New to casting, discouraged already....

[Tom_in_AZ]

So I tried to obtain some wheel weights today. Went to every garage and tire shop locally and nobody would even sell them to me. IS this pretty common? What are my best options? Should I just start buying ingots on ebay?

Thanks in advance.

[badbob454]

i guess you could but here on the swapping and selling section here sometimes lead comes up for sale usually @ 1$ per pound in ingots , not too bad . dont give up yet , try the local metal recyclers but watch out for zinc it will ruin your mix , muriatic acid test ... 1 drop on your suspect zinc , will bubble alot , and turn blackish if zinc present . advertise in your local newspapers , gun clubs shooting ranges etc .oh,,,, ps welcom to the forum .. great guys and gals here ...

[HiVelocity]

Find out where most folks shoot, specially open ranges, or set up ranges out in the country. Most don't recover their lead from the backstops and burms. I've picked up several pounds in 20-30 minutes laying on top of the soil. You could always offer to trade some reloaded ammo for some wheelweight lead.

But, just for the record, wheelweights are getting harder to come by. I found out today that they're building 2 neuclear reactors here in SC; guess where all the lead will be headed?

HV

[Derenius]

I found out today that they're building 2 neuclear reactors here in SC; guess where all the lead will be headed?

HV

Sure that lead won't be useable as tracer rounds?
I mean with all that radiation pounding that lead for years, it should almost be glowing in the dark :)

[starbits]

where are you in AZ?

Starbits

[I'll Make Mine]

Sure that lead won't be useable as tracer rounds?
I mean with all that radiation pounding that lead for years, it should almost be glowing in the dark :)

Derenius, I think the lead will be going into the reactors for the moment -- it'll be years before they take it out and bury it as nuclear waste.

Actually, though, the only reactors that use lead shielding are the ones on submarines (and possible aircraft carriers); compactness of shielding is very important in that application, but fixed installations usually use a combination of water and concrete -- better shielding (water traps neutrons hundreds of times better than lead), and cheaper.

[Derenius]

Yeah, I understood that after I wrote the reply, but my tapatalk wouldn't let me find the thread again until now. I misread the first time, and thought the lead had been used in a reactor facility already.
Sorry about the misunderstanding!

[captaint]

Tom, I would rather see you buy the WW's in ingot form right here at CB. Quite often you'll deal with the guy who smelted them and we can get them for a buck a pound, shipped. That isotope lead is very good also, and available from time to time for about the same price. Mike

[Goatwhiskers]

Tom, you want to be careful about buying WW ingots on flea-bay. No personal experience but have read of people buying ingots contaminated with zinc. Seems the seller just melted down "wheelweights" without any attempt at separation. YMMV. If all else fails you can get good known alloys from Rotometals. GW

[bob208]

i have a platform scale in the garage. and a sign out front buying lead. now you have to keep up on the going price the yards are paying. then pay about a nickel more.

[High Lord Gomer]

OOPS! I didn't realize I was supposed to look for zinc WW. How do I now tell if there were any in there?

Is there any way to get it out?

What harmful effect will it have?

[GhostRider32]

I'm new here but the way I understand it, if you buy a thermometer and keep the temps at less than 700 F only the lead will melt. I have read that lead melts at about 620 while the zinc ww mwlt at about 780 F. Is that correct guys?

[RickinTN]

The easiest way I've found to sort the zinc from the lead is with a set of wire cutters-side cutters. The lead is obviously softer than the zinc.The lead will cut very easily, the zinc is pretty hard. The difference is very obvious. Many of the zinc weights are marked Zn. After a short while you will be able to tell the difference just by looking at them.
I've purchased some from Roto-metals, and have had good luck buying from people here in the swapping and selling forum as well.
One benefit to buying ingots is the smelting is already done and saves that step.
Good Luck,
Rick

[d garfield]

There are some good buys on ebay.

[shadygrady]

send that zinc to me for lead

[cbrick]

Tom in Az, welcome to CastBoolits,

If your anything like me you will avoid EvilBay like the plague. There is no assurance you'll get what you were told it is and could cause all sorts of problems for a new caster to sort through.

Rick

[GaryN]

If you do find a load of wheelweights it is good to sort the stick on wheelweights apart from the clip on wheelweights. The stick on wheelweights are usually quite soft and approach pure lead in alloy. The clip ons usually have a very small amount of tin and some antimony so they are harder. You will also find steel/iron wheelweights. These are easy to tell will a magnet. I like to keep them all sorted so I kinda know what I have in my alloy. Even though you never really know for sure.

[GaryN]

Oh, and I forgot, welcome to the forum.

[DODGEM250]

Wheel weights are a waste of time. Unless you have too much time on your hands and really need something to occupy it. Either buy it off of ebay or find a good source for pre-molded ingots. When I got back in to casting I found out really fast how big a waste of time wheel weights were these days. Buy the ingots and get on with it. You'll spend more time farting with WW lead than accomplishing anything practical.

[I'll Make Mine]

Wheel weights are a waste of time.

If you're on a tight budget, have smelting time but not much money, and have a local source of wheelweights at a reasonable price, they're still a good deal. I recently paid $35/bucket (and the bucket was overflowing, probably weighed close to 150 lb) for weights that are about 90% lead by weight, with the lead divided about 80/20 between clip-on and stick-on. That means my $35 (plus a few hours sorting and smelting, and a gallon or so of gasoline for my Coleman stove) got me better than 100 lbs of lead, in two different hardness ranges.

On my budget, that's a bargain compared to paying $2/lb plus shipping (can't afford to buy enough at one time to get free shipping from Rotometals).

Did I mention the tire shop I got these at is two blocks from my house, directly on my way home from work? No extra gas burned getting the weights...

[357maximum]

Tom

Welcome to the fray and please do not get discouraged...but the ingots you need from one of the fine lead sellers on here and start networking. In time you will find a few scores and start to build a stash. I quit actively searching for lead a few years ago and it still comes to me occassionally from people that know me and know i have a use for it. Be patient and hang in there...this is to fine a hobby to give up over frustration. It will happen if you hang in there.

[Love Life]

As the others have advised I would buy some lead on here to get started or buy some from rotometals. Then you can go scrounging.

I just buy mine. No smelting, no wasting gas in your vehicle, no smelting, you know what it is, etc.

Buying already smelted or clean foundry lead works for me. YMMV.

[1Shirt]

Welcome: Practice, practice, practice! You will get there!
1Shirt!

[GaryN]

"Wheel weights are a waste of time"

Yup they're a big waste of time. I wouldn't buy any of them. Leave them for someone else, like me. The last time I melted a bunch I got 800lbs of lead for about $120.

[762 shooter]

Lead is everywhere. It's just not as easy or cheap to find like the good old days. Tell anyone that will listen that you are looking. Plumbers, tire shops, friends, some one one day may surprise you. Some metal recyclers will sell. If you got an itch right now, buy it off this site. Mine didn't appear overnight.

Lead does not go bad or spoil or rust. Once you have it it's yours. Some here are lucky enough to reclaim their shot boolits and shoot forever.

762

[High Lord Gomer]

So what is the danger of having some zinc in there?

I just started and have approx 80lbs of lead that might have some zinc in it.

[cbrick]

So what is the danger of having some zinc in there?

I just started and have approx 80lbs of lead that might have some zinc in it.

If the alloy has zinc in it it's near impossible to get decent mold fill-out due to the surface tension of the alloy. How much so depends on the percentage of zinc. Zinc can be cast but at a much higher temp than is practicle for boolit casting.

Far better to keep the zinc in your vitamin pills and out of your boolits. :mrgreen:

Rick

[Derenius]

Any way to get the zinc out? By fluxing or something else?

[I'll Make Mine]

Any way to get the zinc out? By fluxing or something else?

Best way to get the zinc out is not to let it get in. Start by hand sorting your wheel weights; there are several easy, quick ways to differentiate lead alloy from zinc (and steel) wheel weights; they generally depend on any common lead alloy being softer than any other metal you're likely to encounter. I use the smallest screwdriver tip on my Leatherman to scratch (through the coating, if present) each weight, and I can instantly tell whether I have lead alloy vs. zinc or steel.

Even so, I've gotten one zinc weight into my pot -- it floated and I skimmed it out, because my pot was well below the melting point of zinc. The weight was slightly eroded (zinc is very slightly soluble in lead, up to about 2% by weight), but the amount of zinc (a few percent of a half ounce weight) in a ten to twelve pound melt wasn't enough to worry about. Get the pot too hot (above about 780º F) and the zinc will melt; then you might have trouble ahead.

As long as the zinc percentage is small enough that it stays dissolved (under 2% in pure lead, might be lower with other metals present), zinc is just another hardening additive like tin or antimony. You'll know you're headed for trouble if you start getting an oatmeal consistency when the pot is barely molten; that'd indicate that the zinc is freezing out while the lead/tin/antimony are still melted. If it's a small melt, the most efficient procedure may be to simply discard that melt (sell it to the scrap yard?). Otherwise, dilution may be the solution; if you can spread the zinc contaminated metal over enough pots of zinc-free alloy, you can get below the point where the zinc remains dissolved and the metal will behave just fine (if you have mold fill-out problems, adding a little tin still helps). You definitely don't want to cast from a pot that's getting oatmeal; you'll get boolits with hard spots and weight variation due to separation of lead-with-zinc and zinc-with-lead (zinc will dissolve about 1.8% lead by weight, much less dense alloy than lead with 2% zinc), and as noted above you'll have to run the pot above about 800º F to keep the melt fully liquefied.

Some folks have experimented with using sulfur powder to pull the zinc out; it reacts with zinc to form zinc sulfide, aka sphalerite, which is insoluble in lead and will float and get skimmed off. From what I've read, this is a hit or miss process because the zinc sulfide will decompose (burning off the sulfur) above some temperature, which isn't far above where the zinc laden pot is fully liquid.

Another option for a zinc contaminated alloy is to add copper in the form of copper sulfate (sold in home improvement and feed stores, most commonly as a treatment for tree roots in a drain pipe). Look up the threads on adding copper to toughen boolits for the method; the copper will replace the zinc, which comes off the melt as zinc sulfate and gets skimmed out. As a bonus, with a little attention to alloy content, you can get boolits that can be driven at jacketed velocity without gas checks or paper patching, yet will cast in common molds and size in regular sizing dies. Some folks have taken to intentionally adding zinc to their alloy as a method of getting copper in (copper is only slightly soluble in lead alloys, also, though tin greatly increases the amount you can add).

[Derenius]

Thats some great info right there, thanks a lot! I have no zinc in my pot myself, but if there was any, this was great info!

[High Lord Gomer]

Thank you so much for taking the time to write all of that! It was exactly what I needed.

Considering that I melted down 80 lbs or so of WW I would guess that I most likely did get some in there. Since it was my first time I definitely did get it too hot so I'm sure they got melted in. Once I get a thermometer I'll try seeing if I get the oatmeal consistency when barely molten.

[375RUGER]

it'll be years before they take it out and bury it as nuclear waste.

Actually, though, the only reactors that use lead shielding are the ones on submarines (and possible aircraft carriers); compactness of shielding is very important in that application, but fixed installations usually use a combination of water and concrete -- better shielding (water traps neutrons hundreds of times better than lead), and cheaper.

Lead emits very insignificant amounts of radiation after long periods of neutron exposure. Not enough to classify it as low level waste even.
Talking of reactor shielding only you are correct, but there is plenty of lead shielding in a nuke plant. It is mostly portable and there for personal protection and is usually found as lead wool mats.

[slim1836]

Don't forget junk yards are a source of wheel weights also.

Welcome to the site,

Slim

[Defcon-One]

I have purchased both Linotype and COWW with good luck on e-bay. I only bought raw wheel weights in their original form and Linotype in strip form with letters and all.

I would not buy any lead in ingot form on e-bay because you can not tell what you are getting. Most of the time it will be"whatever they had"!

I have and would buy lead on Castboolits.com first. Much more honest group here. Even when I got misled and fell for a bait and switch here, the lead was usable, just not as hard as promised originally.

My advice is to not get discouraged and to keep looking and keep asking around. Eventually you will find a good reliable source in your area, then you'll feel like your a Lead Barron. Your inventory will grow fairly fast if you do find a good supplier! Mine did!

Good Luck!

DC-1

[RoGrrr]

Tom
You said they refuse to sell you their wheel weights. WHY do they refuse ? Or did you simply get discouraged and walk ?
I have a local mechanic who also changes some tires in his garage. I asked him what he does with the weights - SELLS them for scrap. I asked if he would sell them TO ME instead of having to load them into his truck and spending the time going to the scrap yard.
He now saves them for me and I get them essentially "for a song". He does some of my mechanical work and from time to time I stop at closing time on a Friday evening with a 12 pack of BUD under my arm. Needless to say, they are happy to see me.
Bottom line is this - you have to give them some incentive to deal with YOU rather than someone else.

Also, check with the range manager where you shoot and see if he will allow you to mine some range lead. See this thread - http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?174512-Range-diving-186lbs&highlight=186lbs

Also check craigslist.

Oh yeah. EVERY time I see a wheel weight on the ground, I PICK IT UP

[Tom_in_AZ]

Thanks everyone!

[Tom_in_AZ]

Rogrrr, they said that they have to send the used weights back to their warehouse. They were not allowed to sell them to anyone for any price.

[fredj338]

Looking for ww in todays climate of EPA regs is going to be pretty fruitless IMO. They will all be phased out in another 1-3 yrs anyway. So buy, scrounge trade for whatever alloy you can now if you want to cast. Always let people know what yo uare looking for. I ran into a guy @ an IDPA match Sat that is in commercial construciton & was asking me about casting & alloy, etc. He said he can get litterally 1000s of # of lead sheathing form roofing & other constuction demo. He has my card now.

[Sergeant Earthworm]

tell your buddies you are looking for lead, you never know what somebody has taking up space in their garage. A guy I know had about 250 pounds of pure lead in inch thick sheets removed from some sort of prehistoric x-ray machine and had no use for it so he gave it to me. I told another friend I was looking for lead and a week later he found about 100 pounds of ingots and miscellaneous pieces at a garage sale for $5 (probably sold to him by the wife of a boolit caster...). One downside is as mentioned above, you don't always know what you are getting, even with range lead. Another is you have to be careful what goes in the pot, for example, I know a guy whose melt exploded when he used some recycled plumbing lead and accidentally got a tiny bit of water in with it.

[Paratrooper]

2 things. The fella that mentioned junk yards was spot on. I've gotten oodles (yes, that IS a word) of them there. Also, when we get together for a "melting party" we have found that lead dropped from a pre-determined height will go THUD. Zinc will have a bit of a "ping". Don't drop them sideways but long way up and down. BTW, we do that on concrete.

[Nose Dive]

Hi Roger... I make rounds in south Houston of all the 'home boy' tire shops. Show up, talk right, be polite, say please and thank you, and always have a couple of cases of beer. Nothing fancy with the beer...cans...cold too. So..like on a Friday about 4 or Saturday about the same time I show up and eas back to the work bays and ask one of the 'fellas'...(working hands) and ask for lead for swap for beer. One bucket is an easy case of beer. I have never,,never come home empty handed. Some days I do well and get more for the beer than I could beleive. Some times, i give more beer than lead... But...my ole brown truck is now known and the fellas know I don't make a mess and i make sure they know I appreciate what they are doing.... Beer for lead. Simple swap out.

Nose Dive

Cheap, Fast, Good. Kindly pick two.

[Dragoon454]

I recently started casting myself. I found most local shops were already saving their wheel weights for others. I got a bit discouraged and started looking at companies like rotometals but quickly found that I could buy commercial cast or jacketed bullets for about the same price. I talked to the shop where my girlfriend has her car worked on and got a heck of a deal, a 5 gallon bucket for $20. He had others he sold to as well, but didn't hesitate to sell to me since I had some work done there and my girlfriend had been a customer for years. I happened into a couple other deals from places we had helped out through work or places where friends had their cars worked on. If you have some connection, seems like they are more willing to sell to you. I also checked with a local metal recycler and they have wheel weights they sell for $0.75/lb. Just remember to take replacement buckets with you to shops.

As for zinc, don't worry about it too much. It won't take you long to figure out just what they look and sound like and they can be quickly culled out with little effort. I only sort a small portion of my wheel weight to get the smelt started then use a thermometer to get my temperature right. Once my temp is where I want it I just add unsorted weights and the zinc float to the top with the clips and steel weights. I always flux before skimming off the waste, initially I didn't but found I was skimming off a lot of tin. Initially is seems like a daunting task but it really isn't once you get into it. There is a wealth of information on this board that got me started and many good youtube videos. Pay attention to the advice others have already given and you'll find it's not as bad as it seems and can be quite an enjoyable hobby in itself.

[dragon813gt]

Wheel weights are a waste of time.

I definetly agree with this. But I will clarify in saying they're a waste if you have to pay for them. You spend to much time sorting them and they stink when melting them down. It's my least favorite part about this hobby. Another issue is alloy consistency. Since I hunt w/ the bullets I make I need to make sure they expand properly. Wheel weights make batch consistency next to impossible. I haven't been at this that long. But I learned early on that I would rather pay for a known alloy then spend an afternoon melting down wheel weights if I had to pay for them. I still get them free from a few shops but the lead percentage is dropping w/ every bucket and I still hate cleaning them up.

[glowe]

So I tried to obtain some wheel weights today. Went to every garage and tire shop locally and nobody would even sell them to me. IS this pretty common? What are my best options? Should I just start buying ingots on ebay?

Thanks in advance.

Just keep trying, Someone you know or knows someone that works at a tireshop. I had the same thing. But my friends came through.
I wish they didn't, Cast is alot of money and time.
But I love it.
Greg

[cbrick]

Wheel weights are a waste of time.


I definetly agree with this.
Wheel weights make batch consistency next to impossible.

No WW aren't a waste of time. No WW don't make batch consistency impossible.

I saved up all the different buckets of weights until I had 800 pounds, melted and blended them all into one uniform batch.

The most I've had to pay is $20.00 for one bucket but this bucket was from a truck tire shop that had pre-sorted them with the intention of re-using them. All very clean, no stick-on weights or valve stems etc. I got 165 pounds of ingots from that one bucket, that's 12 cents a pound. This 165 pounds is now part of the 800 pounds all blended together, all very uniform. Since that is the only bucket I've had to pay for that makes it 2 and a half cents a pound for 800 pounds of uniform WW alloy. Hardly a waste of time.

If you get 20 pounds and use it, then get another bucket and use that then yes, uniformity is questionable at best.

Rick

[Remyvtr15]

I wholeheartedly support going to a metal recycler... I scored sorted 'dirty' lead (not pure) for .35c a lb...250 lbs (2) 5 gal buckets
I had looked and asked every tire shop within 40 miles... they did not even think about selling any..

Anyway's I hope to go back and snag some more... if I can get another 2 buckets, I might be set for a while.

[dragon813gt]

There aren't many people that can melt 800#s together at once. And we usually aren't after exactly 95/5/5 or whatever you're trying to make. But the WW lead varies to much in makeup and you can end up wasting a lot of time on test batches. With a known starting point it makes tweaking it easier. You may not find it a waste of time. But I sure do since my time is always limited. If they're free I won't hesitate to take them. But I will not pay for them.

[Gtek]

I enjoy sorting them, I enjoy the stink, I enjoy the mess, I enjoy melting it, I enjoy swirling it, I enjoy fluxing it, I enjoy pouring ingots, I enjoy stacking it, I enjoy picking it up in the road, I enjoy the scrounge/hunt, I enjoy dropping bullets, I enjoy sizing and lubing, I enjoy loading them, I enjoy shooting them, I enjoy picking and digging the hills at the berms, I do not enjoy buying certified but have. Where you start and where you finish will probably be miles apart. It is the journey new boolit buddy, read, learn, warm your fingers and find your way. Hard to say you did if you did'nt get none on ya! Gtek

[cbrick]

There aren't many people that can melt 800#s together at once. And we usually aren't after exactly 95/5/5 or whatever you're trying to make. But the WW lead varies to much in makeup and you can end up wasting a lot of time on test batches. With a known starting point it makes tweaking it easier. You may not find it a waste of time. But I sure do since my time is always limited. If they're free I won't hesitate to take them. But I will not pay for them.

First, I never said I melted 800 pounds in one pot. I blended them but regardless I ended up with 800 pounds of all the same alloy, no tweaking about it, it's all the same. I waste zero time on test batches, when I add ingots to my pot the only thing that changes is my pot gets fuller. When that 800 pounds is gone if I have to tweak so be it, 800 pounds will make a lot of bullets for several years.

If 800 pounds of all the same alloy @ 2 cents a pound is a waste of time to you I highly recommend that you don't do it.

Rick

[rodsvet]

I'm with cbrick on the value. at .02 per lb. that is 1,000 45's for 66 cents! If I can cast 1,000 for $30.00, I am way ahead of the game and happy, and thats at $1.00 per lb.. This is a hobby, and you have to pay something to enjoy a hobby. My .02, Rod

[Rodthrower18]

This is my first post and I'm glad there is a place where I can learn about such an amazing hobby. Anyway to the OP I am in your shoes my friend. It IS discouraging to get so many NOs but when you get a yes its great. Take today for instance I've been going to tire shops all week and everyone either reuses them or sends them to a warehouse. It dawned on me, try the USED tire shop that I used a few months back when I had a blowout before payday. Low and behold the guy roemembered me and when I asked him about the weights he looked at me and asked what I was offering. I told him $10 and we shook on it. Now I've got a #60 bucket in the garage with another that same size on the way in 3 weeks, and so on. The point I'm trying to make is keep trying and don't be afraid to think outside the box. Also truth be told try the shops in the bario, much better luck will be had. . Either way keep your head In the game its doable.

[Remyvtr15]

I was thinking.... I know... it's dangerous.... but I was thinking that my 250lbs is equal to 8750 200gr 30-06 boolits or 28225 62gr .223 boolits....

now.... 30-06 bullets are going for $1/rd and .223 are going for .50c/rd.... sooooo, we're talking saving between $8700-14000 not counting case/primer/powder...

but still even just fact. bullets cost 13c each (midway 'dogtown' nosler) these will have cost me 0.002 ea. or 2/10 of 1cent. (not counting labor, pots, muffin tins, etc.)

seems like a pretty good bargain....

Another 2 bucket score and I'll then buy up powder/primers/brass

Now... bring me that horizon! Arrr!!!

[carstensxd45]

Been lurking for quite some time, casting and making ingots for 3 years already.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6txeBlCKk00&feature=player_detailpage

[carstensxd45]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0JutlCBjuY&feature=player_detailpage

[carstensxd45]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnGu5ktJCaY&feature=player_detailpage

[carstensxd45]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPKEDvLwLaQ&feature=player_detailpage

Hope you enjoy the vids!!!

BTW, the 5 buckets of scrap weighted 460 lbs, It paid me $50.60 from the salvage yard. Actually made money to boot!!!!!

[Sergeant Earthworm]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPKEDvLwLaQ&feature=player_detailpage

Hope you enjoy the vids!!!

BTW, the 5 buckets of scrap weighted 460 lbs, It paid me $50.60 from the salvage yard. Actually made money to boot!!!!!

Those are some nice looking ingots you have there. I'll be happy to test them for you... :~]

[foxtrotter]

I enjoy sorting them, I enjoy the stink, I enjoy the mess, I enjoy melting it, I enjoy swirling it, I enjoy fluxing it, I enjoy pouring ingots, I enjoy stacking it, I enjoy picking it up in the road, I enjoy the scrounge/hunt, I enjoy dropping bullets, I enjoy sizing and lubing, I enjoy loading them, I enjoy shooting them, I enjoy picking and digging the hills at the berms, I do not enjoy buying certified but have. Where you start and where you finish will probably be miles apart. It is the journey new boolit buddy, read, learn, warm your fingers and find your way. Hard to say you did if you did'nt get none on ya! Gtek
Ditto!!

[ROGER4314]

Hi Tom,

I'd recommend that you simply buy some lead from one of our forum advertisers RotoMetals. I've done business with them many times, their service is fast and they have quality metal. I suggest this because you really don't know what you're getting when you scrounge metal. I'd rather see you spend a few bucks, get quality metal, learn the craft and do it right before you start fighting garbage metal.

Incidentally, I use their reclaimed shot in my clay bird shells. I've found cheaper lead shot but they have it available, ship promptly and I get no hassles from them. It's worth it to me to get that kind of service.

I had a great time casting years ago and I had a friend who ran a custom bullet company (I also worked for him), had access to his metal which he was very generous with. I still have a 24" full stick of Lineotype metal that he gave me. His name was Jim Yeates but he's long gone. He was a terrific guy and it was a pleasure to work for him!

I also scrounged some 30 year old WW metal that I cleaned, smelted and poured into cornbread molds. At that time, weights were all good lead and I cast a lot of it. Now, it's a different story.

Here's a link to the RotoMetals bullet alloy page. There's a lot of metal to choose from. If it cost you $20 to get quality metal to practice and learn with, so what? Consider it an investment in your education.

http://www.rotometals.com/Bullet-Casting-Alloys-s/5.htm

Flash

[Bosshaug]

Tom, if you are near me in San Tan Valley, AZ, send me a PM. I have plenty of 31 pound cores (isotope lead) and also plenty of 2 pound lead containers that will fit right into a casting pot. San Tan is just south of Queen Creek.