How much in a 5 gallon bucket?

[S.B.]

bslim, why would you do this? Are you a cast boolit only man? If I'm not mistaken, you'ld still have to alloy the pure lead core materials with other(tin, antimony, etc.)stuff? Just seems easier to shoot them as jacketed.
Steve

[badbob454]

bslim, why would you do this? Are you a cast boolit only man? If I'm not mistaken, you'ld still have to alloy the pure lead core materials with other(tin, antimony, etc.)stuff? Just seems easier to shoot them as jacketed.
Steve

im sure they were range scrap..

[tbj555]

i stopped buying ww because to many zinc in buckets since the epa made all shops use zinc at the first of the year , now i just pick up what i can from scrapper and if i need any i can buy pure lead ingots from a place for $1.15 per pound as much as i want.

[bslim]

You're absolutely right, Badbobgerman, all of this is range lead from an indoor range. I've got 6 more pails to do and then after that, I'm thinking I'll have enough to last for a long time. I did notice that after some of the first ingots were a couple of months old, they hardened to a point that when you bang them together, they ring? Not like pure lead at all. I do not have a hardness tester, but these jacketed lead ingots are still bright and shiney. When I get time I'll try to cast them as is and see what happens and I'm thinking about buying a Cabin Tree tester for curiousity's sake.

[shadygrady]

if you got zinc send it to me i will trade you lb for lb lead for your zinc grady_mitchell2002@yahoo.com

[fishnhunt]

Received word a couple weeks ago that the EPA will be coming down with regs regarding lead WW's in November of 2012. The manufacturers are not taking a side in this issue because (in my opinion) they would like to get away from lead and level the playing field with steel, zinc, and composites. You can get more info on the EPA site as follows:

http://www.epa.gov/osw/hazard/wastemin/nlfwwi.htm

I anticipate an initiative that will ban lead WW within a certain grace period (probably 6 months to a year). I don't think that this administration is going to miss a chance to rid the world of that "nasty old lead". I don't know if a Romney presidency would make any difference. Car and weight manufacturers are part of this effort - having joined the "Lead-Free Initiative"; I think it's just a matter of time (and short time at that) till we see this source RAPIDLY drying up!!

[Packntchr]

I have only been doing this for about 3 months, but here in southern AZ the ww I get are always just about half magnetic. I only keep that half around long enough to weigh it to see if the percentage has changed (it's always within 1 or 2 % of half). Then I need to be very careful with the temp so I can keep scooping out the zinc ones I missed in the initial sorting. The bottom line is 40%. That's the percent by weight that ends up in ingots. So if you live where ww are still Pb, stock up. It won't be long.

[khmer6]

I'm here in arizona as well and still getting 80% lead. Mostly steel and a few zincs

[Vinne]

Here in the south, we now get about 30% for ingots and 70% steel and zinc. The take is a lot smaller too. I use to get 1 or 2 buckets a month but now I am lucky to get half a bucket a month and then only 30-35% makes it to ingots.

We always had to fight the fisherman for WW. They must lose a lot of sinkers!!

[BrianG1]

How much weight in a 5 gallon bucket? Im having a hard time finding some one that wants to give me wheel weights. So i guess im forced to buy them. I have a guy offering me 30 bucks for a 5 gallon bucket full. He says they take them to the scrap yard, so i assume that is what they are giving him for it. Thanks a chance

I have been checking for the last month. The general amount is $20.00 per bucket and I have found no company that is giving away scrap lead. This is crazy..

I have gone to Craigs list all over the State of California and I can't find anyone who is giving lead scrap away. If you here anything let me know if you get a chance.

BrianG1

[Pmc]

I picked up 8 buckets yesterday. Averaged 150 lbs per bucket. I've sorted about 800 lbs so far. About 80% lead, 15% steel, 5% zinc

[USAVet890]

I have been looking for WW for a few months but cant seem to get more than a few at a time from any of the tire stores, most have commercial recyclers already on line. I know that they will be gone soon and also since they are so labor intensive with sorting and cleaning/ fluxing in preparation for the future I'm finding other scores for lead.

Luckily here in FL you have plenty of fishing weights and dive weights all over, last weekend I picked up about 200lbs for only $15 at garage sales. I went to the local recyclers to check on getting lead and there was no shortage to choose from. From pure lead, roofing lead to large ingots used for boat ballast and plenty of fishing weights all for .60 per lb. I got about 100lbs of pure lead for swaging and smelted it into ingots it was so much easier than the mess of WWs.

WW are last on my list for now I'm stocking up clean lead.

[USMC87]

Here we are getting 5 gal buckets for 25-30 dollars, They are still alot of good alloy but zinc is showing up more and more not to count the steel.

[.429]

i was able to get 175# of ingots out of a 5gal bucket

[44mag]

Within the last couple of years I have been weighting the waste from a 5 gal bucket of wheel weights. Lately the loss has been very close to 1/3 eliminating the zinc. I will not melt the zinc and use that for bullets but, it seems to work OK for shot. Since most everyone uses plastic shot wads the zinc mix doesn`t seem to bother anything. I have observed some trap and skeet shooters obtain a perfect 25 with that mix. Like everyone else, I am ratting away all the lead I can get my hands on before that President "thing" decides to ban lead. Have a great day and good shooting.

[el34]

Around the Ft Worth area the 'brand name' tire shops (Pep Boys, NTB, Walmart etc) won't sell them but small shops that also sell used tires will. Recently I have paid 50c to 65c per lb by weight or $60 for an almost full 5g bucket. The buckets weigh in at 115-125lb, mostly stick-on, and I net about 80lb ingots. Then have to add Rotometals superhard and 2% tin to get my 12.5 BHN casting alloy hardness.

I recently found 165lb of clip-ons at a recycling yard for 50c/lb. Got 117lb ingots, 9.2BHN, net cost 70c/lb. Best score I've had this year.

[.458]

Just purchased 250# of lead at a garage sale today for $125. Some WWs. Some dive-belt 5# chunks, 2 35# cannonball sinkers from a commercial fishing outfit and a gob of old roof flashing. The roof flashing is pure lead. The cream of the crop was a 50# roll of new roof flashing. I unrolled a couple feet of it and it still shines like newly cast boolit. Here in Washington State lead WWs have been illegal for a few years now so I rarely come across any of them. I've started asking at garage sales because old retired fishermen sometimes have lead under the workbench. Got lucky today.

[Full Mold Jack]

Called in to a local small one man shop and asked about his wheel weights. He said the scrap man calls by every two months or so and gives him $65 for his bucket but he will sell it to anyone for that.

I asked for a look see at what he had and there it was in all its glory, an old tall steel hand cleaner bucket at least 6 gallons in size and it was piled high with half as much again on the floor and under the bench. We settled on $90 for the lot.


I came home with 247 lb


Below its all sorted, the oval bucket has 33 lb of zinc and steel, the two middle buckets with 166 lb coww, blue bucket 48 lb stick on.

Total 214 lb usable.


At the end of another happy day in paradise, 181 lb of muffins are done at 50 cents per lb.

[Vinne]

Nice stock...should keep you casting for a while.

[Full Mold Jack]

Nice stock...should keep you casting for a while.

Thanks, yeah I'm pretty happy with what I got.
The guy there was telling me how they're trying to push the non lead weights down here too and how he hates them cuz they're hard to cut.

Only a matter of time I guess before the good stuff is gone for good. I'll be checking in on him and his bucket again soon.