Collecting and Shooting the Mil-Surp Rifle - Intro to Bullaet Casting Alloy #2 from Wheel Weights

Introduction

I have found that finding a good, cheap alloy to cast bullets is a chore and also can be a hobby in of itself.

A very inexpensive and common approach to solving this problem is reclaiming Lead from materials you find in your local area. You can easily make different alloys from wheel weights. No you are not mistaken, wheel weights are the small Lead weights that you find attached to your car or truck tire rims.

I am not suggesting that you go around the neighborhood at night with a flash light and a pair of pliers. This could be very costly and might even put you at the wrong end of a firearm. It is hard to believe but you can obtain all of the wheel weights you could ever want for free by visiting neighborhood tire stores.

By melting down the wheel weights and adding a quantity of Tin, you can produce many different alloys.

For the sake of this project I have decided to focus on producing Casting Alloy #2.

The recipe for Alloy #2 is simple:

Metal	Parts or Percentage
*Lead*	90
*Tin*	5
*Antimony*	5

The beauty of using wheel weights as a base for your casting alloy is that the consistency of most wheel weights is around 95 parts Lead, 4 to 5 parts Antimony, and .4 to .5 parts Tin. Wheel weights will also have minor traces of other metals and substances such as Arsenic (helps hardening of alloy), Road Tar, etc.

So to create Alloy #2 all you have to do is find a good source of Tin and then combine with wheel weights in a 95:5 percent ratio.

I used a Lee 20 lb melting pot for this project so I calculated that I would add 1 pound of Tin to 19 pounds of wheel weights:

90% Lead and 5% Antimony (wheel weight) = 95%
95% of 20 lbs is 19 lbs
1 lb of Tin = 5%
Combined: 1 lb of Tin and 19 lbs of wheel weights = #2 Alloy.

Alloy # 2 has a Brinell Hardness Number (BHN) of 15 to 16. If you heat treat Alloy #2 you can raise its BHN to possibly 22 (basically the BHN level of Linotype).

Treating the alloy to increase hardness can be accomplished in a couple different ways:

Drop the bullets hot from the mold into cold water;
Bake the bullets at around 450 Fahrenheit and then drop in water.

Alloy Type	BHN Number
Pure Lead	4 to 5
Wheel Weights	9 to 10
#2 Alloy	15 to 16
Linotype	22 to 25

LEAD CAUTIONS

Melting Lead and casting Lead objects will expose you and others in the area to Lead, which is known to cause birth defects, other reproductive harm and possibly cancer. See instructions on reducing exposure supplied with products.

How Lead Can Be Transmitted

Lead particles may become airborne from the surface of the melting kettle during preheating and cleaning;
Lead fumes or particles may be emitted from the surface of the molten Lead during the transfer of Lead to the kettle and from the kettle during melting, while adding flux, and while stirring of molten alloy;
Settled Lead dust may be recirculated and become airborne.

How Can Lead Affect Your Health

The effects of Lead are the same whether it enters the body through breathing or swallowing. The main target for Lead toxicity is the nervous system, both in adults and in children. Long-term exposure of adults to Lead at work has resulted in decreased performance in some tests that measure functions of the nervous system. Lead exposure may also cause weakness in fingers, wrists, or ankles. Some studies in humans have suggested that Lead exposure may increase blood pressure, but the evidence is inconclusive. Lead exposure may also cause anemia, a low number of blood cells. The connection between the occurrence of some of these effects (e.g., increased blood pressure, altered function of the nervous system) and low levels of exposure to Lead is not certain. At high levels of exposure, Lead can severely damage the brain and kidneys in adults or children. In pregnant women, high levels of exposure to Lead may cause miscarriage. High-level exposure in men can damage the organs responsible for sperm production.

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Finding Wheel Weights

If you live in a reasonably sized metropolitan area, you never realize how many tire stores there are until you look for them.

I found dozens within miles of my home.

On a Saturday afternoon I set out with a large five gallon plastic pale. The very first store I came to filled the pale and then some.

Wheel weights come in two flavors:

standard clip on style (bucket on the left in figure 2);
stick on strip style (bucket on the right in figure 2).

I do not recommend trying to use the "stick on" style of wheel weights. The glues, rubber, and paper make it very difficult to clean and melt them down (not to mention the horrible fumes and smoke when in the melter).

After separating all of the collected wheel weights into the two types, I took to the task of cleaning my weights. I soaked them in turpentine for a couple days and then cleaned them off with a household degreaser and cleaner. After they COMPLETELY dried, I was ready to start melting them down.

Safety Caution

Please make sure any metals that you place in the melter to be melted are completely dry. Water in molten Lead or alloy do not mix well at all and can cause violent explosions. Take your time and allow complete air drying of the materials after cleaning. This is not really something you want to rush or be in a hurry about.

I needed to expand my equipment to accomplish this project.

First I decided that the small 4 lb ladle style melter would not work to produce ingots and not really any usable quantity of ingots.

Next I had found that the ingots took considerably longer to cool than a bullet (well, duh!) so it would be better to have at least two ingot moulds or the task would take forever!

Safety Caution

Make sure you wear proper safety gear (gloves, eye protection, and mask) and work in a well ventilated area.

I chose to purchase the Lee Production Pro 20 Melter. It can hold 20 lbs of alloy and has a very handy lever controlled "pour from the bottom" feature. I will probably never outgrow this baby and it cost me less than $60.

I measured out around 20 lbs of wheel weights. I chose 20 because I figured the clips and other impurities may make up the additional weight. I also eyed the pot and had a good idea where the 95% mark would be.

Safety Caution

Be very, very careful when melting wheel weights. The release of trapped gases and other impurities may cause popping and Lead to fly out of the pot.

Do not worry about trying to remove the clips form the wheel weights before melting. As you can see in figure 6, the clips weigh less than the molten Lead and will float to the surface making it very easy to use the ladle to scoop them out.

Safety Caution

Melting wheel weights produce a very large amount of dark and foul smelling smoke. Please make sure your area is well ventilated.

Figure 7 shows all of the clips that I removed from 20 lbs of wheel weights.

Once I had removed all of the clips and had melted enough wheel weights to give me around 19 lbs of molten alloy, I added a small amount of Brownell's Marvelux Flux to the surface.

Figure 9 shows the flux starting to mix with the molten alloy.

Once I had mixed the flux and scraped the sides and bottom of the melting pot, impurities (crud) came to the surface and I used the ladle to remove and discard.

Figure 11 shows around 19 lbs of fluxed and molten wheel weights.

Safety Caution

It is best not to add metals to a molten alloy. I did in the following section, but only at a very low temperature (400 F) and I made certain that the tin placed in the pot was completely dry. Then I brought the temperature up to around 650 F, while being ever cautious. It is very important to ensure the metals you add to the melting pot are completely dry even if you are adding them to a cold pot. Moisture quickly becomes vaporous/gas and will violently escape from the molten alloy. This is very dangerous and can cause great bodily harm to you and others within the general vicinity if you are splashed with molten alloy.

I was now ready to add my pound of tin to the pot.

I had searched for plumber's solder and other sources of Lead/tin and had come up empty. California is really big on non-Leaded solder and I was almost ready to give up when I discovered Harbor Freight had 1 lb spools of tin for about $6.

Another couple of sources of pure tin are:

http://www.midwayusa.com/rewriteaproduct/856328

http://www.theantimonyman.com/antimony.htm

Next I added more Marvelux to the surface of the wheel weight and tin mixture.

Once I had scraped the sides and bottom and had folded air into the alloy, I ladled any sludge or impurities that came to the surface.

I was finally ready to pour my ingots. I found it is easiest, because of the weight, to fill from the rear and then move to the front. Once I had filled each of the reservoirs, I filled to about a quarter inch below the top of the ingot mould.

then let the ingot cool for a few minutes before I decided to move it. This way I did not spill around 5 lbs of molten alloy all over me or the table.

I found that the ingots cooled considerably faster when I placed them on the cement floor of my garage.

With a 20lb pot I could fill roughly four ingot moulds full.

They are not exactly gold, but they are a pretty good mix of alloy #2. As I said before, there are many other alloys that you can make from wheel weights as they are a great and inexpensive base alloy to start with.

I have just started on my alloy adventure.....

jlm;)