What do you guys suggest?

[slide]

I have yet to cast my first bullet. Have already learned a ton from this forum in a few weeks. Question, if you guys were me would you try and score some ww's or buy some casting alloy. I notice there a several on here that sell casting alloy. I did sign up on a group buy for a NOE mould after hearing what everybody had to say about them. Hopefully by the time it shows up I will have the rest of my equipment and it will be cooler.

[462]

Lead wheel weights are getting harder to find, no thanks to the do-gooders. When you do get some, about half are steel and zinc. It's but a matter of time before they are completely gone.

Start making the rounds and collect as many as possible. Later, you can buy ingots as needed to meet your demand.

[HeavyMetal]

Some of the auction sites have guys selling WW in both forms, clip on and stick on.

I prefer clip on for the antimony content so I can blend it with foundry type for a slightly different alloy content similar to Lyman number 2 ( less tin more antimony)

Beware of what you buy! If you buy ingots you only have the sellers word as to content of the alloy, if you buy ww's in thier "natural" form it will be easier to sort the Zink weights out during you "smelting " program.


Same same with type metals of any kind! if it don't look like printing type don't pay any more than you would for WW! Natural form for type metal garontiees alloy content!

Now if your flush or time starved several of the vendors listed here can provide you with custom blended alloys at reasonable market prices ( within reason of course).

Because of legislation passed several years ago WW metal is going to become less and less available as tire dealers and car makers switch to zink.

I do hope I'm around when they decide Zink is a health issue because of the tons of it setting alongside the road!

Meanwhile check local adds like Craigs list and e bay maybe run an add in a local paper.

Ya never know who has what until you ask!

[cajun shooter]

Look back on the specs of the mould you ordered. All custom moulds are designed to drop the bullet with a certain alloy. I would at least buy some of that alloy so that you don't have too much going on at once. Any lead that you may scrounge is a plus regardless of it's make up as long as it is lead and not zinc or steel . Take a automotive type magnet with you when looking for scrap lead.

[gray wolf]

if you guys were me would you try and score some ww's or buy some casting alloy. I notice there a several on here that sell casting alloy.

Well yes of course try and get some WW--if you can't then your only other option is to purchase metal. Then your question is from who.

[bobthenailer]

buy as much PB , WW , lino, ect as you can afford ! thats the fuel for the fire. at least a few hundred pounds to start and allways keep looking for more ! I probley cant use all i have but i allways keep looking , the last batch of WW, almost 1000 lbs had way to much zinc & steel ww in the mix . if you add the melted clips, i had over 33% loss. it used to be around 12% before zinc & steel weights .

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

+1 on what cajun shooter said.

Boolit casting can be simple and it can be complicated.
there is no since making it complicated at the very begining.

There are parts of making boolits that can become
a hobby all by themself, blending scrap metal into usable Alloys,
making your lube, and sizing/lubing the boolits.

Why do I mention this...I wish someone would have told me this.
I started out thinking I wanted to know every aspect of making boolits.
I became overwelmed with all the details and frustrated because of
the difficulty in troubleshooting problems when everything was so new to me.

Then there is the differences and pitfalls in loading Homemade cast boolits,
typically softer than commercial 'hard' cast bullets.

Get a good book on cast boolits...I highly recommend
the newly released, Lyman "Cast Bullet Handbook: 4th Edition"
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=867465

also Midway is closing out #3
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?productnumber=796528

These books contain valueable loading data for cast boolits typically not found in the standard reloading manuals...more specifically powder choice.

Good luck,
Jon

[dverna]

My experience is limited so maybe it is valuable to a new caster.

I started casting over 35 years ago and used straight Linotype. I made very good bullets right from the start. In part this was because I KNEW the metal was good. If I had a problem, it was with my mold temp, melt temp or pouring. Eventually, I began mixing in range lead to get a less expensive bullet and a softer bullet (as lubing the Linotype bullets required quite a bit of force).

Do not use any old "garbage" metal to start with. Using a known alloy gives you a solid foundation and simplifies trouble shooting.

The few dollars you invest may make the difference between hours of frustration and the pleasure of enjoying a new hobby and producing a quality product. Cost savings will come later as you gain experience.

I have seen bullets from casters that are superb and others that are junk. Making junk is easy and some will be too kind to tell you they are junk. Your standard should be to do as well as the quality of a commercial bullet like Dardas, Laser-Cast etc. - NOT what your buddy may be making.

Don

[williamwaco]

I use both salvage wheel weights and bought ingots.

You have plenty of advice here and it all looks good.

Let's talk about cost.

odinohi (user id) on this site. will ship you a 65 pound box of beautiful, clean wheel weights for about 72 bucks. That is 1.11 per pound delivered to your fron't door and ready to cast. From time to time he offers lead from various sources other than wheel weights. You can be sure that what you receive will be EXACTLY what he describes.

I find that 100 pounds of clean wheel weights (1.00 per pound) will produce about 85 pounds of clean ingots. That is 1.18 per pound and you must:
1 - Find them
2 - Go get them
3 - Haul them home
4 - Muscle them into your shop.
5 - Sort out the zinc and steel weights.
6 - Sort out the valve stems, candy wrapers, sticks, and some yucky stuff.
7 - Melt them
8 - Skim off the clips
9 - Flux, skim, reflux, reskim until clean.
10 Pour into ingots.
11 Dispose of the toxic waste.
12 Finally you have ingots at a cost of 1.18 plus several hours of hot, sweaty, unfun work

[slide]

Very good point. Good answers from everyone.

[Tedly]

How do you sort zinc from lead based WW ? Is this done only by smelt/temp check or can a fellow know the difference by looking?scratching? How??? thanks...Tedly

[bumpo628]

How do you sort zinc from lead based WW ? Is this done only by smelt/temp check or can a fellow know the difference by looking?scratching? How??? thanks...Tedly

There are a few ways to do besides melting temperature. By the way, a zinc weight on the bottom of the pot CAN melt before it is supposed to.

I use a pair of wire cutters with a strong magnet stuck to them when I sort WWs.
Lead will dent, but zinc will not. Use the magnet to test for steel weights.'

Most zinc weights will have "Zn" on them. Iron weights usually say "Fe".

If you drop a zinc weight, it will make a ringing sound instead of a thud.

This is not always true, but I've noticed that many clip on zinc weights are cleaner than lead.

Zinc will also bubble if you put pool acid (muriatic) on it. People usually use this method to test for contaminated ingots.

[oscarflytyer]

Casting now for about 8 months. I started collecting WWs before I ever got a mold or was positive I was going to cast. If I were getting into it w/o any WWs at all, I would go ahead and buy some lead and get started and learn. Worst, you screw up and remelt the lead! Love that part!

Then keep looking and try scrounge any WWs/lead you can.

[williamwaco]

There are a few ways to do besides melting temperature. By the way, a zinc weight on the bottom of the pot CAN melt before it is supposed to.

I use a pair of wire cutters with a strong magnet stuck to them when I sort WWs.
Lead will dent, but zinc will not. Use the magnet to test for steel weights.'

Most zinc weights will have "Zn" on them. Iron weights usually say "Fe".

If you drop a zinc weight, it will make a ringing sound instead of a thud.

This is not always true, but I've noticed that many clip on zinc weights are cleaner than lead.

Zinc will also bubble if you put pool acid (muriatic) on it. People usually use this method to test for contaminated ingots.


DITTO.

I agree with every word.

[Rick N Bama]

I did sign up on a group buy for a NOE mould

Well you certainly made an excellant choice for your 1st mold! With my current part-time job about to come to an end I'm afraid I won't be able to buy many, if any, more of them:cry: Follow the break-in instructions & you'll have a mold to be proud of. Welcome to the madness:)

Rick

[Wayne Smith]

It really depends on availability, your pocketbook, and your willingness to do some potentially dirty work. If your pocketbook is OK the Captain here has an excellent reputation, Blammer has some foundry metal, guaranteed composition, as do others. This all comes ready to melt and cast. If you want to smelt your own you will need a separate pot/heat source if you are using a bottom pour. You also need a place to do a job that is messy and potentially smelly. It is rewarding to take that mess and make clean ingots out of it, but not necessary. To do this you also need a source of wheel weights, preferably from trucks and buses.

Only you can decide which process is best for you.

[big dale]

I am glad that this question has come up. I have been casting since the mid 60's using primaily wheel weight metal found localy or purchased at scrap metal dealers near where I have lived for most of that time. As we go on more and more junk is found in the metal from these sources. I always take what I can find, but a couple of years ago I started buying ingots from Muddy Creek Sam and have never had a problem of any kind with any of the stuff I buy from him. As a beginner you will have plenty of other problems to worry about, so why make it more difficlt than you have to? I must say that I primarily cast for pistol calibers and his 95/2.5/2.5 mix ingots work great for all my revolver and semi-auto pistol uses. This is great for my target and plinking needs which is 99% of my uses.

Have fun with this stuff.

Big Dale

[nonferrous]

Just to get started, go ahead and buy a batch of clip on WW's that have been smelted into ingots. There are always some for sale on the site, I bought some years ago, it was a good deal.
They are about 1.00 a pound now, shipped to your door, this is more than fair when you figure in all the costs involved, propane, gasoline for chasing around, not to mention all the time, begging and turn downs.
In the meantime, keep your ear to the ground and ask for them everytime you get your car serviced. Tell all your friends you want lead, I have scored hundreds of pounds of all sorts of lead just by letting friends know.
I saw some good advice on this site a while back concerning the best alloy. "Blend 50 percent wheel weight alloy that you paid for with 50 percent wheel weight alloy that you got for free".