[jmaubin]

I'm looking for some info on the use of lead tire weights for casting balls, I have about 100 lbs out in my shed for years that I had used to cast for another project that is no longer in use. I was wondering if first is this type of lead ok and secondly would it be soft enough?

[sundance44s]

It`s too hard for good round balls ..you need to find some plumbers grade or roofing grade will work ..save the wheel weights for makeing bullets , they make good bullets .

[arcticap]

Hard lead will cast oversized round balls.

[scrat]

Smokeless powder. Centerfire basicly. The Lead content is ideal for casting those type of bullets. As the lead will be very hard. For black powder you need pure lead. Soft lead. The wheel weights contain, tin, lead, antimony. This makes it a lead alloy. The percents they carry in them will make the alloy to a certain hardness. For black powder you need a solft lead, for ease of loading and to engage the rifling. Typically a bullet cast with soft lead. You should be able to take your finger nail and put a mark in it by running your nail across. Hard lead you almost wont be able to.

[Smokin_Gun]

Is sell them on eBay in lots of 25# or what ever and use that same money to buy soft lead ingots. Thumbnail should put a good scatch in soft lead. Could try melting down the WW's but think you'll find they are too hard for C&B.
Try these http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSAA:US:11&Item=350057397594

SG

[Voodoochile]

Clip on Wheelweights are about:
Lead 95%
Antimony 2.5%
Tin .5%
Arsenic .1%
Trace elements 1.9% (Cadmium, calcium, silver, copper, etc)

Not very good for C&B bullets, the Antimony is what makes them so hard.


Adhesive wheelweights are about:
Lead 98%
Antimony .25%
Trace elements 1.75% (Arsenic, cadmium, calcium, copper, silver, tin, etc)

Loads better & sufficient for C&B bullets & PRBs, still a tad harder than Swaged balls but not too bad.

I work at a Chevrolet Dealership & I collect all the adhesive wheelweights that I can get my hands on & I have a line with the dealer that supplies us to sell me all the adhesive wheelweights that he collects from all his sources for $.55 a pound, I then go to my local plumbing supply store & buy 10-20 pounds of plumbers lead & mix my wheelweights in at a ratio of 2Lbs of plumbers lead to 1Lb of wheelweights, cost per pound like I do is around $1.25-$1.75.

Oh & BTW..
Lineotype is lighter than pure lead & about as hard as adhesive wheelweights.

[frontiergander]

wheel weight lead works fine for me.

[Smokin_Gun]

wheel weight lead works fine for me.

Wheel weights seem to work for Standard Cartridge Revs(called Hardcast bullets), but are not recommended for C&B Revs or Conversions especially any Generation Colt types.

If you have Colts how's your wedges and barrel assy's?

SG

[Voodoochile]

Wheel weights seem to work for Standard Cartridge Revs(called Hardcast bullets), but are not recommended for C&B Revs or Conversions especially any Generation Colt types.

If you have Colts how's your wedges and barrel assy's?

SG

The way I mix my adhesive wheelweights to plumbers lead, yields nearly 98.8% pure with very little antimony or other trace so my lead is almost as soft as pure "thumbnail can also scratch off a small spot when I check my .457's, .495's & .530's" & they load just a slight bit stiffer than store bought swedged balls but my 25 year old 1960 & my 3rd model Dragoon "my brother has claimed it as his" has survived nearly 18-21 years of em with no ill effects.

[sharps59]

some guys are using hard lead in there .69 cal smoothbores w/ very good results.
also black powder cart or breach loaders

[Smokin_Gun]

The way I mix my adhesive wheelweights to plumbers lead

I don't believe you mentioned that in your pevious post. Standrad clip on wheel weights are not soft lead, they are definately Hardcast lead.

SG

[Voodoochile]

I don't believe you mentioned that in your pevious post. Standrad clip on wheel weights are not soft lead, they are definately Hardcast lead.

SG

I did mention that in my first posting with this information:

Clip on Wheelweights are about:
Lead 95%
Antimony 2.5%
Tin .5%
Arsenic .1%
Trace elements 1.9% (Cadmium, calcium, silver, copper, etc)

Not very good for C&B bullets, the Antimony is what makes them so hard.


I also mentioned how I mix my lead for consistency & to bring it to as pure as I can get it.

Adhesive wheelweights are about:
Lead 98%
Antimony .25%
Trace elements 1.75% (Arsenic, cadmium, calcium, copper, silver, tin, etc)

Loads better & sufficient for C&B bullets & PRBs, still a tad harder than Swaged balls but not too bad.

I work at a Chevrolet Dealership & I collect all the adhesive wheelweights that I can get my hands on & I have a line with the dealer that supplies us to sell me all the adhesive wheelweights that he collects from all his sources for $.55 a pound, I then go to my local plumbing supply store & buy 10-20 pounds of plumbers lead & mix my wheelweights in at a ratio of 2Lbs of plumbers lead to 1Lb of wheelweights, cost per pound like I do is around $1.25-$1.75.

[AdmiralB]

FWIW, plumber's lead is nowhere near pure lead. It's one part tin to two parts lead, and has about five times the Brinell hardness as pure lead.

I have absolutely no experience with bullet casting of any kind, so I don't know if that matters.

[Fiveshooter]

FWIW, plumber's lead is nowhere near pure lead. It's one part tin to two parts lead, and has about five times the Brinell hardness as pure lead.

I have absolutely no experience with bullet casting of any kind, so I don't know if that matters.

AdmiralB,
I think you are referig to the older plumber's solder. The folks here when they mention "plumber's lead" are refering to the thin sheet soft lead that you would find in an old shower pan liner. Most plumber's solder used today contains no lead at all.

[Voodoochile]

AdmiralB,
I think you are referig to the older plumber's solder. The folks here when they mention "plumber's lead" are refering to the thin sheet soft lead that you would find in an old shower pan liner. Most plumber's solder used today contains no lead at all.

You're exactly right, & it's getting harder & harder to find it in my area so I may have to look into the online sources if it keep up like this.

[Smokin_Gun]

That's cool Voodoochile, I must have missed one of your posts.
I just bought 40# of soft lead ingots at .99975 or $1.00 per pound. With shipping to my door $1.27 per pound. Let me know if you want his email or eBay address. With gas the price it is I save the $ from not runnin around. Internet buying works for me...if Gunbroker and eBay weren't so dang easy I'd be a rich man.

SG

[Voodoochile]

Please share :)

[Smokin_Gun]

And there are many more deals.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350057397594

[4v50 Gary]

I'd use it for round balls for muskets since accuracy is not a smooth bore musket's virtue. They're OK for range use. I wouldn't use it for hunting rounds since wheelweight balls are hard and won't flatten out in your game like lead does.

[Zeke/PA]

I lucked out as just before I retired, my company was tossing a couple of lead scale dampners from one of the labs.
They weighed in at about 125# each.
The bonus was being able to saw them into manageable (pot size) chunks on the toolroom band saw.
Of course I use this lead ONLY for my black powder stuff.
Sinkers, jig heads etc., I use any junk lead that is available.
Zeke

[Smokin_Gun]

Now that's almost findin' Black Bart's Gold up there in Oroville ,CA
Good find solid treasure Zeke/PA

SG

[bonza]

Wheel weight lead will work ok for a PATCHED round ball, but may be a bit too hard in a C&B revolver.

[Smokin_Gun]

Wheel weight lead will work ok for a PATCHED round ball, but may be a bit too hard in a C&B revolver.


Not hardcast clip on wheel weights will not be good for a muzzleloader rifle, smoothbore, Civil War Minnie Ball Muskets, or C&B Revs...they all are designed to shoot the same way.
When fired a lil thing called Obsturation takes place, with all of these weapons, based on the use of soft lead. I'll print a document I saved on this. Don't know how long it is but here goes.

Obturation - verb To close or obstruct

obturate - (verb To close or obstruct) is what they call it and that is what some say a lead ball or lead projectle does when the powder wacks it hard

upon ignition. Blackpowder cartridge shooters talk about it when they describe a chamber that is loose in the neck (where the

bullet sits) whereas the lead bullet "bumps up" from the powder blast to fill the neck of the chamber and then swags back

down to fit into the rifling of the barrel. Obturation helps a lead projectile fill the grooves and seal the gases against

blow-by that acts like little cutting torches melting lead where the grooves are. Some guns rely on obturation of the lead

projectile like the 1860 Colt conversion that had a 45 barrel but couldn't chamber 45's because of the case heads being too

big so it was chambered in 44 rimfire and fired a 44 sized bullet. The "heel" bullet it used was 44 where it went into the

case and 45 where it was out of the case and the obturation of the lead helped bump up the rear 44 part of the bullet. Also

used was a hollow base bullet that was 44 all the way and the hollow base expanded from the powder blast gases to obsturate

to fill the grooves of the barrel to be accurate. In the cap&ball revolver the lead is said to obturate to help fill the

grooves of the barrel. Alchemista- Aleasandro Pietta, said it this way,"lead goes everywhere" back when he was on the forum

sometimes. He seemed to be saying it was neccesary to leave room for the lead to obturate and ,"that is the way it has to

be", is what he said. When I reminded him about the guns his factory manufactures that have no allowance for obturation

since the chambers are the same as the grooves in the barrel( "Shooters" model Remington, distressed finish Rem, 1860 Colt

and 1851 Colt ) he stopped talking. Right when we were getting somewhere. Anywhooo.... I figure and have mentioned it in my

posts that I don't feel a lead ball obturates consistantly because of variables such as being loose and moved easily and

fouling build up ect. I go with the principle that the high end guns for target are built on and that is that the chambers

size the ball to be a snug fit in the grooves so there is some backpressure or resistance that the snug ball exhibits that

allows it to be obsturated by the powder blast and ensure that the gases stay behind the ball even though the ball fits the

barrel well since gas is like water and will find or make a place to get out. Lead obturation of a snug fitting ball makes

it more difficult for the gases to blow by the ball and make the gun shoot like one that has a bad crown. Ever shoot a gun

with a bad crown where gases errupt out along the sides of the bullet more in one place than the other? Shoots bad. Fix the

crown and the gases errupt out evenly around the bullet and the accuracy returns. Same principle with the cap&ballers that

have the undersized chambers. Shoot like a gun with a bad crown until the fouling seals the bore and the grooves and gets

erratic when the fouling doesn't go against the laws of physics and distribute itself evenly every time. Ect.. Ect..

[mykeal]

I think the word is 'obturate'.

[Smokin_Gun]

I think the word is 'obturate'.

Nope spell check says obturate is incorrect, gives "obdurate".
Either way it means to enter an obtruction to the barrel(passing thru) in this case from a chamber or breech...the other black parts of the screen are the point, agreed?

SG

[mykeal]

One of the maddeningly disturbing things about the internet and the computer is the reliance on spell checkers. One has only to notice the incredible proliferation of the use of 'there' in place of 'their' or 'to' in place of 'too'. Or vice versa. We simply assume that if the spell checker doesn't burp, the usage is correct; we've stopped thinking. That's an observation, not an accusation, because I'm just as guilty as everyone else.

Apologies in advance for the following - I'm not normally a word Nazi, but since I started this I might as well make a complete ass of myself:

Per the American Heritage Dictionary:

obdurate - adjective: 1a. Hardened in wrongdoing or wickedness; stubbornly impenitent. b. Hardened against feeling; hardhearted. 2. Not giving in to persuasion; intractable.

obturate - verb: To close or obstruct.

The third form, obsturate, doesn't exist, of course.

And you are completely correct, the meaning is clear from the context regardless of the spelling, so the only thing accomplished by my little rant is refinement of my typing skills. Thank you for that, at least, and again, my apologies for taking up the bandwidth with this nonsense.

[bonza]

As long as you are using the correct diameter ball & suitable thickness of patch the hardness of the lead has little effect on it's shootability. Only in guns were the lead is in direct contact with the bore is soft lead more critical. In fact hardened balls were often used by the African big game hunters for better penetration on Elephant, etc. in their heavy caliber (eg. 4 bore, etc.) muzzleloading rifles. In my guns I use pure lead for my Minies, conicals, & most of my RBs, however I use Hornady 00-SG buckshot in one of my target pistols (Hege Siber .33 caliber), & that is alloyed lead, with no detrimental effect to accuracy at all. I have a .330 RB mould, but the buckshot is so economical to buy they really aren't worth the effort to cast!

[JayC]

There's nothing wrong with precision, whether in spelling, grammar, or anything else. You weren't making fun of the incorrect spelling, just keeping the readers properly informed.

[Smokin_Gun]

Mykeal, no harm no foul...point observed and well taken. I copied a document and saved it so I am merely guiltly of coping a word that doesn't exist...(humor)
Thank you for catching that and I have corrected the posting and my archives.


SG

[DuncanSA]

Getting very technical here for simple weapons. Wheel weight lead works fine for me in Colt and Remington replicas. Slugs I have dug out of the backstop have had very clear rifling grooves.

[pohill]

eschew verbosity

[Smokin_Gun]

Wheel weight lead works fine for me in Colt and Remington replicas. Slugs I have dug out of the backstop have had very clear rifling grooves.

How could you tell they were wheel weights then?:banghead:

It's your gun shoot diamonds if you like. I was just suppling helpful info...
And by the way it is that technical.:neener:
I give up enough said, that's how pure lead works and hard cast wheel weights just ain't soft lead.

SG

[omarkw11@gmail.com]

in my experience, wheel weights work fine as far as accuracy in a rifle with prb. i dont believe they will flatten as well as soft lead in game, but i use a 62, anyway. i also know that at shoots, wheel weights dent steel targets much more than soft lead.:confused:

[Smokin_Gun]

Hi there omarkw11@gmail.com, goodto meet you. Shoot a .62cal hell you can bowl 9 pins with on a them.:eek: Are you into the French & Indian War era?
What's you musket?
Also was wondering if you were aware that you can put yor email address in your profile and Post your name Omarkw11 in here if you like.
Anyway, be talkin with ya.

SG:cool:

[B00SS]

I heard of someone getting one of those lead filled coats that the radiologists wear. They protect the wearer because it is filled with lead. Anyway, this person used the lead inside for making his rounds. Anyone know what quality of lead is in one of these?

[omarkw11@gmail.com]

hey smokin, yeah, the 62 hits pretty hard. my rifle is a fullstock hawken that i built from parts. when i get a chance to dress up, its as a free trapper. booss, i believe that radiologist vest would be very good quality for our use. they are also handy for hunting. if you have to track a cripple after dark, it glows, makes finding much easier. LOL