when do you pull the plug

[white eagle]

when do you think you have enough lead to keep you in boolits
for as long as your needs dictate ;-)
I made a score today on w/w that will put me close to 500#in w/w alone
I am going to relax a bit now I do believe that I am in a comfort zone as
far as the w/w search goes :smile:
So when do you call it good enough????:lovebooli

[Charlie Two Tracks]

I don't know if there is a "good enough". To my way of thinking, lead will only go up in price. More laws restricting the sale of lead keep going on the books. Lead may become a great bartering tool. For me, I plan on keeping about 500-750 lbs of ingots for my own. That is actually more than I need but I kind of like the "more is better" stuff.

[Charlie Sometimes]

If I ever run out, I will know that I did not collect enough. :mrgreen:

It depends on what calibers and how much you shoot those calibers.

I shoot everything from 22 to 45-70 in cast boollits- some I shoot some more than others (22's mostly), so those calibers don't cut into the stock pile as fast.

Just do the math and see what works for ya, but lead hording is addictive. You won't be able to stop, even if they would be able to stop making it! :lol:

[jnovotny]

Couldn't agree with Charlie more! When they've outlawed the use of lead all over than it will become more valuable.

[duckndawg]

I only have about 1500 lbs. and still looking for more! I to think it will end up being a very good bargaining tool.

[jnovotny]

Either that or your kids will have to get rid of it when you croak dawg.

[ktw]

So when do you call it good enough????:lovebooli

I quite actively looking at something over 3,000lbs.

I got concerned over the possibility of having to move it someday.

-ktw

[Charlie Sometimes]

It will be valuable only to a boolit caster, mostly.
I do not know that many around my local area that do any more than a few RB's occasionally.:sad:

I am the one that has the biggest stash around here. :mrgreen:

[crabo]

You can always go the scrap yard with it and make some money. I bought some lead the other day and if I had taken it to the scrap yard, I could have made $175 profit.

I am going to keep collecting even though I have all I need. If I have need for a mold or scope or whatever, I can always sell some to pay for it if I don't have the disposable income at that time..

[btroj]

I don't know that enough exists. I sure don't have it, don't know how much it is. I would like 100 pounds a ear minimum. At age 44 I figure I might need 4000 pounds more. And that is if I cut back on my 45-70 shooting.
Enough? Not in my realm of possibilities. Keep collecting all you can get, then a bit more.

[fecmech]

I'm going on 68 yrs old with close to 1500-1700 lbs in stock plus a lot of boolits already cast. I'm not actively looking but I would pick up a loose ww on the ground! You see I'm in this 12 step program........................................... .............................................

[white eagle]

Just do the math and see what works for ya, but lead hording is addictive. You won't be able to stop, even if they would be able to stop making it! :lol:[/QUOTE]

Ya I kinda got that feelin to Charlie
even though I made a score on my way home I was thinking of stopping and asking
at a few spots on the way[smilie=w:

[sargenv]

I think it's kind of like brass.. I just have this really difficult time not picking up perfectly good 223, 40 S&W, 9mm, 45 acp, and anything else on the ground.. same goes for lead.. I have quite a bit, but if I shoot like I have in the past, that means that I go through roughly 300-400 pounds per year, at least.. so the more I can get, the better.. and I'm only 43. So I will keep hoarding as much range lead as I can get my grubby hands on since it will only stretch the WW's I have now..

[Rangefinder]

Between ingots and unsmelted, I'm sitting on easily 1500+ pounds. They're gonna dry up, and lead is only going to get more difficult to find. By the time it's too big a PITA to try getting more, I want to already have enough put away to last me the rest of my shooting days. Pretty simple to me--it's enough when I just can't find it anymore.

[Ferdinand]

I'm not going to quit accumulating, especially since most of it comes in free for me. I started last year and have about 300 lbs, and have a net gain rate of 25 lbs per month or so.

[Charlie Sometimes]

I'm not going to quit accumulating, especially since most of it comes in free for me. I started last year and have about 300 lbs, and have a net gain rate of 25 lbs per month or so.

You're up there near one of those BIG junkyards. Ought to be able to go around to all the vehicles and pull the old ones off. Wonder if a junkyard would let you do that? Get yourself a pair of those fancy pliers they use and go to town in there. Maybe go through town parking lots, too! :lol:

[Hiaboo]

Very good question -- I have about a ton and half total of two very good distinct alloys and I'm always looking to get more.. It really doesn't cost me anything and I really enjoy the process of smelting it.

I also recently started casting about a year ago and I'm 25 just to put in perspective. I just think if you find a good supplier you can get a lot very easy and at a minimal cost to you.

[Freightman]

Either that or your kids will have to get rid of it when you croak dawg.
They both cast so will be a part of their inheritance.

[Iowa Fox]

You can never have enough raw material inventory on hand. I have about 1700-2000 lbs of ww ingot, 500 plus lbs pure lead, assorted small piles of babbit and lead solder. I have 9 buckets of ww I got just before it got cold sitting outside the shed waiting for the smelter when it warms up. I'll be out with my buckets and 12 packs come spring. I hope my boys and grandkids put it in the air when I'm gone rather than sell it.

[a.squibload]

...You see I'm in this 12 step program.......

Me too, if I don't see another WW after about 12 steps I start to get nervous...

[10 ga]

Supplies like lead, primers, brass etc... are like ammo, only 2 kinds, enough and not enough. I'm thinkin it's not enough, leastwise for me anyway. It don't spoil or go bad so if need be your heirs can sell any left over to us hoarders! 10

[44fanatic]

I started about a year ago and probably have just shy of 1000lbs. With my shooting habits (range is close to 1 hour away), I dont know if I will ever shoot it but Im not gonna stop looking. Have two places that I can get about 150lbs of WW per month.

[468]

Why stop? Clean soft lead is worth $1.20/lb to a consumer in truckload quantities. Its like sitting on money.

[MR45]

2000 pounds is only 70,000 200 gn 45acp.
I want moor

[SciFiJim]

2000 pounds is only 70,000 200 gn 45acp.

I was going to say something similar because I have just over 2000 lbs. 70K rounds is more that I will shoot in my lifetime, but I would not turn down a chance to get more.

[sqlbullet]

At the request of my wife I came up with some hard numbers on how much was enough:

Number of guns I need = number I have + 1

lbs of lead I need = lbs I have + 1000

Primers I need = primers I have + 5000

lbs of powder I need = lbs I have + 8

brass count I need = brass count I have + 1000

I think these numbers work well for most of us here. If you need any help with any components I haven't mentioned, let me know:-)

Seriously, though....You will never have enough. I got up to about 4,000 lbs at my high water mark. The last year was tough financially, and lead sales made up the gap several times. I am down to about 1000 lbs right now, but am starting to build back up.

Irony hit me too. After several years of hoarding pure lead, I finally decided that I was crazy since I didn't own any BP guns. I started selling it aggressively. Ended up trading my last 200 lbs of pure lead for an inline muzzle loader. Now I have a gun that I need some pure lead for, but don't have any:-)

I am picking up another 1600 lbs end of the week, and there should be some pure in that batch I hope.

[Wayne Smith]

[QUOTE=sqlbullet;1127419]At the request of my wife I came up with some hard numbers on how much was enough:

lbs of powder I need = lbs I have + 8
QUOTE]

For each powder I use.

[HATCH]

You have enough lead when you can't store any more.
I have about 500lbs right now.
Which isn't enough by far but considering I don't cast a lot its plenty.

[Pavogrande]

While I agree that having a good stache is reasonable, if lead becomes illegal to obtain it will also probably be illegal to shoot. It can happen, it already has in parts of california.

[Beau Cassidy]

I am sitting on 4 to 5K lbs of ww, Pb, linotype. I am in the process of moving and just moved it all! I figure I am good for a while. I just finished smelting all of my WW but am looking for more.

[Charlie Two Tracks]

Pavogrande, that is the reason I am trying to cast up all WW that I get. I am after as much brass as I can find also. Loaded rounds may not be as "harmfull" to them. Plus, I can have a whole bunch loaded up for retirement. I just loaded 950 .38 WC's this weekend and put them in an ammo can. It only filled it about 1/2 full. More Brass!

[Rangefinder]

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l259/hillsjim/Lead.jpg

This was the last month and a half worth that I still haven't had time to do anything with beyond starting to separate out a few of the stick-ons... :D Did I mention I didn't pay a dime for a single one in this photo?

[white eagle]

Did I mention I didn't pay a dime for a single one in this photo?[/QUOTE]

yeah I think you did [smilie=6:

[a.squibload]

Did I mention I didn't pay a dime for a single one in this photo?

Yeah, but a couple of them look like Zinc!
No not that one, over a little...
Aww, you better send 'em all over here, I'll check through 'em for ya.

[mold maker]

Enough is a relative term, but I don't relate to it. How much is 11 milk crates (12.5X12.5X11.5) stacked solid with WW and range lead ingots. Then add 3 crates of soft. Spring will add 4/5gal buckets of WW and as much range scrap as I can haul home.
I'm way to old to shoot it all, but I trade it for powder and primer. I have 3 close friends and a nephew that cast. I'll bet none of it goes to waste.
I also bought gold at 2-400 $/oz. I remember when my wife ask "Just how much do you need"? Well I didn't need any, but I'm sure glad I bought and prospected it.
Remember the ants and grasshopper story? Those that don't provide for them selves will do without.
I don't want any safe queens or wall hangers from the lack of lead.

[fredj338]

when do you think you have enough lead to keep you in boolits
for as long as your needs dictate ;-)
I made a score today on w/w that will put me close to 500#in w/w alone
I am going to relax a bit now I do believe that I am in a comfort zone as
far as the w/w search goes :smile:
So when do you call it good enough????:lovebooli
That is only about 18K bullets, enough? Depends. I am upto about 1400# of diff alloys & while not actively looking, pretty much a moot point around SoCal anymore, I do not turn stuff down if it comes my way.;-)

[fredj338]

While I agree that having a good stache is reasonable, if lead becomes illegal to obtain it will also probably be illegal to shoot. It can happen, it already has in parts of california.
Not really. It's illegal to shoot lead bullets in certain ares that have Condor access, public lands. I shoot at a club right smack in the middle of COndor country & we shoot lots of lead bullets, but it's private property.
Lead ww are being banned naitonwide before too long & within 2yrs of that, lead ww will be like other things from our great past, gone forever.

[imashooter2]

I've done the math and I have stores in excess of my needs to cover an optimistic estimate of my remaining shooting career. That only means that I am no longer actively seeking. If I should stumble across something in my travels, I am certainly going to pick it up.

It doesn't matter to me how much my daughter's husband curses about that crazy old coot as he hauls lead out of my basement after I'm gone.

[fallout4x4]

It doesn't matter to me how much my daughter's husband curses about that crazy old coot as he hauls lead out of my basement after I'm gone.

+1 to that one!

[Boolseye]

I've been lucky in that I have access to an indoor range, lots of lead sheeting (my old man's a mason), a few wheel weights, pewter from second hand stores...I probably have enough lead to keep me in boolits for 10-15 years, maybe more. I don't mind getting down and dirty sifting out slugs from the berm at the outdoor range, whatever it takes. I've probably got about 500#, +-
More than enough for my needs. It's totally individual–some guys might think that's nothing, but for the amount I shoot it's plenty.

[*Paladin*]

I'm not pulling the plug until WW's and other forms are too cost prohibitive. Hopefully by the time that happens I'll have a few thousand pounds!