Think I paid too much, but what the heck

[mpbarry1]

I'm new to casting, haven't cast anything yet actually. I've been having a heck of a time finding lead. I went to both tire places and they were not budging on the lead. One of them told me that they had just taken those buckets to the recycler for 33 cents a pound and the other said no way.

I even have a cousin who runs a very large store of a very large tire company looking for me. Nothing yet. My ex brother in law, who I still like, is looking for old telephone wire as well. Nothing there either.

So today I went to the recycler and asked if they had wheel weights. They said sure and took me over to four 5 gallon buckets. (I think they were the same ones that the tire shop got 33 cents/pound for). They let me sort through them for 15 minutes, before I said to one of the kids that "most all of these are steel. Too bad." One of the kids smiled and took me over to another corner and told me that these 3 buckets had been there for 4 years. i started through them, and didn't find a single steel WW. I bought all three for 50 cents a pound. 277 lbs. hope the wife doesn't find out.

In the more recent buckets, I would guess that they were only 30 percent lead, a bunch of zinc and a whole lot of steel. This stuff is going to get harder and harder to find i fear. Thats why i paid so much. fear. lol. but at least i can smelt something now.

[bumpo628]

For all lead, that's not bad at all. Your alternative would be to pay $1 here for ingots. So, half that for raw material and you don't have to deal with shipping and you're in good shape.

[fredj338]

I don't think you over payed at all. You are going to get mayb 80-05% good alloy from that. Buying buckets today from a tire shop can be as little as 50% useable alloy. Get all you can at that price it isn't getting cheaper.

[plus1hdcp]

I think you did OK, wish I could find that amount of usable lead myself.

[jmsj]

mpbarry1,
Unfortunately, I don't think you did too bad. Since they were all lead, no steel or zinc.
Lately the volume of my sources for WW's have diminished to about half of what they used to be. One store used to have 4 guys working in the shop and now there are only two guys
Of what they do have about 20% is steel and zinc.
jmsj

[mpbarry1]

Thanks guys. I feel better about it now. Now i have to figure out why my dillon isn't seating my boolits straight. If it's not one thing its another. I appreciate the info i get here.

[geargnasher]

I pay 65 cents a pound on the rare occasions I can get them, only one source left here, but still mostly lead ww. You did good.

Gear

[Longwood]

I'm new to casting, haven't cast anything yet actually. I've been having a heck of a time finding lead. I went to both tire places and they were not budging on the lead. One of them told me that they had just taken those buckets to the recycler for 33 cents a pound and the other said no way.

I even have a cousin who runs a very large store of a very large tire company looking for me. Nothing yet. My ex brother in law, who I still like, is looking for old telephone wire as well. Nothing there either.

So today I went to the recycler and asked if they had wheel weights. They said sure and took me over to four 5 gallon buckets. (I think they were the same ones that the tire shop got 33 cents/pound for). They let me sort through them for 15 minutes, before I said to one of the kids that "most all of these are steel. Too bad." One of the kids smiled and took me over to another corner and told me that these 3 buckets had been there for 4 years. i started through them, and didn't find a single steel WW. I bought all three for 50 cents a pound. 277 lbs. hope the wife doesn't find out.

In the more recent buckets, I would guess that they were only 30 percent lead, a bunch of zinc and a whole lot of steel. This stuff is going to get harder and harder to find i fear. Thats why i paid so much. fear. lol. but at least i can smelt something now.
Next time you go there, ask them if they have any pure lead. They usually keep it separate and it often has Linotype pigs mixed in with it.
I sometimes check my recycler (will again tomorrow) because they would just s soon sell it to me as take it 100 plus miles to Los Angeles county where they sell it.

[jsizemore]

It takes a while to find & cultivate lead sources. You've found what should end up being 220-235lbs of good clean alloy. That's enough to practice casting perfect boolits and getting to shoot a few along the way. I recast the first bunch I cast 5 times before they worked right minus about a 100 each recast. In that time of recasting I found a recycler with a 55 gallon barrel full and it's been all downhill from there ( you don't want to be pushing that barrel uphill).
You've got your start and that's what counts. It's easy to hide your mistakes, just throw, err lower them back in the casting pot.

Sometimes the wrong seating plug will straighten up you loads. At least it does in my 45acp.

Good Luck

[chambers]

All you can do is call around and ask for wheel weights, tire places are the best source. I have found prices range from free to .60 cents/pound. average price is .45 cents. Many places(larger chains) have started to move away from lead and go to zink. Scrap yards are paying .60 cents for raw wheel weights here. I try to buy everything I can get, today I picked up 1200#.

[mpbarry1]

Went back and scored some more. Some unknown bars. Lots of sheet lead. I thought I should get the pure lead to go with my wheel weights. 450#!

[lwknight]

Barry , you did good.
Hang on to any lead that you can get. It will only get harder to get and more expensive.

[bslim]

Pure lead is getting harder to find, blackpowder guys trade ww ingots straight across for pure lead. Might be an idea to keep some sperate if you have a good supply.

[mpbarry1]

here is a picture of my haul!

[bumpo628]

here is a picture of my haul!

I would smelt the different types separately. The sheet lead will be dead soft, but the bars and other shapes could be anything.

[mpbarry1]

i know bumpo. i hesitated on the bars because im not sure what they are, but lead is lead i guess do i bought em anyway. that one weighs 100 pounds! most likely WW but i wont be sure. should i hardness test them and assume ww if they come out a 12?

[williamwaco]

I'm new to casting, haven't cast anything yet actually. I've been having a heck of a time finding lead. I went to both tire places and they were not budging on the lead. One of them told me that they had just taken those buckets to the recycler for 33 cents a pound and the other said no way.

Wheel weights are easy to find here. most of the salvage places have them. They pay 30 to 35 cents per pound for them and sell them for seventy cents to a dollar a pound.





I just finished smelting 91 pounds a couple of weeks ago with this result:

The bucket weighed 91 pounds

It produced 15 pounds waste, 74 pounds ingots. ( 2 pounds for the bucket )

Bought 91 pounds @ $65 = $59.15

Yielded 74 pounds @ 59.15 = 0.80 per pound.

Unless you had a lot of **** in there, I would say you got a very good deal.

[fredj338]

i know bumpo. i hesitated on the bars because im not sure what they are, but lead is lead i guess do i bought em anyway. that one weighs 100 pounds! most likely WW but i wont be sure. should i hardness test them and assume ww if they come out a 12?

If it's soft enough to scratch or dent easily, it will make bullets. Good job, get enough, you can start selling some to the less fortunate that live in socialist green states like Kalif or Washington.

[bumpo628]

i know bumpo. i hesitated on the bars because im not sure what they are, but lead is lead i guess do i bought em anyway. that one weighs 100 pounds! most likely WW but i wont be sure. should i hardness test them and assume ww if they come out a 12?

I wouldn't hesitate about it, as you said 'lead is lead'. You'll find a use for it one way or another. Try casting some when you're smelting it to see if it fills the mold out properly. When it cools, compare the hardness to see what you've got.

[dieguy59]

mpbarry1, I'm in great company. I, too have yet to smelt a thing, but yesterday I went to the recycler aswell, I only got 230lbs, mostly the sheet stuff, with some long flat bars. I have yet to try the tire shops. Keep searching!

[selmerfan]

Hmm, I don't feel too bad. I paid $.45/lb today, by far the most I've ever paid. They had 160 lb, but I only had cash for 140 lb. But then I went to the radiator shop to get a quote for a replacement in my Suburban and got about 30 lbs. for free.

[geargnasher]

Radiator shop drippings are usually a very high tin content, I don't remember exactly what but I think it's in the neighborhood of 50/50. It's a pain to smelt and flux repeatedly to finally get all the black bits of burnt acid flux out of it (it's like coffee grounds mixed in but much harder to separate), but if you got thirty pounds for free you might have as much as $300 worth of tin there at current prices.

Gear

[dan-g]

Alright, I dont feel to bad. I picked up 122lbs of medical isotope vials for 50cents a pound and they have three 55gal drums full. Maybe I should get some more. His tester said .43tin 1.85antimony and the rest was pure lead and these things are really clean.

[Kealil]

Everytime I come to this forum I chuckle(maniacally) at the prices that you guys find. I live in pensacola and have had to travel 50 miles to get even the smallest amount of lead. None of the tire or mechanic shops around town are allowed to give away wheelweights anymore or they sell them all on eBay with no chance of any side selling. The cheapest lead I've been able to find is $2 a pound for processed lead shot at the range. Still not bad since 45acp rounds are going for 50 bucks a box of 100 down here. Just me griping please ignore if you wish.

[bumpo628]

Everytime I come to this forum I chuckle(maniacally) at the prices that you guys find. I live in pensacola and have had to travel 50 miles to get even the smallest amount of lead. None of the tire or mechanic shops around town are allowed to give away wheelweights anymore or they sell them all on eBay with no chance of any side selling. The cheapest lead I've been able to find is $2 a pound for processed lead shot at the range. Still not bad since 45acp rounds are going for 50 bucks a box of 100 down here. Just me griping please ignore if you wish.

Why don't you buy lead in our forum here for +/- $1 per pound? Including shipping, btw.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=86491
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=63886
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?f=18

[Kealil]

Oh, well that's my punishment for not reading this forum more often. Thanks for the lead lead. (;