Lead sources

[jeff423]

I apologize in advance if this has been covered to death.
I've been lurking for a while and am interested in casting. However I'm not interested in trying to get wheel weights.
What other sources are there such as scrap or salvage yards where I could buy 100 lbs. or so?
I'm currently paying about $3.00 a Lb. for cast bullets so I'd be curious about scrap yard prices.

Thanks in advance,

Jeff

[felix]

Jeff, in your situation I would only look at pre-mixed stuff made to order. A very good mix, and a great general purpose one is linotype cut in half with pure lead. That can be had from several sources and shipped to your door. ... felix

[jeff423]

Thanks Felix,

Can you let me know those sources? The only one I can find is Rotametals and their prices for alloys are about the same as I'm already paying for bullets.
I'm interested in saving money.

Jeff

[fishhawk]

plenty of lead sources right here on cast boolits just check out swapping and selling section

[docone31]

I have to wonder, why not get wheel weights? I find them quick, easy, and very inexpensive. The tire shops give them away.

[bigbird1]

docone31, most don't give them away, I have found a couple but not many, it takes some hunting .

[jeff423]

I have to wonder, why not get wheel weights? I find them quick, easy, and very inexpensive. The tire shops give them away.

I stopped by 5 today. One wanted to sell 5 lbs for $10.00. One said their corporate office took all their old weights, and the other 3 said all their weights were spoken for.

Jeff

[fishhawk]

no one said the first places you try you will be able to score on WW. just keep looking i'm finding the small shops are a over looked source.

[imashooter2]

Guys that are still finding WW available at shops should count thier lucky stars and put away as much as they can lay hands on. Around here, every shop from the chains to the Mom n Pops have a recycling contract with someone and offering to beat that deal goes nowhere. It isn't always a matter of a guy that isn't motivated to look or just expects to trip over buckets in the street. The WW world as we knew it is changing. Sooner or later, it's going to get to your neighborhood too.

[Jon]

I've had a hard time finding all that much in the way of wheels weights myself. Most places won't even sell them to you. I have one or two places that I can get some here and there, but it's not all that much. :( Look for the places that are a little out of the way. You'll find a little better luck. The chains will hardly even talk to you.

I'm close to trying my hand at berm mining.

best of luck.

[targetshootr]

Berms are the easiest place I've found and it's free. Go on a weekday it's usually not as crowded. Also, call around and find a roofer who takes off lead flanges and pipe and someone will swap you for ww.

[halfslow]

As I just posted to another thread, try garage sales and craigslist.
Look closely at moving/downsizing sales.

[Mumblypeg]

I'm still lucky. I just got home with a 5 gallon bucket of WW from a local tire store. Free. He saves them for me and I leave him a bucket. He'll call me when it's full. That's the nice thing about a small town as there is no competition except for springtime when fishermen want sinkers. I can live with that, hope it doesn't change but I know it will at some point. Of course you know where I buy my tires and I send him all the business I can. Back hurts, gotta get smaller buckets...

[.38 Special]

I understand folks who aren't interested in scrounging. I have more spare money than spare time, so it doesn't make sense for me to spend hours driving from tire store to tire store -- especially being as live in California, where lead falls into the same category as uranium and child molestation.

As fishhawk mentioned, the swapping and selling sections here and at other gun sites are very useful. Smelted and ingoted wheelweights are often available for about a dollar a pound from many different sellers. I have about 300 pounds of the stuff in my garage right now, purchased from a High Road member.

HTH!

[Pitmaster]

My dentist is a shooter and I've been able to get boxes of the lead film leftover from x-rays from him. Its a source to pickup every 6 months or so when I get my teeth cleaned. When at garage sales if there are tackle boxes I'll check for lead and if the box is cheap enough and there's some lead I'll pick it up and sell any fishing stuff I don't need at my next garage sale. Usually for more than I paid originally.

[Fatman]

I mainly cast fishing lures but I've been extremely lucky in that I've never had to buy lead at all in the 32 yrs I've been casting. I have a few shops that I can get wheel weights at for free and I've gotten lead from an old xray room, and from my brother in law when I helped tear down an old house I got half the old lead piping from it.

Well I'm about to get caught as they say, with the lead laws in fishing tackle, so I only have to carry one bag or box where ever I go so I'm really considering switching to 70%bismuth/30%tin although it's gonna cost me $255 dollars for 15 pounds all mixed.

I've got a guy who'll buy my pure lead for his muzzle loader and ww for his 30-06 when I get ready to sell it.

Scrounge whatever you can whereever you can.

Fatman

[dakotashooter2]

Fatman...


Have you considered trying to cast your fishing lures with zinc? Would probably be problematic with the small stuff but might be worth a try on the bigger stuff.

[spurrit]

I have two reliable sources for lead. I buy the lead they clean out of the backstops at the indoor range, and I go out to the berm at the outdoor range,and just scratch around a bit. There's plenty of lead just laying there fr the picking.

The stuff I get from the indoor range has form oil and jackets in it, so I just dump it ina dutch oven, and set it on my turkey frier outside. When you do this, it gets real smoky and nasty, and you want to do it at least 50 ft. or so away rom the house. If you do it too close to the house you're house will stink, and you'll be able to smell it inside for quite some time.

[goon]

Hi guys - new guy checking in here.

I have a line on some wheelweights. No small feat, I'm told, because there are apparently a fair number of casters in my area.
Anyhow, what would be a fair price to offer for 50 pounds of wheelweights?
I don't even have the stuff to cast yet, but since the opportunity is there, I'd like to buy them now.
Thanks.

[straight-shooter]

Hi guys - new guy checking in here.

I have a line on some wheelweights. No small feat, I'm told, because there are apparently a fair number of casters in my area.
Anyhow, what would be a fair price to offer for 50 pounds of wheelweights?
I don't even have the stuff to cast yet, but since the opportunity is there, I'd like to buy them now.
Thanks.

I find mine around here in Indiana for 40 to 50 cents a pound. So no more than $25.00 would be fair but I would first offer $20.00 and see what they say. A bucket will hold about 110 pounds if it's full.

[monadnock#5]

Hello goon, welcome aboard.

Call your local scrapper and ask for a buy/sell quote on wheelweights. Go back to the tire shop and tell them the scrapper pays $.40 a pound, and charges $.70 (or whatever) a pound to take it away, so how does $.55 sound?

I've found dealers really like it when the first thing you say is "buy" as opposed to "give away", and know the value of what you're trying to buy.

[REDTAIL]

old style print shops have linotype and ludlow type casting machines that use strictly lead , and they have scraps all of the time

[spurrit]

old style print shops have linotype and ludlow type casting machines that use strictly lead , and they have scraps all of the time

My neighbor across the street(the one that GAVE me the muzzleloader) works at a print shop; I asked about lino, and he said they didn't have any, but offered to "liberate" some lead sheets. I declined.

I'm starting to love this guy. Every time he starts cleaning out his garage, I get some really good crap! He found out I have a coleman stove and lantern that use the little prpane bottles when I gave him a can of Colean fuel, so he gave me a case of bottles and another lantern! Same guy gave me two or three hundred shotgun shells because he no longer has a shotgun.

[RustyFN]

Goon glad you made it over here. It depends on your area. There was a place near me where I was paying $10 for half a five gallon bucket. That's probably around 60pounds. I stopped buying those after a couple because I found a couple places that give them to me for free. I am still putting a little money towards the WW's because I like to bring them a 12 pack of coke or Mtn dew just to stay on their good side. Those kind of places are hard to find but keep looking. It gets easier.
Rusty

[goon]

Thanks.
I bought 50 pounds of wheelweights yesterday for 40 cents/pound. I've also been checking with other tire places but they mostly have someone already collecting them. It's OK though - I don't even have any of the equipment to cast yet (I'll be remedying that after I sell one of my guns to a friend).
My one neighbor is a scrapper. I was talking to him today about the battery terminals he mentioned before. From what I've been reading, they should be safe to use as long as I clean them off with baking soda and water first and let them dry thoroughly before using them.
Anyhow, he says he probably has over a full five-gallon bucket of them around. Any idea on a fair price to offer for them?

[spurrit]

Goon,

It appears you're aptly named. I refer you to the sticky on melting batteries for lead. DO NOT DO THIS!!!

[goon]

Goon,

It appears you're aptly named. I refer you to the sticky on meltiong batteries for lead. DO NOT DO THIS!!!


You have no idea...

Anyhow, I read that sticky. Unless I misunderstood something, battery terminals (connectors that are part of the car, not part of the battery) are mentioned there as an OK lead source.


FWIW, I found the info here:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=36175
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=26796&highlight=terminals
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=9061&highlight=terminals
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=9463&highlight=terminals

According to this, guys are using the terminals as a source for almost pure lead. The only precaution is to wash them off in a baking soda/water bath.
If you got some info to contradict these guys, please inform me.
I haven't even started yet other than beginning the search for wheelweights and scrap lead and I don't want to do anything dangerous to save a few bucks.

[unclebill]

WW go for 60 cts. lb. here.
i went to the mom and pop tire store and offered 70cts.
they save em for me.

[spurrit]

So, you're just gonna cut the tops off?

[IcerUSA]

I think goon is talking about the cable ends , and yes they are almost all pure lead for the old post type batteries , the newer side terminal cable ends could be anything as most are hard .

Keith

[Fatman]

Different places and a wide range of prices but here's some of the places I've looked into for switching from lead based to non-lead for fishing lures and sinkers.

If there's a mix they don't list you can email them but it will cost more to get.

Atlantic Metals and alloys http://www.atlanticmetals.com/

Alchemy Castings http://www.alchemycastings.com/

AMERICAN TIN & SOLDER CO. http://www.american-tinandsolder.com/solders.htm

American Elements http://www.americanelements.com/pbm.html

Roto Metals http://rotometals.3dcartstores.com/

Hope they help

Fatman

[goon]

So, you're just gonna cut the tops off?

Nope, I'm not planning to even touch the posts.

I'm talking about these:
http://www.isplc2006.org/b2b/pics/Battery_Terminal.jpg


I'll check with the guy I know to be sure we're talking about the same thing, but where I live, we call the post on the battery the "post" and the clamp is called the "terminal".