No more wheel weights??

There is a “sweet spot” for casting. I wouldn’t want to collect lead and cast for 10k rounds of 9mm every year. 2-3k isn’t too bad though.
Sitting down and casting 400 slugs for the 45-70 is pretty fun I’d say.
4 pails took me probably 5 hours to sort through over a week. I ended up with 65% or better lead. Not too bad for the effort. It’s a gross job, but for sure not the worst job I’ve ever done. I’d agree that it is almost therapeutic.
Casting isn’t for everyone. Mostly for the guys with more time than money!
 
hatman1793 said:
IMNSHO WHEEL-weights are over-rated. Their BHN is inconsistent
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I understand this comment in regards to casting; virgin lead is extremely expensive vs WWs which are typically free and you will need to alloy it if you want to if you want to control the BHN anyway. So at the end of the process you're in the same place doing all the same steps and precautions. Any non-lead weights go to the scrap bin and sold.
 
Casting isn’t the issue here, it’s collecting, sourcing & sorting. Most WW users, aka Tire shops either sell their leftover weights, keep them for buyers, or just won’t give them up. Even so, tire store employees have little discipline instilled in them for what goes in the WW recycling bin. Sorting is kinda like doing your own oil changes…
I typically like indoor range lead which smelts down to 8-10 BHN, & big bonus last year when my club cleaned out their indoor backstop & smelted all that lead into ingots that sold for 1/3rd of their market value.
 
This is a transition period for me, so although I read everything I need to know, it will take me at least 5 years before I can start casting. So storing wheel weights is not an option, but casting boolits sounds like it’s going to be way more expensive than it used to be.

By then, I might not even be allowed to shoot my prey with boolits while hunting if we follow California's footstep. I guess there is still value for target shooting and I can always collect my lead from my range.
 
I found wheel weights messy... I load up on pails of mixed lead bullet from the inside back stop at the range. Way cleaner and easier. Plus the extra brass and copper pulled out from the melt is cash bonus. Something to think about.
 
It's more than I like to pay, I always tried to keep them in the $20-30 range, when I had to pay at all. But I have paid $40, when I was new to the game and wasn't finding anything else.

Realistically $40 is probably reasonable if the ratio of lead in the bucket is high. If you pay 40 then find out it is 3/4 lead-free weights, it will be a ripoff.
 
Johnyy said:
Is $40 for a pail {5 gallon} a good price for wheel weights?
Click to expand...

Depends on the ratio of lead to junk. I paid $20 a pail for 60% lead. 40% clip on and 20% stick on. Pails in the past yielded a better ratio, but as said above, lead is being phased out.
You’re probably still only paying $.50 a pound
 
hatman1793 said:
Casting isn’t the issue here, it’s collecting, sourcing & sorting… Sorting is kinda like doing your own oil changes…
I typically like indoor range lead which smelts down to 8-10 BHN, & big bonus last year when my club cleaned out their indoor backstop & smelted all that lead into ingots that sold for 1/3rd of their market value.
Click to expand...

That makes more sense when you have that option.

BIG SHOOTZ said:
I've always been curious about using the lead plates from vehicle batteries for this. anyone have experience doing so?
Click to expand...

I know a fella who uses lead from old forklift batteries claims no ill-effects, he splits them and washes them down with water then pulls the plates and soaks them in a barrel with water/baking soda to be safe. After that he has an old wash cauldron that he smelts them in for casting ingots. Finally he alloys the ingots as he uses them. I however have never personally used battery lead for anything and have not knowingly shot projectiles made with it.
 
WereWeasel said:
I'm not sure I understand this comment in regards to casting; virgin lead is extremely expensive vs WWs which are typically free and you will need to alloy it if you want to if you want to control the BHN anyway. So at the end of the process you're in the same place doing all the same steps and precautions. Any non-lead weights go to the scrap bin and sold.
Click to expand...

Depending on where you live, virgin lead can be free if you're willing to haul it away.

The nuclear medicine facilities at hospitals have their isotopes arrive in what looks like a hexagonal cube with a hole into which the vial concerning the isotopes is inserted. That cube is pure lead. They usually (my hospital anyways) has maintenance stick them somewhere for the half life or whatever to expire so they're not hazmat or anything like that. I got more than I will ever shoot in this lifetime for my muzzleloader in just one trip; never have been back since.
 
I think I'm going to run out of COWW sometime before I run out of my time on earth (well, I sure as hell hope I do!).

In my break in military service before going back after 9/11, I worked at a sawmill. When on cleanup, part of my job was cleaning up where the sawfilers did their thing. Biggest freaking smelting Pot I ever saw for pouring the babbit to reset the knives after they'd been removed and sharpened. Rowell ladles hanging from the walls of all sizes.

What got really interesting was looking at the shelving with all the babbit on it. If my memory is correct, it was from Delta Metals or something like that on the West coast. The babbit they were using was stamped Genuine Nickle #5. Looking in all their paperwork, that stuff was essentially Lyman #2, no nasty extra stuff in it like zinc or copper.

So with wheelweights drying up, I'm starting to wonder if a combined group purchase of an agreed upon alloy, like COWW, would make it worthwhile. Shipping to a central spot or something like that.

I've still got about 200 lbs of COWW ingots left... but not too long ago I had a huge pile of COWW ingots and thought there was no way I'd go through it all when I only cast for hunting rifles. Silly me...
 
I have mentioned this before, the other "new source" for pure lead is that municipalities are starting to dig lead water lines up to replace with less toxic piping. I was just gifted 2-300 lbs of 1" OD lead pipe.
Very nice pure stuff....but the problem I can see right off the bat is "how am i going to turn the damn stuff into ingots without having 'tinsel fairy' episodes continually. It is in long lengths that a re just a bunched& folded up mess by some heavy equipment machine and I would assume it all wasn't drained completely so each one of those folds could hold an unspecified amount of water...should be an interesting day.
 
fingers284 said:
I have mentioned this before, the other "new source" for pure lead is that municipalities are starting to dig lead water lines up to replace with less toxic piping. I was just gifted 2-300 lbs of 1" OD lead pipe.
Very nice pure stuff....but the problem I can see right off the bat is "how am i going to turn the damn stuff into ingots without having 'tinsel fairy' episodes continually. It is in long lengths that a re just a bunched& folded up mess by some heavy equipment machine and I would assume it all wasn't drained completely so each one of those folds could hold an unspecified amount of water...should be an interesting day.
Click to expand...
Could you not cut up that folded pipe into pieces with a sharp axe? When smelting don't add pieces to hot liquid lead. Start each batch from ambient temperature to avoid the tinsel fairy.
 
sawsall with course blade will cut it easily in short pieces, make sure water is not trapped.
Gun5tuff is right, if you start with the pipes cold than any water will boil off/evaporate before the lead melts.
 
hatman1793 said:
IMNSHO WHEEL-weights are over-rated. Their BHN is inconsistent...
Click to expand...

I've been operating under the assumption that melting them all together makes a consistent batch. Then melting equal parts of multiple batches together makes a bigger consistent batch.
 
Quiet said:
I've been operating under the assumption that melting them all together makes a consistent batch. Then melting equal parts of multiple batches together makes a bigger consistent batch.
Click to expand...

Or melt a big batch at once.
My bottom pour melting pot can handle about 400 lbs :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom