salvage yard lead?

[shoestring]

in the endless quest for more, and ww getting scarce, i decided to call a local scrap yard for a new lead connection. I was quoted $1 per#. anything from ww to medical grade lead. sounds pretty high today but at least it is a supply. If i trade the material i am taking to the scrap yard for lead, somehow it seems more justifyable in my mind. I'm thinking of getting 50# or so of pure for my ML, and i'll snoop around a bit while I'm there. I know nuclear medicine is transported in lead containers. I'm not all to fired up about bringing nuclear tainted lead into my house. I don't know if it works that way or not. is there anything to be skeerd of in buying lead from a scrap yard? I'm sure someone has done it.

[clodhopper]

I am mostly skeered of the nonrespect my wallet gets while at the scrap yard.
There are lot's of people who will sell a flat rate box full here on the forum for near the same price. And most of it has already been ingotized.
The medical lead containers are safe and likley clean.
A buck a pound is a bit high for dirty wheelweights.
Nobody know what tomorrow will bring. Could be 2 bucks next month.
Having a stash of casting material is a comforting thing.

[thegreatdane]

Always bargain with those scrap yards. The unrefined state of their WWs yields a lower price IMHO.

Sometimes you can get a couple yards to compete. Someone will win a sale - that's how I see it.

[mold maker]

Last I bought was new sheet lead scraps from an X Ray install. The price was .50/lb. They had the same 1/4" lead glued to 3/4" plywood in 8'x5" for .30/lb.
That was Tuesday, March 3rd.
I was riding in a KIA Spectra and could only transport 289 lbs down the Mt. I cried all the way home.
None of the local scrap yards will sell lead at any price. They all give the same old BS song, about selling HAZZZZARDOUS MATERIALS.

[shaune509]

Epa's regs are so convaluted that many bussiness defalt to the 'safe' read of the law. The smaller yards around here are easier to deal with both buying and selling. One of the larger scrap yards I some times use for scrap auto's even has radition detectors at the scale, they are the contract site for the local city trash from the sort/burn plant.
shaune509

[Suo Gan]

in the endless quest for more, and ww getting scarce, i decided to call a local scrap yard for a new lead connection. I was quoted $1 per#. anything from ww to medical grade lead. sounds pretty high today but at least it is a supply. If i trade the material i am taking to the scrap yard for lead, somehow it seems more justifyable in my mind. I'm thinking of getting 50# or so of pure for my ML, and i'll snoop around a bit while I'm there. I know nuclear medicine is transported in lead containers. I'm not all to fired up about bringing nuclear tainted lead into my house. I don't know if it works that way or not. is there anything to be skeerd of in buying lead from a scrap yard? I'm sure someone has done it.

Too high, move on

[Swede44mag]

Found some at a gun show it was marked 20/1 don't know what the heck that meant. They also had tin and antimony but if I am going to pay that price I will get it from somebody that is probably more reliable.

I found a very large wheel-weight I thought I had really found something. I put it in my lead pot turned the dial up to 850 came back about an hour later. I seen some crud on the top of the lead took my dipper to clean off the crud. It was about the same amount as the wheel-weight. I then proceeded to cast boolits well sort of. It kept sticking to the sprue wouldn’t come off without extra persuasion. This went on until the pot was empty I must have got one of those darn zink wheel-weights.

Moral of this story all that glimmers is not gold or in this case useable for boolit casting.

[runfiverun]

20/1 is 5% tin and the rest lead.
or 20 parts lead 1 part tin.
to test for zinc ww's use a pair of side cutters the lead ones will cut the zinc are far too hard.
or put a drop of muratic acid on them if it bubbles it's zinc.

[Suo Gan]

Found some at a gun show it was marked 20/1 don't know what the heck that meant. They also had tin and antimony but if I am going to pay that price I will get it from somebody that is probably more reliable.

I found a very large wheel-weight I thought I had really found something. I put it in my lead pot turned the dial up to 850 came back about an hour later. I seen some crud on the top of the lead took my dipper to clean off the crud. It was about the same amount as the wheel-weight. I then proceeded to cast boolits well sort of. It kept sticking to the sprue wouldn’t come off without extra persuasion. This went on until the pot was empty I must have got one of those darn zink wheel-weights.

Moral of this story all that glimmers is not gold or in this case useable for boolit casting.

21/1 at a gunshow is a pig in a poke, along with the once fired brass.

[340six]

Too high, move on

I was quoted at $0.75 at one place today for dirty WW