Beware, e-bay ingots

[Floydster]

I bought wheel weight ingots from e-bay from three different sellers, they assurd me the ingots were from clip on weights,( no zink) well, I really got screwed, I put 10 lbs. of my pure lead and added 10 lbs. of the wheel weights into my 20 lb. pot and the whole thing turned to mush, don't trust these ********,oh man if I could get ahold of these guys, it wouldn't be pretty. I don't trust any of the other alloy I from e-bay either.
Just so you know.

[bumpo628]

Check out the sticky about zinc removal with sulfur.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=63082

From now on, just buy them raw. They have an incentive to just fill ingot molds with whatever melts.

[stubshaft]

There a few honest metal sellers on flea bay. If I buy Lino from there then I'll want to see the individual type pieces. There are some sellers that will advertise alloys like 95/5 and list the correct BHN. I've bought from the like of them.

[Cowboy T]

That's also why it's a good idea to buy wheel weight alloy in its wheel weight form. Increasing amounts of sellers are ripping people off. There's one guy I buy my wheel weights from, because he's shown me how honest he is. Other than that, I buy locally whenever possible.

[Fire_stick]

Hate to hear about your trouble.

I sell lead on ebay, and I know its good, because I use the same lead for my bullets. When I make ingots, I save half, sell half.

Not all are bad sellers.

[zxcvbob]

So did you leave feedback that their lead was contaminated with zinc and unusable?

[SkookumJeff]

So did you leave feedback that their lead was contaminated with zinc and unusable?

+1..it's important to out these people with negative feedback. You might be surprised how that gets some attention.

[Recluse]

So did you leave feedback that their lead was contaminated with zinc and unusable?

Not only that, but you ought to post the SOB's name here on Cast Boolits so no one else gets suckered in as well.

:coffee:

[Artful]

+1 - yep, help those who haven't lost our hard earned money.

[Gunsmoke4570]

I've bought some lead off flea-bay. I stick to a couple of sellers I've had good results with. Here lately I've been getting some recovered bullet core material that tests at about 8.5BN and works great in my .45-70 and .38SPCL boolits. I'll mix it 50/50 with WW material for other calibers.

[Floydster]

Thanks fella's for the reply's.
Of the three ingot orders I recieved two of them were identical, both 25 lbs. and both cast from Lyman ingot molds, however I didn't keep track of what seller went to what order so I really can't leave feedback. I would think that a person casting with a Lyman mold would certainly take pride in thier work, my mistake.
But I did keep the lots separate, so I do know the bad lot. Live and learn.

I am 75 years old and just getting back into casting after a 40 year hiatus. I did save some of my wheel weights and pure lead I had from the 60's and 70's and did manage to cast a few thousand form that stash.
I shoot more pistol now then long gun, so that is why I wanted to get back into casting:)
I love reloading and casting just as much as shooting and to have a good pot going and making fine bullets is super fun.
However, getting to that point is a hassle.
Thanks, Floydster

[LUCKYDAWG13]

what does zink look like when you melt it i smeted sum lead lest week the last batch just did not look right can you remelt and skim off (fix) or just use for fishing sinkers

[bumpo628]

Can you thin the contaminated lead down with pure lead?
How much zinc does it take to ruin a 10 or 20 lb pot?

[cajun shooter]

Zinc will float on top of your lead and if you keep your temp to just melt lead the zinc will still be there as it has a higher melting point. Here in Louisiana we have had a influx of steel WW's. I keep a long rod with magnet attached to remove those. I also use the magnet before smelting to find as many as possible.

[Rhoa4396]

Hi,

The thought just occurred to me,.... the problem with the zinc contaminated lead, is that it doesn't flow properly to fill the form in a bullet mold? ... I was wondering if it would be easier to cast cylindrical cores with that contaminated lead and swage the results into cores. This would eliminate voids and "that" could then be dropped into a jacket to make swaged bullets. Just thinking out load here.... I have swagging equipment packed away from years ago but only used cut lead so I don't know if that would work or not..... any ideas?

Ken R
==============

[lwknight]

You will not get all the zinc out even if you melt and skim it 20 times.
It casts just fine but it gets really hard within a few days of casting.

[nes4ever69]

most of my lead came fom ebay. i always check the sellers feed back.

[Fishman]

Why not buy lead from some of our vendor sponsors? Very little risk and high quality. Why deal with unknown sellers who may not even cast their own boolits?

[giz189]

Some zinc in your lead does not hurt. I don't remember the amount, but it seems like around 2% maybe would not hurt it. I think I read this in Lyman #3. It might be possible to dilute it down with enough pure lead to be able to use it. Some of the more experienced metal people on here should be able to tell you for certain.

[evan price]

eBay is really getting worse and worse (not just for alloys). I know of one particular fellow who was selling linotype ingots which were actually water-dropped wheel weight lead.

I Would NEVER buy from an unknown seller any alloy which was not in identifiable form.

That means linotype in lino sticks or pigs, monotype/foundry type in letters, babbitt in bricks, solder in rods or wire, etc.

It's far too tempting to throw a few pounds of **** in the pot to round out a pour.

[Gunsmoke4570]

Why not buy lead from some of our vendor sponsors? Very little risk and high quality. Why deal with unknown sellers who may not even cast their own boolits?

That is what I did on my last buy. I got some 96-3-1 from Muddy Creek Sam. I just need to try some of it out, but both my pots are already filled with my usual mix. I guess I'll just have to use it up! :smile: