Zinc? Or something else.

I was casting 200 gr LSWC out of wheel weight ingots last night. They came out in a mat finish not super shiny and seemed porus. Had a hard time getting the mold to put out good casting too. Often incomplete. Some slag on top in the pot periodically. I suspect too much zinc. Any thoughts?

Sounds like you have a bunch of those nasty new wheel weights mixed in. They can clog a melting pot in a heart beat. I have a friend who mixed up 900# of ingots that had a lot of those zinc wheel weights in them. He's had nothing but problems. I believe he tried mixing in copper sulfate as was recommended on this forum and its not going well.
Jon

Will they shoot ok despite the casting issues?

I'm not sure from hardness standpoint; if too hard and not recommended. But they should be fine for 25 yds I would think. Everything is fine at 25.
Jon

I slugged the bore with one and was not nearly the resistance I thought I'd have tapping it through. I can just barely scratch it with a finger nail.

Jon Eulette wrote:I'm not sure from hardness standpoint; if too hard and not recommended. But they should be fine for 25 yds I would think. Everything is fine at 25.
Jon

Back when I was obsessing about 25 yard line loads I was told you could clean a target at 25yards with lubed rocks.

- Dave

If zinc, should be much lighter bullet also.

If done carefully, when lead melts, the zinc will float and can be isolated before melting into the mix.

770* v lead at 620*.

these days you just flat have to sort WW.. Easiest way I've found is to take a pair of wire cutters and test each piece.. Lead is easy to mark and Zinc is darn near impossible to mark.

if you can control your melting temps well enough set the temp to around 650 and the Zinc will float to the top..  Zinc melting temp is around 780 or so.

pain in the butt but it is what it is...

I didn't actually sort these or make these ingots. They were given to me to try. They were stamped "WW" for wheel weight I was told. But thank you very much on the temps and sorting info. If I get into dealing with raw wheel weights that will be good to know. Right now my lead source is my mentor. Pure lead or hard lead he has it and doesn't charge me much at all.

Porous bullets means the molten material is not flowing out and filling the mold cavities. It needs tin(solder) added to the lead mix to help fill the mold cavities fully.

What are you flung with...

Also what temp

Ok with soft lead for my muzzleloading round ball molds, I just cranked the pot up to melt it. If I started getting a golden sheen I backed it off a little. If it took too long for the Sprue to solidify then my mold was too hot and I'd let it sit a moment. I've never had any problems casting the round balls. Always get good results. 

With hard lead or wheel weights I had a very hard time judging my temp. I don't have a lead thermometer but last night I took my Bullets to my mentor for examining and he said they were frosted looking and that's a result of too hot or too cold. But for sure not the right temp. He loaned me a lead thermometer and I'll be using it with the next batch. Maybe things will be easier and better results.

try sawdust for a FLUX  cheap and it works great.

also try to keep your temp around 650-670

Fluxed with Bullet lube Lyman type I had laying around. I dont have a luber sizer I just tumble lube for now.

I weighed 12 or so of those bullets and they came out 201.1 gr up to 201.9 gr. Not bad I thought.

That won't be an issue

I casted up another batch tonight. This time using a thermometer. Ran the lead at about 650 degrees. First couple of castings looked really good and shiny. No issues. Looked like what I wanted. But by the tenth or so cast my bullets started coming out dull in finish color and frosted looking as they sat moments after being dropped from the mold. I thought the lead was too hot but in playing around with temperatures and playing around with leaving the lead in the mold a little longer I decided that it seems like the mold heats up too much. It's a Lee aluminum mold so maybe in the future I'll be saving up for a steel one.

If the mold gets too hot you will start to frost bullets.  Most of the guys I talk to like a little frosting on the bullets.  I find I get the best fill out if I run my mold a bit hotter.  Nice sharp edges etc.  I also got a mold thermometer and it has made a world of difference.  Check out Noe molds for the Thermometer.  All the molds I have like to run hot for the best bullets

All my molds are Brass or Aluminum you can get em pretty hot before failure.  Mine run best at 450-500 deg..Yup, thats hot but it works for me

aluminums are great for their light weight but you found their one issue... lot's of casters will simply get two molds and alternate giving one a chance to cool a bit...

Frosted bullets - that's just an appearance thing right? Is their anything wrong with the bullet to cause inaccuracy or possible breakage upon firing? If it's just a look and they will still shoot good at 50 then heck I don't care. I weighed my frosty ones from the first batch and they're consistant enough and close enough to 200 gr. Not looking to win a beauty casting contest. Just shoot 10's.

Tim,
Nothing wrong with aluminum molds, no need to change to iron unless you just want to.  Those shiny bullets you mentioned are an indication of a cold mold.  Check close and you might have some wrinkles and not perfect fill out.  Cold molds will cast fat heavy bullets compared to a hot mold.  You can either start with a cold mold and toss the first 10-20 casts or buy a cheap hot plate and pre-heat your molds.  Nothing wrong with a slightly frosted bullet either.  The reason frosting occurs is because the time for the molten lead to solidify.  In a cold mold it happens almost instantly.  In a hot mold it takes longer.  This longer time allows the antimony time to come together and form small crystals that then give the bullet a "frosted" appearance.

Scott

What scott said  +10