how do i get lead to cast ?

[Saxmann10]

would like to start castinghandgun bullets .but cant find any source for lead. all the tire shops recycle and cant sell.what do i do?
I am from jacksonville fl area

[NC_JEFF]

EBAY vendors have it. Its for sale here from members and sponsors. You can dig it out of the dirt backstop at the range. Indoor ranges gather it from their bullet traps regularly. Buy it from your local scrap yard. Xray film is as good source of lead. There were many places to get lead, you'll get even !more ideas from reading this forum. This is s great place to learn about all things cast.

[SSGOldfart]

It's for sale here most of the time

[scottfire1957]

If you haven't tried the small, independent tire stores you might be missing out. Some car dealerships will give you some, here anyway.

[country gent]

Scrap yards can be a good source but some can be a pain to deal with as they are more interested in buying from private individuals than selling to them. also dont over look plumbers they may have scrap lead pipes and sheeting from restorations of old houses buildings laying around. Roofers may aqquire lead sheeting also. Roto metals< buffalo arms and some others sell alloies pre made also. Asking aropund may net you a good supply. Some indoor ranges may sell it off but also may be in larger quanities than you want or not as often as you want. The local indoor ranges here are contractyed wioth comercial casters for thier lead and the out door ranges dont allow mining backstops.

[RogerDat]

Scrap yards will sometimes sell you lead. The tire stores you have to ask are the small independent shops not the chain stores. Look in the phone book for shops that sell used tires. They tend to be independent so they don't have a "corporate" policy and work on older cars which will have lead WW's more often than new cars.

Boat keels are filled with lead so when a boat yard scraps a sailboat there is a huge chunk of lead that they may well sell you. Or you can offer to do the dismantling in exchange for the lead. Have to go around and ask, leave a phone number.

Rotometals is one of the sponsors of this site, there is a link to their bullet casting lead right at the top of the page. You pay more to purchase from a commercial supply company but the lead alloys are clean and exact.

Swapping and Selling forum of this site people sell all sorts of lead for casting boolits. WW's, plain, Lino, bullets reclaimed from target range berm. These are a cheaper source than Rotometals but not always as precise or guaranteed in what the exact alloy consists of. Certainly good enough for most purposes at a significant savings.

Post a request for what lead you want in the Want To Buy (WTB) section of Swapping and Selling. Which really begs the question what lead do you need? Which depends on what bullets you are going to make and how hard you might drive them. Folks shooting magnum revolver needs are different than the 9mm or 40mm folks, and the people pushing .38 or .45 Colt out of a revolver at slow speeds can use something else.

Wheel Weights are not special or required. They just happen to be a good basic alloy for bullets. You generally you know the amounts of what is in with the lead as an alloy, they are used all over the country. They used to be free or close to it. All this caused casters to use them over the years as a source of cheap or free lead for bullets.

By now many recipes for casting a bullet have been built up around WW's as an ingredient. Like Crisco is in a lot of recipes, even though you can use different shortening brands to get the same results.

I suggest you start by picking one specific handgun to cast for, read, ask and learn what works for that one caliber. By the time you shoot some "homemade" from that one handgun you will have an idea if it is something you want to continue doing AND have learned an awful lot about lead alloys, powders, and casting technique. If nothing else the word, terms and definitions you learn doing one will help you when you decide to cast your next caliber.

[mdr8088]

I hate to be the decenter here, but I see lead drying up. The wheel weights are almost impossible to find. They shut down the last new lead smelter in this country. The anti gunners and tree huggers all treat it like toxic waste. All the preppers have to have a thousand pounds of the stuff, and 10,000 rnds stockpiled for the next en vogue disaster. I don't see it available in 5 or 10 years. I put out a lot of money to make my own bullets, and yes It's paid for itself, but if your just starting out keep it in mind. One day when it gets scarce the price will sky rocket and with the way the anti's are causing panic buys and shortages with ammo, powder, and primers. You never know what's going to happen. I don't want to discourage you, because then they've won. There's not a tire shop I've found around here that sells direct. Only one of the recyclers sell lead around here. It's harder to get than explosives. I'm actually thinking about building a bullet trap so I can recycle my lead. I wish you luck.

[bangerjim]

Debbie Downer

[mdr8088]

Sorry, always thought of myself as Eeyore...

[Yodogsandman]

Keep at it...talk to people, network. Maybe get out to a more rural area to check shops. Once you get the knack, you'll have plenty. Then get more than you can ever use.

[cga]

454pb posted this picture of lead that nuclear medicine comes in. (isotope lead) You could check with him on how to obtain these.

[RogerDat]

Oh fuss and bother!
Lead is not getting scarce or rare, WW's are not being made from lead as extensively mostly because the auto companies sell cars all over the world and some parts of the world don't allow lead, so why would they put lead on any of them?

Big corporate chain stores want to have a "policy" and a paper trail (does probably prevent back door sales getting pocketed by employees). Not as many tire shops, just as many (if not more) folks interested in casting means less easy to pick up lead, and less nearly free lead. You have to look a little harder or pay a little more. Outside of the chain stores I had more tire stores that already "have a guy that gets them" than were unwilling to sell. Prices are all over the place depending on region but seems to me the scrap yards in areas that pay more tend to charge more. Or some have realized they are the only source in the area and will take advantage of people who don't shop for an alternative.

If you don't mind spending the money there are a whole bunch of companies willing to ship a full ton of lead to you by next week. Want two tons? No problem, just more money. Your local scrap yard wants 90 cents a lb. for a bucket of WW's? Then hit Swapping and Selling, Rotometals, eBay, tire stores, scrap yards, auctions, yard sales.

Blaming the liberals and greens for the shortages is sort of silly, I'm pretty sure it's not them that is snatching every .22 off the shelf, or pouncing on powder until the shelf in their basement has more powder than any three Cabelas plus one Bass Pro combined. I'm also fairly certain that the tire shops that already "have a guy that gets them" the guy is not some green activist but someone that just like me (but ahead of me) that wanted them to cast boolits.

Yes mother jones is busy hawking how bad lead is for everyone but not that many people are paying much attention. Also the articles they have had on the link between lead and crime are way too easy to tear apart with other substantial research. They even note "most experts in the field ignore this" this stuff from one fringe researcher we like. The Preppers ah yes if all of the dozens if not few hundred of those stockpiling massive quantities of lead for casting boolits post apocalypse stopped I'm sure my 9 month old back order for a couple of lbs. of 2400 will get filled right away, every new car would come with lead WW's, and the big corporate chain tire stores would decide selling to some guy with a bucket and a bathroom scale who does not give them a receipt is a great idea.

I should really not post when one of my socks has slid down, I lose some of my natural mellow.

[bangerjim]

Problem is.........most liberal idiots that read Mother Jones, Huff-n-Puff Post, MSNBC, and all those other stinking liberal rags do not take the time to REALLY research the TRUTH. They take their word for it. After all, it IS on the net and in the news..so it HAS to be true!

...................and they also vote..........................!

banger-j

[GhostHawk]

I've bought recycled Range lead from people selling it here twice in the last year.
65# I think for under 75$ including shipping.

A bit harder than pure lead, it makes good boolits. I have a couple of spools of old solder left from my plumbing days.
When I see bullets not filling out I drop a foot long chunk in and keep casting. Not scientific exactly but it works for me.

Check and see who buys the scrap steel, cast iron in your area, call and see if they have lead at decent prices.

[Beagle333]

He's in FL.

Wrecked sailboat keels!!!

[mdr8088]

Made you type a lot...lol

[lightman]

I always thought there should be a sticky on this. Here are a few ideas. You can buy it. Rotometals, a site sponsor, sells new alloys. So do a few of the commercial bullet companies. Several members sell lead in the swapping and selling section. Some scrap yards will still sell to the public. Check e-bay and Craigslist. Hunt for wheel weights at tire stores, mechanic shops, car dealers or wrecking yards. Talk to any roofing contractors or plumbing contractors that you know. Also, talk with any general contractors that you know. Sheet lead can be found as flashings or in x-ray rooms. An x-ray table might contain a ton of really clean lead! Type metal sometimes can be found at older small newspaper offices or print shops. Radioactive medicine is shipped in lead containers, ask around if you have any friends in the medical field. You may get range scrap from either indoor or outdoor ranges. Look for counter weights on tractors, fork trucks, heavy machine shop tools or race cars. If you live around a water front, look for fishing weights, net weights, dive weights or sail boat keels. Some computer racks have weights in the bases. So do some older floor lamps and musical stands. Some utilities use lead in meter seals, pole tags and the threads on pole top and cross arm pins have lead threads. Older style dental x-ray machines use a lead backing on the dental film. Float switches used in water and sewer treatment systems have weights on their cords. This is some of the places I have found lead.

Always be on the lookout. Networking is important. Ask around. Ask your family, friends and coworkers. The more eyes the better. Ask fellow shooters at the range or at the local gun shop.

Read several pages of this thread. I've been casting for years and have learned much from this forum.

Good Luck in your search!

[Handloader109]

Watch for vendors here. I've bought from 4 or 5 members in the past year at fair prices and no hassles. It is available.

[fredj338]

Lead is where you can find it. Construction/roofing companies for scrap, tire shops, boat yards, scrap yards, etc. I mine the berms a my local club, ww hav been non lead here for 4yrs now. I also trade a bit for lead, even got 35# of rad foils from my dentist, so just ask around, yanever know where you'll find it. Som god vendors here too. $1.50/# is about my limit.

[scottfire1957]

All these GREAT answers. Any response from original poster?