Is this the future? [Archive]

Ghugly

11-07-2007, 02:05 PM

I just wanted to share a bit of insanity. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130169253534&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNA:US:1123

So far, wheel weights arn't a problem for me. I'm guessing they're a big problem for some.

VTDW

11-07-2007, 02:23 PM

Ghugly,

EBay is how I have to get my WW and Lino:(. It is still cheaper than buying hardcast or condom bullets. I have a friend that lives in Louisiana who sells cast boolits commercially by the thousands and is fortunate enough to have a route he runs to pick up WW. If I were the jealous type......:mrgreen: Hmmm, maybe he would make me a good deal.[smilie=1:

Dave

snowwolfe

11-07-2007, 02:28 PM

It is really only a matter of time before free "wheel weights" are non existent. My son works at a tire shop and the shop is reimbursed for the old wheel weights. I was allowed to see how many they had one day and I was completely taken back by how many were the newer zinc stick on weights.
If you have a source I would stock pile as much as you can now before all the shop owners realize what they are worth.

Ghugly

11-07-2007, 02:42 PM

I don't have a problem with buying clean ingots off Ebay. I figure it's likely excess from a brother caster, and paying for his time and trouble smelting it only seems fair. But paying that much for wheel weights, guts, feathers, and all just seems a little nuts to me. Of course, living in the paradise that is California, the day may not be far off when I'll be buying my lead out of someone's trunk in a dark alley and will be glad to get it.

fatnhappy

11-07-2007, 03:42 PM

Of course, living in the paradise that is California, the day may not be far off when I'll be buying my lead out of someone's trunk in a dark alley and will be glad to get it.

If only that pessimism wasn't well founded. The picture on the e-bay sale sure doesn't look like any used WW I've ever seen. The clips aren't rusty, there's no valve stems or copenhagen in there.

testhop

11-07-2007, 04:29 PM

darn you can buy lino at that price another thing how many zinc ww are in
the pile

shotstring

11-07-2007, 07:40 PM

I've seen it a few times before, but usually the plain WW's just sit there or go for not much money at all. this is the first I have seen of them getting almost $1 a lb.
Who in their right mind would pay that when the same thing can be had in the ingot form for the same price??? Guess someone may have spotted a couple of "antique" wheel weights in there with the more common variety. [smilie=1:

zuke

11-08-2007, 11:19 AM

I found a local garage where I drive by every sunday and get all their wheelweight's.
It ain't a whole lot but it's free.

:bigsmyl2:

VTDW

11-08-2007, 12:47 PM

shotstring,

Where can one purchase WW in ingot form for that amount.

Thanks,

Dave

shotstring

11-09-2007, 02:28 AM

VTDW, they are normally all over Ebay these days. If for some reason you don't find any listed, just wait a few days to a week and more will appear. Do a search under "lead ingot" or several other possiblilites.

Someone on this site posted a phone number of a fellow from another site that even has linotype in ingot form for $1 a pound plus shipping. Lets see....the number was 337-439-4579. Don't know the fellow and have never called so I can't comment on reliability, but you may wish to give him a call.

Another fellow back in the posts - he was from California - said he found a scrap yard that had a metal dumpster/cargo bin full of ingots that seemed to be WW after testing with the fingernail test, and they wanted $.60/pound for those. If you look back through the posts you may find the location for that as well.

spurrit

11-09-2007, 05:29 AM

Someone on this site posted a phone number of a fellow from another site that even has linotype in ingot form for $1 a pound plus shipping. Lets see....the number was 337-439-4579. Don't know the fellow and have never called so I can't comment on reliability, but you may wish to give him a call.

He's a good guy. I've dealt with him before. He's an admin. over at www.ksccw.com . Good site.

imashooter2

11-09-2007, 08:04 AM

spurrit

11-09-2007, 11:57 PM

I doubt anyone took it that way. Nobody buys a "pig in a sack".

I'd rather have the raw WW. At least then I know what they are. Buying ingots off eBay is a real crap shoot. Who smelted it, what did he smelt and how careful was he when he did it?

ETA, this comment is on the original auction, not spurrit's post above. I don't know the admin at ksccw.com and wasn't impugning his integrity.

shotstring

11-10-2007, 03:14 AM

I'd rather have the raw WW. At least then I know what they are. Buying ingots off eBay is a real crap shoot. Who smelted it, what did he smelt and how careful was he when he did it?

ETA, this comment is on the original auction, not spurrit's post above. I don't know the admin at ksccw.com and wasn't impugning his integrity.

That is why if I buy on ebay, I prefer to buy linotype in its bar or piece form - at least that way you can be sure what you are getting, although I just recieved a box of lino from one seller that was the filthiest lead I have ever seen - totally different from the picture he had listed.

On the other side of the coin, there was 100 pounds of linotype up for auction this week and if I had not bid in the last 6 seconds of the auction, the original bidder would have won the auction for $9.99. Just the two of us bidding - go figure. As it turned out, I got the lino for 50 cents a pound. Ebay can be a strange place sometimes.

Single Shot

11-10-2007, 09:00 AM

In watching E-bay, I think there is a real fear that lead is being eliminated from American wheel weights faster than we expected.

I am luck to have a source of free weights and I have a 1/2 ton of ingots stored so far.

Steve Collins

11-10-2007, 10:52 AM

As far as I know, I'll still be able to get WWs for free when I get home. I've got two places I can stop and get them. I just have to get to the scrap yard and see what the have linotype and tin!

spurrit

11-11-2007, 12:45 AM

crabo

11-11-2007, 06:54 PM

I stopped at a place that I bought a bucket of WWs about 3 months ago. I walked in and asked about buying some weights and he laughed at me. He asked if I knew what they were selling for now and I replied, "yes, that is why I'm here" He said the ones coming out of China were sh## and they break. He said to check back with him in 2 or 3 months.

I have a place I can buy truck weights for 35 cents a pound. I may go and buy another $300 worth. If the ones from China are so bad, it may be prudent to go stock up while we still have some quality avaiable.

shotstring

11-11-2007, 08:34 PM

China seems to be screwing up everything these days by adding lead to it. I can understand the paint for children's toys, but how do you screw up a wheel weight? Perhaps they have cut the amount of lead in the WW to cover the amount necessary for making toys or else they decided that adding more lead to everything is a good thing, including wheel weights.

jim4065

11-11-2007, 09:25 PM

Don't understand the whole China thing. Read somewhere (maybe here?) that lead was going so high because the Chinese were buying it all up. Then read on "Metals Futures" site that they expected the price to drop because the Chinese "The worlds biggest producer..." were increasing production (along with some other sources). The plot thickens..............

Ghugly

11-12-2007, 03:49 PM

From what I've read, the major use of lead is for automobile batteries. The Chinese are largely credited with the increase in lead demand because of the enormous increase in automobile ownership there. And, it doesn't look like its going to slow down anytime soon.

testhop

11-12-2007, 05:07 PM

andd ont forget all those toys thay ship to us for our kids

686

11-12-2007, 05:08 PM

i wonder how much car batt. are going to go up.

Ghugly

11-13-2007, 04:35 PM

I would guess that the cost of batteries will increase, in the short term. Part of the reason for the shortage of lead is that, for the most part, lead is most often the byproduct of mines that are extracting other ores. Lead mines do exist and are gearing up, so the price of lead should stabilize. In the long term, development of a viable alternative to the ancient, lead acid battery is absolutely on the front burner. I don't think anyone really knows when such an alternative will be available. My guess is a few years, probably less than a decade.

Of course, environmentalists have decided that lead is evil and must be eliminated before it kills us all. Toss that into the mix and I'm stockpiling lead. :castmine:

shotstring

11-13-2007, 06:49 PM

It would definitely seem that lead supplies will be declining as affordable alternatives are found. But from what I understand of the battery industry, there really isn't a viable alternative to lead that is cost efficient, nor is there likely to be in the near future. I think the greatest threat to shooters is going to come from the hunting environment. We have already seen lead shot replaced by steel and bismuth, and now here in California, there are now "no lead" hunting areas that have come into being for the supposed protection of the Condor. I won't argue the pros or cons of this one, because however I feel about it, it is now the law. It is just the first of many major laws that will be placed on the books in future years to keep lead out of hunting rifles, handguns and shotguns in the name of preserving wildlife and the environment. Pretty soon carrying lead in a firearm will probably result in a hefty fine, at least in hunting areas.

The major reason I cast lead is so when I retire and move to Washington in 3 or 4 years, I can set up an old stump with a target on it, and blast away til the cows come home - and when the stump finally has a few hundred pounds of lead in it, I will chop what I can out, make a fire of the stump to recover the rest, and turn it all into bullets and start all over again. :castmine:
Free bullets at a time in my life where I wouldn't be able to afford buying any.

I would sure miss not being able to hunt with my custom lead deer loads though.
:(