Round ball casting question.

[Oregononeshot]

I'm just getting into casting my own round balls. Using a Lee 530 mold. I've got a Lee melting pot and have been ladle pouring. I've been using wheel weights (I know they aren't the best choice, but I'm experimenting with them them). They have been running anywhere from 218-220 grains, and have shot well out of my gun. Today I melted some older wheel weights that I feel where close to 100% pure lead. It was the best looking lead over poured so far. All the balls came out weighing 213-215 grains? I figured that more pure lead would cast closer to the 224 grain mold, but it's lower than the newer weights. Any idea what could cause the lower weight?

 

[jackley]

The more alloy's the lighter the bullet, and a better looking bullet when casting grease grove bullets.

Jerry

 

[waarp8nt]

Are you using clip on or stick on (double sided tape) wheel weights? The clip on are typically harder due to an alloy mix and the stick on are closer to pure, softer so the can be bent and applied to the wheel.

Like mentioned before, the more the alloy typically means less weight in the end product.

Just in case; modern wheel weights are typically zinc or steel as lead is being phased out.

 

[Tom A Hawk]

I use wheel weights for cartridge guns where muzzle velocities are higher and I'm concerned about leading, but only soft lead in my muzzle guns. I want to see thread impressions from the patch embossed in the ball.

 

[Oregononeshot]

They are clip on. They are all the same brand and they are old, so I thought the lead would be purer then the newer ones.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I don't believe wheel weights were ever pure lead, even 50 years ago. They would have deformed too easily with all the forces. Newer ones have no lead at all, they are tin and zinc.

And revolver shooters used wheel weights and Linotype to cast bullets to reduce leading.

A .530 pure lead ball should weigh 227 to 228 gr. The size of the sprue or lack of can alter that.

 

[necchi]

Don't fret too much.
As long as your using scrounged sources for lead like many of us do,, without a real tester is always a roll of the dice.
What you've posted looks good, as a beginner your getting cast ball within a few grains of each other during the cast session,, that's a good sign. Your learning the routine and consistency.
Truth is, all the molds available to us today are mass produced and can/do have some real life variables.
Even if you had actual pure lead,, your mold may not cast to the actual 224grn as it's marketed at. (get it?)
The good news is,, that doesn't matter. What does matter for the hobbyist bullet maker is getting the same and consistent results during each casting session.
Keep workin it man,, it get's better with practice

 

[Griz44Mag]

I cast .535 for my GPR using a Lee 2 banger mold using known 99.5+ lead.
Mine are dropping at 231gr +/- .5
I generally add 1 oz of 70/30 tin per 5# lead to make them super slick and shiny. My rejection rate with that runs <2%.
This is my casting setup.

 

[M. De Land]

I'm just getting into casting my own round balls. Using a Lee 530 mold. I've got a Lee melting pot and have been ladle pouring. I've been using wheel weights (I know they aren't the best choice, but I'm experimenting with them them). They have been running anywhere from 218-220 grains, and have shot well out of my gun. Today I melted some older wheel weights that I feel where close to 100% pure lead. It was the best looking lead over poured so far. All the balls came out weighing 213-215 grains? I figured that more pure lead would cast closer to the 224 grain mold, but it's lower than the newer weights. Any idea what could cause the lower weight?

Older wheel weights tend to have more antimony in them which causes lead to shrink less than does pure lead/tin alloy. If you mic the diameter between pure lead and lead/tin/antimony balls you should find the pure lead smaller in cross section as it shrinks up more. The older wheel weight balls will fill the mold better and should be slightly larger in diameter.
The only way to tell for sure is to hardness test them and compare.

 

[Melnic]

I had been using dive weights for the past few years. Just recently got a Lee hardness tester and it was an eye opener comparing the balls I had been making to Hornady balls and TOW Minie balls. The TOW Minie ball hardness was off the scale (to the soft / pure end). My stuff was way harder than I had thought and weighing them should have told me that. I have a 535 mold and knew that my cast 535 balls were not shooting as good as the Hornady ones and were harder to seat. Now I know why. All my dive weights/wheel weight lead is now going towards fishing sinkers or cartridge bullets. I have locally sourced some pure lead at $1/lb though

 

[Dr5x]

You are casting with wheel weight metal that probably come from different sources and therefore different alloys. Self cast balls if produced swiftly so the temperature of the mold stay pretty much the same should all be within a grain of the heaviest ball. with maybe 5 or six being a tad lighter. Your results are all over the place and, to me, will prove to be off balance or too much smaller to be of a consistent size. I would strongly suggest running some pure lead out of a clean pot to see what the real thing is like and get opinion of how far off you are when using wheel weights. Anynplace that balances wheels will have a lot of rejected weights on hand for the asking. It is sad to see so much material being rejected but if you insist on using those weights, expect problems.

Dutch

I'm just getting into casting my own round balls. Using a Lee 530 mold. I've got a Lee melting pot and have been ladle pouring. I've been using wheel weights (I know they aren't the best choice, but I'm experimenting with them them). They have been running anywhere from 218-220 grains, and have shot well out of my gun. Today I melted some older wheel weights that I feel where close to 100% pure lead. It was the best looking lead over poured so far. All the balls came out weighing 213-215 grains? I figured that more pure lead would cast closer to the 224 grain mold, but it's lower than the newer weights. Any idea what could cause the lower weight?

 

[Rifleman1776]

The only accurate statement that can be made about currently made wheel weights is you/we don't know what they are made of. The tire dealer where I trade is an avid modern gun enthusiast and he does a lot of bullet casting. Of course, he has access to lots of used wheel weights. He says the makers are using whatever metal material they can source the cheapest. What you get from maker 'A' this week might be a lot different than what you will get with the next order. I don't use but admit scrounging pure lead is a lot more difficult these days than years ago.