Wheel Weights and Clips

[Maximilian225]

After having smelted about 919 lbs of Wheel weights and saving and weighing the leftover clips (119.5). I figure the average amount of clips in a bucket of Wheel weights is about 13%.

A better way of looking at it is a bucket is 87% Lead. So the average 150lb bucket yields right at 130 lbs. That's not counting the zinc weights that were sorted out before smelting.

[454PB]

Your results match mine.

[JKH]

5 gallon pail?

I am just gearing up to cast .45's and bought a full to the hilt 5 gallon pail of wheel weights for $20, good deal?

About how many .45 slugs can I roughly expect? They will be LEE TL 230 round nose.

How do I tell zinc weights? In this batch there are no stick on weights and all have standard lead wheel weight configuration.

My buddy has another full pail at his shop, I think I'll call hime tomorrow and tell him to hold it for me, I dont want to run out for a good while!

Jeff

[windrider919]

I bought these WW last Wednesday for $5.00 a bucket

[Alchemist]

5 gallon pail?

I am just gearing up to cast .45's and bought a full to the hilt 5 gallon pail of wheel weights for $20, good deal?

About how many .45 slugs can I roughly expect? They will be LEE TL 230 round nose.

How do I tell zinc weights? In this batch there are no stick on weights and all have standard lead wheel weight configuration.

My buddy has another full pail at his shop, I think I'll call hime tomorrow and tell him to hold it for me, I dont want to run out for a good while!

Jeff

Assuming you get 130 #s after smelting, let's do some math. 7000 gr to a lb times 130 #s equals 910,000 grs of lead. Divided by 230 gr per boolit, you should get 3,956 boolits out of your bucket of WWs.

Hope that helps...now you can figger out how many primers and how much powder to get.

BTW, welcome to Cast Boolits!

[jsizemore]

The zinc WW will say "Zn" on it. If you squeeze down on a zinc WW with a pair of side cutters it will hardly make a dent.

[JKH]

excellant information guys! I was going to look up the grain sper pound info but got lazy, hate math ;^ )

That would be a LOT of powder and primers and mucho shooting! It will take me a few years to use that many bullets, maybe leife will slow down a bit and allow more time for shooting.

I'll plan on doing so many pounds at a time and look for the Zn marking and will test any that are suspect as suggested with side cutters.

Now the fun begins to smelt this stuff to a useable state, my molds and other casting acouterments are on the way.

Pray for me!

Jeff

[Fatman]

$20 isn't bad if you have to pay for it, but Wind you got a steal at $5 bucks a pail. The only better deal is pails of it for free, but I'm lucky. Keep all the clips and take them to the salvage yard you should be able to get a few bucks for buckets of steel clips.

Fatman

[Idaho_Elk_Huntr]

5 gallon pail?

I am just gearing up to cast .45's and bought a full to the hilt 5 gallon pail of wheel weights for $20, good deal?


Jeff


I'll pay $20 for every bucket I can get my hands on. I think a very good price and once in a while you can even find those $5 or even freebies.

[Sven]

zinc ww also float with the clips. I had a couple of floaters in my last batch I smelted. I suppose as time goes on there will be more and more.

[DLCTEX]

I am finding more iron wheel weights lately, some are marked Fe. The Iron and zinc weights will float after the WW alloy weights melt, so watch and skim out any floaters and you will have no problems. The weights marked Al are coated ww that are approved for use on aluminum wheels. The polymer coating will float on top of the melt. DALE

[trickyasafox]

I pay about 20 per and think that is fair too.

[Maximilian225]

Just think, if you cast and reload for something in the .224 persuasion you get over 20,000 Boolits from one 5lb pail, assuming it settles around 45 grains. :veryconfu

[windrider919]

Yes Sir!! I know I got a excellent deal, usually the shop I got these from charges $10.00 a bucket. The shop manager just wanted to get rid of them because they had just received a new shipment of tires and were stacking them anywhere they could. I went out because I wanted to get a good supply before they dried up through banning and cost. I think soon WW will be as hard to get as the old 'used' lynotype we used to get at the newspaper for pennies.

Note: ran into a new one at the Firestone store that same day. They are not selling WW anymore because they have joined some salvage group. They send in so many pounds of 'bad' WW and receive new ones back at a discount from the manufacturer/ reprocessor.