Wheelweights

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  • Last Post 21 April 2013
Revolverman posted this 19 April 2013

Scored 50 lbs of clip on wheelweights yesterday. How much tin should I add to 20 lb pot to make good castings?

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99 Strajght posted this 19 April 2013

For my casting, I add 8 oz. of 95/5 solder to 20 lb. WW. The solder has 95% tin. More than that does not seem to make it any better to pore or any harder for shooting.

Glenn

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6pt-sika posted this 19 April 2013

I cast wheel weights as are and good bullets no tin added !

Well that is after I rendered them to ingots but with nothing added .

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jhalcott posted this 19 April 2013

What are you casting for, handgun revolver or rifle plinking or hunting!! I just use the WW as is after smelting. I test the hardness and if it between 12 and 15 BHN, I start making bullets. For CERTAIN uses I will add enough Linotype to bring the BHN up to 15 or a bit more. In MY experienceACWW is good for 30-30's at near 2000 FPS-GCed and FWFL

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Revolverman posted this 19 April 2013

Mid velocity 45 ACP, mid velocity .357 and .45 LC. Also, .308, 170 gr. gc at 1900 fps. Pistol bullets are all pb. Not worried about leading but have heard a lot about adding tin for better casting. Prior experience with ww is that I have to go very hot to make sharp castings...wanted to add tin to see if I could get good bullets at lower temps.

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99 Strajght posted this 19 April 2013

I use my mix 8oz tin and 20 lb. WW in 45, 357, 44 Mag. 223 and 30-06 with no problems. Good castings from lot to lot and no leading.

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onondaga posted this 20 April 2013

Check your WW carefully. There is a lot of zinc clip-ons that look like lead. Sometimes they are marked. Do not use high heat to melt them, 650 F will melt the real lead/tin alloy ones fine. If you crank up the pot too high you will melt the zinc ones too. Keep temp low and the zinc ones just float up and you can toss them. Only 1% zinc will ruin fill out quality of a bullet alloy, be careful!

Gary

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Revolverman posted this 20 April 2013

Thanks, Gary. I'll check them and be careful on the heat.

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JetMech posted this 20 April 2013

I second Gary's advice as it seems, from your post, that you're melting the WWs in your casting pot, cleaning then casting.

After you have a good, clean pot of WWs, you can run the temp up to about 750 or so to improve fill-out. I do that and shoot straight wheel weights in 41 mag, 44 special and mag, and 45ACP, all at or below 1000 FPS.

At most add 1% tin for improved fill-out at 700F.

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onondaga posted this 20 April 2013

http://www.castbulletassoc.org/view_user.php?id=7215>Revolverman:

I disagree with http://www.castbulletassoc.org/view_user.php?id=1770>Dollar Bill on the 750 degrees, Anytime you run a bullet alloy above 700, the Tin in it that is exposed to air instantly oxidizes. I see no valid reason to run bullet alloy that hot.

Some try to compensate for slow casting cadence by turning up their pots. Improving casting cadence to keep molds up to the heat level needed is much better. In either case , 750 degrees is destructive to bullet alloys with their Tin content.

Being an expert at reduction fluxing can put most of the Tin oxide back into alloy as Tin. That is a difficult skill to learn and execute correctly and most casters will never develop that skill and only use standard fluxing before skimming and continue to lose tin oxide along with their skimmed dross. Couple that with 750 degrees and you will have significant Tin loss.

Gary

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Pigslayer posted this 20 April 2013

750 degrees is way too hot for my taste. My saying that is not meant to discredit the opinions of others. It's just that that kind of heat is not necessary in the casting of good bullets.I use as little heat as possible in casting with great results. Just my op. Pat

If someone else had of done to me what I did to myself . . . I'd have killed him. Humility is an asset. Heh - heh.

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Pigslayer posted this 20 April 2013

750 degrees is way too hot for my taste. My saying that is not meant to discredit the opinions of others. It's just that that kind of heat is not necessary in the casting of good bullets.I use as little heat as possible in casting with great results. Just my op. Pat

If someone else had of done to me what I did to myself . . . I'd have killed him. Humility is an asset. Heh - heh.

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jhalcott posted this 21 April 2013

I learned long ago to smelt in a separate pot. I also do not like to cast at high temps.

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JetMech posted this 21 April 2013

Pigslayer wrote: 750 degrees is way too hot for my taste. My saying that is not meant to discredit the opinions of others. It's just that that kind of heat is not necessary in the casting of good bullets.I use as little heat as possible in casting with great results. Just my op. Pat

I'm sure you are correct. It has been my experience that casting straight wheel weight from a bottom pour pot that I get better, consistant fill-out at a higher temp. While there is tin oxide forming at the beginning, leaving that layer in place seems to reduce futher oxide formation.

My end result is good as I can cast several hundred bullets with little weight variation from the beginning of the run until the end.

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delmarskid1 posted this 21 April 2013

When I cast at higher temps my molds over heat quickly. There isn't much tin in the wheel weights that we get now days. I add some if I have some. I cast straight wheel weights at about 725 and roll with two or more molds to keep them from over heating. If I have the good stuff I can cast at 675 and they will fill out after the mold gets good and warm. The calibers and speeds you are using will probably work fine with out any tin.

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