Wheel weight slugs

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Woody-to

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So I have been assembling everything I need to make my own slugs piece by piece over the last few years as cash permits. Luckily my father in law owns a tire shop so I have a source of lead (wheel weights).

My first batch turned out great, nice and shiny and smooth. Only problem is when I rattle them in my hand like dice they make a "TING" noise, unlike the "THUD"of lead. When I clamp them ina pair of Channel Locks I can barely bend them. Obviously I didn't separate them properly and over heated the pot for the tin to melt (my UN-educated guess).

My question is, if shooting these hard slugs (Lee 7/8oz. .685"-.689") through a rifled barrel only, would I run into any problems? I realise shooting these through a choke could be an issue.

My next question is, when I was melting the weights down I made a few ignots in a muffin tin. Without knowing the hardness of them could I simply blend them in with pure lead to soften things up? My first melting day went too good, I got a little crazy and made lots of slugs and lots of ignots, would hate to have to throw everything away.

I plan on using these in UN-choked rifled barrels, but would like to give a few away here and there so I would like to have them choke safe once I work out the bugs.

Thanks
Woody
 
I have never heard of Tin wheelweights. Perhaps you mean the zinc ones. I think you would have had to had the pot mighty hot to mealt those.
I have been casting the lee slugs using wheelweight lead, they are very hard, and shoot great.
 
May not be wise to fire through a full choke. Not as much compressability as lead shot.
Bore will be protected by the plastic wad regardless.
Try the big Lyman slug for much better accuracy!
 
Should be great for playing around. Don't know that I'd use them for hunting, though. Not being a solid chunk like maxi's, they may fragment rather than plow through. I often use WW boolits for playing around, and keep the pure lead stuff for hunting. The point of impact is almost identical, in my charcoal-burners, anyway.
 
I think you mean zinc not tin.
Did the molten lead look fine or did it get "oatmeal like"
If you get zinc in your lead I understand it gets very difficult to pour and cast with.
Would likely stick to an open choke barrel.
 
Overheating the pot will cause the tin to "sludge up" on the surface of the mix(in addition to the funky colors). Lower the temp and try fluxing the tin sludge back into the mix. If you can, add some pure lead(20% or so) and your slugs will come out much nicer.

I've cast 1oz lee slugs with pure WW and they shoot fine through a cylinder bore. You may want to reduce your loads when shooting them through a slug barrel.
 
When you reheat to cast, bring the heat up slowly. If there is junk in the lead, like zinc, it will float to the top. Don't be afraid to discard a lot of stuff that hasn't melted. I have to do it to get rid of non lead compounds from range lead I collect.

You are better to use pure lead for slugs but even a 50/50 mix with your wheel weights should be better.

The pure ww slugs may not open up as much as pure lead. Try them on water buckets or wet phone books. have a look at the slug after firing. that will tell you whether you want to hunt with it.
 
Yes, sorry I mean zinc.
I guess i was not expecting lead to be so hard.
My main plan is to just use these for fun plinking. The whole thing started when I went to get sabot slugs to sight in my new rifled barrel. I love shotguns so much I had to make them a bit more reasonable.


sly mantis said:
I think you mean zinc not tin.
Did the molten lead look fine or did it get "oatmeal like"
If you get zinc in your lead I understand it gets very difficult to pour and cast with.
Would likely stick to an open choke barrel.
Click to expand...

Yes, it did get a mealy consistency when it began to melt. Once it melted and I scooped/skimmed out the clips and other stuff. It poured well and turned out great, just a few at the beginning to get the mould the right temp.

digitalblue said:
I've cast 1oz lee slugs with pure WW and they shoot fine through a cylinder bore. You may want to reduce your loads when shooting them through a slug barrel.
Click to expand...


That is good to know, thanks. By how much would guess for a 7/8oz, would it be a certain percentage or how does it work?
 
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