I want to start casting my own bullets for my 500 S&W and my 454 Casull. Can anyone recommend a good source to purchase casting metal?

The gas station will give you used wheel weights for free. Melt them and use them to make bullets with.

H. C.

Wheel weight bullets need to be kept under 1200 fps
1 thing about wheel weights ,there are weights that are made from Zink .
These MUST NOT be used ,a few of these in a a batch of lead will cause the bullets to not fill out properly ,in the sharp edges.
They are easy to sort out , they are the bright almost shiney weights ,The lead weights are gray.
Midway still sells lead ingots for casting
link.
I like the Linotype for hot loads with a gas check

quote:

Originally posted by johnch:
Wheel weight bullets need to be kept under 1200 fps
1 thing about wheel weights ,there are weights that are made from Zink .
These MUST NOT be used ,a few of these in a a batch of lead will cause the bullets to not fill out properly ,in the sharp edges.
They are easy to sort out , they are the bright almost shiney weights ,The lead weights are gray.
Midway still sells lead ingots for casting
link.
I like the Linotype for hot loads with a gas check

What a load of BS.

There is NO ZINC in wheel weights.

There is - Lead, antimony, tin, arsinic.

The great thing about wheel weight metal, it is cheap, if not free. This is a very flexable alloy, air cooled bullets will expand at moderate velocities. Dropping the bullets straigh from the mold into a five gallon bucket of cold water will harden them, and can be drive to moderate rifle velocity range with no problem. That said I would suggest that this be done with a gaschecked bullet design. A good lube is also a must have, I have had very good results with LBT Blue Lube, both pistol and rifle bullets.

Hog Killer

Use wheelweights. There have been reports of zinc weights but in melting down about six five gallon buckets this winter, I've not encountered any so they're few and far between.

The WW alloy will do well for your needs. In fact, it may do a bit better if cut with a little pure lead. The adhesive backed weights are normally almost pure as are any jacketed stuff you pick up off the range. I normally melt these seperately and make "pure lead" ingots out of them.

I've shot heat treated WW alloy bullets up to 2400 FPS in a .223 with good accuracy. After that, they need a little strengthening.

So, go forth, scrounge WWs and shoot the handguns for all they're worth and you'll not run into problems./beagle

Zinc wheelweights are out there. I encountered a handleful of "floaters" in my last batch from the tire store. Just don't get carried away with the pot temperature while you are melting the wheelweights and the zinc weights can be skimmed off before they melt.

Heat treating makes the wheelweight plenty hard, at least for a year or two. If you still have fouling problems with a particular wheelgun, switch to a gas check design.

I do not heat treat my bullets so I keep the speed down.
I get some of my free WW from a car dealer and I get lots of Zink WW from them 1 in 20 or so .
I premelt the WW into 1 LB ingots in 40 lb batchs ,so I check before I melt

Maybe you guys can get free wheel weights but I do not have a source for it. No one knows where to buy casting alloy?

quote:

Originally posted by Snowwolfe:
Maybe you guys can get free wheel weights but I do not have a source for it. No one knows where to buy casting alloy?

What country you are in?

You could fill that little bit of info into your profile so it will appear at the bottom of you posting. Don't forget that this board was set up a guy in the United Arab Emerates, and folks all over the world read and post here...

However, very few casters in any country buy lead for casting because the shipping costs will kill ya'.

An alternate and often overlooked source to scrounge or buy lead fairly cheaply is a hospital (isotopes used in radiation therapy or diagnostics come in lead containers, and shipping them back costs more than the lead is worth).

Also, a place that makes sailboats uses lots of lead for keels.

jpb

quote:

Originally posted by Snowwolfe:
Maybe you guys can get free wheel weights but I do not have a source for it. No one knows where to buy casting alloy?

As I posted above Midway sells lead for casting but the shiping will suck!

Do a search of theantimonyman, and Buffalo Arms. Both sell alloy.
I have several hardened WW loads that go 2450+ with no problem.

I live in Alaska. The post office sells 2 different boxes that cost about $7.50 each. Each one is flat rated to go priority airmail anywhere in the USA. It doesnt matter if you put one pound in it or 60. It only costs the flat rate. I contacted Midway and they bascially told me to stuff it that they would not ship to me using the flat rate boxes. And they wonder why they are losing business.

you could try your local print shop to see if they have any linotype alloy to get rid of......they will be hard light bullets .....

I thought print shops ceased using linotype years ago? Don't they all print digitaly now?

Snowwolfe,
Is Eagle River near Anchorage? I'd sure be visiting the tire stores and scrap yards in Anchorage.

One commercial caster operates out of Delta Junction, believe it or not. Maybe he could point you in the right direction. bullshop@wildak.net Check with other commercial casters in Alaska or the NW. Even though they don't advertise it, they might be willing to sell you some of their ingots, if you ask. After all, a dollar is a dollar.

Watch ebay, as most of the ebay sellers use the flat rate box for shipping lead. Right at this moment there is only pure lead listed on ebay. Not much demand for wheelweight since it is available locally in the lower 48.

Art Green sells lead alloys out of Beverly Hills. No web site, (310) 274-1283. Seems like a strange place to sell lead, but then again, I guess the Beverly Hills crowd can afford to pay someone else to smelt their wheelweights.

Snowwolfe---I started casting back in the 60's in Anchorage AK at the time. I cast for .22 cal as well and was told several times that some tin is needed to get good fill out on the small ones. I succumed to the idea of buying some solder for the tin. That is the ONLY casting material I have ever bought. I use mostly wheelweights. I've heard zinc ones are out there,but I have yet to encounter any. I have shot up to 2900 fps in my .243 using wheelweights---with no leading. I do use FWFBL (lube) and on those 2900 fps they are gas checked. Old roof flashings were lead,plumbers use to use lead in joints,several sources I have found for free lead again with wheel weights the main source.

I also live in Eagle River, and I've found that sources of Wheelweights have really dried up. I used to buy 5 gallon pails of wheelweights from a tire store in Anchorage for $20, which yielded about 100#'s of alloy. That was a fair price. They no longer sell wheelweights. A shooting buddy was able to source wheelweights from another tire shop, but his source dried up. I haven't looked for a new source of wheelweights, but it looks pretty grim. The thought of shipping up alloy really turns my stomach. If you can find a source in Washington State, you could probably get shipping down to $.30 a pound for a shipment of 100#'s or more, but smaller shipments could easily driving shipping to $1 a pound. At that price, it isn't worth getting into casting, I'd just buy commercial cast.

Wheelweights do make great bullets, I've cast 1000's of various 45 caliber bullets that have been shot out of 454's, with no leading problems. I push wheelweight cast bullets out of my 350 Rigby around 2000 fps, and get steller accuracy.

Paul H,
At any Post Office you can pick up for free some "flat rate" boxes. The boxes are small but they will easily hold up to 60 pounds of metal or bullets. Once you package these boxes the Post Office will ship them Priority Air Mail anywhere in the USA. Not sure of the exact price but it is around $7.50. It does not matter what the boxes weigh. Its a great way to get heavy items up here cheaply. I contacted the antimonyman but he said he wouldnt ship this way. Buffalo bullets never answered my email. I have no idea what ever happened to the customer always being correct but these companies simply chose to ignore me and my attempts to purchase there products only because I wanted them to ship to me through the Post Office. It must be nice to have so much business they can just blow off my order for 200 pounds of casting alloy.

Snowwolfe,
The reason most companies will not ship USPS is that mail carriers have a long list of excuses why you simply can't leave the packages in the mail box for the carrier to pick up, and no businessman wants to spend an hour waiting in line at the post office.

There is some wheelweight on ebay today like this one http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=71118&item=7140580766&rd=1

Funny, that seller is in Palmer, Alaska. The going ebay price seems to be about $1 per pound for most any type of lead

Popeman, then that is the reason companies lose business. Because they will not try to give the customer the service the customer desires. Besides, I thought the post office picked up. Either way, If i had to send an employe to the post office for 10 minutes (the only time i been in a line longer than 10 minutes was during xmas season) to earn a nice sell I would do it. Just my .02.

UPDATE!
For all you fellow Alaskans I just finished talking to Dave at Buffalo Arms. He agreed to ship the alloy up here on a test basis in the Post Office flat rate boxes. The shipment will go out late next week. I will inform you all how it worked.

Besides, I thought the post office picked up.

If the package weighs more than one pound, you have to request a pickup for that particular package, then when they arrive, you have to answer the door and hand it to them personally. You can't just leave it in the mailbox. This is supposed to discourage Unabombers and Al Queda from mailing bombs. Yeah, right. That's fine if you have a receptionist to take care of it for you, but for small businesses like mine it isn't practical.

If i had to send an employee to the post office for 10 minutes to earn a nice sell I would do it.

I live 2 miles from the nearest P.O.. That's 15 minutes each way in city traffic. On a good day the line is "only" 10 minutes long. 20 - 30 minute lines are quite common. Figure an hour for the entire trip. The cost of that hour gets passed on to the customer, one way or the other.

Glad Dave Gullo came through for you. I haven't met Dave but I have had the pleasure of doing some business with him.

Let us know how your casting adventures go. You should be able to save some money on the 500 S&W bullets now, even if you do have to buy your alloy.

everything that you said is true pope. But most businesses would take everything to the post office at once. Dave said they ship through the Post Office all the time. I would imange any large business would do daily runs to cost down costs.