A "fine alloy..."

D

dahermit

New member
...Wheel weights are a fine alloy for casting bullets...
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Over stated. Wheel weights are only an adequate alloy for casting bullets. The metallic elements in wheel weights have been blended to be inexpensive but adequate to fill out the molds without consideration for very defined features. In other words, "close is good enough", for their purpose.

On the other hand, Linotype is specifically blended to fill the features of the molds in the greatest detail (as required for newspaper and other printing type). That quality (as well as being an eutectic alloy there is no "mushy" stage), makes Linotype and other type alloys, ideal for bullet casting also.

Therefore, it is Linotype, that is a "fine alloy for casting bullets...", where as, wheel weights is just the most available but at least "usable" (a little more heat, and a little more tin. and perhaps heat treating), alloy for casting bullets.
 
Age of the times !!!

dahermit, I have some older (hoarded WW ) that are very hi in antimony & make very "fine " bullets that check 18bhn with out WDing or heat treating !!

But as the mighty dollar came into play & prices soared for the base materials of WW the industry became more conciencious of what & where they spent $$ to produce a useable commodity , hence the reduction in tin /antimony to the bare minimum !!

Most WW I obtain in my area run 11-14 bhn , & still a very useable alloy except in the heaviest loads .

I`ve found a source of isotope containers that so far is a very consistent 10.5 bhn ,a tested 95/2.5/2.5 blend of alloy that acts alot like WW of today, I`ve found that a bit more tin "tuffens" it up enuff to satisfy my needs in revolver loads & low pressure rifle .
 
There are many "fine alloys" for casting bullets. Be they wheelweights, linotype, isotope lead, or whatever. Each alloy has it's purpose. Some alloy makes great looking bullets, but work very poorly for hunting. It is possible to have too hard an alloy that becomes brittle and goes to pieces rather than penetrating. Other alloys work great as hunting bullets but require special care to get to cast well.

Linotype may make wonderful bullets, but for my needs it is a little pricey. Therefore, wheelweights for me fit my definition of "a fine alloy for casting bullets".
 
Agreed !!

Stick-man

In this day & time if not carefull you`ll have the price of jacketed in your alloys!!

& it`s easy seems like to get caught up in the "harder is better " scheme !

The hardest alloy I ever shot was at paper !! not animals !
 
wheel weights

I was a printer for over 20 years, and had access to plenty of linotype. It is
good for pistols, such as .45 acp or any older revolvers that have shallow
rifling. In fact, ive shot linotype out of my 1911 and I think I could have fired
them again! Almost no deformation at all, except for the rifling marks. As a
IHMSA silhouette competitor for 30 years, I have found that plain old ww's
work just fine for that kind of shooting. As for hunting loads, ww's have
worked very well for me in that application, also. I use it exclusively in my
.500 s & w revolver.
 
When I said that wheel weights were a "fine alloy" for casting bullets, I simply mean that they work fine, as in adequate. I was not talking about "fine" as in "fine art" or a "fine line".

It should be pretty obvious that anything made of wheel weights is going to be an unknown alloy with varying properties from batch to batch.

That said, they work just "fine". :)
 
Many years ago I was big into bullseye competition. So were 2 close friends. I shot straight linotype, one shot straight wheel weight, the other shot shot range scrap form our local indoor range. All of us were classified as masters. We all shot within 3 to 5 points of each other, every match. Guess what? I had the prettiest shiny bullets and the hardest to size, the rest didn’t matter, they all shot the same........ With age sometimes comes wisdom.
 
I've cast my share of linotype, but only use it when I need the extra antimony. I find that it's not needed for pistol or BP bullets. Several years ago I stopped by an old-time printers shop and he gave me a 5-galleon bucket of what he called linotype scrap. I started using it and found that the mold didn't fill out properly, so I went back and asked him. He told me that particular scrap had been used several times for printing and needed a little tin before he could use it again.

So, I went home and smelted some ingots with some additional tin. Voila! The molds started filling properly.

Yeah, linotype is good for some things, and wheelweights are good for some things, and pure lead is good for some things. As Dean Grinell so famously said; "If it's plumbous, I'm apt to make bullets from it."
 
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