What to look for at Garage Sales?

[AJ Peacock]

OK guys,

I think I've been bitten by the casting bug and started running around to garage sales looking for that 'treasure'. I found a cast iron pot for $1 and a good old muffin pan for $.25. After I got home I was reading this forum and realized I should have also been looking for Pewter (I am a Noob). So, the question, What should I be watching for beyond the list below.

Lead of all types (ingots, lead sheeting, wheel weights, lead solder etc) (not battery plates)
Pewter (must say Pewter or English Pewter, not wilton etc.) (pay less than $1/lb)
Solder (pay less than $1/lb)
Turkey fryers, ladles, muffin pans, small SS pots etc.
Molds, mold handles, sizing dies etc.
Melting pots
fluxes (wax, beeswax etc. ??)
Kitty Litter (to cover the melt)


I'm sure I'm walking right by some treasure and would sure like to have a cheat sheet (or at least a bit more knowledge) when I'm looking through stuff at garage sales/second hand stores.

Thanks,
AJ

[Cactus Farmer]

You pretty well covered the "normal" stuff. I found a small hand held electric melter for fishing lures/weight casting plus two lure molds and some lead for $5. Knew it worked and found it OL for $65........no I didn't go back and kiss anyone.......but I smile every time I cast a bore lap,mold a few "test" boolits or do a quick chamber cast.

[Bent Ramrod]

A big spoon with a long insulated handle and small holes or slits in the bowl is handy for skimming the dirt off the top of the melt while letting the lead fall back into the pot.

I also grab decorator candles and crayons for fluxing and erasable bond typing paper for patching.

[dale2242]

I`m with Ramrod, a bucks worth of old candles will last a lifetime of fluxing......dale

[The Double D]

A double boiler...

[AJ Peacock]

A double boiler...


What do I need a double boiler for? I saw one at a garage sale yesterday for $2

AJ

[jhrosier]

I was killing a couple of hours stopping at garage sales Saturday and bought a very nice air compressor for $5. Homemade but very nicely done using an older cast iron compressor. It was part of an estate sale.
I never see any shooting related items at sales around here.

Jack

[Typecaster]

Never seen lead or its relatives at a garage sale in 40+ years of looking…but have found pig lead at thrift shops. In SoCal, I've run into a lot of RCBS green equipment (also mostly at thrift shops); never once anything Lee red or Dillon blue.

I personally hate to see anyone use vintage cast iron for ingot moulds—I also use vintage cast iron for baking, and hate to think that somebody had been using lead in what I use to cook for my family. Maybe the iron doesn't absorb Pb; maybe it does (that gives me lots of excuses).

Richard

[The Double D]

What do I need a double boiler for? I saw one at a garage sale yesterday for $2

AJ

It is th best way to melt the materials needed to make bullet lube or to just melt lube with out scorching.

[JIMinPHX]

I usually look for winning lottery tickets. ;-)

[HeavyMetal]

Some times asking the right questions can net you something that hasn't been brought out yet or forgotten.

Look closely at the stuff for sale, including the books and magizines, some times old pic on the garage wall or posters like the old remington stuff.

I once found an old leather holster in with a bunch of shoes. When I asked about it I was told grand dad had a pistol that went in it would I be interested in an old gun?

Guess what my answer was?

Turned out to be a nice old S&W 38 Special pre WWI, 1909 to be exact, it was well worn with a 6 inch fixed sight barrel. I was quoted $150 and it went home with me!

Garage sailing is just as much looking for clues as it is looking at someones junk!

[Bent Ramrod]

I've found "gun stuff" pretty rare at garage sales and not very common at swap meets. Still, if you go to enough of them, some great stuff can turn up. A friend found a Ballard rifle at a yard sale in Mississippi. I'm not expecting much of that here in California, but just the fact that it happened somewhere is encouraging.

[jsizemore]

Picked up a hot plate to preheat molds for $2.

[smokemjoe]

Back in the 70s my mother in law in Borger Tx. took me to my 1st. garage sale, Got G43 rifle$35.00 in Amarrillo, sold for $50.00, now worth over 1,000, Found a duck call for $1.00 later sold it for $65.00 at Des moines Ia. gun show.Not like that anymore. Joe

[Idaho_Elk_Huntr]

I got a large Lorton tumbler last week for $5. 2 bench grinders nib Craftsmans for $5 each. Many reloading and hunting items.

[badgeredd]

Not to brag...but SWMBO has done extremely well this year.

Early 1900s H&R=$25
Ruger 1022 = $75
MEC 600 Jr + Lee 1000 Pro + $50
RCBS Handles = $10
Brick 22 LR = $5
Plastic ammo boxes, 11 = $1.10
Lee 10# bottom pour, 220 volt = $5
Ladle = $.25
Mini muffin pan = $.10
Lyman tumbler = $3

It is nice to have your wife on the lookout for a "man's bargain" and I do thank her regularly.

Edd

[rhead]

Some of the better bargains I have found at garage sales and estate auctions.

I was digging in a box of scrap leather looking for apiece large enough to maer a butt cuff and was told that she had two larger pieces inside but that they were $5. I left with two blemish free steer hides 42 sq feet and 36 sq feet. I have been making rifle cases lately.

I was checking a box of used pocket knives and founf a Damascus bladed folder with walrus ivory scales. I wound up trading it even for a model 95 in 45-70.

Last night I was at an estate auction. As often happens in auctions someone else wanted the cast iron more than I did. I did get some canning stuff though.

18 dozen quart mason jars, 13 dozen pints, 4dozen half pints, 2 gallons, and a extra 16 quart canner for $45. Just over a dollar a dozen. $8.95 at wal mart.

The bargains are there just be patient and keep looking.

[DLCTEX]

I scored a Win. 94 in 30-30 for $75 at a garage sale about ten years ago.Most of my real bargains have been from estate sales. An Enfield Mk IV for $75, 30,000 12 ga wads and 150 lbs of shot for $32, about 50 cans of powder, bought on 3 different occasions at $5 can(two were 8#), and maybe the best was $5 for a cardboard box containing a Bushnell bore sighter, 5 1/2 boxes of 5mm Rem ammo (sold to a friend for $100), a box of 30 Rem. factory ammo, a box of 240 Whby. ammo, and about 200 ea. of 243 and 22-250 brass. Also at an estate auction I bought a like new Ruger Old Army for $140 and a 2nd. gen. colt 1851 Colt Navy for $160 in unfired condition (it had the cyl. hand broken, cost $13 from Brownells). A Win. post 64 mod 70 in 7mm Mag. $200 in 95% cond. There have been no bargains to be had for the past few years, but with the economy down maybe there will be some. There have been a few duds bought, but I've tried to forget those.:wink:

[RayinNH]

My best was eleven pounds of Red Dot for two dollars, when it came in twelve pound metal cans. Also got several packages of Hoppes cleaning patches for a dime per package...Ray

[hoosierlogger]

I had a guy give yes give me a box of 30-40 Krag reloads that his grandfather loaded YEEEEAAAARS ago. I am planning on pulling the nearly 200 j words to use in my 30-30. He saw me looking at them and I asked him what he wanted and he said "take them if you can use them, I dont know what they fit".