for BP guns with them - maybe RB's are OK I haven't tryed.

 

[Dphar]

I am trying to extract pure lead from wheel weights. How hot does the lead need to get before it will seperate out the tin, ect?
I have a 5 gallon bucket full. Also any tricks or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks......

There are a lot of things besides tin in there, tin is too expensive to put in WW. Antimony is likley the main thing in hardening WW with some tin. Would have to get out my Lyman cast Bullet handbook and refresh my memory.
Seperation is impossible SFAIK at least by heat or at home. Probably need some electroplating process

Dan

 

[Dphar]

WW work great in barrels with narrow lands though they do cast slightly larger diameter than pure lead and may need a thinner patch.
Hardened lead was the historical standard for MLs, smooth or rifled, used for heavy game.
Dan

 

[R.M.]

Hardened lead was the historical standard for MLs, smooth or rifled, used for heavy game.
Dan

Does anybody have any firm documentation on this, or is this just another internet myth?
Inquiring minds need to know.

 

[LaBonte]

Hardened lead was the historical standard for MLs, smooth or rifled, used for heavy game.
Dan

Does anybody have any firm documentation on this, or is this just another internet myth?
Inquiring minds need to know.

I'm not Dan, but his statment is not myth but fact - check out any of the 19th Century hunting journals/info, in particular the English stuff discussing big game hunting in India and Africa...I don't have titles at hand but I'll bet Dan does....

 

[TANSTAAFL]

I am trying to extract pure lead from wheel weights. How hot does the lead need to get before it will seperate out the tin, ect?
I have a 5 gallon bucket full. Also any tricks or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks......

Not gonna happen, and the hotter you go, the more dangerous for breathing the gassing off of the lead fumes becomes.