Why separate stick ons?

[dfwdon]

All of the posts talk about separating out the stick on weights.
Why can't they just go in the mix?
Are they that soft that it would spoil the rest of the batch?

Thanks

[docone31]

I blend them in. I do not have a muzzle loader. From what I have read, they are great for muzzle loaders, and paper patched castings.
I cast with water dropped wheel weights. I am pleased with the results.
I have not noticed an issue with blending them in. If I get a smoke pole, I might look back and wish I had not.

[dfwdon]

That is what I want to cast for a .54 caliber Lyman Deerstalker.
Does it make the mix to soft for a smoke pole?

[docone31]

No, you want it as soft as you can get. As close to pure as possible.
Black powder explodes, rather than burn. You want the bump up in the chamber.

[JeffinNZ]

You can blend them in if you like.

I seperate them simply as they are a lot softer than the clip on weights.

Clip on at approx 10 BHN and the stick on are nominal 7 BHN.

Thing is if you blend them every time and the ratios are not even your mix will vary quite a bit. Wheel weights are by no means a science on a good day why generate more variance than you need?

I use the stick on weights for my heel bullets in my .380 Rook and for the new .40 cal Minie ball for my MLer. Similar, though slightly softer, BHN to 40-1 alloy.

[HeavyMetal]

Hardness, or the lack of, is the reason to seperate stick on WW from the clip on type.

In your case, since your loading a Muzzle loader, you do not want to mix the two types of WW.

Boolits for the MZ should be made from pure lead aka stick on WW metal. The clip on ones will make boolits to hard to push down the barrel.

[John Boy]

http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/showpost.php?p=418808&postcount=6

[mooman76]

If you are seeking a hard or harder bullet you don't want to mix. You usually want a harder bullet for rifle. Most pistol bullets can be softer if not pushed too hard and even some that are pushed hard can sometimes be softer than straight WWs if set up right. Some people actually do like to mix a little soft lead with WWs. So it's really up to you.

[Orygun]

I separate them for a more consistent alloy as it's hard to determine how many are in a given lot of WW's.

[runfiverun]

i seperate also good for trading if you need soft you can trade clip-ons for the stick-on's
and vice versa both guys are happy to make this trade.

[Shuz]

Last week whilst only smelting some "stick-on" ww's, I noticed one strip of them did not want to melt down like the rest. It was of the same general size and shape as the rest. I put my thermometer in the melt and found out my melt temp was around 650 deg F. So.......I figgered they must be zinc or steel, or sumthin' and quickly pulled them out. Anybody else found other than soft lead "stick-ons"?

[cabezaverde]

I have found both steel and zinc stick ons.

[Tom W.]

I have too. If the others melt and you have some that float, it's best to remove them......That said, I like to keep the soft stick-on weights separate for my muzzle loader...

[dfwdon]

Thanks all,
Great responses for a newby to casting my own boolits.
I especially like the idea of trading the clip ons for stick ons.

Great forum with great folks.

Thanks again,
Don