BHN of wheel weights

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Lyman cast bullet alloy chart says
Wheel weights =
95.5% lead
0.5% Tin
4.0% Antimony

BNH = 9

rc
 
They vary greatly. Clip-ons can be fairly hard but if the stick-ons are mixed in, the hardness can go down dramatically.
 
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Where is everyone getting their wheel weights from? I've asked all of my local tire shops, and none of them seem willing to sell their wheel weights.

Any tips?
 
I get my wheel weights for free. Go to small mom n pop tire shops. The big chain stores never want to give me weights.

Woody


Keep your head low and your powder dry.
 
I picked up about 1000 lbs of wheel weights around 15-20 years back. 10 cents a pound. At the time I had been having trouble finding them at the local tire shops as they where already giving them to someone else. I probably still have half of it left.
 
get my wheel weights for free. Go to small mom n pop tire shops. The big chain stores never want to give me weights.
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Same here. I get free weights from two small mom and pop shops.

Tell them it is for fishing tackle, NOT FOR BULLETS. Everyone gets silly about liability when firearms are mentioned.

I got over 300lbs with little effort! Free!!
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Maybe it's just me but I can't lie. If I have to lie to get it then I don't want it. I have 1,500 pounds free by telling the truth. The guy I get most of my WW's from for free asked me what I wanted them for and I told him bullets. He thought that was cool and started giving me more than the guy that told him he wanted them for fishing weights.
 
I "benefit" from recovering a lot of aluminum and copper scrap from my profession in home exteriors. I trade a LOT of it for wheelweights at my local scrapyard. They really don't care what I'm using it for. Suppose I could have the "cash" instead but the trade-scrap is never in short supply and I do make a living for what I do already... so if I'm getting 2-for-1 for bail-able aluminum on wheelweights, which worked out to $0.48/lb for the WW last trip, it's all relative to me.

That said, carefully sort stick-ons from clip-ons. And from there carefully sort lead clip-ons from zinc or zinc-alloy clip-ons. You do NOT want zinc in your alloy or you'll have a hell of a time filling out a mold or getting consistent weights/accuracy.

Using a Lee hardness tester, which seems pretty reliable to me testing it with a few "known" hardnesses... I'm getting around 11 BHN on the ingots air-cooled. I water-drop my bullets out of the mold and consistently get 14-15 BHN. There IS plenty of antimony in them - having tested several runs by oven-annealing, I've gotten 25 BHN easily (550F for 20 mins, pre-size, lube after) playing around. Not one to push lead to high velocity, and not seeing any benefit to shattering bullets, I tend to use them either air-cooled at 11 or water-quenched at ~15ish.

FWIW
 
I use them for fishing weights. I cast 3oz no roll sinkers for cat fishing. I was doing it as a business for a while because no one stocked them in any local tackle shops. One of the tire shops asked if it was going for bullets, I said no. He said that he didn't want to be sued if one of his wheel weights in the form of a bullet killed someone or damaged property. This is the kind of silliness you may run into. That is why I said to avoid the "B" word in the bigger shops. Those managers are scared to death of being sued.
 
I don't cast yet because nobody will part with there lead wheel weights. They sell them for scrap and watch the lead prices like a hawk. :(
 
Here is the best kept secret I have for gathering ww...

The scrappers never show up at the auto shops because of the smaller amount of tire business they do compared to tire shops. Don't bother with a place like Discount Tire, the scrappers are all over them. The places that specialize in auto repair will almost always have a wheel balancer in the corner because they do balance and rotation as part of their 10,000 mile service routine. They may sell tires, but it is not even close to the bread and butter of their business. This means a couple coffee cans per year, the scrappers often dont bother.

Lead was silly high for a while, that does not help our cause.

It is still around 75 cents a pound for wheel weights so it is worth the effort if you can still score some for free.
 
I use them for fishing weights. I cast 3oz no roll sinkers for cat fishing. I was doing it as a business for a while because no one stocked them in any local tackle shops. One of the tire shops asked if it was going for bullets, I said no. He said that he didn't want to be sued if one of his wheel weights in the form of a bullet killed someone or damaged property. This is the kind of silliness you may run into. That is why I said to avoid the "B" word in the bigger shops. Those managers are scared to death of being sued.
Click to expand...

That's fine for you if that's what you want to do. I would still rather tell the truth and walk away with no weights in that situation.
 
Hardness after quenching somewhat depends on the temperature you are casting and the stage at which you drop them. I cast wheel weight +2% tin and water drop quench as sopon as the sprue changes brillaince. I am casting at 780 degrees with a hot aluminum mould. Water drop quenched bullets test at 24 to 26 BHN after 48 hours and 28 to 30 BHN after 2 weeks.
 
I've tried a couple of local mom & pop shops & they say they reuse them.
don't know if that's the truth or not, but it's what I've been told
 
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