New Dude with some Not-New Questions.....

[supersonic]

Hey all. I have decided to cast my own bullets for a few of the calibers I shoot & I am having a very tough time getting lead. I'm here in the Capitol City of California and I think I have covered over 200 miles in the last 2 days ALONE going from tire shop-to-tire shop asking for old wheel weights. The first one I hit up was Big "O" downtown and was lucky in that the kid doing the mounting/balancing in the back was a fellow gunny & was happy to give me the 1/2 bucket of weights they had (I just had to run home and bring back an empty bucket to swap). Whether or not he was "supposed to" do this I have no idea. Then, the second was a small, 3-man shop run by foreign guys that didn't really seem to understand exactly what it was that I wanted. Nevertheless, one of them let me empty out the decent-sized bin into my bucket (I carry three 5-gallon tubs in my trunk now at all times). Anyway, after these 2 "scores," I spent the next 2 days going to every chain/mom-and-pop/dealership within a 20 mile radius and it seemed my luck had completely run out. I now have 1 full 5-gallon bucket full of weights, which is a start, but I am sure I will burn right through it. And who's to say it isn't 75% steel/zinc? I really need some help on how/where to go to get the bulk of lead I'm looking for. Now, I have to sort through my 'meager' bucket and try to figure out which ones are lead & which ones aren't. And, if by mistake, I should throw a "mix" in the smelter, is this dangerous???

Obviously, I need an "edumacation" if I am to be successful at doing this right. I'm also sure some of you are jumping through your monitors right now :killingpc because of my ridiculous questions that have been asked a billion times before. But if you guys would just steer me in the right direction, I will gladly pay you on Tuesday!:-)

[cbrick]

But if you guys would just steer me in the right direction, I will gladly pay you on Tuesday! :-)

Welcome to Castboolits supersonic,

Sad to say but your going in the right direction. Seems WW has gotten tough in most areas, not just yours. I haven't gotten any in the past 8 months or so.

Just need to keep at it. Try things such as offering to buy the guys in the shop a pizza or a 12 pack, bribes sometimes work :mrgreen:.

Try your local shooting range and see if they will let you mine the berms. Construction companies often come across scrap roofing lead etc.

Rick

[supersonic]

Hmm...not bad ideas at all. I did run into more than one "corporate" tire shop that claimed that they couldn't "give away" any lead - that they had a company that came & took it for recycling.

[Lizard333]

You have it really tuff being in CA. They are the reason we now have steel and zinc WW's. If I were you I wouldn't waste your tome going to the big chains of tire stores. Almost all of them have contracts to recycle. I have had done good luck going to dealerships. The have a lot of stick on WW's but even those are better than nothing. They don't seem to have any contracts to recycle and they seam to be happy to have them picked up. Try dentists that haven't gone to digital. The films add up. I actually cover a three state area to get my WW's. I'm getting everything I can, while I can. Some of the guys here sell lead shipped for a buck a pound. Not bad for those that can't seem to find their own. Good luck and enjoy the addiction!!

[thegreatdane]

...If I were you I wouldn't waste your tome going to the big chains of tire stores...

My thoughs exactly. For the price of gas out there in CA, I would have ordered WW ingots already.

Save yourself the trouble and buy some ingots.

[Boolseye]

A five gallon bucket full of WW is a very good start. Your tenacity will pay off.
old lead flashing from chimneys, roofs and houses (obviously after it has been legally removed!)...any ranges where you can mine the berms, buy or scrounge lead from indoor ranges. Remember, those wheel weights can be mixed with pure lead to make it last. I use my wheel Weights as sweetener for the scrounged range lead (both indoor & outdoor) that I've gathered. boolits don't have to be super hard–in boolit casting, size matters. .001 or .002 over bore diameter and your wheel weights should last a good long time. Have fun.

[MBTcustom]

Lead is still available all over the place and is still relatively easy to come by. The only difference is that now you have to buy it! there are many many batches of lead for sale on ebay. Remember that even a very good bucket of WW with less than 5% steel/zink is only about 100 lb. of usable metal "give or take".
100lb of WW will make 3043 230gr .45s,
4430 158gr. rifle or pistol boolits,
or 6086 115gr 9mm boolits.
That's a lot of shootin' buddy! I don't know what your shooting range situation is but if you have your own property, make a boolit trap and your lead will go even further. If your shooting a lot of pistol in self defense style, you are not worried about accuracy as much and should not be afraid to cut pure lead into the mix to boost your supply. (I have shot low pressure .45 with pure lead with very good results.) There are many good deals to be found right here in swappin and sellin for WW ingots.

[mdi]

Finding wheel weights in CA is almost impossible. The evil little buggers were banned a few years ago and most sources have dried up (mine, in the L.A. area, stopped selling mebbe 5 years ago). Since then I've been buying scrap lead and alloys from Rotometals http://www.rotometals.com/default.asp. I keep an eye on ebay as sometimes I can find a deal on small batches and I have an order in with "Thee Captain" for 50 lbs. of alloy http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=63886.

[cbrick]

January 1, 2011 was the first date that it became illegal for a tire retailer to use lead weights in CA. They are of course still taking off lead weights from the old tires but more and more tire shops are claiming that its also illegal to give them away or to sell them. Its not of course but convincing them otherwise is fairly fruitless. Tire shops that have an Interstate Batteries sign have been a lost cause for a few years now. Seems that to become an Interstate Battery retailer you sign or otherwise agree that Interstate Batteries get all of the old weights.

Its a very frustrating situation and very typical of what happens whenever government gets involved in anything. Zero benefit and all kinds of detrimental consequences.
.
Rick

[303Guy]

I too have to buy it. Too many fishermen in my parts to compete against. I find lead drain-pipe to be a good alloy with some of the soldered joints thrown in. I get it from a scrap metal recycler and it's not cheap for what it is. For me it's best to get it raw. Then at least I know what it is. Best smelted down outside but not too bad really. The gunk inside is dry and mostly gets knocked out. Of course, you folks might not have too much lead drain pipe around.

[fredj338]

My thoughs exactly. For the price of gas out there in CA, I would have ordered WW ingots already.

Save yourself the trouble and buy some ingots.

I feel your pain, but IMO, you are way late. They banned l;ead ww here Jan a year ago. So most stores swapped out all their lead back then. The few that are still coming in are treated as HM waste & tough to get them to give them or sell them to you. I still ask when I am in a shop, but don't waste my time or gas looking. Even when you do score, expect 50%+ to be non lead. Next year it will be 75%+, then 95% as tires are replaced. Yeah, buying form the forum @ $1/# makes a lot of sense. There is still lead to be scrounged. Check the X-ray dept @ the local hospital, roofing & plumbing lead w/ contractors, you live near the dleta, boat yards are great for fishing or diving wts as well as the occasional boat keil. Check w/ stained glass shops for kame & there is always the range berm. It's where I get most of my free alloy now days.:sad:

[supersonic]

Well, I scored without even trying today. A buddy I didn't even know was into making his own buckshot brought over some perfect, clean ingots of pure lead he says was "too hard" for his application. I'd say at least 100 lbs. Picture to come. (He says he knows ALL the places we can get tons more!!):bigsmyl2:

[303Guy]

I've just gone from being sypathetic to envious![smilie=l:
:mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:
Great find! :drinks:

[reloader28]

I have a friend that picks me up a bucket or 2 of WW whenever he gets the chance.
I have several buckets setting here thanks to him.
He goes to town, I dont.
Needless to say, he gets all the beer, food and ammo he wants at this house.
:D:D

[snowtigger]

I have 8 buckets of WW, plus about half a ton of dead soft lead. Throw in 70 lbs of lino and 40 lbs of foundry type. I was scrounging back when it was easy.
I haven't looked lately.
I'm not bragging, but at one time I had access to WW and some radar shielding. I could see the handwriting on the wall, so I took advantage of it.
I bought the lino, and a guy at work gave me the foundry type. I guess I have been very lucky.

[fredj338]

Well, I scored without even trying today. A buddy I didn't even know was into making his own buckshot brought over some perfect, clean ingots of pure lead he says was "too hard" for his application. I'd say at least 100 lbs. Picture to come. (He says he knows ALL the places we can get tons more!!):bigsmyl2:

Ok, "tons" more, drop me a note as I would be buying as much as 500# for the right price.

[Chris]

I'd be happy to buy some as well.

[supersonic]

Ok, "tons" more, drop me a note as I would be buying as much as 500# for the right price.

"Figure of speech," but it appears to be many, many hundreds of pounds & it is underwater. When we go harvesting, I will be sure to mention it, but if I don't have enough posts (or "mention" it in the "inappropriate" place) I will have to wait on the selling part. Don't wanna "piss" anyone off here.:roll:

[supersonic]

Well, I scored without even trying today. A buddy I didn't even know was into making his own buckshot brought over some perfect, clean ingots of pure lead he says was "too hard" for his application. I'd say at least 100 lbs. Picture to come. (He says he knows ALL the places we can get tons more!!):bigsmyl2:

I know I'm quoting myself here, but it is just a reminder of a promise I made. Yeah, for my first couple of days into this, I'd say that this would be in the "SCORE" category:


http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb181/giftedgiver/DSCN0680.jpg

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb181/giftedgiver/DSCN0681.jpg

[WHITETAIL]

You need to tell everyone you will take
any and all lead you can put your hands on.
Because you never know where the next
batch will come from.:cbpour:

[mroliver77]

I tell my friends and acquaintances that I buy lead. Most just give it to me. I do take care of my friends also! A relative worked for the city. He came up with lead water lines for me. Another fellow did roofs and gave me a pile of flashing. A friend and I bought the remains from an indoor shooting range for cheap. Mebbe an ad in the paper would net you some. Good luck and keep us posted.
Jay

[mooman76]

Try some dental offices or any place that does xrays. It's soft but you can miz with WWs to stretch them out further. I got some from walmart once. Yes they are a big chain store but I asked to talk the the autoshop manager and shot him a sob story about how hard they were to get so he gave me a bucket. Sure it won't work every time but it sure won't work if you if you don't try. Tell everyone you know that you are looking and you'd be surprized where some of the offers come from.

[supersonic]

Great advice, people. Thanks!