Can you use Wheel Weight lead to simulate 1:20 tin:lead ?

**Maillemaker** · 08-29-2017

So I understand breech loaders often like slightly harder lead, like 1:20 tin:lead.

Tin is like $20 a pound, which breaks my poor heart.

But I have lots of wheel weight lead. Can I use it like tin to harden up an alloy mixed with pure lead?

What ratio would work well, do you think? Since wheel weights aren't pure tin, I'm guessing 1:20 wheel weight to lead would be slightly softer than 1:20 tin:lead?

Steve

**Maillemaker** · 08-29-2017

Oh. Just re-found this thread:

http://www.n-ssa.net/vbforum/showthr...0321#post60321

Steve

**Lou Lou Lou** · 08-29-2017

You might try over on Cast Boolits website. They have a lot of info on wheel weight composition

**bobanderson** · 08-29-2017

Steve,
I also scored a lot of wheel weights years ago. I mix 1 lb wheel weights to 3 lbs pure lead to make a harder alloy for all of my breechloaders.

A friend has the Cabine Tree hardness tester and said that mix is almost a 30-1 lead tin alloy.

Side note - (this part was told to me years ago) Wheel weights have all kinds of things in them besides lead and tin, but because there are only 3 wheel weight manufacturers in the country and one of those is Sears (which you seem to never be able to get), wheel weight metal makes very consistent alloy for casting.

I'm too cheap and disorganized to try to buy tin and make custom alloys for each gun.

**Maillemaker** · 08-30-2017

Thanks Bob, you are the second person to mention the 1:3 ratio.

Steve

**Muley Gil** · 08-30-2017

I used to use wheel weights by themselves (no lead added) to cast .44 and .45 semi wadcutters for modern handguns. Generally in the 700-900 FPS zone.

**Des** · 08-30-2017

I no longer use wheel weights in any lead mixture. Current wheel weights may contain no lead but are epoxy, steel, and other non lead materials. Too many garbage materials to contaminate your pot and smoke up the garage.

**Bruce Cobb 1723V** · 08-30-2017

Just buy some lead / tin solder. There is no question to the quality. They come in 50% tin/50% lead mix and some other percentages. Some are in bars, some in small diameter rolls. Your local scrap dealer or plumbers supply store may have some too.

**Maillemaker** · 08-30-2017

I no longer use wheel weights in any lead mixture. Current wheel weights may contain no lead but are epoxy, steel, and other non lead materials. Too many garbage materials to contaminate your pot and smoke up the garage.

Well, hopefully you weren't doing your rendering of wheel weights in your casting pot. I have an old dutch oven that I use out in the back yard with a propane burner for rendering wheel weights into ingots. Yes you have to fish out the non-lead weights but there are still enough of them that are lead alloy to make it worth the while.

But in the garage it's nothing but refined ingots and so no smoke.

Steve

**Hal** · 08-30-2017

I've heard that WW are not so consistent, at least not nowadays. That's NOT referring to the different kinds of materials that some WW are made of. It is referring to what various metals make up the alloy that so-called "Lead" wheel weights are made of. It is my understanding that in years past, they were indeed pretty consistent, not today.

Now, when it comes to other materials....I sort them out prior to "smelting". It takes a while to learn what to look for. Steel and plastic ones are pretty obvious. The bad ones are the zinc ones. Those are the ones you DON'T want to get mixed in with your lead, and the bad thing is, they look almost alike. A lot of zinc ones are stamped Zn, but not all. A quick cut with a pair of dykes will tell the tale. Lead ones, you can cut in half, if you're very heavy handed. Zinc ones, you'll just barely dent. Zinc is hard. Also, if you use a lead thermometer when you smelt, you can keep your melt temp below 700* F, and you'll have no problem. The zinc one will float to the top with your clips. If you just had one or two get mixed in, you'd probably be OK. I forget what it is, but lead will mix with really small amounts of zinc. Maybe 2%? I forget the exact number. Get above the threshold, and it will ruin your melt.

To help things be more consistent, I wait until I have a couple of 5 gal buckets full and melt them all together. After I make ingots, I keep the batches marked and separated so I know that at least all from one batch will be consistent.