A Lurker no longer has a first question. How much are you paying...

[Doc Thornton]

Hello. Let me compliment the members and support team of this great site.
Very well done, and thank you for all of the very usefull information and opinions.

I am sure that this question comes up here often.

What is the going rate for scrap lead in your area? Last summer I paid 25 cents
a pound for misc. lead scrap and WWs at one of the local recycle yards.
Now they want 75 cents for such a mix. Has the price of scrap lead gone up
200 % since I bought it last year?

Even at 75 cents a lb. it is still much cheaper to roll my own, and I also get the
pleasure of the whole casting, sizing, lubing, and shooting thing.
But if I pay too much it works on my mind and cuts down on the joy.

Doc T.

[xr650]

Welcome to the board.
Last summer I was paying .30/pound at the scrap yard.
Lead has gone down and the scrap yard still wants .30/pound. I aint playing.
I am in fairly good shape with my lead supply.
If you need the lead, and this is your only source, you may have to bite the bullet.
Keep an eye on Swappin and Sellin. You can get a better deal there.

[Dale53]

It is amazing at the difference in asking price from one scrap yard to the next. Check as many in your area as you can. Then, when you find someone who is decent to deal with, stay with them.

Don't forget to "survey" the tire shops. Personal stops are MUCH, MUCH, better than asking on the telephone.

When you buy tires, before you give them the "go-ahead" ask about old Wheel weights. It's amazing how cooperative they can become when they realize you are a potential customer.

Dale53

[WHITETAIL]

Doc, Can't say because I have not gone to
that point yet.
My method has always been to tell everyone
who I come in contact with that I will take
any and all lead I can.
But the advice here is right.
The best I can say is check out more places.

[WHITETAIL]

Doc, Pardon me.
Welcome to the forum!

[Doc Thornton]

I appreciate your response to my question. It seems like everywhere that I stop and ask
about WWs they tell me that I should have been there last week (just like fishing) because
they just gave away #300 lbs. or else they have a standing agreement to give them to some
other lead scrounger for ever and ever.

I have been thinking about making up some flyers that offers to buy WWs or clean lead
for 25 cents a pound and leaving them at as many places as I can find. That has got to
flush out something once in a while.

This is a sad analogy, but I read a book about the Lodz Ghetto in Poland where the Nazis
where holding thousands of Jewish folk during WW2. One of the things that I remember is
that they never went anywhere in the ghetto without carrying a food bowl with them just
in case they might happen upon some food being shared. I do not compare my own situation
with their most unfortunate fate in any way but I think that from now on I an not going
anywhere without my 5 gallon plastic bucket in case someone is giving away some lead.

Regards, Doc T.

[fredj338]

WW are almost impossible to find here in SoCal. I have been to many tire shops but got lucky last month & found a newer shop that no one had hit up yet. It scored me approx. 550# of mixed WW for $100. After sorting out 40# of garbage & obvious steel, zinc, etc. & casting to ingots, I have about 450# of casting alloy. I'll definitely hit that shop up again.

[Firebricker]

Doc, last year lead prices went through the roof in my area now there back down I've been paying about 50 cents per pound lately. Thats just misc lead no lino or high tin goodies. I see your in Oh it might be worth trying to find a few guys close together and work out a bulk buy. That might get a better deal than buying a bucket here and there. FB

[HangFireW8]

I appreciate your response to my question. It seems like everywhere that I stop and ask
about WWs they tell me that I should have been there last week (just like fishing) because
they just gave away #300 lbs. or else they have a standing agreement to give them to some
other lead scrounger for ever and ever.

I have the same problem in my area. All the local tire shops are spoken for. I have since scrounged or traded for various types of alloy and am building a small stock of: pure (or purish) lead, monotype, and solder. As a result I can now mix my own. It makes asking for advice here a little difficult, since every question seems to result in a wheel weight recipe.

-HF

[Jaybird62]

Welcome to the forum, Doc.

Building personal relationships with tire shop owners seems to be the best way that I've found to acquire WW. Some are free while others are paid for at different levels. The chains seem to be the toughest to get WW from in my area. The battery and WW manufacturers have the chains and some of the independants sewn up. I've paid up to $35 per 5 gal. bucket, which, by the time I smelted it down, gave me a cost of .25 per pound.

Years ago, I ran a trap line and did animal damage control. Driving from one tire shop to the next is kinda like running a long-line... you never know what's going to be waiting for you at the next stop.

Good luck in your quest.

[snaggdit]

Doc, most of us carry a 5 gallon pail with us everywhere we go. Welcome to the addiction, I mean club.

[shooter575]

Doc, I see your from Ohio,so look for a junk sailboat. They all have a weighted keel. Most were done done with whatever lead they could find. WW most of the time.Will take some work to get rid of the rest but for a ton or more of boolet material would be worth the effort.
Heck last time I went down state route 2 I bet every 3rd place had one setting out back.

[Ole]

Asking for WW's is purely a numbers game.

You could stop @ 10 shops, and 9 will tell you no. Trust me though, the one that finally says yes will make all the effort worthwhile.

You could always buy from ebaY as well. Their WW's typically go for around $30/50lbs + $10-$15 for shipping.

Ingots are typically around $1/lb, but then you have to trust the guy that smelted them knew what he was doing.

[softpoint]

I traded a load of scrap iron from my shop, plus some cash, for 1,450 lbs. of wheelweights this past Thursday. This was at the local salvage yard. The weights were .35 cents a pound. This put me at over a ton of bullet metal. Enough to last me a long time. I would like to find a place to buy a little linotype now to mix with part of it

[par0thead151]

i bought some from a scrap yard last fall, for 20 cents a pound. wish i had bought all they had.

[1z-bar]

I just picked up over 500 lbs from my scrap yard for .32 cents a pound. The last time I got it a month ago it was .27 cents a pound. I hope it's not going up again

[Randall]

The scrap yard where I get my wheelweights
jumped from .40 to .50 cents a pound this month.

[mtgrs737]

I figure that I am getting WW lead for around 20cents a pound plus the cost of propane. I have a good supplier that generates a 5gal. bucket every 4 to 5 weeks. The scrap price for less than 40,000 pounds today is posted on www.recycle.com at 18cents per pound. That is their buying price so I am happy with what I get it for, but I would pay more if I had to for this valuable material considering what factory cast/made bullets cost.

Anyone who is serious about this hobby should search out a source of lead and lay in a stock as lead is being phased out in all areas of use.

[badgeredd]

While reading through this thread, it occurred to me that if (which seems to be the case) lead WW are phased out in a few years, pure lead prices should come down since there will be less demand, for a while anyway. Once the demand slows the production thus creating more demand for what is available, it'll go up again. It might be a good idea to keep an eye on pure lead prices to catch the low point. What think you?

Edd