Tin

[Drm50]

I make a trip to scap yard about twice a year. I sell copper & brass that I accumulate on the job.
They only buy non ferris metal. They have tow motor bins right by counter & scales. The street people are there all the time selling small amounts of metal. The lead bin is right next to the door.
There was 10 or more Tin ingots I could see without digging. This is located in a mill town that has been wiped out when mills shut down. The ingots were for tin plate in one of the mills. They wouldn't sell me any "lead". The reason being they pay less than the yards futher up the river and don't want guys buying off them and running it further north to resale. I told them it was tin and they said they didn't have any way to check metals so it's lead to them. I've managed to get a good bit of tin that is laying around in the mill towns. Guys took it home to make sinkers and there is still a good bit of it around.

[lightman]

The yards around here won't sell to the public either. My main source of Tin is from solder. Pewter is hard to find here. Its hurts to see bins full of stuff that you can't get don't it?

[JBinMN]

I make a trip to scap yard about twice a year. I sell copper & brass that I accumulate on the job.
They only buy non ferris metal. They have tow motor bins right by counter & scales. The street people are there all the time selling small amounts of metal. The lead bin is right next to the door.
There was 10 or more Tin ingots I could see without digging. This is located in a mill town that has been wiped out when mills shut down. The ingots were for tin plate in one of the mills. They wouldn't sell me any "lead". The reason being they pay less than the yards futher up the river and don't want guys buying off them and running it further north to resale. I told them it was tin and they said they didn't have any way to check metals so it's lead to them. I've managed to get a good bit of tin that is laying around in the mill towns. Guys took it home to make sinkers and there is still a good bit of it around.

Well, Maybe you could offer them more than the going market lead price they get for it, for the "tin that is lead to them" & perhaps you will get a deal by doing so. Tin for lead prices, well worth taking the time to ask if you did not. To me anyway... I would ask them if it were me, but I am not there & it is your relationship with them.

Thanks for sharing the anecdote!

[Drm50]

I never herd of buying pewter for bullet alloy until I came on this forum. I too hoarded pewter but for pouring end caps and such mostly on MLs. Flea markets around here have a good bit of pewter. I only buy items that aren't salable for use or collectors. It's cheap because tin is avaible. I'm sure all the big time casters have a tin connection in local area. I have a small stash of pewter ingots but don't go out of my way to get it. I missed out on some tin this summer. A guy at a flea market had sawed a big ingot into 10" lengths. He had $5@ on them.
When I found out about it and got there the cupboard was bare. One guy that bought some said they went a little over 30lbs each. That's what you call a steal.

[kevin c]

If they won't sell to you but can't ID the tin, and are going to sell it to a wholesaler at lead prices, maybe you could swing a trade: offer them two or three times the weight in lead for the tin. They will get two or three times the money and you get tin at a bargain value. Heck, if you wanted just close to the going rate on S&S for tin as pewter ($8-10 per pound), you could trade 8-10 times the lead and still get a satisfactory deal.