Where can you get pure lead for cheap and of known purity?

[Moonman]

If you need CERTIFIED, it's just not available everywhere and you'll pay for CERTIFIED METALS at places like Rotometals.

[fryboy]

umm compared to midway rotometals IS cheap

[41 mag fan]

What about someplace like Bradford Supply??? I'm guess lead babbits is real close to pure.

[cbrick]

I'm guess lead babbits is real close to pure.

No, babbit is anything but pure and there are huge variations in babbit depending on it's intended use. Here is a great article by our very own Felix on babbit.

http://www.lasc.us/FelixBabbitbulletAlloy.htm

Rick

[Sonnypie]

I'd like to get $1 a gallon gas again.....

[AndyC]

Thanks for the info re XRF, guys - never heard of this before, and I'm feeling all Captain Kirk-ish now

[Defcon-One]

You have unrealistic expectations. Revise either the "known purity" you expect or the price you are willing to pay.

I agree with the above statement and would make the point that you really don't need Certified lead for boolet casting!

The best way to get known content is to use Isotope Lead which is controlled very closely as to content. It is not pure though.

Thanks for the info re XRF, guys - never heard of this before, and I'm feeling all Captain Kirk-ish now

Andy: I did not see a price mentioned, so I'll ad that info. They start at around $30,000 per unit. I had a quote done by Niton once and was very surprised at the price!

Captain Kirk used some really cool stuff, but it was all payed for by the United Federation of Planets, right? Unfortunately, we've gotta buy our own toys!

[Down South]

I agree with the above statement and would make the point that you really don't need Certified lead for boolet casting!

The best way to get known content is to use Isotope Lead which is controlled very closely as to content. It is not pure though.




Andy: I did not see a price mentioned, so I'll ad that info. They start at around $30,000 per unit. I had a quote done by Niton once and was very surprised at the price!

Captain Kirk used some really cool stuff, but it was all payed for by the United Federation of Planets, right? Unfortunately, we've gotta buy our own toys!

Nawwwwwwwww, there is plenty of lead out there with known composition. Pure is not hard to find if you know where to look.

[imashooter2]

Nawwwwwwwww, there is plenty of lead out there with known composition. Pure is not hard to find if you know where to look.

So share your knowledge...

[astroskg]

try your local machine shop.

i don't know what you are looking for in the Lead type but most machine shops that have worked Lead jobs have buckets of chips most would be thrilled to get rid of. the occasional aluminum or steel chip in the buckets float to the top when melted and you end up with a bunch of lead usually around 99% pure, i have gotten over 1K lbs from my local machine shop for the cost of a couple 12 packs of soda. and a few afternoons of melting mixed with some rotometal super hard it makes great boolets

[Moonman]

astroskg,

It must be the city you're from and the government radioactive work done there but I was in a machine shop for 40 years and never had a LEAD material job to make or machine.

[Defcon-One]

Astroskg:

Another flaw in your plan, the guy wants certified PURE LEAD and you are talking...

....usually around 99% pure....

That does not quite make it what he wants, does it!

[AndyC]

Well, Rotometals' lead ingot are 99.9% pure.... for the loss of that 0.9%, the Scot in me says to take the free "pure" lead over $2.19/lb every day of the week

[Defcon-One]

Where can you get pure lead for cheap and of known purity?

As I said earlier, I'd go with Stick-On wheel weight lead. That is close enough to PURE LEAD for me and better than you need for most bullets. It is cheap too, which was his other desired characteristic.

I'd prefer to use ISOTOPE Lead (which is a perfect mix), Clip-On wheel weights (which are pretty good) or any other Lead that I could get and alloy as required for that matter.

A couple of 12 packs of soda isn't really FREE, is it, but it isn't bad either. Personally, I'd take FREE, certified, almost anything.

But he set the conditions, the guy wants PURE LEAD of "Known Purity"! That's why people are talking here about PURE LEAD and not 99% or 98% or 92% PB.

********

AndyC: There's not much Lead Alloy that I'd pay over $2.00 a pound for, except maybe known content Solder and Lyman #2!

[AndyC]

Hear hear - totally agree

I think the issue was obviously: known pure lead + cheap = ain't gonna happen easily at all (and if it does happen, I ain't gonna be tellin'!)

[Multigunner]

The softest lead I've found at a scrap yard was the lead used to construct stained glass windows.

This stuff was a bit odd looking, narrown cylidrical rods with a gutter down each side where the glass fitted in, and globs of some sort of much harder solder like substance where each rod intersected with others.
Lots of slivers of broken glass stuck in the gutters as well, but I guess all that floated to the top when I skimmed it.
I used this stuff for round ball .36.

Don't know if there was any alloying material but it certainly didn't affect hardness, though it may have added structural strength in some other way.

[leadmetal]

Gravita India Ltd can be your best option for all your specific needs whether your are using it for Lead Acid battery, X-ray room, roofing and flashing, Oil & Gas Industry, Power, Solar, Ship building, PVC stablizers or appliances. Check out the detailed specifications of pure lead at http://www.gravitaindia.com/products/refinedlead/

I'm sure your query will be solved out here as i'm also the bulk buyer from this particular company. Quality and Price are Excellent.

[ProfGAB101]

try your local machine shop.

i don't know what you are looking for in the Lead type but most machine shops that have worked Lead jobs have buckets of chips most would be thrilled to get rid of. the occasional aluminum or steel chip in the buckets float to the top when melted and you end up with a bunch of lead usually around 99% pure, i have gotten over 1K lbs from my local machine shop for the cost of a couple 12 packs of soda. and a few afternoons of melting mixed with some rotometal super hard it makes great boolets

I worked in a custom jobshop for 25 years and we even had a running account with an X-ray machine service company, and in that time we may have made about 5lbs total scrap lead "chips" drilling new mounting holes in some shielding plates. Machine shops just don't work in lead.

[sass2924]

The scrapper close to me wants $1.50/lb for sheet lead. But thats in California

[WBG]

I have been researching the same thing since I learned that there is a wide range of prices of boolit alloys. RotoMetals being near the top.

I don't have the patience that most of you show by scrounging for lead. For me it's too much like straightening nails.
Also, I don't shoot nearly as much anymore as most of you.

I have been looking around for industrial suppliers of lead and lead alloys.

Here is what I learned so far:
1. I just bought 60 lbs "pure lead", 99.99% pure, for $59.40 That's right: One dollar USD per pound for ingots of pure lead. That is a pretty standard industrial price. There will be one of these supply places near you.
Metalex Products Ltd.
Richmond, (Vancouver) BC Canada
604 273 5487
2. Your strong American dollar is worth a lot more than the Canadian dollar. For the last few months 80 cents USD or less will get you one dollar worth of anything in Canada! That saving alone will cover your shipping. If you live within 500 miles of the Canadian border you should get on Google.

2. I find these places on Google. There are a lot of "wholesale" lead alloy outlets in the USA and Canada. Just type in Google "Buy pure lead from ....." . I am now working with a firm near Vancouver that will melt up 92/4/4 ( or anything else) at a discount if I buy a 1000lbs. We are still working on the price. Also, I have found a guy in China that is shipping pure lead in smaller quantities to our pacific coast on a regular basis. (we are still sorting out the price) I have found that the chinese are easy and professional to do business with. Who know how much of the lead that we are shooting comes from China already. Ugh!

3.Most specialty suppliers of bullet casting lead have to be more expensive. They provide more services and a wider variety of products. Also, they deal in small quantities and give a lot of personal service. That cost them extra overhead money.

4. If you want better prices you have to go to the industrial places where you will usually have to buy at least 60 lbs. Also, If you ask too many "dumb" questions they may not like it. They are not small specialty boutiques, they are in the bussiness of sending out big orders and their lower prices reflect it.

5. I suspect that all these purity percent numbers that get waved around might be a bit like gas milage figures and it's a not worth worring about, for our application. )

I hope this is useful, but I would not be surprised if most of you already know all this and I am just "preaching to the choir".
If I learn anything significant I will post it. Brian