What to expect with wheel weights

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I'll add one caution: be very careful not to get any type of liquid in or near your melting pot while it contains any molten lead. The resulting steam explosion can be very dangerous!!! Wear good safety glasses or better yet a face shield when doing anything with molten lead.
 
Did you have a chance to look at the wheel weights yet? Hopefully they are mainly lead but that’s not common anymore.

Once you start sorting them you should get a feel for what’s what pretty quickly. Most iron ones are marked FE or something similar and are usually more square shaped. The zinc ones are marked ZN or something similar. I’m sure the link in post 6 spells it out pretty well. When sorting I can tell 95% of the time just by looking at the thing what it is. I use a hammer to test the ones I jl have questions about. A light smack with a hammer will deform lead easily. Zinc and iron won’t be effected.

For my last smelt I was being cheaper and wanted to see if my cast iron pot would get up to melting temp using fire. It worked like a charm. My 4 oak trees had dropped enough debris over the course of the last year to melt over 100 lbs of lead down.

The cast boolit forum has tons of subforums and most forums have many stickies which contain tons of info for a new caster. Once you understand the layout of the forum it’s actually pretty efficient for the volume of info but it does seem cluttered.

I’d also advocate for powder coating. I’m pretty sure it’s the most common method of preventing leading among new casters. The other methods can work but they are either expensive or require much trial and error.
 
A guy gave me a bucket of "lead?" fish net weights. What does anyone know about whether they are lead or zinc or what?
 
I took a quick look on the internet, and found I can get a lubricator-sizer for about $200. For that price, I can get 10 toaster ovens and powder coat about 2000 bullets at a time.
Keep an eye on the classified section on Cast Boolits you might find a lubrisizer for a good price. I have $10.75 invested in mine. I know that is rare, I was buying some bulk lead and was within 10.75 of a hundred dollar mark and the sizer was thrown in for the difference. It’s a Lyman 450 and has sized many many BOOLITS with only one O-ring replaced.

If you get into casting with a passion a lot of us have, you will fully understand the difference in a bullet and a boolit.
 
I took a quick look on the internet, and found I can get a lubricator-sizer for about $200. For that price, I can get 10 toaster ovens and powder coat about 2000 bullets at a time.

Come now, let's not be dramatic, unrealistic and misleading. It's not at all difficult to find a used Lyman lubrisizer for $50-$75 and unlike toaster ovens they have resale value. As far as that goes, for $200, one can find a used Star sizer and in the time a $20 toaster oven spends pre-heating, lube and size what...a couple hundred bullets?

It's all about expectation, wouldn't you say? PC-ing is an alternative to traditional lubing and sizing, and that's all. Some shooters like to turn out the bullets, some like to piddle around with powder. Nothing wrong with either way, but there's really no need trying to convince a new caster that PC-ing is somehow better.

35W
 
A guy gave me a bucket of "lead?" fish net weights. What does anyone know about whether they are lead or zinc or what?

There is no way to know, anything said would only be a guess. They could be made from anything. There are a few things that you could try that might make your guess more accurate. You could scratch them with your thumb nail. Leaving a mark would indicate soft lead, no mark would indicate harder lead. You can also drop them on concrete. A thud indicates soft and a ring indicates harder lead. You could also test each one for zinc using a drop of acid.

Personally, I would melt them all together, test an ingot for zinc and then try casting with them. If its contaminated with zinc you sell it for scrap or slowly add it to a known good alloy, a little at a time.

I wish I could tell you more but those weights could literally be made from just about anything.
 
Come now, let's not be dramatic, unrealistic and misleading. It's not at all difficult to find a used Lyman lubrisizer for $50-$75 and unlike toaster ovens they have resale value. As far as that goes, for $200, one can find a used Star sizer and in the time a $20 toaster oven spends pre-heating, lube and size what...a couple hundred bullets?

It's all about expectation, wouldn't you say? PC-ing is an alternative to traditional lubing and sizing, and that's all. Some shooters like to turn out the bullets, some like to piddle around with powder. Nothing wrong with either way, but there's really no need trying to convince a new caster that PC-ing is somehow better.

35W

I haven't seen any used Lyman lube sizers in the $50-$75 range in quite a while. Most are north of $100 plus shipping. Then ya need the dies and top punches.

I prefer to use Hi-Tek.
 
It takes SECONDS.

Put bullets in bucket.
Add Hi-Tek
Swirl for 15 seconds
Pour in baking container and allow to dry
Bake for 10 minutes and allow to cool.
Repeat.

Total time spent, about 35 seconds to do 5.5 lbs of bullets.

Obviously I haven't been looking in the right section of eBay.

It's funny, all the conventional lube guys saying how bad Hi-Tek is or how long it takes would have been telling us how bad smokeless powder was 120 years ago.
 
I'll be getting that bucket of wheel weights from my dad tomorrow, thanks for all the replies. I'll be picking up a Lee push thru sizer, and probably pan lubing my first few batches. Luckily, I have plenty of jacketed bullets to shoot for now and am kinda looking forward to learning the ins and outs of making good looking as well as accurate, functional ammo. If I ever did powder coat, I'd probably use the clear...not a big fan of the lipstick, candy colors for bullets. But who knows, my find lubing to be a PITA, but would like to give it a go
 
It takes SECONDS.

Put bullets in bucket.
Add Hi-Tek
Swirl for 15 seconds
Pour in baking container and allow to dry
Bake for 10 minutes and allow to cool.

Repeat.

Total time spent, about 35 seconds to do 5.5 lbs of bullets.

Obviously I haven't been looking in the right section of eBay.

It's funny, all the conventional lube guys saying how bad Hi-Tek is or how long it takes would have been telling us how bad smokeless powder was 120 years ago.

WOW! Drying, baking for 10 minutes and allowing to cool only took 35 seconds! With math skills like that, you should consider a career in finance!

35W
 
WOW! Drying, baking for 10 minutes and allowing to cool only took 35 seconds! With math skills like that, you should consider a career in finance!

35W
Nice!!!
The old pagen tradition of lube/size VS the modern era of pc
 
I'll be getting that bucket of wheel weights from my dad tomorrow, thanks for all the replies. I'll be picking up a Lee push thru sizer, and probably pan lubing my first few batches. Luckily, I have plenty of jacketed bullets to shoot for now and am kinda looking forward to learning the ins and outs of making good looking as well as accurate, functional ammo. If I ever did powder coat, I'd probably use the clear...not a big fan of the lipstick, candy colors for bullets. But who knows, my find lubing to be a PITA, but would like to give it a go
I'm a John Deere green man myself but the misses likes pink & what the misses wants, the misses gets.

If you truly want to learn something you should do both lube & pc. Cast up a pile of bullets & lube 1/2 of them and pc the other 1/2. Same alloy/same sizer/reloader/firearm/etc. Do ladder tests using 4 or 5 different powders with lubed VS pc'd bullets. Test all the lubed bullets 1st & save the targets to compare with the pc'd bullets targets. Take a god look at the firearm being used & clean it and write down what it took to clean the firearm and save the patches, towels, wadding, etc. After reloading the lubed bullets clean you reloading dies. When shooting pay attention to which bullet put smoke in the air. Do the same thing with the pc'd bullets, clean the dies after reloading them. Clean the firearm after shooting the pc'd bullets. Compare the targets for accuracy. Hopefully you have a chronograph to run the lubed VS pc'd bullets over. It's a real eye opener & will tell you how good your alloy/lube/powder combo really is.
 
WOW! Drying, baking for 10 minutes and allowing to cool only took 35 seconds! With math skills like that, you should consider a career in finance!

35W

Well if you're stupid enough to stand there while it's baking it will take more time. Myself and most bullet casters can multi-task. Do things like sizing bullets or casting bullets while it's baking.
 
I'm a John Deere green man myself but the misses likes pink & what the misses wants, the misses gets.

If you truly want to learn something you should do both lube & pc. Cast up a pile of bullets & lube 1/2 of them and pc the other 1/2. Same alloy/same sizer/reloader/firearm/etc. Do ladder tests using 4 or 5 different powders with lubed VS pc'd bullets. Test all the lubed bullets 1st & save the targets to compare with the pc'd bullets targets. Take a god look at the firearm being used & clean it and write down what it took to clean the firearm and save the patches, towels, wadding, etc. After reloading the lubed bullets clean you reloading dies. When shooting pay attention to which bullet put smoke in the air. Do the same thing with the pc'd bullets, clean the dies after reloading them. Clean the firearm after shooting the pc'd bullets. Compare the targets for accuracy. Hopefully you have a chronograph to run the lubed VS pc'd bullets over. It's a real eye opener & will tell you how good your alloy/lube/powder combo really is.

I'm a lipstick lover. Astatic red. That's my goto. However there is as reason. When shooting matches it makes any live ammo that hits the ground easy to find.
 
Surprised you were able to find any lead wheel weights. they have been outlawed in so many areas and tire shops moved to zinc or steel. Pain as the zinc won't moulid to the rim, especially for mototrcycles which tend to throw them frequency.
 
I'm a John Deere green man myself but the misses likes pink & what the misses wants, the misses gets.

If you truly want to learn something you should do both lube & pc. Cast up a pile of bullets & lube 1/2 of them and pc the other 1/2. Same alloy/same sizer/reloader/firearm/etc. Do ladder tests using 4 or 5 different powders with lubed VS pc'd bullets. Test all the lubed bullets 1st & save the targets to compare with the pc'd bullets targets. Take a god look at the firearm being used & clean it and write down what it took to clean the firearm and save the patches, towels, wadding, etc. After reloading the lubed bullets clean you reloading dies. When shooting pay attention to which bullet put smoke in the air. Do the same thing with the pc'd bullets, clean the dies after reloading them. Clean the firearm after shooting the pc'd bullets. Compare the targets for accuracy. Hopefully you have a chronograph to run the lubed VS pc'd bullets over. It's a real eye opener & will tell you how good your alloy/lube/powder combo really is.

Much of the differences obtained by using the two methods can be ascertained by applying simple logic.

Accuracy- There's not much point to ladder tests because if traditionally sized and lubed Bullet A will shoot 4" 50 yd. groups out of a given revolver, adding any kind of coating to the bullet simply cannot make that bullet more accurate. In fact, odds are the bullet will likely be less accurate because with powder coating (Hi-Tek coating excluded) there's no means by which to apply the coating evenly on all sides. Conversely, if a cast bullet is inaccurate in a given firearm, adding a coating won't help it be more accurate. An exception would be in the case of undersize bullets, which are typically inaccurate. In theory one could PC them to add a few thousands to the diameter, thus rendering them the proper diameter.

Cleaning- I presume you're referring to the potential for leading with traditionally lubed/sized bullets. There's no need to clean your firearms and analyze patches, etc. If you're using a reasonable alloy and sizing your bullets properly, there will be no leading. Sizing to the proper diameter is an important part of using cast bullets and is evidenced by the litany of different diameter sizing dies available.

Dies- Yes, inevitably some lube is going to end up in a seating die. Over 20 or so years of using lubed cast bullets, I had never given much thought to cleaning out my dies other than every few hundred rounds I'd check them and clean, if necessary. So when the anti-lube crowd being using lube in the die as a reason to PC because not having to clean the die would save time, I decided to see just how long it would take. On two separate occasions when I was loading .38 Specials, in hurry at all I screwed the die out of the press, ran the seating stem out of the die, put a patch in a loop on a cleaning and spritzed it with carb cleaner, swabbed out the die body, wiped off the stem, reassembled and reinstalled the die and checked my watch. Both times took about 90 seconds.

Smoke- This is the one that makes me scratch my head and another I had never noticed. Several years ago I shot High Power competition on the reduced course at a local range. I competed strictly with cast bullets. Our 100 yd. range is very narrow being about 60' wide and surrounded on both sides and the far end by a 15' tall berms, there was virtually no wind. Our 100 yd. targets were buff colored with 6" black bulls. If ever smoke would obscure a target, that certainly would've been the perfect situation for it. But not once did that ever happen nor did any of the competitors on the line with me ever mention smoke from my loads.



Well if you're stupid enough to stand there while it's baking it will take more time. Myself and most bullet casters can multi-task. Do things like sizing bullets or casting bullets while it's baking.

Fella, no matter how you spin and twist this, coating is simply a slower process. Even excluding the baking time, if you're following Hi-Tek's instructions, it's not a 35 second process. From their site-

6....You can speed up the drying process by using a fan to blow onto the bullets, but don’t rush it; the bullets need to be fully dried before they are baked.
8. Once the bullets are baked take them out and let them cool fully before the next application of coating....
9. Repeat the process (usually two coats will do, but feel free to experiment) until the coating completely covers the bullet....

And when you reach this point you still haven't sized your bullets. That's why companies like MBC charge more for coated bullets; there are extra steps involved in the coating process. At non-bulk prices it takes less than $1.00 worth of coating liquid to coat 500 .45 caliber bullets, yet 500 coated bullets are $5.00 per box more than lubed bullets..

If you like to multi-task in your reloading room, I support you in that. But I find it much, much more efficient to do things in large batches. I cast in large batches, I size/lube in large batches, I prep cases in large batches and I load ammunition in large batches. Heck, if I had the means to coat thousands and thousands of bullets at once, I might very possibly do Hi-Tek, in large batches of course.

PC or coat to your hearts content, but flatly presenting it as somehow superior to traditional lubing and sizing is incorrect. It's an alternative. Period.

35W
 
Much of the differences obtained by using the two methods can be ascertained by applying simple logic.

Accuracy- There's not much point to ladder tests because if traditionally sized and lubed Bullet A will shoot 4" 50 yd. groups out of a given revolver, adding any kind of coating to the bullet simply cannot make that bullet more accurate. In fact, odds are the bullet will likely be less accurate because with powder coating (Hi-Tek coating excluded) there's no means by which to apply the coating evenly on all sides. Conversely, if a cast bullet is inaccurate in a given firearm, adding a coating won't help it be more accurate. An exception would be in the case of undersize bullets, which are typically inaccurate. In theory one could PC them to add a few thousands to the diameter, thus rendering them the proper diameter.
You couldn't be more wrong. PC and accuracy go hand in hand. Your simple logic is just that, simple & has nothing to do with real world results. If you knew what the cause & effects of cast bullet accuracy is, you'd know pc'd bullets are superior to traditional lubed bullets.

Cleaning- I presume you're referring to the potential for leading with traditionally lubed/sized bullets. There's no need to clean your firearms and analyze patches, etc. If you're using a reasonable alloy and sizing your bullets properly, there will be no leading. Sizing to the proper diameter is an important part of using cast bullets and is evidenced by the litany of different diameter sizing dies available.
Hopefully you know enough to not get leading. I'm sure you can run a 500+ round range session with your traditional lubed bullets using 25,000+psi loads doing 1100fps+ and use 1 wet patch and 1 dry patch to clean the bbl. No brushing needed.

Dies- Yes, inevitably some lube is going to end up in a seating die. Over 20 or so years of using lubed cast bullets, I had never given much thought to cleaning out my dies other than every few hundred rounds I'd check them and clean, if necessary. So when the anti-lube crowd being using lube in the die as a reason to PC because not having to clean the die would save time, I decided to see just how long it would take. On two separate occasions when I was loading .38 Specials, in hurry at all I screwed the die out of the press, ran the seating stem out of the die, put a patch in a loop on a cleaning and spritzed it with carb cleaner, swabbed out the die body, wiped off the stem, reassembled and reinstalled the die and checked my watch. Both times took about 90 seconds.
That's 90 seconds you wasted with traditionally lubed bullets wouldn't of happened with pc'd bullets. Simple logic aside, you miss the fact that you've altered the seating depth of your reloads. 38spl's not that big of a deal & you more than most likely caught it when you weren't hitting the crimp groove anymore. Semi-auto's on the other hand, not good. Given the fact the op said he wanted to pan lune simple logic would take into account that pan lubing is not as neat as luber/sizers.

Smoke- This is the one that makes me scratch my head and another I had never noticed. Several years ago I shot High Power competition on the reduced course at a local range. I competed strictly with cast bullets. Our 100 yd. range is very narrow being about 60' wide and surrounded on both sides and the far end by a 15' tall berms, there was virtually no wind. Our 100 yd. targets were buff colored with 6" black bulls. If ever smoke would obscure a target, that certainly would've been the perfect situation for it. But not once did that ever happen nor did any of the competitors on the line with me ever mention smoke from my loads.
No big surprise there, it's extremely common for reloads being told to either quit shooting traditionally lubed bullets or told not to use them at indoor ranges because of smoke. But yet you've never seen/noticed any.




Fella, no matter how you spin and twist this, coating is simply a slower process. Even excluding the baking time, if you're following Hi-Tek's instructions, it's not a 35 second process. From their site-

6....You can speed up the drying process by using a fan to blow onto the bullets, but don’t rush it; the bullets need to be fully dried before they are baked.
8. Once the bullets are baked take them out and let them cool fully before the next application of coating....
9. Repeat the process (usually two coats will do, but feel free to experiment) until the coating completely covers the bullet....

And when you reach this point you still haven't sized your bullets. That's why companies like MBC charge more for coated bullets; there are extra steps involved in the coating process. At non-bulk prices it takes less than $1.00 worth of coating liquid to coat 500 .45 caliber bullets, yet 500 coated bullets are $5.00 per box more than lubed bullets..

If you like to multi-task in your reloading room, I support you in that. But I find it much, much more efficient to do things in large batches. I cast in large batches, I size/lube in large batches, I prep cases in large batches and I load ammunition in large batches. Heck, if I had the means to coat thousands and thousands of bullets at once, I might very possibly do Hi-Tek, in large batches of course.

PC or coat to your hearts content, but flatly presenting it as somehow superior to traditional lubing and sizing is incorrect. It's an alternative. Period.

35W
My time is my own & to me it's time well spent making a superior product. I understand what it takes to make high quality/highly accurate cast swaged lead & jacketed bullets. I also understand what the mechanics involved are to make an accurate load/bullet. I also understand what pc'ing brings to the table & why it's superior to traditionally lubed bullets.

Why don't you put in this thread or start your own thread stating what makes a cast bullet accurate and why pc'd bullets are not superior to traditionally lubed bullets.
If you do that I will gladly post the mechanics of a reload & it's affect on cast bullets and what makes a cast bullet accurate coupled with why pc'd bullets are superior.

Reality:
I have yet to see anyone use 9/10bhn alloy to cast rifle bullets with and run them +/-2500fps with accuracy using traditional lubes/sizers. With pc, it's a walk in the park.
 
Much of the differences obtained by using the two methods can be ascertained by applying simple logic.

Accuracy- There's not much point to ladder tests because if traditionally sized and lubed Bullet A will shoot 4" 50 yd. groups out of a given revolver, adding any kind of coating to the bullet simply cannot make that bullet more accurate. In fact, odds are the bullet will likely be less accurate because with powder coating (Hi-Tek coating excluded) there's no means by which to apply the coating evenly on all sides. Conversely, if a cast bullet is inaccurate in a given firearm, adding a coating won't help it be more accurate. An exception would be in the case of undersize bullets, which are typically inaccurate. In theory one could PC them to add a few thousands to the diameter, thus rendering them the proper diameter.


You couldn't be more wrong. PC and accuracy go hand in hand. Your simple logic is just that, simple & has nothing to do with real world results. If you knew what the cause & effects of cast bullet accuracy is, you'd know pc'd bullets are superior to traditional lubed bullets.

So you really believe that adding an inevitably uneven coating to a bullets will make it more accurate? Actually, I will back off my statement a little. At typical handgun ranges, 25 yds., maybe even 50, you might not notice much difference in accuracy. But as far as that goes, like many shooters you toss the word "accuracy" around without ever quantifying it. If 4" handgun groups at 25 yds. is your definition of accuracy, well then you're probably going to do fine with PC.

Here are some "real world results" that illustrate that I have a pretty fair idea of the cause & effects of accurate cast bullets.

32-20%20%2075%20yds.%20edit_zpsiwaftuzd.jpg

Uberti%2032-20%20at%20160%20yds_zpsc5ga0fcr.jpg

Frisco%2075%20yds%2045-270%20edited_zpsc5kix4z8.jpg

50ydgroup-2-ed_zpsccf94f33.jpg

429421100yds-ed_zps11ec5c24.jpg

And that last load is a 25K psi, 1200+ fps load with a plain-base lubed cast bullet.


Cleaning- I presume you're referring to the potential for leading with traditionally lubed/sized bullets. There's no need to clean your firearms and analyze patches, etc. If you're using a reasonable alloy and sizing your bullets properly, there will be no leading. Sizing to the proper diameter is an important part of using cast bullets and is evidenced by the litany of different diameter sizing dies available.

Hopefully you know enough to not get leading. I'm sure you can run a 500+ round range session with your traditional lubed bullets using 25,000+psi loads doing 1100fps+ and use 1 wet patch and 1 dry patch to clean the bbl. No brushing needed.

Most assuredly I do know enough, but I don't do 500+ rounds range sessions. I have two pistol ranges and two rifle ranges on my property, so essentially, my range session never ends. In fact I did some fun .44 Special offhand shooting just a couple of hours ago.

Dies- Yes, inevitably some lube is going to end up in a seating die. Over 20 or so years of using lubed cast bullets, I had never given much thought to cleaning out my dies other than every few hundred rounds I'd check them and clean, if necessary. So when the anti-lube crowd being using lube in the die as a reason to PC because not having to clean the die would save time, I decided to see just how long it would take. On two separate occasions when I was loading .38 Specials, in hurry at all I screwed the die out of the press, ran the seating stem out of the die, put a patch in a loop on a cleaning and spritzed it with carb cleaner, swabbed out the die body, wiped off the stem, reassembled and reinstalled the die and checked my watch. Both times took about 90 seconds.

That's 90 seconds you wasted with traditionally lubed bullets wouldn't of happened with pc'd bullets. Simple logic aside, you miss the fact that you've altered the seating depth of your reloads. 38spl's not that big of a deal & you more than most likely caught it when you weren't hitting the crimp groove anymore. Semi-auto's on the other hand, not good. Given the fact the op said he wanted to pan lune simple logic would take into account that pan lubing is not as neat as luber/sizers.

See, this is where you guys start to run off of the rails and lose perspective. You take one tiny piece of a process and apply it to the entire process. "Aha!!! You wasted 90 SECONDS cleaning a seating die!!!" But the big picture is that I size and lube at a rate that's exponentially faster than PC-ing, so 90 seconds spent cleaning a seating die is nothing. Heck I could've spent 5 minutes....10 minutes (half the time your handful of bullets spend in a toaster oven) cleaning the die and still been time ahead.

Seating a bullet too deep is a "big deal" with any cartridge, and part of quality control of handloading. One must develop an eye for problems such problems. You should keep a set of calipers handy and check rounds occasionally. Have you ever actually pan lubed? You don't seem to understand the process very well. That said, I've never had a die accumulate so much junk in it that it began to affect OAL.


Smoke- This is the one that makes me scratch my head and another I had never noticed. Several years ago I shot High Power competition on the reduced course at a local range. I competed strictly with cast bullets. Our 100 yd. range is very narrow being about 60' wide and surrounded on both sides and the far end by a 15' tall berms, there was virtually no wind. Our 100 yd. targets were buff colored with 6" black bulls. If ever smoke would obscure a target, that certainly would've been the perfect situation for it. But not once did that ever happen nor did any of the competitors on the line with me ever mention smoke from my loads.

No big surprise there, it's extremely common for reloads being told to either quit shooting traditionally lubed bullets or told not to use them at indoor ranges because of smoke. But yet you've never seen/noticed any.

I wouldn't know since it's extremely rare for me to shoot at a public range, and when I have, no one has said a word about smoke. Ever. Indoor ranges. Much drama on your part. The 2 or 3 indoor ranges in which I fired had ventilation systems that sucked smoke away so quickly it was all but impossible to even see it.


My time is my own & to me it's time well spent making a superior product. I understand what it takes to make high quality/highly accurate cast swaged lead & jacketed bullets. I also understand what the mechanics involved are to make an accurate load/bullet. I also understand what pc'ing brings to the table & why it's superior to traditionally lubed bullets.

You are free to spend as much time as you wish making bullets. But spending extra time on them doesn't automatically make them more accurate.

Here's a couple of final things to think about- When you read Glenn Fryxell's highly recommended "From Ingot to Target", what do you read in it about PC-ing? What do you read about PC-ing in the Lyman Cast Bullet Manual? When you open a Handloader magazine and read an article by Brian Pearce, arguably THE modern day authority on cast bullets in handguns, what are his recommendations for PC-ing?

Why don't you put in this thread or start your own thread stating what makes a cast bullet accurate and why pc'd bullets are not superior to traditionally lubed bullets.
If you do that I will gladly post the mechanics of a reload & it's affect on cast bullets and what makes a cast bullet accurate coupled with why pc'd bullets are superior.

I already gave my opinion on that and you read it above. It takes bullets cast with the proper alloy, with consistent dimensions properly sized and lubed. Really quite simple. If you're really interested in learning more, PM me and I'll try to help.

Reality:
I have yet to see anyone use 9/10bhn alloy to cast rifle bullets with and run them +/-2500fps with accuracy using traditional lubes/sizers. With pc, it's a walk in the park.

The reality of this is I have several hundred pounds of clip-in WW's so there's no earthly reason for me to use a soft alloy for rifles. Plus, I'm not sure why you would want to run a bullet that soft at such a high velocity, as it would serve no purpose, especially in the world of hunting. A bullet that soft at that speed would have very poor penetrative qualities. I have used alloy that soft and slightly softer for HP's in handguns, run them as high as 1700 fps out of my .357 carbine, and have taken three head of game with them. This is what happens when your alloy is too soft-

357%20Carbine%20bullet_zpso8w7xbdx.jpg


You wind up with a little tiny bullet that won't penetrate much.

Look if you PC-er's are happy PC-ing, DO IT and I support you 100%. But please stop misinforming new bullet casters by telling them it's somehow superior to lubing and sizing. PC-ing has advantages and disadvantages just like lubing and sizing does. Were I new to casting and started out PC-ing because I was told it was better, I'd have quit long ago because of all the time and bullet handling involved. So just be honest and let the new guys decide for themselves.

Expand the above to see my reply.

35W
 
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Had a bucket of wheel weights, maybe 30 years ago. Nearly all were the clamp-on type. I assumed all the clamp-on types were lead and melted them into ingots. The stick-on type started appearing at that time and I assumed those were the new zinc ones. I assumed many things in the pre-internet days.
 
Had a bucket of wheel weights, maybe 30 years ago. Nearly all were the clamp-on type. I assumed all the clamp-on types were lead and melted them into ingots. The stick-on type started appearing at that time and I assumed those were the new zinc ones. I assumed many things in the pre-internet days.

All the old clip-on type I've seen have pretty much been lead, with a few steel/iron mixed in. Easy to deal with, throw 'em the pot and turn on the fire. The lead melts and everything else floats to the top. Ah the good ol' days.

35W
 
Looks like the PC people are all stirred up again. For the record I bought a Lubamatic new for $160 and I'm saving even more exchanging garden vegetables for beeswax. When I get tired of hot sammiches I'll give it a try.

OP, the best way I've found to sort wheel weights is to scratch some known lead samples with a screw driver. Zinc and other non lead alloys will not scratch as easily. You'll get a feel for it pretty fast. Even the shorter ones will bend in your hand so thats another method. Just do yourself a favor and don't melt down wheel weights in your casting pot.
 
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