How much lead does one need for a life time? ( For the older guys at least )

[Just Duke]

At 50 I am taking a hard long look at my lead stores and expenditures here in the future.
I am thinking 3000 lbs of WW's should suffice.
What do you guys fore see your future lead requirment for the next 20 years age pending?
I would like to when funds clear order 3 to 5000 lbs of alloy from a lead manufactuer.

With wheel weights drying up I am not sure why someone has not suggested a group buy. Lead could be drop shipped from maufacturer.
Just thinking out loud..........................[smilie=1:

[leadeye]

I think a lot depends on if you have a way of recovering it. A friend of mine shoots on his own land for the most part and has a good boolit trap. Something I am going to build for myself as well. Without that, a lot will depend on what and how much you shoot. I would imagine those 45-70s use a fair amount in an afternoon.

[Just Duke]

I think a lot depends on if you have a way of recovering it. A friend of mine shoots on his own land for the most part and has a good boolit trap. Something I am going to build for myself as well. Without that, a lot will depend on what and how much you shoot. I would imagine those 45-70s use a fair amount in an afternoon.

Yes that does remind me I have to run to Walmart and get 4 to5 bags of Rubber garden mulch which is on sale now for my bullet trap.

[Jack Stanley]

Duke , I never did get a weight on the pile I'm using from . I do remember it took two pickup truck loads to get it there when I moved and I think the truck had about eighteen hundred pounds each time . Considering that I busted over fifty years a couple years ago , I'm thinking I might have some left over if Jesus punches my card at seventy-five .
I do mix my shooting with surplus ammo and a healthy dose of pull down military bullets that were selling for so cheap a few years ago . Right now the job keeps getting in the way of trying to send lead downrange , I hope to change that in about four years . I guess what I should be doing is making sure I have enough primers and powder to send it all downrange huh ?

I think about three thousand pounds of alloy would be a nice pile to have around .

Jack

[bobthenailer]

at 60 years old i guesstmate i have at least 2 1/2 ton of ww / lino / bearing babbit / mono foundry type / solder / lead . just picked up 60 lb of lino , 35 lb body solder , 65 lb lead and the rest ww all in ingots, 415 lb total from a friend for a few thousand 44 and 45 bullets about 75 lbs of bullets

[imashooter2]

It's simple math...

(average bullet weight * average yearly usage * expected years)/7000= requirement

A group buy for lead hasn't happened because most guys would rather scrounge. As sources get harder and harder to find, that might change.

[Down South]

How much is enough is a tough question to answer. It will depend on how much you shoot plus like said above; the 45-70’s can eat a lot. What I figure is for me to continue my quest for lead as long as I can find it. One of these days I need to try to figure out how much that I have in stock now. I’m guessing around 2000 lbs. I’ve got four or five buckets of WW that I haven’t cleaned yet and I’m due to stop at one of my regular suppliers in a couple days to collect. I usually get a full bucket full or better from this guy about every 6-weeks. As soon as I have a little time and another cool snap I’ll start melting down the 5-gallon buckets of WW that I have.

[Just Duke]

As sources get harder and harder to find, that might change.


That's what I'm thinking. I do feel that the members here should start an inquiry on obtaining a "non wheel weight source" and not wait until the pot runs dry.

[mooman76]

I have close to 1k. That should do me because I don't get out as much as I like. A freind I occationally go with goes out pretty much every week and when he does, he shoots allot. I don't think I could ever get out that much because to me it would get old and I just don't see myself ever being able to afford the other shootin supplies and gas expenditure and so on. He says he has so much that he had to stop collecting lead but I ave no idea how much he has but must be quite abit. So you have to factor in this like this guy. When or if you ever get to the point that you are fully retired will you shooting go up and how much?

[looseprojectile]

I'll tell you my experience, not necessarily what you will encounter.

When I was a young lad I was crazy to shoot anything any time, shot a lot.
Sometimes five hundred rounds a day or more. Was more like a 2 1/2 gallon bucket full of empty brass a month. I was working and raising a family and money was tight, though reloading components were cheap. Lead was free and easy.
Since I retired I have been fortunate to be able to afford any guns and components that I can rationalize I want.
At this point in my life I have all the ingredients to load and shoot any of the guns I have, all I want.
I am still buying a new or used gun from time to time and enjoy working up a load for them, though I don't need to shoot countless rounds to get the same satisfaction from them that I used to. I have about three hundred pounds of ingots on hand and add to them when I can and also depend on friends to add to the lead supply. [trade boolits for lead].
I will turn seventy in December and have slowed way down in my shooting in the last two decades. Life has been very good to me. Seems that quality is better than quantity these days. I also enjoy mentoring the young ones coming up.

[nighthunter]

Years ago myself and several friends had a standing rule when we went to the range. NO ONE went home till all the ammo was gone. We shot mostly cast bullets and spent many evenings together casting, sizeing and loading. Those were care free days before families and marriages got in the way. No responsibility to anyone except ourselves. We shot 100's of thousands of rounds of ammo. We got pretty good with our 6 guns and military issue rifles. We had an awful lot of fun. I still shoot when I can. I cast most of my bullets because I like to. I have about 5000 pounds of WW stashed and I think they will last me the rest of my life with enough left over to keep up my sons interest for a few years. I collect lead when I can. Never turn down a chance at free lead. Stash it when you can .... scrounge it when you can .... shoot it when you can.

Nighthunter

[leadeye]

Yes that does remind me I have to run to Walmart and get 4 to5 bags of Rubber garden mulch which is on sale now for my bullet trap.


I will have to remember that when I build mine. Thanks.

[GabbyM]

I do business with Lawrence in Granite City Illinois. Haven't been down their in a couple of months due to scoring some nice scrap lead. It's a two hour drive for me but I can only haul one ton at a time. If needed I could acquire a larger rig. But fuel cost goes way up compared to my Jetta diesel at 38mpg pulling a trailer. As far as I know all the lead in the USA comes from mines in MO.

I have on average a couple of tons of lead around here. I keep four alloys blended up then there's feed stocks.

I like to make $65 dollars a day even if it's a 12 hour day. Call me greedy if you must.

I can ship lead out via USPS or if youwnat to order a large shipment PM me I'll save you time by replying with web links to Mayco Industries, owner of Lawrence, and tell you the first name of the wonderful person you'll do business with. Their minimum order last time I ask was only 500 lbs. There is a discount with larger orders. I've no idea what the cost of shipping to your town would be.?? The bullet alloy is cast up in 24lb ingots that are segmented in two places to easily break into 8lb ingots. The 2/6 alloy is a dream to cast or you can blend it with salvage soft lead at 50/50 for a great shooting pistol bullet. Cut it 3 to 1 and water drop to stretch it out. If you've some salvage lead on hand. For your big Black Powder boolits 20-1 is a standard alloy.

Anyone out their with a club should consider setting up a shipment to be sold at the club at a profit for the club. Bird shot for trap shooters is of course a Lawrence product. So the lead shipment can cover many members needs. Big trucks only haul 44K pounds full up. In the big view that's not much lead.
Maybe contact a club up the road to split a full truck load. Be careful of attempting to off load a truck load of lead by hand. It aint gona happen without some injury. Get a fork truck or forget it. You'll need someone in your club that owns a business with a loading dock. Take that tip from a man who handled 20K lbs of steel a day for years and is sitting here with a bilateral hernia that needs an 13K $ surgery.

One thing I know is I could make more money selling lead in ingot form at ebay prices than I make casting and marketing premium bullets. But where's the fun in that? Plumbers lead and other soft lead are easy to come by in any amount. Antimony lead (WW) is a great precious catch when I get it. And I aint sharing. Lol.

How was the continuity in all that rambling. It's late and after a day of cleaning out a rental house of filth I would not of believed a human would live in I thought a few beers were in order. After the long shower of course.

Who besides myself thinks I should get a commission from Mayco? I mean after all. Gabbing out all this took a part of my life I'll never get back. By Wall Street standards this would be worth at least 20K$. :drinks:

[crowbeaner]

I'm wishing a had a ton right now; half for shot and half for boolits.

[Lloyd Smale]

Duke your going to find that if you get into cowboy shooting like you want to that your going to go through lots of lead. 3000lbs looks like alot sitting there but i know ive had years ive casted near a ton. Now i probably didnt shoot that much but you will no doubt be giving some away and using them for trade. I collect all I can. Its better to die with 5 tons then to run out.

[mtgrs737]

Can anyone have too much? My signature says it all!

[Boerrancher]

With the Economy going the way it is, the ecco-nuts waging war against lead, and the chances of BHO becoming the next president, Every dime I can spare, is going into powder, primers, and brass, along with a few J-bullets. I have been trading off some of my Jewelery and Gemstones that my wife and I use to sell and collect for moulds, and sizing dies for my lube/sizer.

As far as lead, I get every bit of it I can. I currently have about 1k worth of Range scrap, and about 300 lbs of WWs sitting stacked up in the basement. I have a 2 five gal buckets over half full of WW's to melt down. I need to go to the local range on mondays when it is shut down and pick up more scrap. The wife is pushing me to go to a buddy's junk yard and pull all of the WW's off the cars he has sitting around there. I may do that this fall, too many ticks and chiggers now. I also know where there is an abandon shooting range that most people have forgot about, that was used for 30 years and never had the berms mined. That is my ace in the hole if things ever go to hell, along with a bluff of galena that my cousin use to knock chunks off of when he was a kid for his rock and mineral collection.

Bottom line is I don't think that, at this juncture in American history, you can have too much lead on hand. I am not stockpiling for me. I am doing it for my boys. The Gov has already killed me, it is just going to take another 10 more years for the job to be finished. I want my boys to have something to hunt and defend this Ranch with when the time comes.

Best Wishes from the Boer Ranch,

Joe

[Bret4207]

As much as I possibly can and then some!

[jameslovesjammie]

Duke,

You missed out on this one.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Soft-Lead-6000lbs-Of-Soft-Clean-Lead_W0QQitemZ1602 (http://cgi.ebay.com/Soft-Lead-6000lbs-Of-Soft-Clean-Lead_W0QQitemZ160278124888QQihZ006QQcategoryZ71118 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)
78124888QQihZ006QQcategoryZ71118QQssPageNameZWDVWQ QrdZ1QQcmdZ (http://cgi.ebay.com/Soft-Lead-6000lbs-Of-Soft-Clean-Lead_W0QQitemZ160278124888QQihZ006QQcategoryZ71118 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)
Vi (http://cgi.ebay.com/Soft-Lead-6000lbs-Of-Soft-Clean-Lead_W0QQitemZ160278124888QQihZ006QQcategoryZ71118 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)
ewItem (http://cgi.ebay.com/Soft-Lead-6000lbs-Of-Soft-Clean-Lead_W0QQitemZ160278124888QQihZ006QQcategoryZ71118 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

[Springfield]

I figured up my requirement up on a calculator. I am 52, my kids are 5 and 7. So I figure when they get old enough to go Cowboy shooting with me, if all 3 of us shoot twice a month for 20 years, averaging a 160 grain bullet, we 3 will use up 2057 lbs. This doesn't allow for shotgun, assuming I ever build that shotmaker. I hedged my bet and collected 4000 lbs. I hope this will get us through.

[randyrat]

Yearly average times expected years + a hedge against inflation. WW lead is not a bad investment providing you don't plan on moving around a lot. I buy WWs and sell only enough to cover my cost the rest is stash and current bullet alloy. I try to keep my stash on the + side each year.

[HamGunner]

I retire in three months and just bought over a ton of linotype. I wish I had the money to buy the rest of the pile at the print shop. There is 5,000 lbs. in ingots left at about 75 cents a pound. Like others have said, I find that I shoot less nowdays as I get older. I used to shoot a whole lot every chance that I got, but it seems now I enjoy just working up a load or getting a gun to shoot just right and then the shine starts to wear off and the excitement is deminished. I suspect that I will probably never shoot much more than I have on hand now, but: WHEN LEAD IS OUTLAWED, ONLY OUTLAWS WILL HAVE LEAD.

[Bigjohn]

I don't plan on expiring moments after I cast, load and shoot the last of my pile of lead. [smilie=p:

So, I plan on bring home more material than I shoot down the range every time I go. That way I will always be in front with a growing pile/stash. :bigsmyl2:

After I've departed for the big range in the sky any caster that are left can fight over it. [smilie=l::takinWiz:

John.

[sniper]

Whippersnappers!:mrgreen: I just turned 69, (officially an old fart):wink: and figure the ~ 350 lbs of accumulated WW, #2, and 50-50 tin-lead I have accumulated in the ready to go area, in addition to the ? lbs. in the to be smelted pile will do me for a looooooong time...maybe longer than I have? Orrr..until my new Lee pot wears out.

BUT! I intend to enjoy every last 150and 162gr bit of it! 8-) Hmmmm... lessee....at 7000gr./lb....ummmmm...carry the 3, apply the angle of the dangle....yep, if'n I run out, I'll buy more. That or raid my brother in law's WW pile...he's 83! 8-)

[Just Duke]

Duke,

You missed out on this one.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Soft-Lead-6000lbs-Of-Soft-Clean-Lead_W0QQitemZ1602 (http://cgi.ebay.com/Soft-Lead-6000lbs-Of-Soft-Clean-Lead_W0QQitemZ160278124888QQihZ006QQcategoryZ71118 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)
78124888QQihZ006QQcategoryZ71118QQssPageNameZWDVWQ QrdZ1QQcmdZ (http://cgi.ebay.com/Soft-Lead-6000lbs-Of-Soft-Clean-Lead_W0QQitemZ160278124888QQihZ006QQcategoryZ71118 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)
Vi (http://cgi.ebay.com/Soft-Lead-6000lbs-Of-Soft-Clean-Lead_W0QQitemZ160278124888QQihZ006QQcategoryZ71118 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)
ewItem (http://cgi.ebay.com/Soft-Lead-6000lbs-Of-Soft-Clean-Lead_W0QQitemZ160278124888QQihZ006QQcategoryZ71118 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

I would of bid on that and won. The holy Grail of Lead!

[Just Duke]

All that posted or read please go HERE (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?p=402012#post402012)