ww cost

I'm a new member who is just starting to read the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook. I'm pretty sure that I have everything that I need but knowledge and experience. Actually, I cast and loaded some 38 special bullets about 25 years ago. They were loose in the case so I lost interest. Now, I'm retired, have more time than $ and interested in casting. I have a 30 cal mold and will be trying it first.

A guy tells me that he has about 80 pounds of wheel weights to sell or trade. Can anyone tell me the going price for them? What's a fair deal?

Dave

Welcome to the addiction.

I'm giving 20 to 25 dollars for a full 5 gallon bucket of wheel weights. Figure a 5 gallon bucket weighs anywhere between 130 to 150 pounds. I'd offer the guy maybe 10 or 15 bucks for the 80 pounds he has, especially if he can get more.

my favorite tire store here sells a 5 gal bucket full of dirty ww for 50 bucks. i got a bucket of em and it probably weighed around 130 lbs. dont know how many 1 lbs ingots ill get but quite a few. i was astonished at the price for a product that up till a few years ago they had to pay to get rid of...ho hum ive seen the same with firewood too so life is a gas huh? the mills back home had to put in a special grinder called a "hog" to grind up the ends and waste wood from logs that were trimmed to length before taking the bark off and sawing into boards...before that they had huge burners that the sawdust and ends were sent to to burn them to be rid of them...now they "sell " these ends and trimmings...if you can get them before they are "chipped" to send to a chipboard press to make plywood like boards. times change my friend so all ill say is get your ww as cheap as you can and try to find a "friend" in the tire buisness and maybe you too can develope an avenue for free or nearly free ww to play with.

Dave, just take your time, read the stickies, and ask questions. The guys and gals in here will be happy to help. It may take a little effort at first, but cast bullets shoot just as good as the others. And boy, they are a whole lot cheaper. Especially if you get good at scrounging lead.

Welcome. This is truely a very satisfying hobby! I'm at the point now where I haven't sent a "j-word" bullet down range in several years. My .38/357, .44 Mag/Spec., and 30-30 all are fed lead only.

Wheel weights are illegal in CA so I had to find other sources for my lead (Evil little buggers, eh!), which usually is more expensive. Ebay can sometimes give you a deal on lead, but you've gotta watch how much you bid 'cause shipping is there too. New stuff from Rotometals is excellent but pricy too. Just keep an eye out for lead other than regular sources, look at plumbers, roofers, yard sales, etc. and get it when you can...

Texas classified wheelweights as a hazardous material. now even though the tire shops have a bunch, they cant sell them without a visit from the man. now I have to order all wheelweights for around a dollar a pound. I think lyman #2 alloy foundry certified is around 1.30 a pound. k

Welcome Dave - If you can get it for 15 or 20, take them. Around here wheel weights go for 60 to 90 cents a pound.

Welcome!
Here in Missouri prices are ranging from 35-50 dollars a bucket. That being said, I have a gentleman that has a full 55 gal drum but he thinks he can get $1 a pound for it! As a good general suggestion I would say $.35 per pound is a good number. Some may say it's a little steep but in reality that is what they are going for at the scrapper and on top of that it is getting harder and harder to find lead.
Again welcome back into casting and have fun!!!
Cumminsnut

Being nice, and talking to everyone you can, really helps when it comes to getting lead. 15 months ago when we moved here I couldn't find any at all. I now have two scrap yards, a garage that sells them to me cheap and my own mechanic that gives them to me for free. Being poilte, plus a few cups of coffee with a box of donuts, can carry you a long ways sometimes.

Thanks for the welcomes. I've been reading stickies, looking at posts, watching You Tubes, reading the Lyman book and trying to digest it all. I doubt that I'll have time to actually get into it until sometime around the first of 2011.

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Originally Posted by x101airborne

Texas classified wheelweights as a hazardous material. now even though the tire shops have a bunch, they cant sell them without a visit from the man. now I have to order all wheelweights for around a dollar a pound. I think lyman #2 alloy foundry certified is around 1.30 a pound. k

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I live down in the Rio Grande Valley and have never before heard that, but it makes sense as I've been told by a couple of places that their management now requires that they send them to the recycler. I have enough on hand to hold me for a year or so, but I'm always on the lookout for more.

Where have you been looking at the Lyman #2 alloy? That price you mentioned is far better than anything I've seen. I need to talk to those folks.

I live in California and we now have a lead WW ban, but you can still find them. I tried going to tire stores but many of the ones around here wouldnt sell them because they recyled them through their WW dealer. The best place I have found is through a local scrap metal yard, I get them for .75 cents a pound. I kind of like it this way as it is easy, I just bring in a bucket and they have a HUGE bin loaded with them, so I take my pick of the litter and then weigh out and pay.

Im not sure what im going to do when all the WW's fade out of California. I guess Ill either have to buy from rotometal or maybe through the net with a flat rate box. i think Im going to start shooting into a 5 gallon bucket filled with sand to see if I can recycle my own.