Using wheelweights alone for .45ACP rounds..

[21Glock]

Hi guys,
It's been a while since I've posted here. I'll be getting back to my casting duties soon since my stock of .45 ACP 230gr. truncated cone slugs has dwindled down a good bit in the last few months.
With Linotype becoming more scarce and more expensive all the time. Could I use straight wheelweight lead for my .45ACP target or practice rounds?
I have always dropped my slugs out of the mould into a large bucket of cold water to harder them up quickly.
I use Lee's Liquid Alox on my cast slugs that I've blended with linotype from Midway USA and wheelweight lead from my local car tire shops. I've had pretty good success in keeping my bore lead free.
I would continue to use the Liquid Alox on the pure wheel weight slugs if they might work at .45ACP velocities.
Any advice or real world experiences would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[HATCH]

I cast only Pure WW.
I cast 38,41 mag,45acp,9x18
Never had any leading issues.
But I use BAC red or Magma Lube.

[dragonrider]

WW's is all I use for all of my casting. Rifles and handguns.

[shoot-n-lead]

It is all I use also....makes fine ammo.

[fredj338]

You can go even softer if you are water dropping. A 50/50 ww/lead alloy waterdropped is going to be a bit harder than straight ww alloy. It's all I shoot in my 45acp. BTW, Midway is ripping you off w/ their alloy prices. Try the guys @ Rotometals, good guys & free shipping w/ better prices than Midway.

[big dale]

Air cooled wheel weights is all I have used for 45 acp for the past 30 years. Works fine.

Have fun with this stuff.

Big Dale

[zuke]

Aic cooled for me, 45 Win mag tumble lubed and 45-70 paper patched

[NoDakJak]

I have used air-cooled ww in 45acp for forty years with nary a problem.
Neil

[21Glock]

You can go even softer if you are water dropping. A 50/50 ww/lead alloy waterdropped is going to be a bit harder than straoght ww alloy. It's all I shoot in my 45acp. BTW, Midaway is ripping you off w/ their alloy prices. Try the guys @ Rotometals, good guys & free shipping w/ better prices than Midway.

Great, I'll get my alloy from them from now on. Need to save money when I can.

Thanks!!

[21Glock]

Thanks guys, you've made my day. I have secured another source of ww recently and I'll be casting away soon for my .45 ACP rounds.

[gray wolf]

Midway ?= $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Get it from the men here on the board, Lino and mono was just offered at a very good price.
50/50 WW and pure is just fine for a 45 ACP, and just WW air cooled is all you need.
Perhaps a little bit of tin, 1% should do it. No need for the Lino unless your bullets and or your shooting and accuracy has a problem. Even at that I would look at bullet fit or lube before I added Lino.

[*Paladin*]

Straight WW's for .45 ACP boolits is kind of a waste of WW alloy. I use 50/50 pure to WW to make my WW's last longer. They shoot great with no leading through my Colt and Les Baer 1911's.

[21Glock]

Straight WW's for .45 ACP boolits is kind of a waste of WW alloy. I use 50/50 pure to WW to make my WW's last longer. They shoot great with no leading through my Colt and Les Baer 1911's.

Thanks for the info. and THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!

Just curious, what is the % of lead, tin, antimony, etc. in most WWs? If you or anyone knows that, I would appreciate it.

[bumpo628]

Thanks for the info. and THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!
Just curious, what is the % of lead, tin, antimony, etc. in most WWs? If you or anyone knows that, I would appreciate it.

Here's what I use for my calculations. It's based on various sources and works as average values since different WW manufacturers have different compositions.

Description......................Tin %........Antimony %.....Arsenic %
Stick On Wheel Weight....0.25%.......0%..................0%
Clip On Wheel Weight......0.50%.......3.00%.............0.25%

[songdog53]

WW's been thru my 45's for years and even have cut them with some lead and never had any problem with them. With WW's getting harder to come by i have started using some lead in mine. My suplier has made them start reusing them. I also shoot WW in 44 mag and my 629 loves them, in fact all it has ever been fed.

[plainsman456]

I have been casting acww for my 45 ACP,357 and for 30 caliber rifle loads and have not had any leading problems so far.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Wheel weights are what I made my .45 fodder with for many years when my Combat Commander was beside me more often. I have gone to 50/50 alloy due to the simple cost factors.Robert

[Crash_Corrigan]

I have never used linotype in my boolits. For a long time I had a source of solder from a radiator shop. The sweepings from the floor were a gold mine of high tin content solder dropping and shorter pieces of solder.

My friend was paying somebody to take away the toxic metals and was very glad to allow me to take them instead. They made great boolits although a lot lighter than I would have had if I used WW's. They also shattered upon impact against steel targets and were pretty useless as hunting boolits.

However the advent of plastic radiators has dried up that source of alloy. Since then I have only used straight ww's for my casting unless it is for my big bore revolvers. For my .41 Mag, .44 Special and 45 Colt I use pure lead. I want a soft slug that will open up when the hollow point boolits hit something. I am not worried about leading since I keep the speeds down and the lube is up.

I make sure that my boolits are at least .001 larger than the groove diameter and I seldom have any leading unless I push the boolit above 1,000 FPS.

[*Paladin*]

Thanks for the info. and THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!

Just curious, what is the % of lead, tin, antimony, etc. in most WWs? If you or anyone knows that, I would appreciate it.

Thanks for the thanks! Looks like "Bumpo the alloy calculator" :mrgreen: has you covered! Bumpo has a pretty good alloy calculator for free download here on the forum. Search for it and save it. It's helped me out a couple times now. :drinks:

[arjacobson]

Straight WW's for .45 ACP boolits is kind of a waste of WW alloy. I use 50/50 pure to WW to make my WW's last longer. They shoot great with no leading through my Colt and Les Baer 1911's.

Same here.. Works great

[captaint]

I have consistently used 50/50 WW's and Pb. Air cooled. No problems. I actually have more Pb right now than WW's. Don't get any leading though, in the 1911's.. enjoy Mike