Scrap lead from stained glass window

[kendall yates]

Is the lead used in stained glass windows good for anything? It is in little strips and is VERY soft. I know where I can get a bucket or 2 full but is it worth 40 cents a pound? Thanks.

[Leftoverdj]

It's near pure lead. If you need lead for muzzle loaders or some other specialized purpose, it's worth 40 cents a pound. If you have no particular need for near pure lead, it's probably not.

[mooman76]

Is the lead used in stained glass windows good for anything? It is in little strips and is VERY soft. I know where I can get a bucket or 2 full but is it worth 40 cents a pound? Thanks.

Lead is always worth something especially now adays. As Kendall said it is soft and good for ML's. You can either mix it with WWs 50/50 and use in pistol or something else to make harder or swap to a ML guy. It is hard to get the soft lead now adays and the ML guys always seem to get stuck with the harder lead and others that want the hard lead get the softer.
I got some a few years ago and brought my lead stash up conciderablt. If you get rid of it save some for slugging barrels. You could also probubly shoot it as is in a pistol at slow velocities.:Fire:

[Tom Herman]

These guys have hit the nail on the head: Essentially dead soft lead. Get it, and trade some of it for wheel weights, and go with the 50/50 alloy for general purpose handgun stuff. I add 2% tin to my 50/50 for better flowability.

Happy Shootin'! -Tom



Lead is always worth something especially now adays. As Kendall said it is soft and good for ML's. You can either mix it with WWs 50/50 and use in pistol or something else to make harder or swap to a ML guy. It is hard to get the soft lead now adays and the ML guys always seem to get stuck with the harder lead and others that want the hard lead get the softer.
I got some a few years ago and brought my lead stash up conciderablt. If you get rid of it save some for slugging barrels. You could also probubly shoot it as is in a pistol at slow velocities.:Fire:

[Green Frog]

If you want to know what you are actually mixing, starting from pure (or nearly pure) components is the only efficient way to do it! Pure lead is a key ingredient if you want to make a lead alloy that is repeatable. Grab all the pure lead you can find!! YMHO, and YMMV, but it's just simple logic.

Froggie

[Shuz]

Is the lead used in stained glass windows good for anything? It is in little strips and is VERY soft. I know where I can get a bucket or 2 full but is it worth 40 cents a pound? Thanks.

Years ago I used to get a lot of the strips you mention. A friend of our family's had a stained glass window studio. The joints on stained glass windows were soldered and contained a high percentage of tin. If you have any of these joints along with the strips, and they appear more silvery in color, you have the same. It was good stuff while it lasted.

[59sharps]

tried it once to hard to use for minnies

[fredj338]

The wife took a couple of sg classes & I saw here buying all this lead wire. So asked her to see if I could get scrap from the shop where the class was. Long story short, now I have a reasonable steady supply @ 25c/#. I use it for cast HP mixed 20-1 or 25-1 w/ tin.:mrgreen:

[missionary5155]

Good morning
I have a friend who makes windows as a hobby and he saves the scrap for me. I take him a box of donuts and I drink his coffee. Over 2.5 years it adds up to about 30 pounds.
But you need to look carefully at this stuff. The solder joints have about a 50/50 tin lead mix so I cut those loose and those are part of my tim supply. The rest is PURE as best I can tell.
Mike God Bless you.

[GrizzLeeBear]

Grab all the pure lead you can find!!
Froggie

I would go a bit further and say grab ANY lead you can find. You can always mix it with harder or softer alloys to get what you want. With the anti-lead campaigns going on now lead in all its forms will be getting harder to come by cheap.