Would you pay $50 for 100lb of diving weights?

[jhabers]

I am very new to this boolit casting thing and have never actually casted yet. I am trying to build up some lead supply and posted on craigslist looking for lead I had someone email me saying that they had 100lb of diving weights that he would sell for $1/lb. I told him I would pay no more than .50/lb and he said OK.
Being a virgin and all to this I started doing some reading and see that diving weights aren’t always lead or all lead and sometimes they can be other alloys or have other alloys mixed in. What would you do in this situation? I have an ingot mold coming and a pot (Should be at my door when I get home). Waiting on some boolit molts that are backordered.

So basically I could get this set of dive weights that weight 105lb for $50, I have tried to get wheel weights by me and it’s real tough

Thanks
Jon

[rexherring]

Not a bad price. Usually close to pure lead.

[jhabers]

Oops, here is the picture of the weights
59993

[crawfobj]

I would.

[Nocturnal Stumblebutt]

Yes, whenever I bought dive weights I have actually called the manufacturer and asked what alloy they used. All of the manufacturers I have spoken to say they use an alloy of 3% antimony 97% lead.

[Beagle333]

In today's lead scarce market? You bet I would.
I bought some for .50c and melted them. They were really old scuba weights and probably just old WW lead anyway.
It was nice looking when melted, and as ingots it appears to be a little harder than pure.... I don't have a way to tell how much harder, but my best guess is about the same as my COWW ingots. I'm just going to mix it in my Coww/Soww when I blend new and just use it as a cheap way to stretch my existing alloy. I don't push a boolit to the max anyway, so it won't hurt my shooting if it changes the bhn a point or two.

[hickfu]

I agree!!! I would pay 50 cents for 100 pounds. I pay over 1.00 a pound for my lead.


Doc

[plainsman456]

Buy them,melt them,and cast them.

[williamwaco]

OMG! I sure would!


Remember, Clean, sorted, clip on wheel weights are around 18% waste.
That batch is equivalent to 118 pounds of clean pre-sorted wheel weights.

It would take 118 dollars of wheel weights to equal that 50$.

AND they will be much less work to smelt.

.

[Wolfer]

Yep I sure would

[FLINTNFIRE]

I would pay that for them , it is a decent price , have some scuba weights , they are my bigger ingot supply till they are needed .

[MUSTANG]

A great buy. Grab it.

Looking at the weights, they appear to be a "Do It Yourself" castings. I still have the same molds somewhere in the Garage with my collection of Scuba Gear. Most Dive stores 30 years ago either cast their own in similar molds, or they bought from a local entrepreneur who would act as a local manufacturer, making enough to equip each new class of students.

Mustang

[runfiverun]

i'd take some muratc acid with me and test a couple of spots.
then either buy them or pass depending on whether the acid bubbled or not.

[williamwaco]

i'd take some muratc acid with me and test a couple of spots.
then either buy them or pass depending on whether the acid bubbled or not.



Interesting comment Five!

Right after joining this board, I had some problems i believed to be zinc oatmeal. I read about a recipe here to make my own acid and tried it.
It bubbled on anything I put it own.

I decided, "OK your are no chemist!", so I went to the pharmacy and bought a small bottle of pure ( pharmacy grade ) muriatic acid.
He probably sold me a bill of goods but I wanted to be sure. ( I could have bought two gallons of swimming pool grade for what I paid for two ounces. )

I tested it on my contaminated metal and sure enough it bubbled.

I then tested it on some bullets that were known good. It bubbled.

A little confused, I got a lead wheel weight that had not been melted, scraped the surface off a few thousands with a file so it would be clean interior metal not contaminated by rubbing against anything. Guess what. It bubbled.

I got into my supply of linotype that was still in "lines-of-type". It had never been anywhere near a wheel weight and had never been melted outside the print shop. It bubbled.

I went to my supply of pure lead, surfaced it with the file, and guess what. Yep!

I pulled out some Linotype bullets I cast many years before anyone ever heard of a zinc wheel weight and tested them. Yup.

At this point I decided the test was meaningless but I wanted confirmation so I went to the best hardware store in town and bought a bar of 60/40 solder. It bubbled.

SO.

I must conclude that if that test actually works, somebody that knows how, needs to tell us uninitiated, how to use it.

I accept that I am doing something wrong. I just want to know what?


.

[runfiverun]

i just use the works batheroom cleaner it has muratic acid in it.
it cleans bathrooms pretty well too.
it maybe is cut enough to not be so reactive.
i don't have any zink around to try it on and it just sits there on my ingots and such.
so all i know is, it's supposed to be reactive with zink and not with lead alloy stuff.

[williamwaco]

i just use the works batheroom cleaner it has muratic acid in it.
it cleans bathrooms pretty well too.
it maybe is cut enough to not be so reactive.
i don't have any zink around to try it on and it just sits there on my ingots and such.
so all i know is, it's supposed to be reactive with zink and not with lead alloy stuff.

Is that a brand name?

[DxieLandMan]

That is a good price. Buy all you can

[bakrzdzn]

+1. I would pay that. I just sent my weights to the ingot pile as I am not planning on diving any time soon. And I don't know what rules lake lanier has for divers without a boat.

[Larry Gibson]

Would I pay that? Is the Pope a Catholic....does a bear s**t in the woods..........

I'd then cast some bullets, let them AC 7 - 10 days and BHN test them to get an idea (idea only) of their composition. I've found dive weights to be cast of lead or WWs.

Larry Gibson

[ShootR]

Sure would buy them. All you can get.
I had some belt weights and mixed them with range lead. They cast really well.

[AviatorTroy]

Yes sir.

[jhabers]

I will be picking it up on Monday from the seller. Already have my pot (lee pro 4-20), ordered the lyman cast book, lee ignot mold, have some 9mm and 38spl 6 molds on back order, just ordered a tel-tru thermometer. Still need to research lube and boolit sizing. Anything else that I am missing?

[runfiverun]

you look good to get started,find you some leather type gloves.

william yeah 'the works' is the brand name i get it at the walmart.

[JIMinPHX]

Dive weights can be a roll of the dice. They can be cast from just about anything. Some small dive shops cast their own weights out of any scrap that they can get their hands on. The practice was more common back in the 70's, but some shops still do it today. Some guys home cast dive weights too. They may have zinc or other undesirable elements in them.

[jhabers]

Once I get these weights, what's the best way to find out what they consist of. I have a lee harness tester en route if that helps.

[JIMinPHX]

Cast with them & see what you get. If the boolits fill out well, don't stick to the mold & give you a reasonable hardness, then shoot them & see how they do. That's the real test.

[huntrick64]

Buy em. Smelt them down in something other than your Lee pot, flux it, and pour ingots. That green coating on the weights is actually just flux (ha!), but you don't want it getting gooey inside your casting pot. Great find!

[RG1911]

I was just given a couple large dive weights (probably about 50 pounds total) that I don't think are pure lead. The fingernail test certainly fails. I was planning to add them to the next batch of wheel weights I was going to smelt, but am a bit concerned if they might contain zinc. It doesn't sound as though the muriatic acid test is conclusive.

Richard