Noobie requesting permission of come aboard

[gl1800]

Noobie with lots of questions. Been lurking for awhile. Great site here w/lots of info.

Just scored my first bucket of WW's. After sorting it all out, ended up with a half a 5gal bucket of what looks(to me) to be good WW's, about 10 pounds of stick on weights, 5lbs of lug nuts, couple of candy wrappers, 1 cig butt, and a chicken bone.


Kindest Regards,
Richard

[No_1]

Welcome aboard! Sounds like you got a good haul. The chicken bone might make good flux ;)

Robert


Noobie with lots of questions. Been lurking for awhile. Great site here w/lots of info.

Just scored my first bucket of WW's. After sorting it all out, ended up with a half a 5gal bucket of what looks(to me) to be good WW's, about 10 pounds of stick on weights, 5lbs of lug nuts, couple of candy wrappers, 1 cig butt, and a chicken bone.


Kindest Regards,
Richard

[Three44s]

A big welcome aboard!

My first best advice to your endeavor is to run that WW alloy more than once.

I found that WW alloy ran the second time was MUCH cleaner and got up and ran boolits quicker than just melting, fluxing and pouring ingots right off of scrap.

I still pour ingots from run #1 ..... after all the garbage is separated then re-run those original ingots.

Be Careful and Enjoy!!

Three 44s

[gl1800]

Thanks for the welcome and I appreciate the advice.

First questions:
How do I know which WW's have Zinc in them?

Just picked up my second bucket, cleaned and sorted. Gives me a full 5gal bucket to start with. No chicken bones in this one so I guess I gotta go buy something to use as Flux:-D

Thanks again,
Richard

[454PB]

Welcome to the forum!

Does your handle mean you ride a Gold Wing? I own a 2007 GL 1800.

Save the oil from the Wing to flux with. Anything containing carbon will do the job.

[Blammer]

ZN ww's will typically be "rivited" on you'll see to distinct rivits.

they will also "ring" when you drop em on concrete and lead will "thud"

try to cut em with a wire cutters, ZN are really really tough compared to a lead one.

[mooman76]

Also there is a noticeable difference when melting. Regular WW's should melt right off after you start pooling the lead. If somethng appears not not want to melt right off ad floats on the melted lead, pull it out. Probubly Zinc or steel. They have a higher melt temp.

[gl1800]

Welcome to the forum!

Does your handle mean you ride a Gold Wing? I own a 2007 GL 1800.

Save the oil from the Wing to flux with. Anything containing carbon will do the job.

Thanks. Yep.. Had a 2003 and just sold it. Looking to get another. You have an air bag in that 07? Had an 01 low rider before that. Too many problems with it and Harley had to buy it back. The 1800 had 40k on it when I sold it. Most folks don't realize how fast the 1800 is. Crotch-Rocket on steroids.

[gl1800]

Thanks for the info on the finding the Zinc WW's. I pull a bunch that looked like they were painted a silver color thinking those may have been Zinc. I'll have to go through the bucket again and double check.

appreciate all the input and willingness to assist.

Richard

[mroliver77]

Depending on what you are going to cast for you might want to add the stick ons to your alloy.
WW are way more hard than you need for .38 special or .45 auto class boolits.
J

[gl1800]

Depending on what you are going to cast for you might want to add the stick ons to your alloy.
WW are way more hard than you need for .38 special or .45 auto class boolits.
J

Thanks mroliver. I was going to start off with .45's to see how things go. If all goes well I'll do .38/.357, 9mm, .380. IF that goes good, I was thinking about .30Carbine, and then 7.62 for my SKS. Price of Jacketed bullets has gotten ridiculous. I was paying $85.00 per 1k for .45 230gr plated's about a month ago and they're up to $130.00 already. Looks like casting is for me.

[454PB]

Thanks. Yep.. Had a 2003 and just sold it. Looking to get another. You have an air bag in that 07? Had an 01 low rider before that. Too many problems with it and Harley had to buy it back. The 1800 had 40k on it when I sold it. Most folks don't realize how fast the 1800 is. Crotch-Rocket on steroids.

This is my sixth Gold Wing. I made the mistake of shooting off my mouth and ended up selling my 2002 for more than I expected. The 02 had 38K on it, and never a minutes worth of trouble with it. My 2007 is a plain old level 3, no airbag or ABS. I do like the redesigned tail lights and dash layout. I like to sit in a restaurant and scare the bejeepers out of people by pushing the remote alarm while they are looking over the bike.

Yup, the amount of power these have is amazing! I've not found a mountain pass that required a downshift even riding two up and fully loaded with gear.

[jleneave]

Thanks mroliver. I was going to start off with .45's to see how things go. If all goes well I'll do .38/.357, 9mm, .380. IF that goes good, I was thinking about .30Carbine, and then 7.62 for my SKS. Price of Jacketed bullets has gotten ridiculous. I was paying $85.00 per 1k for .45 230gr plated's about a month ago and they're up to $130.00 already. Looks like casting is for me.

Don't get too excited about saving a wad of money just yet. WW/Lead prices have also gone through the roof. I am still a newbie myself, I just started a few weeks ago. I spent a lot of time driving around in my area and then to all the surrounding counties trying to find sources of WW/lead. After all that time, effort, and not to mention gas money I only found 3 or 4 good sources of WW/Lead and have to pay for it at these places. I don't mean to sound so negative, but also don't forget about the start up cost of casting.. like bullet molds, mold handles, fuel for heat source, in my case a Lee casting pot for the actual bullet casting, a theromoter, a lubesizer and dies/top punches for it, ect, ect. Granted it can be done without some of the items that I mentioned, but I have always had a bad habit of going all out when I start a new hobbie. Please don't think that I am trying to discourage you, because I am not and it is still cheaper than buying jacketed bullets and cast bullets from a manufacturer. For me it is not just about the savings but also about a certain amount of satisfaction I get from taking a worn out object and turning it into something useful that may one day save my life or more importantly the life of a family member. The hobby itself is addicting as you will soon find out for yourself. I hope you enjoy your new found hobby and welcome to the board. There is an infinite amount of information on this site. Good luck and I hope you stick with it.

[gl1800]

This is my sixth Gold Wing. I made the mistake of shooting off my mouth and ended up selling my 2002 for more than I expected. The 02 had 38K on it, and never a minutes worth of trouble with it. My 2007 is a plain old level 3, no airbag or ABS. I do like the redesigned tail lights and dash layout. I like to sit in a restaurant and scare the bejeepers out of people by pushing the remote alarm while they are looking over the bike.

Yup, the amount of power these have is amazing! I've not found a mountain pass that required a downshift even riding two up and fully loaded with gear.

I hear ya. Have you ever seen the video of Yellow Wolf riding the Dragons tail?

Sorry we've gotten off topic a bit.

[gl1800]

JLeneave - You certainly won't hurt my feelings by speaking your mind. Any and all information you guys can pass on is much appreciated. I was thinking of going the Tumble Lube route. I have a friend that is supplying me with .45's that have Alox on them. I loaded them up and they fired great out of my Kimber 1911 with little or no leading. What are your thoughts on just sticking with tumble lube? Seems that getting the Lee 2 cavity TL molds might be the way to go.

Another hobby is what I need. Got my brass scrounging hobby(range rat). My reloading hobby, and my shooting hobby. Only problem now is that my wife doesn't know when I'll start saving money by reloading. She thinks I lied.[smilie=1:

Thanks again,
Richard

[Rick N Bama]

I hear ya. Have you ever seen the video of Yellow Wolf riding the Dragons tail?

Sorry we've gotten off topic a bit.


Heck I've ridden the Dragons Tail in a 4cyl Toyota 4-Runner:) 'Nuttin to it, yeah right, like to have gotten myself a Crotch Rocket about halfway through it. My wife & I were staying in Townsend, we took the long way back[smilie=1:

Rick

[NSP64]

gl1800, welcome aboard.
You never save money by casting and reloading, you just get to shoot more for the same price.:-D

[NSP64]

you may want to smelt the clip on w/w seperate from the tape on and then blend together later. Best thing you can do is make a pure lead boolit and slug your barrel.

[jleneave]

JLeneave - You certainly won't hurt my feelings by speaking your mind. Any and all information you guys can pass on is much appreciated. I was thinking of going the Tumble Lube route. I have a friend that is supplying me with .45's that have Alox on them. I loaded them up and they fired great out of my Kimber 1911 with little or no leading. What are your thoughts on just sticking with tumble lube? Seems that getting the Lee 2 cavity TL molds might be the way to go.

Another hobby is what I need. Got my brass scrounging hobby(range rat). My reloading hobby, and my shooting hobby. Only problem now is that my wife doesn't know when I'll start saving money by reloading. She thinks I lied.[smilie=1:

Thanks again,
Richard

I know what you mean about another hobby, that is the last thing I needed also. My wife kids me all the time about how much I am "saving" by reloading. There is always another gadget out there that I just have to have. I usually do a lot of reloading during the winter because during the summer my biggest passion is bass fishing. I figured with getting into casting I could also pour some jigs and maybe invent the next big lure craze......yeah, right. I used to ride bikes too, I had a 2003 Harley FatBoy, but had to sell it last December due to a bad back. I just couldn't stand to ride it over 20 to 30 miles before both of my legs went numb. It really sucked, it was like loosing a family member, well maybe not that bad but it was pretty bad. The last year I had it all I did was go out into the garage and start it and listen to it run for 10 or 15 minutes, I just couldn't justify the payments and insurance anymore with my financial situation being what it was....sigh. It was getting to the point of having to choose between my firearm collection and the Fatboy and I promised myself that I would never sell my guns unless it got to the point that my family didn't have anything to eat, so the FatBoy had to go.

Anyway, about the tumble lube...there are many, many people that use that method, but I don't think it is for me. Now I will say that I have absolutely no first hand expierence with them but after reading post on this site from people that do use them I don't think I would care about the mess they make out of reloading dies and just handling them in general. I am really asinine about wanting my bullets to look "pretty". You wouldn't believe the extra steps that I go through when reloading to make my bullets look and shoot the best that I can make them. I even wear rubber gloves after the cases have been final tumbled just so I don't get fingerprints on them that makes them tarnish. I weigh out every, and I mean every, powder charge that goes into them on digital scales, actually a RCBS Charge Master and I do a lot of double checking those weights with another set of balance scales. Pretty stupid huh? I just can't help it, I am starting to think that I have obsessive compulsive disorder or something to that effect.

Sorry, I didn't mean to go off on a tangent. If you think that the tumble lube would work for you then more power to you. There are a ton of people that can point you in the right direction with tumble lubing. If I have learned anything from this site it would be that there are a thousand different methods that will in the end accomplish the same result and everyone on here is more than willing to go out of thier way to help a fellow bullet caster.

Are those Kimber 1911s great or what? I have 3 of them myself, two .45ACPs and one .38 super. They are in my opinion one of the best made 1911s out there. Well, I have ran on more than I meant to so I will get off here. Take care and happy casting!!

[gl1800]

I love those FatBoy's. If I didn't have so many problems with my Low Rider I would have bought an Ultra instead of the Wing. I didn't like the responses from the dealer or the Motor Company after I found metal flakes the size of your pinky fingernail in the gear lube.

Regarding the lube. I'm still in the "casting" learning stage and trying to figure out what the masses are doing/recommending. I understand the obsession with "pretty" bullets. I can only imagine how nice you kept that HD.

The Kimber is what actually got me back into shooting. It was a gift from a dear friend that I was in the Marine Corps with. I can't get over how accurate they are. Only downside is the finish isn't what you would expect from a $1200.00 gun. I wasn't aware they made a .38 super. I'll have to check that one out.

Thanks for the input.

Richard

[gl1800]

Heck I've ridden the Dragons Tail in a 4cyl Toyota 4-Runner:) 'Nuttin to it, yeah right, like to have gotten myself a Crotch Rocket about halfway through it. My wife & I were staying in Townsend, we took the long way back[smilie=1:

Rick

I would liked to have seen that. Never been there myself. Watching videos of everyone wrecking their bikes was enough to keep me away. Even saw one of a semi rounding a corner on the DT and running over a car and a bike.

NEWSMOKEPOLE64:

You got that right. I was up to shooting 400-500 rounds a week. Finally figured to give casting a try to see if I could "SAVE" even more money. (Yeah, right)

[Rick N Bama]

I would liked to have seen that. Never been there myself. Watching videos of everyone wrecking their bikes was enough to keep me away. Even saw one of a semi rounding a corner on the DT and running over a car and a bike.

I had been told about all the curves, & fine scenery to be seen, so we decided on a Sunday afternoon to make the drive over the mountain to Fontana Village & Dam. As we were starting up the mountain we began seeing all the Crotch Rockets, Corvetts, & other sport car type vehicles. We simply didn't realize what was in store for us as we hit the 1st curve.

About halfway up the mountain we met a CR doing about 600[smilie=1:mph coming around a curve in my lane . The bike was leaned over to the point that the rider had his knee scrubbing on the surface. I'll give him this, he was one heck of a good rider as he never let up on the speed (no time to do that) but jerked the bike back over into his lane & in a flash he was gone.

IIRC, there's something like 318 curves in 11 miles. A lot of the curves had a speed limit of 15mph or so & that is much too fast in my most very humble opinion. http://www.tailofthedragon.com/

IF I ever drive it again I'll start from the Fontana side and do the downhill version on a weekday, never again on the weekend. I'm much too old for excetement like that:)

Welcome to the board.

Rick