range lead value

[27judge]

i have a chance to buy straight range lead right from the backstop what would it be worth a lb. this stuff is mixed with the jackets etc still in it so it would have to be melted down and the copper etc taken out . tks ken

[Roundnoser]

Need some more info. Do you plan to keep it for yourself or re-sell? Are you competing against others for this lead? What is the price of scrap lead in your area? How badly do you need it / want it? How much is for sale? Is there an opportunity for future purchases at this range? -- It comes down to what you are willing to pay given your circumstances and the area you live in. No two will be alike!

In my neck of the woods, scrap yards are paying about 25 cents/lb. for lead. -- If I was keeping it for myself, I would offer around 50 cents/lb. (just to throw out a number) and plan to sell the copper to recoup some of my investment (assuming there was enough copper to make it worth my while).

If you haven't been given a price, you may want to ask the range owner what HE wants for it. He might give you a price lower than you expected! -- Make sure you know what the price of scrap lead is going for in your area, so you can use it in you negotiations! You will be doing all of the work to remove the lead, which may be exactly what the owner is looking for. -- Let us know what you plan to do. - Good luck.

[WVHunter129]

Be interesting to see comments on this topic. Right now I am getting indoor range lead for free. So far I have gotten 6 - 5 gallon buckets full. 2 buckets I have given to a friend for helping me get started in casting. So far I have smelted down about 338 pounds of lead and about 70 pounds of scrap copper. Saving the copper to take to a salvage yard. So it will be an interesting post to watch.

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[winchester85]

the scrap buyers buy the jackets from me, but they do NOT pay copper price, they pay lead price. they stuck a magnet in it and i was amazed at how many jackets were steel. still it is a great way to get rid of the waste, but a far cry from copper prices.

[WVHunter129]

I had one guy mention to me about melting the copper down and making ingots out of the copper jackets to take to the scrap yard. But I don't have a furnace that can reach those temps! :D

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[Ole]

I recently bought some raw range lead that someone else had collected. Paid $40 shipped for 65++ pounds.

I got over 50 pounds of usable alloy out of the 65lbs of raw RL and was able to sell the jackets to the scrap yard for about $10. So I figure I got 50 lbs of usable alloy for $30 net cost.

A LOT of time, effort, and water was spent cleaning up the jackets.

Locally, I'd probably pay around $.50/lb if I needed lead if it was collected already. Figure half that at most ($.25/lb) if I had to dig it out myself. That's pretty dirty work and a great way to bump up your lead blood levels if you're not careful.

[jlala504]

I pay .10/# for indoor range lead, although I do all the work collecting it. I just finished a clean out recently and got roughly 5500#. As of now I am estimating at least 1000# will be copper jackets which a local yard pays $3.05/# for down here.
The amount of work you do for it, and for the owner, makes a big difference in the price you pay.

[badge176]

"I picked up a pawltry 24# from local range as "test sample", I paid $18.
I got 20 pounds of lead alloy and 4# of "#2 copper" (jackets) that I took to recycling center= almost $12 cash back into my hand! Ended up paying $6 for that 20# of alloy and that's cool by me!"

I also noted the effort cost in cleaning up this stuff, and mine was from indoor police range...

[40Super]

I am getting 5 gal buckets for $30 apiece with 130 to 160LB each. It averages about $.20/lb. I now have 5.

[clodhopper]

Local scrap yard pays 15 cents.
I clean up the lead at my leisure from the indoor range and pay 20 cents per lb.
Other casters in my area are also doing some of the cleanup/buying.

[Bjornb]

I buy scrap from local indoor ranges, normal price around here is 20 cents a pound. I just tracked a small load and came away with these numbers (they are typical): 257 lbs. dry scrap yielded 166 lbs. lead ingots. After washing the jackets (in a sand sifter) and using my homemade electromagnet ($40 in parts for a 170lbs. capacity magnet) I was left with 49 lbs. of "light copper" which paid $1.95 per pound at the scrap yard. So $95 in copper plus 166 lbs. of decent lead for a total of $51 or so is a pretty good deal at the end of the day. My TOTAL labor time was less than 4 hrs.

[Huskerguy]

We are encouraged to take all of the range lead we can haul off. I don't get to the range as often as I would like but do try to bring home about a 1/3 of a bucket each time. I currently have several buckets sitting waiting to be cleaned up. I have done a few pounds and do have some questions for others.

Our lead is really dirty, lots of fibers from the belting to stop bullets. I use compressed air to blow the garbage out and it helps some.

I hand sort the copper jackets I can pick out but really it doesn't seem like much.

Then when I start smelting I have a lot of solid stuff which I assume is old copper jacket and other garbage which is all clumped together and I end up throwing it away.

I have no idea how hard this stuff is. From what I have read on here, don't worry about it.

I have all sorts of questions but will ask another time.

[40Super]

I'm getting the same stuff. Out of 300lbs of range lead,I get about a quart at most. It looks kind of like clumped up tin because of the gold hue,but fluxing and stir doesn't melt it and put it back in the alloy.I think it is a mixture of garbage alloys,plus little specks of lead, tin and antimony. I'm seperating all that stuff from the sawdust ashes and stuff for now and maybe later attempt to see if I can get any of it to mix in with some other flux.

[fatelk]

the scrap buyers buy the jackets from me, but they do NOT pay copper price, they pay lead price. they stuck a magnet in it and i was amazed at how many jackets were steel.
I just got $3/lb for my old jackets. One scrap yard I checked in town had no interest at all, wouldn't buy them at any price. The next one I went to paid #2 copper price. Of course I'm very careful to to get all the lead out when melting, and remove all the steel and aluminum jackets.

The thing I don't like about range scrap is that it takes so long. I try to pick out all the copper plated bullets and hit them with a hammer to break them open, otherwise they can burst and spray molten lead at you.

Lead is rather hard to get around here, but I still don't think I would pay more than about .25/lb for range scrap, especially if I had to dig it out.