Lead from wheel weights - am I missing something?

First off, I like to use lead, and seem to have a 'feel' for it.

Anyway.

At work, I can have all the weights they take off the wheels, which is a LOT.
I've been melting them down and casting my own lead bars.

So far, so good.

But, am I missing something (Besides lead poisoning)?? This seem like a fairly easy source for very expensive lead (I've 24 14x1/2x1/2 inch bars, material for 24 more). So, is there an alloy that is missing, or can this stuff be used??

Cosmo

 

You can cast bullets from it(did some today) but it is not suitable for leading car seams as it does not have enough tin in it.

 

New wheel weights are not Lead.
Now they use just about anything else.
One of my suppliers used to buy scrap Lead wheel weights.
Used to be a cheap source. Now he won't touch them.

Lead Solder is usually 60/40, because that gives
the lowest melting temperature of any Lead/Tin alloy.

 

If they are lead wheel weights, as mentioned it's some lead/tin combo. Cast bullet guys buy a hardness tester that can give you an insight into what combo you have based on an indentation test. You could then remelt what you have and add whats needed - most likely tin - to get what you are looking for - say 60/40.

 

You should also use bees wax or any of the other products that do the same thing without the smoke to flux off the impurities that float to the top of your melt.

 

Bullet casters used to say they wern't that good for bullets because of antimony (?) in the metal.

 

I can't speak for the muzzleloaders who needed a soft bullet, but as a reloading handgunner I would seek out wheelweights just for their antimony content. The best stuff was linotype with double the antimony content of wheelweights at around 11%.

The advantage was the hardness - this might be a disavantage for body work though.