When will "WW" become historical nonsense?

[Drew P]

Constantly see talk about alloy recipes calling for wheel weights. I dunno about you all but those things are all but vanished here. Can't imagine having enough to use as a major ingredient. Wheel weights is steel nowadays ya hear?

[dg31872]

That is not entirely true here in Texas.
I have a deal with a local tire store to take all their weights for scrap price, and about 70-75 per cent are lead.

[DanishM1Garand]

That is not entirely true here in Texas.
I have a deal with a local tire store to take all their weights for scrap price, and about 70-75 per cent are lead.

mexican tires getting replaced? The closer to the border the higher number of lead wheel weights I would think.

[RedRiver]

Here in ND it's still 80% lead. Most of the shops I'm in still put lead on the wheels anyway. I'm not concerned.

[JSnover]

I don't think it will happen anytime soon. We still see references to Linotype, Monotype, Stereotype, Electrotype, and Taracorp.

[TexasGrunt]

I'm in Texas and getting around 60-70% wheel weights in the stuff I pick up. Drew, you're in the PNW. Washington perhaps? That state banned lead wheel weights a few years back. There's your problem, if you're in Oregon and close to the border, again there's your problem. Also California has banned lead wheel weights so being bordered by two states like that cuts down your chances.

Do what I did and leave the Socialist NW and come to Free America.

[dragon813gt]

As time goes on they will become more rare. Eventually the WW manufacturers won't use lead anymore. No new vehicles have them. Many states have banned them. It's a slow process of attrition. How many years for this to happen? We're talking decades. I can still get them for free but the time to process them isn't worth it. I'd rather pay for foundry certified alloy and just drop it in the pot. I'm not alone in this line of thinking.

[mold maker]

Some folks have casting pants with DEEP pockets and little time. Others are blessed with time but have empty pockets. We both manage to shoot our own cast boolits with what time and resources we have. Both are right in how we look at the source problem.
The lead WW supply is slowly transitioning from plentiful and free, to unobtainable at any price. Over the last 50+ years I have hoarded several lifetime supplies, and am still guilty of picking up every one I can find. Not that I had any wisdom of things to come, but it's a part of the inborn instinct to get what you can for free while it's there.
At this point I still have a free source that supplies about what I shoot. The % of lead is slowly diminishing toward not being worth the effort, but is currently at about 65% including the SOWW.
The end is in sight and it's sound advice to gather as much as you can. At some point in the not too distant future, we'll all lament not having a cheep method to feed our habit/hobby. At that point we'll all get to make the decision of buying our alloy or shooting factory made J words. It's up to you to put off that time by hoarding now. Today's prices will be a distant memory when the freebe supply is gone.

[JSnover]

Constantly see talk about alloy recipes calling for wheel weights. I dunno about you all but those things are all but vanished here. Can't imagine having enough to use as a major ingredient. Wheel weights is steel nowadays ya hear?

Actual wheel weights won't be around forever but WW alloy works for so many people, I don't think it will disappear. The recipe is easy to find. RotoMetals (banner at the top of the page) will sell you all the ingredients (clean and certified!) you need and it's not hard to brew your own.

[C. Latch]

I probably have one of the smallest lead stashes of all the members here, but it's probably a lifetime supply. I just lean more towards shooting jacketed rifles, and don't shoot handguns enough to blow through hundreds of pounds of lead in the next 20 years. I shoot seasonally, not really year-round.

[anothernewb]

Even in MN the percentage of lead in wheel weights is dropping. I got 2, 5 gallon buckets from a dealership a few weeks back. and perhaps 50% didn't stick to a magnet, and of that, perhaps 25% were zinc. lot of dirty work sorting - but the price was still right, being free.

I agree the end times are approaching. Our local range has even felt the push. Used to be that we had to pay to get the lead removed from the indoor range. as the WW supply has dried up, it's actually becoming a competition between a few members to scavenge the backstops. The number of local people who still cast, has dropped as well. many are just buying commercial cast.

For people like me - who just discovered casting. it's an interesting split. I can see the end of the "free" and easily available local sources. Those in the area that I've talked to that still cast - have discussed purchasing foundry bulk. Thankfully one of them works at the local salvage place, and is amenable to working a shipment into a regular cycle, mitigating the shipping costs.

Until that time, however - I'm going to start scavenging has hard as I can.

[lightman]

I think Mold Maker is right. I have seen them go from free and plentiful to hard to get at any price. The lead to junk ratio is still holding up ok around here and I continue to collect them even though I have plenty.

[308Jeff]

I got into the casting game very late. I feel very fortunate to have been able to get my hands on as many wheel weights as I have in a short period of time. There seems to be plenty of tire shops out there still willing to give up their wheel weights to private individuals. Some will do it for free, some want a little bit of a handout. On average, I'm probably paying $0.10 to $0.15 per pound of lead. That being a mixture of clip-on and stick on.

The only real challenge I've encountered so far is the chain stores that are obligated to turn over their weights to recyclers. Even then, some of the managers are sympathetic and willing to help out.

[RogerDat]

I debate getting more, have 900# or so and feel like while more would be nice I don't need to invest the money. Don't mean I won't, just means I have mostly tried to buy higher end stuff.

You can buy pretty close to WW lead right now https://rotometals.com/antimonial-le...antimony-lead/ this is close enough to WW to use in most recipes, and Hardball cut 50/50 with plain PB is very close too and varies less. https://rotometals.com/hardball-bull...y-and-92-lead/ Of course several in the vendor section regularly sell COWW lead at good prices of around $1 per pound if you wanted to stock pile some. Purchase 60# every couple of months and it adds up to 360# by years end.

The lead and ingredients should be available for a pretty long time, the price point will go up and scraping and scrounging will get less productive. Having a large cushion or supply purchased at today's prices seems like a good idea. Just so it isn't enough to piss off the wife, or make the garage/shop/outbuilding settle on one side

Edit - make that settle too much on one side, if you can walk across floor without falling into wall then probably still not too much settling from lead stash

[OS OK]

I think our Grandkids will be posting here in the future...

"How do I mix GrandPa's stash of old Wheel Weights?...Anyone heard of this stuff?"

[bullseye67]

Good morning, HAPPY PIE!!!
I have mentioned this formula before #of pounds cast and/or shot/year X #of years planning to cast/shoot = #of tons of lead needed.
In my case I shoot and cast 300lbs a year X 30 years = 9000lbs. Now my son is shooting more so I have added 100lbs extra/year for him. I figure as I get older I will shoot less and he will shoot more. Now my new calculation is 400lbs X 30 years = 12000lbs + 300lbs X 38 years (to cover sons shooting for life)= 11400lbs. For a grand total of 23400lbs or 12 tons!! Sounds like a lot but, figure out what 12 tons of commercial bullets would cost..... At 150lbs of ingots from a sorted pail of WW that is 156 pails, my average here is $35/150lbs of ingots. I think an investment over several years, of $5500, for my lifetime and my sons is a small price to pay for truly custom boolits and more fun than that amount of money could buy in other stuff. And NO FEAR of not having boolits taxed or banned or any other crazy thing that could happen in the future.....don't ask about powder and primers.....somethings are best left NOT discussed on forums

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I think our Grandkids will be posting here in the future...

"How do I mix GrandPa's stash of old Wheel Weights?...Anyone heard of this stuff?"

Yep, exactly.

I'm sittin on a ton or so of COWW.
I know a couple of other members who are in this region, who are sittin' on a ton or so, as well.
If I were looking to buy more COWW in the Raw, I'd be talking to the Auto-Recyclers, not the tire shops.

[runfiverun]

that's where I got my last batch ^^.
I didn't get as much as I wanted cause he talked me into some lino-type pigs for 65 cents a pound.
I probably should have just bought the pallet of Pigs and started trading.

[Bazoo]

Got about 50% usable ww's round my parts.

[fredj338]

In many states the lead ww is already extinct. Kalif banned them almost 6 yrs ago. A set of tires lasts 3-4 years. So any you may find are coming off granny's old Nova.
I am reduced pretty much to berm mining to get free bullet alloy. 900# is a nice reserve. With bigger bullets, it goes pretty fast.