Zinc in fishing weights?

[TexasAggie06]

I found an old tackle box and it was chalk full of weights, I decided to melt it down so that I have some pure lead slugs to measure bore size. While melting the weights the color appeared to be oily and the druse looked yellowish and skimmed off a very grainy mix. I haven't dealt with zinc in my alloy before, but I think that might be the culprit, does this sound correct?

[2wheelDuke]

It's not impossible. Some sinker makers would use anything that'd melt.

Do you have any left? Weigh them and see if there's a drastic difference between what they should weigh and what they do. I've used zinc WW for egg sinkers to save my lead. I hate losing good lead to a snag.

[TexasAggie06]

Dang, I melted them all together, wasn't a lot though, guess I'll just scrap it and move on to the next project.

[rda72927]

It's not impossible. Some sinker makers would use anything that'd melt.

Do you have any left? Weigh them and see if there's a drastic difference between what they should weigh and what they do. I've used zinc WW for egg sinkers to save my lead. I hate losing good lead to a snag.

That's what I am saving all my Zn WW for, egg sinkers for my stepson's duck decoy's. That way I can get all my lead back from him...

[pete501]

Some drinking reservoirs that have fishing are going "Non-Toxic" weights only. Hence the zinc weights.

[kycrawler]

I cast 8-12 oz weights for snagging spoonbill and use about 50-50 lead to zinc mix works for sinkers just have to cast them hot

[bangerjim]

NEVER celebrate too soon!!!!!!!

Always......ALWAYS......test unknown lead sources with HCl acid to see if it is Zn.

I have seen many of them that are pure Zn. You can even tell by the wtight. Zn is significient lighter than Pb.

banger

[triggerhappy243]

have you done the cleaning, fluxing with oil, fluxing with pine sawdust/shavings and back flips to clean it up first?

[Geezer in NH]

Note all weights of sinkers and jigs under 1 0z are contraband in NH Now.

Freaking loon huggers.