Finding lead

[Revolver]

I have decided that I should not waste a moment in getting all the lead I can find. I am a computer tech by trade and service many businesses, many of my clients I have had for 10-15 years and I have no reservation about discussing such topics as bullet casting, etc. Throughout my daily travels I have been mentioning that I am looking for lead. In the last 2 weeks here's what happened...

* 800+ lbs (est.) of mixed WW collected (one place charged me $8 for half a bucket, another place I traded a new mouse for six 5 gallon buckets)

* 45.5 lb chunk dropped off to me from a buddy that is a yacht mechanic

* 101.5 lbs of used roof flashing given to me when I went to service a printer

* 5 gallon bucket of WW a customer says is going to drop off to me soon

It seems that once the word got out, now lead is beginning to find me, which I am very thankful for. I know that my family and friends think I'm crazy but I think I almost have an addiction to acquiring lead. It pleases me to go in the garage and observe my horde, what is wrong with that!?

My plan, this winter, is to melt it all down into ingots in my wood burning smelter. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI2MCsiN3mg) I think I will maintain the pure as pure so my options are not limited for future use (swaging maybe?), I can always mix it later and have plenty of WW to meet my needs today.

I have only had one bad experience in that one auto shop owner thought his 1/4 bucket of almost all zinc was made of gold. My $5 offer got me practically booted out, which bothered me because I always bend over backwards to be polite.

More than a few garages have asked if I'm scrapping metal, when I tell them I'm going to cast my own bullets they loosen up and seem more willing to give it up.

[Ole]

Congrats on your finds.

It seems to depend ALOT on the areas you hunt for lead as to how much success you have.

I have stopped at 10+ tire shops in an afternoon and got 10+ "no's" but the one or two "yes's" makes it all worthwhile.

[shooting on a shoestring]

Get it while you can. No dire prediction here, I've just noticed in my life things change unexpectedly and all your sources can dry up as quickly as they spring up. Sometimes there can be a long drought before the lead comes round again. If you've got a good stache, no problem, no stache, big problem. Works the same with the other components. Anybody remember primers drying up oh, about 3 years ago?

[GaryN]

"I traded a new mouse for six 5 gallon buckets"


That one made me laugh. I wish I found one like that. I have had to pay for all of mine. Not a lot but nothing as cheap as yours. They take up a lot less room after you melt them down into ingots.

[41 mag fan]

It pleases me to go in the garage and observe my horde, what is wrong with that!?


They have a show out called horders.......maybe they'll come out with a lead horders show :lol:

[Jal5]

Nice haul! Yep ask everywhere you go you can never tell where you will find that lead.

[Defcon-One]

We are the prospectors of our modern society. We hunt for Lead (Pb) the way the old guys with their mules used to pursue Gold (Au).

While we do find a lot more, in the end, it is just getting something that is valuable for a little cash or effort that attracts and holds us. It is the hunt, the search, that great deal that we're addicted to. The Lead? It is just a bonus that we can use.

The Lead is our treasure. It is a bit crazy, but fun and it beats an expensive hobby that eats up money! You can always sell the lead for a slight profit if things get tight.

[fredj338]

It's certainly an addiction, like gold mining. How cab you have enough? If the SHTF, lead will be worth more than gold. I can at least make bullets w/ lead & then get what ever else I need w/ those.:Fire:

[P.K.]

We are the prospectors of our modern society. We hunt for Lead (Pb) the way the old guys with their mules used to pursue Gold (Au).

While we do find a lot more, in the end, it is just getting something that is valuable for a little cash or effort that attracts and holds us. It is the hunt, the search, that great deal that we're addicted to. The Lead? It is just a bonus that we can use.

The Lead is our treasure. It is a bit crazy, but fun and it beats an expensive hobby that eats up money! You can always sell the lead for a slight profit if things get tight.

Careful we still have one of 'em poken around here. ;-)

[sig2009]

Nice. So I drop off 70 lbs of 22 cal at the recycler the other day and get $115. I ask the guy if they sell scrap back to customers. I said I was looking to buy some WW's. They said no it was against the law.

[Stick_man]

Nice. So I drop off 70 lbs of 22 cal at the recycler the other day and get $115. I ask the guy if they sell scrap back to customers. I said I was looking to buy some WW's. They said no it was against the law.

So, then you ask them if it is against the law to GIVE it to customers. :)

Can't hurt to ask and I am sure there is quite a bit of lead and other metals walking out of there without ever going through their books.

[Bad Water Bill]

Careful we still have one of 'em poken around here. ;-)

[smilie=w:[smilie=w:[smilie=w:[smilie=w:[smilie=w:[smilie=w:

Dad gum rite me an Girty stil here. Be nise er she gits mad an wil kik the led outa yur fillins.

[P.K.]

LOL! I just knew you'd come sniffin' by here!

[para45lda]

You dropped of 70 pounds of 22 cal what? Empty 22lr brass? Don't tell the swagers!!!

Wes

[miestro_jerry]

I take a case or two of decent beer with me when I go looking for lead. The place you guys should start looking is the companies that service heavy equipment, they have lead counter weights. It is pure lead that I add tin to, but so far I traded one case of beer at the end of their shops work day for 8 50lbs counter weights. Nearly killed me to get them out of the van when I got home.

Think about this, you have a giant heat sink that is a 50 pound bar of lead, I cut it with a coarse tooth saw in my shop. Trying to cut it with my A/O torch is way too expensive. I only cut the bar into thirds, then it goes into my HF Dutch Oven over my propane turkey burner. Add what even you need to harden it and then pour your ingots.

I got a large supply of Tin when Grainger was blowing out their lead free solder a couple of years ago.

Jerry

[jethunter]

I've been scrounging hard for 3 months and found 120 lbs of roofing lead and 2 pails of ww in that time. (And paid $40/pail for that and over 1/3 was zinc and steel). There's not much lead ww left here it seems, and a lot of competition for what there is.

I broke down and made a deal for 150 lbs of pure lead and 300 lbs of smelted ww at $.75/lb today. Goes against my nature to pay that much but i think maybe it's going to get harder to find in the future and i like having a decent stockpile.

[Big brass ones]

You guys are lucky you don't live in Ca. They made WW illegal so I'm looking ways to harden the lead I can get in order to cast. I did find an indoor range willing to part with a decades worth of backstop material (mostly rubber and lead) so I should be set for the foreseeable future.

[Bad Water Bill]

Seventy five cents may not be to high when you figure your time and propane then figure out how much you did NOT pay for the clips

[jethunter]

Seventy five cents may not be to high when you figure your time and propane then figure out how much you did NOT pay for the clips

$0.75/lb is delivered-to-the-door price, and not so bad when you factor in all the costs. I don't count my time because if I did I couldn't afford to shoot.....

I probably burned a tank or more of gasoline while visiting scrap yards and tire shops so that alone is $75-$100.

[Bad Water Bill]

$0.75/lb is delivered-to-the-door price, and not so bad when you factor in all the costs. I don't count my time because if I did I couldn't afford to shoot.....

I probably burned a tank or more of gasoline while visiting scrap yards and tire shops so that alone is $75-$100.

Look at all of the pretty scenery you got to enjoy while burning up that tank full of gasoline and also you can tell your grandkids about the times when we used to be able to do that.

[sig2009]

You dropped of 70 pounds of 22 cal what? Empty 22lr brass? Don't tell the swagers!!!

Wes

22 cal long rifle 22 brass.

[bslim]

It's the old story " nothing lasts forever, enjoy it while you can"

[jethunter]

Look at all of the pretty scenery you got to enjoy while burning up that tank full of gasoline and also you can tell your grandkids about the times when we used to be able to do that.

That is true. If my kids (in their mid-twenties) ever get around to make me some grandkids I've got some stories ready for them.

[TripHlx]

I haven't actually started casting yet, but I've been stockpiling lead myself. I work at a hospital and managed to get about 50-60lbs of lead sheet from a renovation of the X-ray room. I also have made a habit of keeping an eye on the tires on cars in my local scrapyard. It's a pull-it-yourself parts yard, and I've walked out without the part I needed, but a toolbox full of wheelweights more than once, and the employees could care less. :) I think I usually walk out with about 10-15lbs for my 2$ entry fee.

[P.K.]

I haven't actually started casting yet, but I've been stockpiling lead myself. I work at a hospital and managed to get about 50-60lbs of lead sheet from a renovation of the X-ray room. I also have made a habit of keeping an eye on the tires on cars in my local scrapyard. It's a pull-it-yourself parts yard, and I've walked out without the part I needed, but a toolbox full of wheelweights more than once, and the employees could care less. :) I think I usually walk out with about 10-15lbs for my 2$ entry fee.

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