WW Soon If Not A Thing Of The Past

[Mitch]

First off I think that ww are still a great source of lead if you have a place to get them.It seems more and more it is not just the ww that are getting hard to find.Or ww in general are getting more trash than lead making them less usefull for the time it takes.I have given up on ww myself the price around here is just to hi for what I get in a bucket.So Do we really need ww?

Just some random thoughts.
I have found a lot more pure or close enough than anything else.With some solder here and there.I have been able to find or trade pure lead for tin.I have went to using super hard.Two things here made things easy 90% of the solder I get is known and we know what super hard is. Sheet.Sheathing and Pipe are the most common things I find and are pure or close enough most of the time.this works well guestimateing .

BNE has been kind enough to do the work on testing all kinds of ww.it is the modern day where testing is out there for all of us.Be it at you local scarp yard or a member here.I find it a very usefull tool in my casting.Saves you time an money when you know your alloys.you can make the same alloy over and over any time you like.


So who needs ww from what I have read from the infor here on BNE threads.Modern coww is about 3% antimony and .5% tin.So if you use the tried and true mix of adding 2% tin to coww then cut that mix with 50% pure lead you get bout 1.5%tin and 1.25%tin.great for many shooting needs.


so get looking for some type metals or watch for the sales a few times a year at rotometals.you can get on there email list on there website.


after all ww are just another alloy


Just my way of lookin at lead and alloys.hope it is of help to the lead addicted here.Happy casting and shooting all.

Bob

[lightman]

Wheel weights are my favorite. They have always worked well for me and I have been pretty successful in finding them. But you are correct, they are just another alloy. I also like isotope containers but they are harder for me to find.

[Ozark mike]

I'm gonna have to find a new source soon problem is I live 100 mi from anywhere

[NyFirefighter357]

Don't get much WW's here, most of my lead is plumbing ingots and piping, with it I got a bunch of solder and at this point I find more solder than lead. I too have gone the route of super hard.

[RP]

For the most part I have also giving up on WWs I found the same thing most of the buckets are worthless. I also know there are people that are just getting started and I been blessed on my lead supply I also think I have enough to last me the rest of my life. The lead I pick up now days is off job sites the lead off vent pipes when we replace the roof and I have the roofer save them off other jobs as well. I also get the joints out of cast iron pipes and a few other places.
I been doing this long enough WWs were free and they were happy for someone to take it off their hands just dropped off new buckets and hauled off the full ones, When lead got high and WWs started not being lead I shy away for it for the most part now days

[JM7.7x58]

Wheel weights have been banned in Washington state for many years. I have started casting this year. I missed out on the “Free Lead” glory days of yester year. I worked at a service station my first year of college. I had access to so many COWWs back then. I didn’t know then, that I would ever want those dirty buckets, today.
In my area I have seen lead on Craig’s list and OfferUP as high as 4 bucks a pound. I’ve had better luck finding pewter at reasonable prices than lead. So yes, where I live COWWs are very much a thing of the past.

[triggerhappy243]

I TOO, have stopped scrounging for clip on wheel weights. I think I have 3 full 5 gal. buckets left that need to be melted down. I will never use all of it, so i plan on casting it into ingots and selling it off.

[Ozark mike]

If things keep going this way lead might surpass copper in price

[Went2kck]

I think I have enough lead to last me for my shooting time left. I am getting 50lbs of Linotype on Tuesday for 50 bucks. Pretty good deal I think. I may have to bump it up to 100 but will have to see.

[lightman]

I worked at a service station my first year of college. I had access to so many COWWs back then. I didn’t know then, that I would ever want those dirty buckets, today.

I also worked in a service station, but I was in High School not college. I also was casting at that time so I saved weights. I still have some from then but my next casting session will probably finish them off. I don't remember how many I saved but it was a lot, as this was 43 years ago!

I have a few tons of newer weights so I'll be casting with wheel weights for a few more years!

[ioon44]

I grab any lead I find from pure to mono, it is all getting harder to find.

[rmark]

What’s sad is to stop at an intersection, see a wheel weight and think ‘I’ll grab that’ and have my wife say ‘it’s probably zinc anyway ‘.

[Mitch]

I to rember the days of free ww but I didn't cast bullets then.I been casting bullets for about 7 years now.the first few years a found a good amount of lead about every trip to the local scrap yards that would sell to me.The last few years they do not have much if anything.I do think I have a life time supplie but like a lot of us here I keep looking.As for the price I am not sure where that is going.With so many less uses for lead you would think that the price would go down with low demand.But with no more raw lead being mined that could be a game changer.Another thing is where is scrap lead going to if overseas the demand will go up.

[NyFirefighter357]

If things keep going this way lead might surpass copper in price

I believe this but it might be on the black market as lead will become illegal to sell.

[WILCO]

I stopped looking for wheel weights a long time ago.
When it comes time to buy alloy, it'll be from a known source like Rotometals.
Currently, I have a lifetime supply of lead. :)

[country gent]

I can remember when lino type was the preferred metal and considered to be a for ever thing. With the new printing and internet Lino is hard to fins any more. With the changes in wheel weights going on in the industry ( zinc steel plastic stick on) true lead wheel weights are becoming more scarce and a lower percentage in the mix.

[Alan in Vermont]

I have a friend who is sitting on probably 12-1500# of wheelweights and some certified 96.5 Pb/3.5 Sn alloy. The wheelweights are not any newer than mid-90s so they are most likely all lead. Several hundred pounds are already smelted and in 1# ingots. The certified alloy is in little cookies in 5# boxes. He keeps hinting that I ought to get it out of his way as he is no longer shooting. I probably should ask what he wants for it.

[NyFirefighter357]

I have a friend who is sitting on probably 12-1500# of wheelweights and some certified 96.5 Pb/3.5 Sn alloy. The wheelweights are not any newer than mid-90s so they are most likely all lead. Several hundred pounds are already smelted and in 1# ingots. The certified alloy is in little cookies in 5# boxes. He keeps hinting that I ought to get it out of his way as he is no longer shooting. I probably should ask what he wants for it.

He who snoozes too long finds out items got either scrapped or tossed!

[RogerDat]

Wheel weights being lead is regional. Still a fair amount can be lead in some areas, almost none in other areas. Lead isn't getting scarce, can buy all you can afford at prices that certainly don't prevent casting from saving significantly over buying bullets for reloading.

Scrap yard sources are getting scarce, as well as lead generally in the waste stream. Well past the heyday of lead being used as a common building supply. So even if I might have a "lifetime" supply, I still collect lead when I can and put it aside for when I need it.

If I was just starting out and was having trouble finding a ready supply I would go to the swapping and selling forum or vendors section and just start a regular purchasing schedule of buying COWW lead. Buying ready made ingots at around $1 a pound is cheaper than Rotometals and less frustrating and work than trying to scrounge your own lead WW's. You buy 60# once a month and you should have several hundred pound stash by the end of a year. Just think of it as stocking up the pantry.

I too am finding more plain soft lead than harder alloys. For a good while I was sort of slowing down. Would buy stuff if the price was exceptional or if it was an especially good alloy like mono or linotype. Lately I have been thinking I might want to keep adding some humble COWW's on some sort of regular basis. I have around 1000 lbs. of them but can see shooting more in retirement and can expect less disposable income to spend on lead once I stop working for a paycheck. Adding another 80# for every 30# I use would be... prudent shall we say.

COWW's can be cut up to 50/50 with plain for most pistol uses. Which means scrounging for scrap lead can provide a good way to stretch the WW supply when the hardness isn't needed. Solder and pewter can be found at good prices from thrift stores and garage sales. Sometimes solder can even be had from the scrap yard for "lead" prices.

Just like any other savings program the key is to save more than you spend. Buy more than you cast and shoot at the best prices you can find. My guess is our own Swapping & Selling forum will be that place. Later you as others have may find yourself needing to purchase foundry alloy at foundry prices. You will still save money by using those premium commercial alloys with the mixed stuff you scrounged or bought from other members.

Just remember if the price goes up or availability drops most of us will adjust our consumption to accommodate the changes. We may shoot a lot more "free" wheel weights than we will $3 a pound lead that will be hard to replace. Either financially or due to reduced supply.

This is Rotometals COWW lead at 5# for $15 so.... vendor in S&S for $1 a pound is good price eh?

https://www.rotometals.com/antimonial-lead-ingots-5-pounds-3-5-antimony-lead/

[redneck1]

I gave up on wheel weights five or six years ago , just wasn't worth it when you sort a full bucket and get 25 lbs of good metal and 100 lbs of zinc and clips.
Now I just go to the trap range at the club and sweep a year's supply up off the ground every August .
Last year it took about half an hour to sweep and screen 75 lbs of shot off the ground .

[Ozark mike]

Shwabbies is supposed to sort there's but I still find a lot of other types in the lead I got from them