i am done with wheel weights

[fg-machine]

i am officially done with wheel weights . a few weeks ago i noticed my lead stash was getting low .
i hit the local tire shops up and came home with about 80 lbs of weights . after sorting out the junk , zinc and smelting i ended up with about 36 lbs of good clean ingots .

total cost including fuel to get them and smelt came pretty close to $ .85 a lb

being in a smelting mood and still not having a comfortable supply for winters casting i decided to order some alloy from rotometals .
prices was a bit steeper then i wanted to pay , so i kept looking and found some uncleaned recycled shot for a reasonable price and ordered 100 lbs .

today i got bored and smelted the first 50 lbs , total yield after skimming and fluxing was 48 lbs of ingots , total cost after smelting came to $ 1.14 a lb . so yes it costs a bit more money wise , but in the end i came out ahead by not having 3 + hours in getting the lead and sorting it .
not to mention all the trash left to throwaway from the weights .

goodby wheel weights , you was a true friend for 25 years , but the tree huggers ruined you

[trapper9260]

I am done with WW also for buying any because of the zinc in the mix. If someone wants to give me some I will take it but otherwise I get soft lead from the salvage yard.

[pretzelxx]

The place I got my small amount sorted it.. I paid for the tiny amount of steel and zinc because "lead is magnetic" and got the trash for free... 180 lbs of free trash thanks! Basically is how it came out to be hahaha

[zomby woof]

Yea, WW are not worth the hassle here.

[Nose Dive]

Mmmm ....smelt all I can get my dirty little grubby hands on.

Nose Dive

Cheap, Fast, Good. Kindly pick two.

[472x1B/A]

A short while back, 3 or 4 wks., my COWW supplier brought a 5 gal. bucket over. After sorting I was able to retrieve 47 lbs. of 'good' lead. The rest was of course Zn. and Fe.. But I do remember a few years back, never anything but good lead, not even any trash.

[Blammer]

I'll take any WW's I can get. what isn't lead gets sold back to the recycle place and then I buy lead with that money. :)

[Doggonekid]

My casting buddy's son works in a big truck tire shop. He gets 5 gal buckets given to him about every 3 months. If you don't have to pay for them they are worth the effort. My buddy gets free COWW and I buy lead pipe and roof flashing and linotype. Never paid more than .85 per pound for the linotype. Straight lead is more like .75 per pound. I won't buy COWW from the salvage yard because there is a lot of zinc in the mix. I can see the day of paying good money for COWW is coming to an end. Boolit casting season is almost here! (winter)

[quilbilly]

I find the shot is too hard for the boolits I like to shoot but when you alloy the shot with pure lead, it makes sweet shooting boolits that are great for hunting. I quit using WW for anything but fishing jigs and sinkers many years ago since they were never quite the same alloy.

[JeffinNZ]

Are you going to sell the Zn as scrap to subsidise the Pb?

[ioon44]

I just bought 204 lb of WW from a tire shop for $50.00, worked out to 160 lb of WW, 40 lb of Fe and 4 lb of Zn.

[dondiego]

I just wish I could get free wheel weights again....................

[bangerjim]

Join the ever-growing crowd! I quite on WW's well over 2 years ago and now mix all my alloys from the metals I want in there. Easier, cleaner, faster than melting stinky dirty old WW's.

bangerjim

[lightman]

My last wheelweight scrounge still yielded a good % of lead, but I can see the day of the lead weight coming to an end. And yes, the alloy is not exactly the same. Thats one reason that I smelt in batches of 300-400#, and label each batch. All of the scrap yards around here are large chains and will not sell to the public.

[Electric88]

I'll take any WW's I can get. what isn't lead gets sold back to the recycle place and then I buy lead with that money. :)

I'm about to start sorting mine (I've stashed away about 5 five gallon buckets worth). You get a decent amount for the extra stuff?

[mdi]

I'm through looking for Wheel Weights not because I may find some non-lead junk in with them, but because they are really hard to find! Almost non-existent. For me it was/is no big deal to sort the different alloys out of a bunch of weights, just part of casting. But, then again in today's hurried up world anything less than exact bullet alloy, or some "work" is needed, is often shunned...

Reminds me of a time when I went fishing and brought home some good eatin' rock fish and tried to give some to a neighbor. "They aren't cleaned! I'll have to clean all that fish before I can cook it!". Needless to say, that neighbor didn't get any fish and wasn't offered any more fresh caught fish from me...

[fg-machine]

i do not usually bother with selling the zinc weights , i just throw them back in a bucket and pass them on to someone who makes cannon balls or fishing weights .

i haven't used much shot over the years , or much of anything else . like a lot of us it has always been wheel weights for me . they was cheap , abundant and just plain worked great .
i wont turn away free ww , i just wont actively seek them out . the amount of time involved in obtaining them and sorting them has become simply to much for me
the days of going to the tire shop with coffee and doughnuts or some pizza and beer and going home with buckets of lead are long gone here .
now it takes two hours and three tire shops to get most of a bucket . throw in sorting and smelting and its not hard to have 4-5 hours time in one bucket of weights

[Schnizel_fritz]

Here in Sweden pb WW's has been banned for over 10 years. However trucks still has leadweights so i hit up the big wheel tire shops once in a while.You get more weight and I dont have to pay, just bring some cake and the guys at the tire shop are happy.

[Stilly]

You should all go in and do a group buy on some of those GSA auctions.

I just saw about 18k lbs of lead in an auction about a month ago, all range pickups so there was going to be copper too...

Someone else at calguns picked up about 1500 lbs of COWW at one of those auctions too. I guess they planned to sell the weights to the fire department but since CALFIRE moved to a no lead policy, they thought they were stuck with it.

So someone told them to ask me and I ended up getting about 38 or so boxes that had 4 little boxes of 25 sticks each that weighed 4 oz and were fresh.

I ended up paying about .50/lb for them and I am finally almost done with them all. Today I will burn through the last few sticks as I deflower my .44 mag Lee mold and a few new 9mm molds that I got.

I LOVE having a clean supply of lead, but I hate having to pull out the metal clips from these. Oh the hard work of pulling out the metal clips, that float to the top, and are waiting to be removed...

;)

If you hunt the auctions on ebay you can find some GOOD auctions from folks that have lead, both ingotized and pre-ingot/ previous form including COWW and others. But you have to ask questions and pay attention to what they say. SOME people are better sellers and have their lead sorted properly. I lucked out and got a guy that I as able to purchase 100 lbs of lead from (made him an offer via ebay) for $114 delivered to my door. His boxes arrived torn up, but surprisingly had no lead missing since they all weighed the same amount. I gave him some pointers on shipping it via post office in the future and we were both happy. I was shocked that he accepted my offer... Well, my original offer was for $49 per box of 50 lbs for 2 boxes, he countered with the $114 for both boxes including shipping. I had told him that I had a source that was selling it to me for $1.15/lb cleaned and delivered. His original price was $65 per box of 50lbs though. I think I did okay. This was last November.

[dragon813gt]

A family member made my decision an easy one: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showpost.php?p=3245295

I will pay $1.36 a pound shipped all day long for 96/2/2 alloy. I'm switching jobs and won't have access to a loading dock so I'm not sure how I'm going to handle the next order. Hopefully I can have it shipped to a local freight terminal and pick it up there.

[hickfu]

Im done collecting wheel weights, I melted my last bit over a year ago and they are now ingots and stamped as COWW so I know what they are when I alloy them. I have 2800lbs and will never need any more... My nephew wants to learn casting (which works out great for me since my joints hurt really bad now, he can now do all the casting :-D

My issue is how to get 2800lbs of lead moved to Oregon in less then 2 weeks..

[RogerDat]

Im done collecting wheel weights, I melted my last bit over a year ago and they are now ingots and stamped as COWW so I know what they are when I alloy them. I have 2800lbs and will never need any more... My nephew wants to learn casting (which works out great for me since my joints hurt really bad now, he can now do all the casting :-D

My issue is how to get 2800lbs of lead moved to Oregon in less then 2 weeks..

That is a lot of lead from a casting perspective but not a lot of weight from a moving company perspective, you do pay for moving by the weight & distance so it won't be a free ride. If you can whip up some 3/4 inch wood cases and keep the weight down around 60 lbs. moving them would not be bad. I would say wood case about the size of MFRB should be about right. Heavy wood boxes just become "base" in the load. Driver will probably like them - solid not fluffy hauls & pays better.

As long as WW's provide a good source of lead I will continue to purchase them. I'm not a math professor but I can determine what I'm paying per lb. and decide if it makes more sense than buying from S&S or from foundry. When I can still sometimes get 100# bucket that is 85% or more lead WW's for .35 a lb. I'm going to consider the stink and clips totally worth it. Do think I'll keep at least one bucket un-smelted in the shed so the grandkids will get to see "real" WW's when they clean that stuff out after I die. Who knows maybe someone will be doing an art or museum exhibit of bad-old-days lead and they will get big bucks for them. Guess it depends on how long I live eh?

[hickfu]

Unfortunately I have to move them myself to Oregon... Im disabled and cannot pay to have movers do it for me. I guess my son in law is going to get a workout!!!

[Stilly]

Unfortunately I have to move them myself to Oregon... Im disabled and cannot pay to have movers do it for me. I guess my son in law is going to get a workout!!!


Sounds like you just need to leave it here in CA. I tell you what, I will come over and help you dispose of it... ;)
I will not even charge you. I will take it to my lead farm and let it run free and be among its friends... You have my word...


;)

[murf205]

When my stash of ww's are gone I am going to buy a batch of ingots from Mayco Industries here in Birmingham, Al. I met these guys at a gun show here and the boolits they sell are really great in my 45/70 CB Marlin. I have friends who love their handgun boolits as well. They sell a mix of 92/2/6 in 100lb lots that will suffice for all my tinkering. maycoindustries.com is the address. Good bunch of people who are in the lead business to stay as they are part of Lawrence brand lead shot fame. I have not personally bought a 100lb batch from them but I'm going to when I run dry. I talked with them at length at the show and they said that they are spot on with the mix from lot to lot, so we can eliminate that variable.
Murf205

[Oregon Coot]

In the late '70's I collected wheel weights by the ton (literally) to build my sailboat keel.

Paid $15 to $20 for very full 5 gal buckets which would yield 200# or so of ingots. A 6300# keel required me to run a lot of loads through my little plummers pot!

Those COWW's have sailed thousands of miles with me and I know where to find them if needed ... be a bitch to get at though!

[zanemoseley]

I just got about 210 pounds of ingots from $100 worth of WW, still about 80% or better lead weights. I'm good with that mix. I like making stuff so don't mind the process. If I get to where it's not at least half the price to smelt then I'll just go to paying for ingots.

[shoot-n-lead]

GOOD...leaves more for me.

I hope all of y'all quite scrounging WW's.

(not really...I have all that I need)

[WRideout]

Last spring I went on a campaign to smelt down my COWW and SOWW. These were acquired free from my tire dealer, where I spend a significant part of my salary. I used to just melt everything down and strain the floaters off the top, but once got some Zn contamination when I ran the pot too hot. Eventually I broke down and hand sorted the whole batch; I had about three five gal buckets worth. Over time I found it not too hard to figure out what was what; a lot of the rules I had read on this forum really worked (drop it on the floor, and if it rings, its Zn).

I do take everything that is not usable to the boneyard. Steel clips and WW, Zn WW, copper bullet jackets all go. Sometimes I can actually make enough to be worthwhile. I figure I am providing feedstock for American industry, even if I don't make much on it.

Wayne

[FISH4BUGS]

Maybe I am crazy, but smelting has always been enjoyable to me. Heck, the entire process right through the reloading is enjoyable. It is my hobby. It is relaxing and enjoyable. I mean, even right this moment I have 223 brass in the vibratory tumbler getting ready for processing. Just load it up and two hours later - bingo! Shiny brass.
I had a friend that sold his tire shop, and he called me and said come pick up all I can take away for free before Friday at 5 when the sale closes. I took two days and removed well over a ton of wheel weights. Bloody fingers and all. I had to drive 45 minutes each way and only had a passenger car, so I had to make a number of trips. PLUS I have picked up buckets here and there to add to my stash.
The process of sorting wheel weights, smelting, casting, sizing and lubing, case prep and reloading is my hobby. Since I shoot machine guns, the pistol caliber subguns are all cast bullets, and I can go through a fair number of them in one shooting session.
I really don't mind the whole process. Since I murdered my TV many years ago, and I work from the house, I can get lots more enjoyable things done in life. When I quit work at 5, I just go out into the casting shed and start enjoying my hobby. Two hours a day is fine - you can get lots done in two hours.
I am lucky - I admit it. My lead stash is actually in my will left to my kids. I am so glad I listened to that little voice in my head that said "do it!" when the offer was made.

[RogerDat]

I also like the idea of taking scrap and making it something of value, ingots. And then into something useful, boolits.

I'm not going to make much money at the scrap yard off of the steel clips strained during smelting, or the zinc and steel WW's but as WRideout said it will end up being used by industry eventually and the nice guys at the scrap yard make a living off it in the process. I'm there anyway checking the lead bin. Think "discount coupon" in a bucket of clips.

I also agree with fish4bugs. It is enjoyable to see that nice stack of ingots after a casting session, it does feel like I have accomplished something worthwhile. Dropping store bought ingots into a pot and casting boolits would feel ok too. Pretty sure I would enjoy looking at the pile of boolits same as I do the ingots from WW's. Both would feel like a productive use of my time. The first one however saves me money ;-)

[Tonto]

One of the reasons I've built a rubber mulch bullet trap. I'm hoping to catch at least 80% of what I shoot at home here and recycle it as many times as I can.

[Hang Fire]

All this anti WW smacks of sour grapes to me. Seems most are urinated because they did not get the older WW when they were cheap or free. I still have several 5 gallon buckets of the old clip on WW when tire shops were glad to get rid of them and I picked them up for free several decades ago.

[bangerjim]

All this anti WW smacks of sour grapes to me. Seems most are urinated because they did not get the older WW when they were cheap or free. I still have several 5 gallon buckets of the old clip on WW when tire shops were glad to get rid of them and I picked them up for free several decades ago.


Consider yourself blessed, my friend! Many on here do not have the advantage of doing this decades ago. You and I were able to get them when prevalent. Now they are generally disappearing due to the relentless greenies. With all the new casters and shooters out there today, scrounging for "free" lead is rapidly becoming a fond memory only.

Those of us that do NOT have time on our side (like you and I) need to look beyond the "tire store mind-set" and look for alloys needed from new and innovative sources. I try to offer suggestions and ideas for those that need alloys and have may not thought beyond to old tire store approach.

Being a vintage caster does have it's advantages! But for those that are not, there are still many many tons of lead alloys out there......and not in wheel weights.

And I still have not figured how to make boolits our of sour grapes!!!!! HA......ha.

banger

[dragon813gt]

All this anti WW smacks of sour grapes to me. Seems most are urinated because they did not get the older WW when they were cheap or free. I still have several 5 gallon buckets of the old clip on WW when tire shops were glad to get rid of them and I picked them up for free several decades ago.

I can still pick them up for free. My time is worth more than free wheel weights. It takes to much time to sort, clean and cast wheel weights into ingots. Take into account the unknown alloy and it really makes no sense for me to continue looking for it.

[FISH4BUGS]

My time is worth more than free wheel weights. It takes to much time to sort, clean and cast wheel weights into ingots.
You hit it right on head - how much is your free time worth?
I can only speak for me. I am self-employed software reseller and consultant, and I work only with lawyers. I have been doing it for 33 years. I try very hard to get the most out of a day, and try my best every day to sell something or bill for some of my time.....or better yet, both.
When I unplug from my work, which is most of the time from my home, I want to unplug. If I am working from home on a given day, as opposed to traveling to a client site, I really enjoy shifting gears and doing something that I can rest my brain at. While you DO need to pay attention to what you are doing when you smelt, do case prep, cast, resize and reload, how much time you are spending on your hobby is not really one of the things to pay attention to.
An hour here, two hours there, a full evening from 5-8, a rainy Saturday, a snowy Sunday...it doesn't matter. There is always something to do in the casting and reloading hobby.
Without a television, I get a heck of a lot more done in my life. I want news? I listen to the radio when I am in the casting shed. Football? Basketball? Baseball? NASCAR? Ditto.
I eventually get to what needs to be done in this hobby....when I get to it. What I do is driven by what I need to do.
* If I start running low on ingots, then a session or two of smelting produces enough to last me a while.
* If I run low ready to load rifle brass, I start case prep on a bunch.
* If I run low on a bullet, I'll cast and size them and put then into inventory.
* If I run low on a caliber of ammo, I will load a bunch and put them into inventory.
Hey....winters are very long, snowy, cold and dark here in New Hampshire. Less casting and reloading gets done in the summer because of the gardening that needs to be done, so winter gets the bulk of my casting and reloading time.
Again, i can't speak for anyone else. I value the time I DO spend on my hobby. There is an inate pleasure is seeing the results of your work. A coffeee can full of bullets, ammo boxes chock full and labeled, the closet full of ammo, powder, primers, bullets and components, etc. The gardening results in two freezers full of organic vegetables so that is a no brainer.
When it is all said and done, for me, the satisfaction of a job well done outweighs the feeling that I should be doing something else, or what I am doing is not important enough.
My SO calls it "man knitting". I understand that...........

[propwashp47]

as of now I am getting ready 4 -5 gal buckets to drop of at a new source of range lead . I am told they will recycle of 280.000 lbs pre year. can you say happy woo-hoo- dance. I am guessing 80% lead yield. they use conveyor belting so some rubber in there. i am finding I don't want to spend all the xtra time ww take as well as cost are all ways going up and % of good lead are going down. if this works out I will buy some super hard and mix in some 60/40 I have and just blend what I need

[hickfu]

Sounds like you just need to leave it here in CA. I tell you what, I will come over and help you dispose of it... ;)
I will not even charge you. I will take it to my lead farm and let it run free and be among its friends... You have my word...


;)

That would make my wife happy! but my nephew wants to learn casting so it all has to go with me....

[butch2570]

I can still pick them up for free. My time is worth more than free wheel weights. It takes to much time to sort, clean and cast wheel weights into ingots. Take into account the unknown alloy and it really makes no sense for me to continue looking for it. This is my conclusion also, I'm still getting them free , but who has the extra time for them, at least for now any way. Retirement or loved one that may not be as fortunate later on in life is why I keep picking them up though.

[toallmy]

I have just started collecting ww to go in my plumbers lead.I am saving it up for a nice cool day this fall . I am looking forward to cooking it down. It is going to be enjoyable , and relaxing , just because I'm going to do it when I feel like it. Playing with my toys is for fun . Working is what I do for a living. Yep pick them up one at a time look at it with a magnifying glass ,check with a cutter,hit on steal plate , and still worry about the zink I have to get a good thermometer but sounds like fun .

[Bodean98]

I consider myself one of the fortunate ones. My job requires alot of travel. I will take time to stop at tire shops and such and ask about wheel weights. Sometimes I score, sometimes not. You just have to ask.
Today I picked up approx. 350# for $45! Not sorted yet but as others have said, it is a source of relaxation and fun for me. If my average holds true I should yeild about 230# of ingots from this.

[Markbo]

I too consider myself very fortunate. I worked at a National chain tire store for about 2 years. Got all the wheel weights I wanted. I picked out all the lead and returned or just left the rest. I figure I have around 1800# at last calculation. Once it cools down sufficiently I will start making ingots again and maybe get down to one drum instead of two.

I don't mind smelting... rather enjoy the process. But not when it's 95°+ outside. It has got to be cool out to enjoy it.

[El Bango]

Ain't nothing wrong with ww, targets, prairie dogs, deer,antelope,bear and turkeys don't complain about them.

[vincewarde]

Count me as one who is done with WWs. Last week I was able to buy lead from the recycling center for $ .50/lb. I had my choice between WWs and roofing lead. I took some of each, 178 lbs total. The dead soft roofing lead was a much better deal. I had enough monotype to harden all. The WWs were about 50% zinc and clips by weight. The roofing lead was just that: 100% lead. Next time I'll just by the roofing lead.

[bangerjim]

There is the beginnings of severe shortages of Zn around the world. Zn is an important elemental metal used in a ton of stuff we buy and use every day.

Look for prices to go up! The shortage is expected to last well into 2018.

Your silly little Zn weights might just be worth a lot more in a year. I would hold on to them.

banger

[trucker76]

the scrapyard i go to lets me pick out my ww, $.70/lb was the price i believe. a few pounds of junk got by me but it worked well and i had nothing better to do with my time. i have a source for cheap lino. I may look for a recipe for pure lead and lino and save some time.

[JohnH]

the scrapyard i go to lets me pick out my ww, $.70/lb was the price i believe. a few pounds of junk got by me but it worked well and i had nothing better to do with my time. i have a source for cheap lino. I may look for a recipe for pure lead and lino and save some time. 1 part lead to one part lino makes an alloy of about 15 BHN, 2 parts lead to 1 part lino makes an alloy roughly equal to straight WW. I've shot lots of this and it works quite well.