Creating Alloy From Wheel Weights Video

[Don L]

Hello all. I processed 350 lbs of wheel weights over the weekend and made a brief set of videos of it, for anyone contemplating the task and wanting to see how it's done. This is the way I do it, but feel free to comment if you see any information you think is wrong.


https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEr5Wto8yuXQeOtLz7Y9hih0Wmxwo3dM2

[Gofaaast]

I always sort my WW and remove all no lead weights before smelting. No zinc contamination risk and much less fuel burned heating steel weights, especially with the high ratios of steel nowadays.

[MarkP]

I like the idea of using a large ladle to pour into ingot molds.

I have a lid for my pots I think it reduces melt time by nearly 1/2.

I have large bottom pour pot I made but the valve seat can get clogged with clips and will not shut off.

[Yodogsandman]

You need to sort zinc and steel wheel weights out before rendering the wheel weights down.

A thermometer or PID (probe for temp only) is necessary now that there's so many zinc wheel weights in the buckets. Keep the melt temperature below 725*F. Zinc melts at about 780*F.

You lost a lot of lead when you removed the clips. I throw a few handfuls of sawdust on the top and touch it off with a match. The flame burns off any gasses. The clips seem to repel the lead and come out almost clean but also with the charcoal like dust from the sawdust. This will reduce and retain any tin or antimony that's on the surface, too. After the initial sawdust and scooping out the clips, I'll do it again. Then follow up with a wax. This assures all the tin and antimony goes back into the melt. Be careful using Magnaflux, it sucks in moisture from the air. Sawdust is wet, too. Don't stir the moisture under the surface, yet. Toss it on top and let it sit for awhile to get rid of any moisture.

A longer handle on your spoon and ladle would help to keep your hands and arms away from the heat more. A little bend in the ladle handle would help, too. A #3 Rowell ladle is perfect for both jobs.

More ingot molds would speed things up a lot for you. Keep them close to the pot and well supported.

Be sure to wear all your safety stuff. No nylon or any synthetic clothing. Long sleeve shirt, long pants, durable shoes, hat with a brim, safety glasses or face shield, long cuffed leather welders gloves and maybe an apron. Keep upwind of the fumes. Wash up good before eating, drinking or smoking. Never use utensils that you used for lead for food again. Keep children and pets well away from the work area.

[big bore 99]

Nice job. Thanks!

[Don L]

Interesting comments folks. Thanks. As I expected, there are slightly different approaches.

As the wheel weights I get are free, I'm not terribly worried about a little wasted lead.

I'd also say that it's quite easy to keep the pot at a minimum temperature to keep below the zinc melting point. The zinc ones separate out fine, making that extra work unnecessary (to me anyway). The last time I did this, I didn't even separate-out the stick-on weights and my alloy turned out very good for shooting and casting, so I was being real picky (for me!), just by separating the stickies this time.

As an aside, I wound up with about 125 ingots from the clip-on wheel weights and 64 ingots from the stick-on type (to give some idea of the proportions of each in my batch). While sorting through the clip-ons from the stickies, I was amused to find one pail had a very high proportion of stickies compared to the other two. I suspect that the tire technician (perhaps formerly employed an no longer at the shop) may have been purposely discarding stickies in one pail and clip-ons in another, until someone else took over his job.

[bangerjim]

ALWAYS.......sort WW's B4 re-melting. No ways around it. Never rely on melt temps because it is very difficult to control that temp in a re-melting pot situation.

It is time-comsuming to sort, but if you choose to rely on FREE stuff, you need to pay the piper. I gave up on WW's 2 years ago when they turned 50% or higher to Zn and Fe content. I buy all my alloys pure and mix to what I need......9-12 Bhn. I won't even haul them home any longer. I got bigger fish to fry.

And keep all different WW's, Pb, and alloys separate. No "big batch" melts. That way you can easily mix and CHANGE your alloy in the future. Also, keep linotype in it's native format..."lines-o-type"...to prove it is real lino. Anything can be poured by anyone into ingots and marked "lino".

Have fun making boolits with your new stash.

banger

[Don L]

Thanks Banger. I'm still not going to pre-sort for zinc. No way! ;) The way I look at it, end results are king and if a good, shootable, castable alloy is obtained, there's not a real-world problem (in my case) in need of fixing. I think I had about 20% (at most) zinc wheel weights in my batch. At the price I pay (which is zero), that's not a problem at all.

By the way, here's the number of ingots I wound up with from the 350 lbs of raw material:

165290

[bangerjim]

Have you actually cast and shot anything from that batch yet????? Having a pile of metal is one thing. Having a pile of good reliable usable alloy is another.

If you are gettign 20% Zn (!!!!!) content you really need to consider in investing in a bunch of Sn to lower the surface tension for casting good boolits. And 20% will lighten your boolits considerably, so you will probably have to compensate for all your powder loads.

Sorting is still the best. But do what you feel is best for your needs. I prefer pure Pb/Sn/Sb alloys with just a touch of Cu sometimes in there for toughness. No Zn 'round these parts, pardner!

Have fun casting.

bangerjim

[Don L]

Have you actually cast and shot anything from that batch yet????? Having a pile of metal is one thing. Having a pile of good reliable usable alloy is another.

If you are gettign 20% Zn (!!!!!) content you really need to consider in investing in a bunch of Sn to lower the surface tension for casting good boolits. And 20% will lighten your boolits considerably, so you will probably have to compensate for all your powder loads.

Sorting is still the best. But do what you feel is best for your needs. I prefer pure Pb/Sn/Sb alloys with just a touch of Cu sometimes in there for toughness. No Zn 'round these parts, pardner!

Have fun casting.

bangerjim

Wow. I don't know if you have reading problems or what the problem is Bangerjim.

Have I shot any? Yes, I have. I've been casting bullets using this technique since the late 1970's but I suppose, it's the length of time you're a member of Castboolits that is the important criteria here. Sorry for being so impolite as to disagree with you. How long have you been casting?

Now, being the expert you are and me the newbie, can you grasp the fact that the zinc wheel weights have not been melting? They float to the surface and get skimmed off intact, like the metal clips.

So when I say (and read this carefully) that I am getting 20% zinc wheel weights in each batch of free wheel weights, that does not mean I am getting 20% zinc in the melt. The zinc ones stay unmelted, float to the surface and are skimmed off, along with the metal clips. Let the melt do the sorting for you.

[Don L]

There's many more informative YouTube videos on this process out there. Why do you feel your video is worth the valuable time of the good members here to watch it? I assumed you wanted us to critique your process. You don't seem to want to learn anything, just produce videos of melting stuff. You might have wasted your whole weekend making lead ingots of dubious quality for boolit casting.

Oh, I see. If I post something, I must agree with others' differences in technique or else I am wasting your time.

Hey, all I said was "This is the way I do it, but feel free to comment if you see any information you think is wrong." I don't read anywhere where I said I'm asking to be taught; I'm just sharing my process in the hopes it might be helpful to someone else (because it's worked for me for 45 years).

Sure, we have an honest disagreement on the subject of sorting out all zinc wheel weights. That should be okay and I found some of the comments quite informative. I don't necessarily have to agree with you to respect you (maybe you should try that sometime).

[Don L]

In case anyone's getting led astray by the exaggerated charge that I'm ending up with 20% zinc in my alloy because of the way I'm doing things, I refer to the Third Edition of the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook (shown below).

There is no way - and I repeat, no way - you will get more than 2% zinc under casting conditions, no matter how hard you try (unless you cast at 1,468 degrees). This should be pointed out, I think.

Kind of new here and not meaning to be disrespectful.

165310

[Yodogsandman]

Don L, It used to be fine to throw everything in the pot and make ingots. Now, there's just too much zinc and other stuff in the buckets of WW. I'm sure that you can see the difference if you've been doing it for 45 years. If you can dissolve 2% zinc into your molten lead, any more will show up as a metal-like oatmeal on the surface. Just because Lyman says you can do it doesn't mean you should. That's not a very good boolit alloy for any boolit casting. It might work for plinking ammo if you have low expectations and that's what makes you happy. I'd just use it up by casting big salt water fishing weights with it, myself. I do hope that you didn't get any zinc in your ingots.

I had 4 buckets of WW given to me a few weeks ago. By my best guess, only 10% is lead and only half that is clip on wheel weights. That's going to be the new reality of using WWs, I'm afraid. Might wait till retirement to segregate them!

[bullseye67]

Good job Don L.

I did see your buckets had a HH on them? Only some would know that "our" WW have a lot less scrap zinc and steel than the "other" WW do. The last 6 pails I sorted I ended up with 3 1/2 COWW, 1 1/2 SOWW and most of a bucket steel, zinc and scrap. I also have been smelting for a while and now I sort before smelting.

I also re-melt COWW and pure to alloy. Mine are 30/70 to have pistol ingots ready to go.

[runfiverun]

unless you have tin in the alloy.
tin loves zinc, it will migrate to zinc away from lead in the same alloy.
then you can have a more soluble lead-zinc alloy.
without the tin 3 or more percent zinc is alloyable in plain lead without even trying.
you can also get copper into your alloy by using a higher tin content.
weird how alloy's work ain't it.

I don't understand why you'd need to turn the heat up double the melt point of zinc to get it to stay in solution, you don't have to do that with antimony and it'll go up near the 19-20% area without an issue.

[Don L]

unless you have tin in the alloy.
tin loves zinc, it will migrate to zinc away from lead in the same alloy.
then you can have a more soluble lead-zinc alloy.
without the tin 3 or more percent zinc is alloyable in plain lead without even trying.
you can also get copper into your alloy by using a higher tin content.
weird how alloy's work ain't it.

I don't understand why you'd need to turn the heat up double the melt point of zinc to get it to stay in solution, you don't have to do that with antimony and it'll go up near the 19-20% area without an issue.

I'm not sure, but you may have misread my last post. I mentioned the high temperature (+1,400 degrees) needed to totally dissolve zinc into the alloy, but did not mean that I use that high temperature. As you know, the amount of zinc that can dissolve into the alloy is dependent on temperature and that is an important factor.

Which also means that - even if you create your alloy at a higher temperature and end up dissolving a little more than 2% zinc - once you begin casting at your more controlled temperature (I cast at around 750 degrees), that extra zinc will separate out to the top of the melt anyway and not go into any bullets (unless you completely drain the pot, which you'll never do) because only a certain percentage can be a part of the mix for any given temperature.

[Don L]

Good job Don L.

I did see your buckets had a HH on them? Only some would know that "our" WW have a lot less scrap zinc and steel than the "other" WW do. The last 6 pails I sorted I ended up with 3 1/2 COWW, 1 1/2 SOWW and most of a bucket steel, zinc and scrap. I also have been smelting for a while and now I sort before smelting.

I also re-melt COWW and pure to alloy. Mine are 30/70 to have pistol ingots ready to go.

Heh, heh. You noticed that huh? When I asked the owner of the Fountain Tire in High Level, he said I could have them all, so long as I bring my own buckets, so off to Home Hardware I go and come back with 5 pails!

When I'm up in northern Alberta with my wife to visit her family, I can hit tire stores in the small towns. Very few people wanting scrap wheel weights there so, when I ask, they're almost sure to just give 'em to me (I think they're glad I'm taking them off their hands!)

Actually, I can get lots for free right here in Edmonton too, but maybe it gives me sense of accomplishment this way. ;)

[scottfire1957]

I'm not sure, but you may have misread my last post. I mentioned the high temperature (+1,400 degrees) needed to totally dissolve zinc into the alloy, but did not mean that I use that high temperature. As you know, the amount of zinc that can dissolve into the alloy is dependent on temperature and that is an important factor.

Which also means that - even if you create your alloy at a higher temperature and end up dissolving a little more than 2% zinc - once you begin casting at your more controlled temperature (I cast at around 750 degrees), that extra zinc will separate out to the top of the melt anyway and not go into any bullets (unless you completely drain the pot, which you'll never do) because only a certain percentage can be a part of the mix for any given temperature.

There are a LOT of people on high horses on this site. You've tickled a few. You'll probably tickle some more. They don't like being tickled.

The truth don't sit well with some. They don't seem to like frankness either. Sugarcoating works well.

[Nose Dive]

Come on guys.... All posts and methodology, if it works for you, is a working solution..... (if you do it different..that's OK too!!)

Don L has GREAT supplier of WW's and if keeping the pot temp low works for him in his smelt pot...it works for me!

Looks like his ingot stash is pretty nifty and, well, 'his time spent smelting is...well... his time spent smelting'!!

I appreciate Don L's post and pics UTUBE movie...was fun to watch...

I find Don, when smelting,,,i get a bit 'prettier' ingots if I start with a few scoops of sawdust in the bottom of the pot...the bring on the smelt material... I do it 'low and slow' to help cook off any moisture...stir well and I do the 'sawdust' trick three time at least and never ever ADD more smelt material to a hot molten smelt pot.... And I always wear safety glasses and leather gloves and apron....boots too!!

Keep up the good work buddy!!!

Nose Dive

Cheap, Fast, Good. Kindly pick two.

[Don L]

Thanks Nose Dive (and Scottfire 1957 too). Despite some of the antics, many of the posts have been useful and thought-provoking to read - even if only to make me go back to the books and check things again.

Being on the internet, we're quite widely dispersed geographically, so assumptions about alloy availability and things like that can not be assumed. I like your suggestion about the sawdust in the bottom of the pot before starting. I might have to try that next time.

Oh, and here's a shot of the ingots I produced over the weekend (I should put it in a video, just to make a certain someone's hair start on fire ;) )

165339

[BigEyeBob]

I sort the wheel weights at the scrap yard , and leave all the steel and zinc weights behind for them , I don't have to pay for what I don't want .Takes the same amount of time just a different location . Beach umbrella for shade and an esky with some cold beers makes a good mornings work .

[toallmy]

If it works , it works . Sort of how I do it , but with a thermometer and motor oil . I have only done it a couple times probably 8-10 buckets all together . When I cook coww I continue adding and pouring until finished . When I am casting I mix 50/50 with soft lead . I am I newbie but having a blast .

[OS OK]

Watched your videos…read all the comments here…and I learned a very good lesson.
"I will not buy any more ingots of lead or other blend off this forum…it convinced me to deal only with someone like 'Rotometals', this was exemplary!"

OS OK

[Don L]

If it works , it works . Sort of how I do it , but with a thermometer and motor oil . I have only done it a couple times probably 8-10 buckets all together . When I cook coww I continue adding and pouring until finished . When I am casting I mix 50/50 with soft lead . I am I newbie but having a blast .

That would work too Toallmy and might be the way I'd go too, if I couldn't get my hands on wheel weights. My preference is for wheel weights though, because it comes with the arsenic and antimony needed for heat-treating the bullets (which 2 of my guns need).

Not content to just drop them from the mould into water, I run mine through a sizer, then heat treat in an oven (dousing after 1/2 hour at 450 degrees) and then run them through a sizer 1/1000th larger when applying the lube (to avoid work-softening the driving bands). Those end up being some tough bullets. The .30-30 and .44 Mag lever guns like 'em that way and no leading.

For the other guns (hand guns) I use the alloy I described making, but do not bother with the heat-treating (which might be counter-productive at their lower velocities and pressures).

Thinking about it some more, I probably over-did it, separating-out the stick-on weights this time. Checking an alloy calculator, I could have made a final batch of 36 bars of stick-ons, 36 bars of clip-ons, 9 bars of Lino and 2 bars of 50/50 and still been very close to 2% tin - which is pretty much what I did the last time I cooked up an alloy batch. I might return to that method next time, even though it will result in a little less antimony in the mix. Before doing so, I'll have to check again to see how much is needed to make the heat-treating process work.

[Don L]

I sort the wheel weights at the scrap yard , and leave all the steel and zinc weights behind for them , I don't have to pay for what I don't want .Takes the same amount of time just a different location . Beach umbrella for shade and an esky with some cold beers makes a good mornings work .

I see the aspect of not wanting to pay for zinc is a significant concern for many. Should I assume you live in the U.S.? Is that pretty much the standard deal there? Where I live (Edmonton, Canada), it super-easy to get all you want for free. Plus it seems there's not nearly as high the proportion of zinc and iron around here that I'm reading the States' shooters end up with.

[bangerjim]

Down here in "the colonies", we have a bunch of tree kisser and owl hugger environmentalists that have successfully got laws passed to ban Pb anything in several states. "It's for the children and condors!"

Last batch of COWW's I did here in AZ was almot 50% FE/Zn. That was enought messing around for me.

If you can find a different scenario up there in the north land, good luck and more power to you!

I'll stick with certified x-ray verified alloys.

banger

[hc18flyer]

This past weekend I smelted nearly 500# of lino, zinc, coww, and stickies. I sort out the steel, zinc, and separate the coww and the stickies. I had a few steel mixed in with the stickies. I missed a couple of zinc ww and they simply stayed on top of the melt. when I was done with the ww, I smelted down the zinc, just to see what it would take, and I hope to trade the zinc ingots for some lead. With my turkey fryer, I really have to crank up the heat to melt zinc. I still would feel better sorting than taking a chance? This should put me over 1,000# of raw alloy and lots of cast boolets, so I am done smelting for a while. Flyer

[runfiverun]

for best results do a full hour soak.
staying just under the slump temp will yield highest possible from that batch.
but a full hour will insure your alloy is consistent from batch to batch and predictable over periods of time too.

[Don L]

for best results do a full hour soak.
staying just under the slump temp will yield highest possible from that batch.
but a full hour will insure your alloy is consistent from batch to batch and predictable over periods of time too.

Thanks Runfiverun, but it's not clear what you're referring to by a "full hour soak." Do you mean a full hour in the oven or a full hour in the cooling bath after having being in the oven?

I definitely aim at using the highest temperature possible; having calibrated my equipment by slowly heating bullets to the slump point and then using 10 degrees below that, from that time forward (I always have an oven temperature thermometer in the oven, alongside the basket of bullets, to get as close to the slump temp as possible without exceeding it).

[Black Chrome]

Hello all. I processed 350 lbs of wheel weights over the weekend and made a brief set of videos of it, for anyone contemplating the task and wanting to see how it's done. This is the way I do it, but feel free to comment if you see any information you think is wrong.


https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEr5Wto8yuXQeOtLz7Y9hih0Wmxwo3dM2
Thanks for sharing the videos, I enjoyed them!

[sw282]

Hi Don. Enjoyed your comments. Guess l'm a newby too when it comes to post count.. Even tho l have been casting since the late 70s when IHMSA first became popular. l sort my weights and always have due to necessity..Back then my main suppliers were ''service stations''.. Mostly a thing of the past now. The sorting was to keep my fingers from being eaten by the Razor Blades used to scrape expired safety stickers off windshields. These always seemed to end up in the wheel weight/razor blade/cigarette bucket. Thankfully inspection stickers are a thing of the past in Ga, SC.

Now l sort to get the non-lead stuff out. Not a lot of alloying on my part.. My shooting needs center around a good target boolit in the 800-1000 fps range...l make ingots first,,, Later on l cast from those lngots. Adding a bit of tin solder during casting to fill out my mould.
Boolits cast from my H&G 503 get HEAT TREATED riding in the barrel of my S&W 629 Magnum Hunter.
Fueled by 8 gr of UNIQUE five will group in an inch @ 25 yards.

[Don L]

Thanks for sharing that sw282. Things sure have changed since the IHMSA days it appears, but not quite as much here in the frozen north as where you reside, it appears (with respect to wheel weight sources).

I still have my IHMSA-suited Model 29-3 with the 10 5/8" barrel and it's 4-position front sight. Love that gun's accuracy and, for the loads it consumes, I don't heat-treat my bullets for it either.

The one's I do heat-treat for are:



.44 Mag full-house loads for the Rossi Ranch Hand (about 1,600 fps, compared to the 1,300 out of the Model 29)
.30-30 (Model 94)
7mm BR Remington (XP-100)

[Kevinkd]

Nice video. Seems like a good setup and its nice to get alot of lead smelted into usable ingots...

I think some of the others were 'critiquing' your method due to the fact that with the very high zn count for WW anymore, when you put them all in a large pot (alot of the zn will be on bottom getting hit with most heat first and longest (hence they may start to slump and liquify before all top lead is melted). That's probably what they were getting at.

Anyways, looks really good, keep up the good work and happy shootin :drinks:

[Don L]

Nice video. Seems like a good setup and its nice to get alot of lead smelted into usable ingots...

I think some of the others were 'critiquing' your method due to the fact that with the very high zn count for WW anymore, when you put them all in a large pot (alot of the zn will be on bottom getting hit with most heat first and longest (hence they may start to slump and liquify before all top lead is melted). That's probably what they were getting at.

Anyways, looks really good, keep up the good work and happy shootin :drinks:

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for the comment and the attempt to clarify what others are getting at. No disrespect, but I think we have an honest disagreement on the subject of zinc contamination and, if I may be so bold (since I do have some training in chemistry), permit me to explain why:

I've been out of university for quite a while, so I may get some of the terms wrong, but here's the general idea. In chemistry, you learn that different elements when combined in solution can mix and, once they do, they do not separate; they stay dissolved.

But, depending on the elements being combined, there are limits to how much can be absorbed into solution. Once you exceed the limiting concentration of the element being added, it stops dissolving. You can stir it and make it look like it's mixed in but, as soon as you let the solution stand for a while, the amount of element added that exceeds the maximum concentration will precipitate out (sinking to the bottom or floating to the top, depending on its density compared to the solution).

Anyone can prove this concept for themselves by mixing salt in water. You can add and add and add salt until no more salt can be dissolved in the water. Once you exceed that maximum concentration, the excess will precipitate out. The rest will remain dissolved and never precipitate out (which, by the way, is an important concept to keep in mind with bullet alloys too - at the low concentrations we use, the tin and lead will never separate out, causing the tin to float to the surface, so you don't need to keep stirring the alloy to keep it dissolved; that's a total waste of time).

In addition to this (and this is important), the amount of the element that can be dissolved in solution is dependent on temperature. So salt water at a higher temperature (I expect, based on established principles of chemistry) will be able to dissolve slightly more salt than water at a lower temperature.

So suppose you dissolve the maximum amount of salt in a glass of hot water? Easy to do because you can tell when you hit the limit (leaving the glass standing after stirring, you will see salt precipitate out and start settling in the bottom of the glass). So let's say you then remove that excess salt with a spoon. Now the water has the maximum amount of salt it can dissolve at that hot temperature.

Now what do you think happens when you let the water in the glass cool? Some salt will come out of solution and precipitate to the bottom of the glass. Why? Because at that (now lower) temperature, it can't hold as much salt in solution. And there's no way you will ever get it to dissolve more salt at that temperature, no matter how long you stir it.

We can now apply this to the matter of zinc. Refer to the snap shot of a page from the Lyman Bullet Casting Manual below. It states what I just said about salt water but, this time, regarding maximum concentrations of zinc. At 850 degrees only a little over 2% of zinc can dissolve into the lead solution (I know, there are other, small factors brought in with tin, but I'm trying to keep this brief).

So what you say about the bottom of the pot getting hotter and dissolving more zinc... to me, it's not an issue. I cast at about 775 degrees and, at that temperature, it doesn't matter how much zinc got into the solution at one point because the only thing that's important is how much zinc will be in my alloy at casting temperature (775 degrees). If it got to a higher concentration due to high temperatures of the earlier process, it doesn't matter because it's going to precipitate out (which, in the case of the lighter zinc, means it will float to the top and never get to the spigot).

So my main point (and where it appears some people are going wrong) is this: Don't worry about too much heat causing more zinc to melt into the alloy. If you absorb more because of the higher temperatures, the process will automatically reverse once you're casting. It is a non-problem.

And I'll conclude by saying that, since I've been doing it the way I showed for over 3 decades, I think it is working quite well. That minuscule amount of zinc impurity is not enough (in my experience) to measurably effect the outcome.

Okay, fire away critics. ;)

P.S. I realize there may be some reading this, rolling their eyes saying, "I knew that already", but I post it because it's possible this explanation might be helpful to some others.

165844

[sw282]

Don. We still shoot IHMSA in Augusta Ga... Sometimes a little G O L F too.
Fourth Saturday is IHMSA Big Bore Day..We do that in Lincolnton Ga..
Come on down and bring that long barreled Smith & Wesson 44 Silh with you..
0n second thought that Smith might present a problem..
Don't know much about handguns COMING South.
Have heard lots of bad PR of them trying to GO North

[Don L]

Don. We still shoot IHMSA in Augusta Ga... Sometimes a little G O L F too.
Fourth Saturday is IHMSA Big Bore Day..We do that in Lincolnton Ga..
Come on down and bring that long barreled Smith & Wesson 44 Silh with you..
0n second thought that Smith might present a problem..
Don't know much about handguns COMING South.
Have heard lots of bad PR of them trying to GO North

You've still got IHMSA competitions going? I'm jealous sw282! I really miss that sport. It was the most fun ever; they should put stuff like that on ESPN instead of some of the other, dull stuff it's filled with. Way better.

Not that I will go, but I definitely could go down there with my guns and compete if I had a mind to. I've done it before (in 1986 I competed in the Internationals in Idaho Falls). We can transport handguns here in Canada if it's for the purpose of going to a competition or to go to a target-shooting range.

Going north... yeah, there's all sorts of bad stories for Americans trying to cross into Canada. But for a Canadian resident to come back with a handgun he has followed the proper procedures for, it's no problem.

[sw282]

l am fortunate living I Augusta for IHMSA... First weekend l can compete in Gainesville Ga. field pistol.. Second weekend Patrick SC. Big Bore, field pistol.... Fourth in Lincolnton Ga BB and FP... Freedom Arms revolvers dominate BIG BORE...S&W does quite well in field pistol.. We are having the East Coast lnvitational
in Virginia this summer...To my knowledge it will be the biggest IHMSA meet in the country...


Personally l have always competed in IHMSA Silh to sharpen my shooting skills for deer hunting.

l only shoot Standing Revolver...Most realistic position for handgun hunting

[medicms2001]

I don't have the patience to sort all those ww out. It really isn't that hard to keep a low temp, just enough to melt the lead. If you have the time, sure sorting is the way, just not for me

[taco650]

I've always sorted the WW'so I've gotten but I only get about 50-60 lbs at a time. To each his own, keeping the temp right prevents problems.

[bigjake]

Nice video. Seems like a good setup and its nice to get alot of lead smelted into usable ingots...

I think some of the others were 'critiquing' your method due to the fact that with the very high zn count for WW anymore, when you put them all in a large pot (alot of the zn will be on bottom getting hit with most heat first and longest (hence they may start to slump and liquify before all top lead is melted). That's probably what they were getting at.

Anyways, looks really good, keep up the good work and happy shootin :drinks:


You hit the nail right on the head Kevin, that's exactly what I was thinking when I saw the video. It happened to me before, and it didn't take long at all to melt the zinc. I separate my weights, its easy and quick once you learn how to spot those pesky suckers. since WW are so hard to get free, I've been getting mine at those find it yourself junkyards. there, I only grab the lead ones. I can spot the zinc and steel ones a mile away.

[John Boy]

* Buy a Chinese Wok Spoon with holes: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C6P9F5C/ref=asc_df_B01C6P9F5C4256134?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=merbethomgarbhg-20&linkCode=df0&creative=395093&creativeASIN=B01C6P9F5C&ascsubtag=9192701
- It it larger than than the spoon your using to remove the clips & dross
- With the holes in the spoon, the melt will drain back into the pot instead of into the dross container
* Don't just float the flux on top of the melt - stir it deep into the bottom and around the edges of the pot to gather dross that you are missing

[Don L]

You hit the nail right on the head Kevin, that's exactly what I was thinking when I saw the video. It happened to me before, and it didn't take long at all to melt the zinc. I separate my weights, its easy and quick once you learn how to spot those pesky suckers. since WW are so hard to get free, I've been getting mine at those find it yourself junkyards. there, I only grab the lead ones. I can spot the zinc and steel ones a mile away.

As I explained, even if you melted all the zinc (even though I probably didn't melted any, by the way they were scooping them out intact), you can't get more than 2% (at most) into your alloy at casting temperatures, no matter what you do, Bigjake. Unless one believes that 2% is going to ruin the alloy, it's a non-problem.