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Thread: Prices for wheel weights

  1. #1
    Boolit Master




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    Prices for wheel weights

    Went by the scrap yard today, they wanted 90 cents per lb for wheelweights. I though that was too high. What prices are you seeing today? Last year from them I paid 50 cents.
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  2. #2
    Boolit Master
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    The prices have gone way up..in the spring of 2008 I paid 30¢ a pound...in October it was 63¢ and it has gone up even more...hard to believe, as there is supposedly no inflation and we are in a recession... Also, the last batch that I did buy had quite a few "FE" or iron weights in them...at these prices it may pay you to cull them out using a magnet.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master sheepdog's Avatar
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    Might try a auto salvage yard. I went by one locally and they said I could take all I could carry of wheel weights and battery cable connectors for $20/5 gallon bucket. Only down side is I had to go harvest them.

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    Value depends how you look at it. Rotometals just raised their lead prices. A ton of piglead is not iirc $1.39 per pound and Clip-on WWs have at least 20 cents per pound worth of antimony already in them.
    The scrapyards are paying around 50 cents per pound for lead and WWs
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  5. #5
    Boolit Grand Master fredj338's Avatar
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    IMO, too high. There is at least 20% waste in most buckets of WW today. So that raises your price to over $1/#. For that, I would probably not cast.

  6. #6
    Boolit Grand Master



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    Quote Originally Posted by fredj338 View Post
    For that, I would probably not cast.
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  7. #7
    Boolit Master Lead Fred's Avatar
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    Last last batch I got was .70 a lb, up from .55 the time before
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  8. #8
    Boolit Buddy
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    Bought a couple of 5-gal buckets of ww from a local tire shop for $20 each last year. Went back this year & the guy wanted $40. When I asked why the increase he said that's what the recyclers would charge me if I bought from them. Just so happens I know the owner of the closest recycler & knew they buy at $10 & sell at $40. I told the guy that the best the recycler would pay him was $10. I was offering to pay him twice that AND haul them away (saving him the time & expense of loading, hauling & off-loading at the recycler) but he wouldn't budge. What an idiot. Oh well, some people can't be saved from themselves.
    Netherwolf

  9. #9
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    Home delivery

    6-8 buckets of ww show up near my front porch 3-4 times a year. All I know for sure is that having a dear friend that likes deer meat who happens to work in the right place will really help your stash multiply. I am starting to have concerns over the strength of my casting areas foundation strength however.

    It is a rather neat formula

    blended ww+pure lead @ approx 2 to 2.5k in FPS = venison

    gifted venison+ friendship = ww

    lots of ww + old farmhouse = foundation safety concerns

    Now if I could only find a similar method for aquiring pure lead that would be grrrrrrreat.

  10. #10
    Boolit Master evan price's Avatar
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    Yesterday I visited my lead farms, wound up with (after sorting the trash out) 225 pounds of raw lead weights for the grand total of $8 in cash. However that's probably not a common occurrance in the rest of the world.
    Due to market fluctuations I am no longer buying range scrap jackets.

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  11. #11
    Boolit Master Stick_man's Avatar
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    You can find them pretty much anytime here on the forum for between $40 and $50 for a 50 lb box already sorted so you don't have all the garbage, Zn, or Fe in it. You can also get your choice between clip-ons and stick-ons. Stick-ons seem to go a little cheaper than clip-ons but are still great for softening up hard alloys or for casting for black powder.

  12. #12
    Boolit Bub
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    Two weeks ago, I paid 40 cents per lb for a bucket with 138 lbs of "mostly wheel weights" at the local auto scrap yard.

    I've bought wheel weights there before but that was the first time I found zinc weights and iron weights in the mixture.

    I got right at 100 ingots of wheel weight and 19 ingots of soft lead from the stick-on weights that I sorted out to melt separately.

    Next time, I'll sort the bucket prior to firing up the burner. It was a PITA to have to look at each weight to see if I wanted to put it in the pot.

    That batch has some kind of contaminates that I have not seen before. The contaminate floats in "gobs" of "silver snot" on top of the lead. I scooped out what I could then added about 2% tin like I do with each new batch. The bullets are casting fine --- but I'm still finding the silver-colored "gobs" floating on top.

    My last batch did not have that contaminate and is somewhat easier to cast --- but bullets from both batches weigh out the same --- and the bullets from both batches leave no leading in the bore of my target gun and group the same.

    Anyone got an idea what the "silver snot" is??????

  13. #13
    Boolit Buddy casca's Avatar
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    lead hunt & findings

    after deducting all fees such as the new turkey fryer, the cast pot from harbor freight
    , 3 corn bread molds, the propane, and the whole bunch of wheel weights which I was able to obtain 265 pounds of clean and ready to fit into my LEE bottom pour

    the total per pound came to $.73 a pound

    Now for my finding Lead wheel weight will soon be history 30% of what I obtained was unmelt able

    so If you are gonna squirrel away some lead now is the time to start.

    knowing how much lead that needs to be on hand is regulated by how much we shoot what is a real stocked up quanity to keep ?

    my on hand amount is at 400 + pounds with 200 more on the way

  14. #14
    Boolit Master



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    At 1.00/lb for lead, 50 bullets(a box worth) of 200 grain 44's comes to 1.42 for the bullets. Seems worth it to me. The moulds don't wear out, the pots last for almost ever, and I reuse the cases. I should have started casting my own years ago.

  15. #15
    Boolit Master
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    Needed new tires on the car, and went shopping. Found a local business, and told the owner what I wanted, and mentioned that I liked to trade with locally owned shops because Wal-mart won't trade for wheelweights. Ended up with a heaping 5 gal bucket for $40. Used to get the same amount years ago for $20, but that was when the spot price for lead was 17cents a pound or less. I made it easy for my stepson to get me a Christmas gift- told him I wanted wheelweights-- don't bother with the giftwrap, just put 'em in the carport.
    You have the right to force me to pay for the feeding, housing, clothing, education, and medical treatment of yourself and your children when I have THE RIGHT TO FORCE YOU TO PICK MY COTTON!

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  16. #16
    stephen perry
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    Harvesting Wheel Weights

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    What do you want them delivered in a sealed box. I have a fonding for harvesting ww. Like some did it since I was a kid. Naturally I like the big ww's. Hate the zinc. Best is go to a shop that services large trucks here you can get the 6-10 ounce ww. I like more ww less clips. Lately my 5 gallon buckets weigh 140+ and cost me a 12 pk of Old Milwaukee.

    Stephen Perry
    Angeles BR

  17. #17
    Boolit Master

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    WW Source in Central IL

    For all you fellow booliteers in (east) central IL, G&G Salvage in Loda...just off I-57, 30-some miles north of Champaign-Urbana...has a decent supply of WWs at a fairly reasonable price. I got two buckets (140#) a couple weeks ago for $.45/lb. Incidently, G&G will also BUY scrap cartridge brass. (After getting credit for a 5-gallon bucket of range sweepings and some scrap copper from a kitchen-bath remodel, that 140# cost me a whole $11.40.)

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  18. #18
    Boolit Master
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    3 years from now people will be talking about the good old days when you could buy wheel weights or lead for $1 a pound.
    Buy what you can afford now even if you think the price is high cause it is only going to get worse as the years go by.

  19. #19
    Boolit Buddy Mark's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by fredj338 View Post
    IMO, too high. There is at least 20% waste in most buckets of WW today. So that raises your price to over $1/#. For that, I would probably not cast.
    I suppose I am lucky. I will not pay for wheel weights and I don't know how expensive commercial cast has to get before I will pay for ww's. I still have many friends that are turning wrenches. I stocked up many years ago when technical help yeilded buckets of wheel weights. Back then, it was rare to find iron, zinc, or even tape on ww's. These days, I get a bucket here or there and half is junk. 120lbs and I am only getting 60-70lbs of usable metal. This content is from the buckets now gathered from my friends who work as dealership technicians. If you guys are buying buckets, how many pounds of "castable" metal is in the bucket? Someone here mentioned going to a truck shop. That sounds like the best idea yet. Heavy trucks are still using mostly lead ww's. The days of lead ww's are numbered.
    Mark

  20. #20
    Boolit Master




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    I sure wish we had someone that could post the spot market price for scrap WW each week. I do buy my WW from a local dealer and I seek to be fair with him as well as be sure other sources are being fair with me. My source throws in a bucket full occasionally so I feel he's trying to fair with me.

    BTW @ $1 a pound for finished scrap, a guy would pay about 3 cents per boolit for 200 grain boolits. How much do commercial boolits/bullets cost now?

    Edd
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BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
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