Lead

[Superman]

Going to try out some bullet casting. Got a 5 gallon bucket half full of wheel weights from work this morning. We don't do a whole lot of tire work plus one of the other guys has been taking it for scrap. I asked the boss if he was giving it to him or selling and that I might be willing to pay more. He didn't know the other guy was taking the lead, OOPS. Well he wasn't to happy about it, but told me I could have all the old wheel weights I wanted.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Make sure none of the weights are Zinc or you could ruin your mold.

I had to throw out a bunch of ingots that were zinc alloy.

Dolomite

[jacob]

i have a bunch of wheel weights i inherited from my dad....how do you know if they are zinc??? are those the newer wheels wgts that look like little squares??

[Dolomite_supafly]

Hand held pruning shears. If you can cut it the weight is lead. The flat stick on type seem a bit softer but there are also steel ones too.

I am still getting comfortable with using this method but when in doubt toss them out.

Dolomite

[Dolomite_supafly]

Also, there is no set way to tell by appearances. I have found some that look identical with one being steel and one lead. I have also found steel, zinc and lead stick on types.

[Superman]

You can also tell by the sound they make when tapped on a hard surface like metal. Zinc and steel will have a higher pitched noise and lead will be a dull thud.

ETA-Also on the longer weights, you can bend or break the lead, zinc and steel are much harder so they don't easily bend.

Edited August 18, 2012 by Superman

[jacob]

Most of these weights are probably almost or as old as me....I didn't even think about there possibly being anything other than lead weights is these buckets since my dad told me thats what they were, I just took him at his word since that's what he always called them....would steel and zinc alloys have a higher melting point than what a typical reloading pot would provide since those pots aren't designed to melt the harder metal that steel etc would be??

[Superman]

Yes steel and zinc melt at higher temps. No real worry on the steel as it is much higher than lead. But Zinc is only about 150 degrees higher than lead. Lead melts at around 625 degrees while zinc melts at 780 degrees.

[jacob]

Thanks for the info...sorry I hijacked the thread. Looking to start melting all this stuff down and trying my hand at casting some bullets as the weather cools down. I will do a little more checking on what I have to be sure there is no zinc mixed in with what I have...

[Superman]

Well I sorted through what little I have. Got about 35 pounds of clip on lead weights and about 5 pounds of stick on weights. Gonna check with some of the other shops in town, see if I can get some more.

[Caster]

[Superman]

Thanks, I have gone through that thread and your zombie thread a couple times. Which brings up a question, where do you get those black ammo boxes? Almost looks like they are factory ammo boxes that have been painted.

These

Edited August 19, 2012 by Superman

[Caster]

where do you get those black ammo boxes? Almost looks like they are factory ammo boxes that have been painted.

That's because they are factory ammo boxes that have been painted.

[Superman]

Cool, thats what I thought. I use factory boxes, but never thought of painting them. I wish people would shoot more S&B, those boxes are so much smaller than any of the others. Atleast in 9mm.

[Superman]

Meant to ask this already, but if you have to buy lead what is a fair price to pay? One place told me that they sold it to a guy for $40 a bucket.

[Caster]

No idea. Not sure I've ever bought any.

[Guest Riverrat]

I was told over the weekend that they wanted 50 per 5 gal. bucket.

[Rickey]

Some people are giving $50 for a 5 gal bucket full but thats pure lead weights no zinc or stick on weights. ingots are going for $1.00 a pound. I've got 4 16 gal grease barrels full of weights. I make my ingots in the winter and cast a 5 gal bucket of bullets to shoot till next winter.

Edited September 11, 2012 by Rickey

[Superman]

I am pretty sure that the ingots I have cast dont have any zinc in them, but just curious if it was to happen can you tell before you ruin an aluminum mold? Or will it not immediately ruin your mold? Any signs to watch out for?

[Caster]

It could.  

 

Think about this:  Sodium chloride [common table salt] has a melting point of over 1400 degrees F.  BUT we all know it will dissolve in hot water.  Well.....Aluminum has a melting point of just over 1200F BUT, you can dissolve aluminum in molten zinc which has a melting point of only 780F.   This is where we get pot metal.  

 

Do you really want that in your mold?  There are other bad things that come from zinc too so why even consider taking a chance?

[Superman]

Right. I am confident that I dont have any zinc in the ingots I have poured so far. But I also no I am not above making mistakes.

 

My main question is-Is there a way to tell you have zinc in the mix before you ruin a mold?

[RED333]

Melt at a low temp, as close to 600 to 650 as you can, the zinc should clump on top, a bit of flux will help.

Candle wax, saw dust, wood chips(dry) work as flux.

Edited December 13, 2012 by RED333

[Dolomite`s Breezy]

and PLEASE.. wear a good respirator.. do not cheap out on one those.. buy the best you can..

[Superman]

Been collecting the wheel weights from work since August, so right at 4 month. Took the bucket home today, sorted through it and ended up with 25 pounds of clip-on lead wheel weights and 6 pounds of stick-on weights. We dont do much tire work.

[Dolomite_supafly]

The stick on weights are generally much softer, almost like pure lead. I have found a use for them but I am thinking about casting some 160 grain 9mm using it for subsonic loads.

Dolomite