Do any of you buy your lead?

[Leaker11]

Dumb question probably, but do any of you buy your lead? Non-caster at the time but thinking about giving it a go. Just feeling around how to get a supply started. I have one contact at an indoor range I know I can get some there. Any input would be great. I don't have any tools yet but was thinking about the Lee 20# bottom pour pot and some Lee molds. Thanks in advance.

[dtknowles]

Almost all casters buy some of their lead one way or another, either from scrap dealers or tire stores or metal traders. Not many getting it all for free, some live mostly on range lead that is sometimes free.

Tim

[dragon813gt]

Yes, I buy lead. I was buying nuclear pharmacy lead when it was available. Once the supply dried up I switched to buying directly from a foundry. Last time I bought I was able to buy 96/2/2 for $1.34 a # shipped. The slight premium for lead that's ready to drop in the pot and cast w/ is worth it to me. If you're buying from a foundry you're buying a half ton minimum. I can still get free wheel weights but I don't pick it up very often. The time it takes to clean it up for an unknown alloy isn't worth it to me.

[dverna]

Yes, I buy my lead. I will be "harvesting" lead in the future as I have my own range.

Don Verna

[DerekP Houston]

I bought mine certified to start, and the forum here after I got used to it. I haven't used anything but range scrap in a long time.

[Digital Dan]

Yep, buy it all. Average cost for lots of pure/WW/lino is about .80/#. Purchased a fair bit of tin several years ago when fairly cheap. That which is shipped to me comes from John Walters. He is great to deal with.

[Leaker11]

Thanks for the info guys

[221fireball]

Check out rotometals

Sent from my A521L using Tapatalk

[RogerDat]

Rotometals is a site sponsor has a link in the ads at the top of the page. The swapping and selling forum here is another good source.

Rotometals is foundry lead, you know exactly what you are getting in terms of alloy percentages, you do however pay a higher price for that assurance.

Swapping and selling you pay between 1/2 and 2/3 the price of Rotometals but generally get ready to use lead of different types. Little bit more hit and miss, sometimes lot of one thing and not much of another being offered. There are some people that sell consistently The Captain is one, last I checked WW lead was generally around $1 per pound. Have seen (or sold) Linotype or printers lead closer to $2 per pound and pewter/tin running around $9 but sometimes $10 per pound.

Scrap yards, tire stores, and estate and garage sales, thrift stores are all possible for the scrounger who enjoys the hunt for treasures on the cheap. I don't suggest it for starting out as it adds another element of variability as to what you are trying to cast with. Trying to find lead can be a frustration too. But over time worth pursuing.

I like my Lee pot, but I use a Lyman little dipper ladle and pour lead from a ladle. Slower top speed of production but I like the control pouring by hand gives me. No bottom pour mechanism is totally no leak and one less thing to break or need adjustment. But from what they say they can really roll along with a couple of molds pouring one after the other.

I would not use an electric casting pot for melting dirty range lead in to make clean ingots for casting. Keep that part of the process separate, in a stainless steel or cast iron pot over a heat source. Garage sale propane turkey / fish fryer burners are popular. Even new they only run around $40 at Wal-Mart. Have seen at garage sales for $10. Hot plate has to be high wattage to melt lead. You just don't want the crud from melting range or scrap lead in the pot you make bullets in. Clean lead only in the casting put is how I go but then to be fair I sometimes do 100# loads of scrap lead. I have this thing about dirt and grit in the bullets so I just use separate equipment. I know some people melt WW's in their casting pot so not unworkable just would not be my preference and it would be more of a problem in a bottom pour. The mechanism makes it harder to skim debris or clean.

[bstone5]

I purchase 92-6-2 lead from Lead Products here in Houston. I usually purchase 300 pounds at a time. This amount will feed my automated Master Caster for a long time. The 300 pounds makes about 12,000 bullets.

[country gent]

I agree with RogerDat, clean lead ingots only in your casting pot only. A bigger gas fired pot for smelting is wanted or perferred ny many due to amount processed. Depending on the lead being smelted and or alloied there is a lot of crud coming off it. A bigger dia pot makes clearing the clips and crd off easier to do. on the smaller bottom pour pots any crud left in can cause leaks or other issues. Another plus to the bigger pots is the batch of alloy goes farther before more needs to be blended. A big smelting pot of 150 lbs + makes alot of ingots of one alloy this makes casting go much easier and smoother. If you clean up 3 of these big pots then ingots from each pot into the casting pot will result in the same alloy for 450lbs or more casting sessions. I buy alloy from roto metals or bufflo arms (20-1) as smelting for me with my balance and stability issues is more work than I want. Also scavenged lead needs to be cleaned up ( 1 melting) and alloies determined then blended to make desired alloy ( 2nd melting) and bullets can be cast (3rd melting). Buying ready to use alloy means I can just fill the pot and go.

[GhostHawk]

I have purchased virtually all my lead from here. Mostly range scrap. some wheel weight.

I also purchased 60/40 lead/tin in small ingots for adding tin, as well as a box of lino.

About to be in the market for 1-200 lbs of good clip on wheel weight lead. Should have money to spare come election time or near then.

Prefer price to be as close to 1$ per pound as possible.
I also prefer nice small ingots and triple sawdust fluxed.

I have a short list of people who have sold me lead in the past. If I am in the market I normally contact them first. Always nice doing business with someone you know you can trust. However I am open to new experiences is the price is right.

[Beagle333]

I buy my lead, mostly on here. And I have my own range, so I'll dig it all up later, after I shoot a couple o' tons of it. :Fire:

[Handloader109]

All from here, range lead,some lino, some lab containers, but all from the good folks here. In a few yrs I'll pull from my berm and reuse

[Hick]

At this point, I am buying my lead (Alloy #2) from Rotometals. It's more expensive than other ways to buy, but my abilities have not progressed to making my own allows yet. But-- while more expensive than some other sources, I know exactly what I'm getting and it casts very nice. And--- the cost per bullet is still much lower than buying them-- so I'm going to continue this way as I develop experience. I should add that the price for Rotometals is not as high as it seems on first look, because of free shipping and other discounts they offer at times. And-- delivery is quick!

[bigolsmokebomb]

ive bought just about all my lead here from the forum members. just watch the swappin and sellin for good deals. I do have a range that I go to every week for competition and ill probably see about getting range scrap from him and melting it down so I can start using up some of my stockpile of high tin and antimony lead.

[jmort]

Yes
Doe Run, seriously

[lightman]

I've bought very little of my lead. Mostly wheelweights from tire stores. Over the years I have put a decent smelting set-up together and I'm far enough from my neighbors that the smoke and stink is not a problem.

It is really nice to cast with a new known alloy. Its easier to get good bullets and you have fewer problems. Sometimes when using scrap I will have a day where the bullets won't fill out or I will have to try different temperatures.

I've always felt that we did not need an exact alloy to cast a good bullet. I do smelt in batches of 400# and I keep those batches separated.

[robg]

Haven't had to yet,just by lead free solder to my scrap stuff if it needs it.

[John Barleycorn]

I get buckets full for nothing at the local tire shop.

[Walter Laich]

pretty much folks on Cast Boolits site
also sometimes hit the Great Alaskan Lead Co. Their slab I cut with a chop saw

[Leaker11]

Thanks guys.
ill check out the venders here and remember " no scrap in the pot". Awesome site, thanks again

[RogerDat]

I get buckets full for nothing at the local tire shop. And now no one likes you :kidding:

If one is looking for a specific type of lead such as soft, hard, WW's, range lead etc. they should just post in the Wanted to Buy section of swapping and selling. Have a few offers or leads on who to contact in no time. Even if you don't know exactly what you want but do know what you want it for (caliber and load) you can post that and someone will probably offer you the lead they would use for that bullet.

Nothing wrong with Rotometals of foundry, spendy but you do not have to wonder if there is "something" wrong with your lead mix. One reason for the large batches. Once you know how to cast good bullets (temp and casting speed) from a pot of home brewed alloy it is really nice if you can repeat it for the next several hundred pounds of bullet casting.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Thanks guys.
ill check out the venders here and remember " no scrap in the pot". Awesome site, thanks again
Leaker11, welcome to the forum. You've got good advice so far.

I'll just add this, I started casting in 2010...the same year I joined the forum. So compared to many here, I'm still a newbie. Anyway, like many here who started in the last 6 years or less. I scrounged for free or cheap scrap Lead. I'd find some occasionally, but it takes time and I learned quickly, if you're not setup with good equipment to make clean ingots from scrap, it's a lot of work, (I use a Coleman gasoline camp stove and 4 qt soup pot)...AND hey, maybe it's even a lot of work with good equipment?

AND, besides the work, it takes time and gas money to scrounge the Lead. My experiences in that, have made me realize, if I can find clean alloy ingots for around $1 per lb, that it's a real good deal in the long run. I still gather some scrap, when it 'finds me' ...LOL, but I won't pay over 60¢/lb and I try to swap for it, instead of pay cash. I'm sitting on near 1000 lbs of various scrap, that has come my way in the last 3 years, and much of it, needs to be processed (Yeah, I haven't melted/smelted any scrap in that long of a time) ...and I'm not really looking forward to it and I may not process it anytime soon as I have enough of the $1 per lb ingots in my stash :) :Fire:

[bedbugbilly]

For years, I scrounged to get lead. I only shot BP for a long, long time and used to be able to by lead sheathing from cable at a scrap yard. That source dried up years ago. Now, since I don't shoot a lot and am not shooting NSSA, etc., I pretty much buy from sources on here. When I started reloading cartridges, I started buying range lead on here. For the price, for me, it's worth it to do it that way as it saves a lot of gas, running around, etc.

[Leaker11]

Thanks for the input guys

[bruce drake]

I started by scrounging lead at my local range and various tire shops but I hate the inconsistencies of the mystery alloys of whatever I threw in my pot. It worked fine for plinking with pistol bullets but my rifle bullets were pretty inconsistent at any distance past 50 yards. Problem is that I like to shoot at 100 yards and further. I've gotten a lot better results in my cast boolit rifle shooting when I switched to shooting known lead alloys. I buy my lead from Rotometals mostly. Sometime I get better local deals but I always set that lead aside until I have time to alloy it out to meet the same quality as Rotometals.

[Steelbanger]

I am almost at the end of my bullet casting but I have enough supplies on hand to last however many more years the good Lord provides. My main stash are stereotype pigs and these are the heart of all the alloys I use. I also gather all the free plumbers lead, household piping from the old days and of course wheelweights. I haven't even smelted any wheelweights in years but I have a 5 gal bucket waiting for me to decide when to use it. I also had my blood checked once about 6-8 years ago and had a very low number. I always vented the enclosed porch I use to cast and that habit paid off for me.