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Old September 20, 2010, 04:00 PM   #26
denster
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Rifleman. You are correct Forgett used a heavy rifle with the 200gr charges behind a 610 minie. The Buffalo Hunter that he used with the 577611 and 125gr is basically a cut down Zuave.
I agree with you, in general, regarding the use of the rifled musket and there isn't anything on the North American Continent that can't be laid low within reasonable ranges with 60gr of 2f behind a standard mini.
I only brought up the Forgett article because he used pure lead minis just having heavier skirts to resist deformation. Interesting that same book has an article regarding at what point the standard mini starts to deform.
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Old September 20, 2010, 06:12 PM   #27
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No, it is hard. And expensive.
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Old September 20, 2010, 11:51 PM   #28
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mrappe
Also, what is a good source of pure lead?
http://www.rotometals.com/
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Old September 21, 2010, 07:59 AM   #29
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One must develop the fine art of scrounging to get good lead.
Admittedly, it is not always easy.
Around where I live the metal salvage yards are an excellent source. Try to get roofing, x-ray, electric cable wrap, pipe lead and others. Do the fingernail test on everything. Roofing and x-ray are probably the best types to work with and are consistently soft and pure.
Buy as much as you can at a time, it is not getting easier to find and certainly not getting cheaper.
I am down to about 100 pounds and will have to start looking for more. I have inquired at a salvage yard, he has quite a bit he'll sell for 50 cents a pound.
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Old September 21, 2010, 10:51 AM   #30
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Rifleman

Is it true that recent manufacture of lead wheel weights have a much higher concentration of lead than those manufactured say ten years ago? Up to bout 98 percent now?
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Old September 21, 2010, 10:55 AM   #31
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Quote:
Is it true that recent manufacture of lead wheel weights have a much higher concentration of lead than those manufactured say ten years ago? Up to bout 98 percent now?
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Doc, as I understand it, it is now a much LOWER percentage of lead. Some say the wheel weights are mostly antimony now.
Wish they were. Then we could melt a high heat and skim the alloy off the top leaving (almost) pure lead. But, sadly, not to be.
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Old September 21, 2010, 11:53 AM   #32
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The "stick on" wheel weights are almost pure lead, unless you hit the steel ones.
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Old September 21, 2010, 12:18 PM   #33
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The "stick on" wheel weights are almost pure lead, unless you hit the steel ones.
Noz, if you say so. I don't even know what those are. The only ones I am familiar with are the standard pound in types.
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Old September 21, 2010, 01:25 PM   #34
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The stick-ons are flat with a black rubber/adhesive back, used primarily on racing style mag wheels and some of those monster wagon wheel looking wheels. I scored 50lbs from Ebay for $.50 a Lb including shipping, a few months back.
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Old September 21, 2010, 02:36 PM   #35
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Guys,

Actually, there are hammer on weights that are made primarily (I am told) from zinc. They are not easy to pick out if you just try to feel the weight in your hand, but of course they remain solid at the melting temperture of lead.

The reason I asked the question is that (also I had been told), while wheel weights were once an alloy of about ten percent antimony or bismuth, about ten years ago, the cost of the alternate metals prompted the manufacturers to reduce the content in the alloy, leaving lead at about 98 percent of the content.

All of the roundballs I shoot pass the fingernail test. But this is IMO vague at best.

On the other hand, since the specific gravity of antimony, bismuth and tin are somewhat close to lead, some small amounts of these impurities (I guess we as shooters can call them impurities) doesn't make much difference in ballistics. I am well aware that hardness may be a more important consideration.

I would like to think I am shooting pure lead, but all I can say for sure is that it is "pretty pure".
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Last edited by Doc Hoy; September 21, 2010 at 02:49 PM.
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Old September 21, 2010, 02:56 PM   #36
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Just got off the phone...

...with a technical representative for Perfect Equipment in Tennessee. She told me that the lead based wheel weights they manufacture are from 93 to 99 percent lead with other metals being tin and antimony. She had no way of knowing:

1. How much change there is in the alloy and how fast....eg 93 percent today, 99 percent tomorrow, but she did believe it had to do with the cost of the metals.

2. Whether other manufacturers use similar alloys, although she assumed they do for market reasons.

3. How much of the market is supplied by Perfect Equipment.

If you look on the internet, you find that most of the manufacturers listed are Chinese.
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Old September 21, 2010, 04:06 PM   #37
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So how many people shoot wheel weights in c&b pistols?
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Old September 21, 2010, 04:30 PM   #38
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So how many people shoot wheel weights in c&b pistols?
Not me. I can't get them in the chambers.
Sorry, you feed me a straight line and I can't resist.
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Old September 21, 2010, 05:30 PM   #39
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I just called Discount Tires and they said that they recycle their weights. Then I called Firestone and they said that they recycle them but all of the ones that they get in the last year or so were made of steel.
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Old September 21, 2010, 05:46 PM   #40
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Post #16 & #18 respectively:
http://thefiringline.com/forums/show...+wheel+weights

Quote:
Originally Posted by c.robertson
I have found many zinc wheel weights mixed in with lead ones, not to mention them damnable metal clips, oil, and crud.
If free, wheel weights are great. If you have to pay lead prices, then not so worthwhile. I just bough some more pure lead ingots for 35 cents a pound. He had a LOTS more, but shy on bucks. No need to wast the time and effort with the mess of wheel weights.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Model-P
The oil? Best free flux in the world! The clips? No problem at all!
The worst of it nowadays is that many of the zinc clips are not marked as zinc. If even one gets into your lead, good luck with your casting! You have to be extremely diligent to test each WW for softness so you don't let a zinc one slip past. I scratch mine on the pavement. The zinc is harder. A real problem and PITA.
Post #16:

http://thefiringline.com/forums/show...+wheel+weights

Quote:
Originally Posted by joedapro
be careful of the stick on wheel weights. i'm finding alot of zinc ones mixed in. many have zn in raised letters but not all. keep your temperature below 650 degrees.
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Old September 22, 2010, 07:33 PM   #41
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I found a guy selling 150-200 lbs of lead from a sailboat. I wonder how soft that stuff is. Any ideas?

Thanks
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Old September 23, 2010, 08:05 AM   #42
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Not a clue. Try to get a sample and test.
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Old September 23, 2010, 08:17 AM   #43
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If this lead is too hard for round balls. I may be able to use it for my .45. Are some leads too hard for cartridge pistol bullets?
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Old September 23, 2010, 09:03 AM   #44
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I don't know if it is possible to have a lead "too hard" for modern cartridge pistols. I used to use a very hard bullet in my .44 from an Arkansas company (now closed due to retirement) that I could shoot at high velocities with never a leading problem.
But, others may want to chime in on the "too hard" question.
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Old September 23, 2010, 08:12 PM   #45
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Are some leads too hard for cartridge pistol bullets?
It's possible to have lead too hard for bp cartridge loads but wheel weights aren't it
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Old September 23, 2010, 08:51 PM   #46
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Well I have 45 Colt and a 45 ACP so maybe if it it too hard for the 45 LC I could use it for the 45 ACP.
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