In what form do you store your hoard?

[Nocturnal Stumblebutt]

I have a decent stockpile and the issue is that while 1 lb ingots are great for casting, they aren't that great for storage. I can fit 64 - 1 lb ingots in a 30 cal can. Easy to move and store. But beyond having 5 - 30 cal cans (320 lbs) of ingots around and ready for the melting pot, I'm not sure what to do with the rest. Most of it is in 1 lb ingots thrown into a 5 gallon bucket, which is too heavy to move if I need to.

So...

My idea is to get a Lodge Logic cast iron loaf pan to make pigs, my math (if it is right) says that a loaf pan of that size would make a 70 lb pig.

To those of you that have TONS of lead, what form is it in? I'd imagine that upwards of 2000 - 1 lb ingots would be a pain.

[imashooter2]

I have about 2 tons of various alloys. All are in "1 pound" Lyman bricks. I throw them back into the buckets the ore came out of. I get ~250 bricks in a 5 gallon bucket. ~4000 one pound bricks aren't any trouble at all. They sit quietly in their buckets awaiting use.

Casting ingots that you then have to recast smaller in order to use doesn't make any sense at all to me, but it appears to be very popular here.

[Nocturnal Stumblebutt]

Hmm, 250 lbs in a 5 gallon bucket sounds like a good idea to me, if I can find a semi-permanent place for the bucket

[fredj338]

I'm not sure a 70# pig is easier to move, certainyl not easy to get into a casting pot. I use 3gal buckets for storage or just stack ingots on the hardware shelving. I use iron channel for molds & it makes a nice 2-4# ingot that stack well.

[runfiverun]

i stack my mixed with tin ww alloy ingots under my casting bench.
the triangle shaped ones are bigger and stack together better.
i built my bench so i could stack 25-1 lb ingots in a row facing up and down to form a row, go 5 rows deep, then i usually just stack them up from there.
and add more height as i do new ingots.
i have two rows of 2 lb triangles in front of the lyman rcbs ingots.
the whole pile is about 3' wide and 2' tall and 3' deep with room to grow upwards another foot or so easily.
next to that is the puck style straight ww ingots stacked up into a 3' deep by 1-1/2' wide by 1-1/2' tall area.
range scrap goes into 5 gal buckets in fish shapes, in the casted boolit bucket storage area.
soft goes in milk crates in another area of the shop.
waiting to be mixed with tin or linotype and distributed to the other piles.

[mrbillbus]

Liquid!

:bigsmyl2:

[geargnasher]

I properly disposed of all my lead. Don't you know that stuff's toxic?

Gear

[imashooter2]

Hmm, 250 lbs in a 5 gallon bucket sounds like a good idea to me, if I can find a semi-permanent place for the bucket

When I smelt, I put 100 bricks in a bucket and use a child's red wagon to move them 2 or 3 at a time to the storage area. Then I place one, pour a 2nd bucket into it and pile additional bricks in until full. Placing it where you want it when it only has 100 bricks in it is important. They don't move easily with ~250.

[Starvnhuntr]

My ww alloy is all in 5 gal. buckets. About 70 lbs. per bucket so I can move it easy. my mixed alloys are in old wooden pop crates labled as to what they are.

[Ole]

3.5-3.7# triangular ingots is how most of my lead is stored.

Nothing beats triangular ingots for storing qualities, IMO.

Here's a picture of how they look when cooling:

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh280/Ole1830/Bullet%20making/IMG_5434.jpg

I use a 20lb lee pot and rarely add metal to the melt (other than the sprues) as i'm casting. typically I melt 15-16 lbs of lead and cast until the pot is empty.

[Oreo]

I think someone ought to make a 10lb ingot mold in a roughly cubic shape that would just fit into an empty 20lb bottom pour furnace. The ingots would stack nice, and be more convenient for longer term storage then either 1lb ingots or ingots too big to fit into a casting pot.

[imashooter2]

I can't remember the last time I had an empty 20 pound pot. Or one half empty for that matter. Probably the day it arrived in the mail...

[fisher2]

well im going to be storing them in 3# muffin molds in a pyramid shape

[Defcon-One]

All in 5 lb. ingots in custom built 60 lb. cases (5 x 12 ingots). Easy to cast and store, fit in my 20 lb. pot - 3 bars at a time, easy to move around when I need to.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_178454ddc3b2fe48be.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=951) http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_178454dae3d5c21142.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=587)

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_178454dae3d670b2ed.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=588)

My 4 cavity molds are from RayinNH!

Go here for Rays products! (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?p=925868&posted=1#post925868)

[bumpo628]

I love those 5 lb ingots. Looks like they stack nicely.
Get a can of gold spray paint and build yourself a mini fort knox!

[cal50]

Muffin tin ingot for me.

The wife never looks for the old pans in the garage.

[a.squibload]

Some years back the only ingot molds I had were
upside-down beer cans. Piled the lead coins in boxes,
coffee cans, & cut off antifreeze bottles. I know there
are a few hundred of them buried under the workbench,
have to dig 'em out some day.
Still use beer cans, also muffin tins (aluminum are best)
and a couple sets of angle iron molds I welded up.
Also made some trays out of cut up pallets to store 'em
in, genuine Chinese Splinterwood...

[Czech_too]

I'm smelting my lead into 1 - 1 1/2 lb. ingots that stack nicely inside metal milk crates stacked on their side. Soft lead in one, WW lead in another, range lead in another, that sort of thing. Note, I don't intend on having to move these crates any time soon. Oh, and the plastic crates tend to bow outwards if any kind of weight is placed on top of them!, so only use those for the top-most crate.

[RugerFan]

One pound ingots (about a ton or so) spread around in ammo cans, coffee cans and buckets.

[41mag]

I use some flip top plastic storage boxes for my ingots. I usually just use the corn cob iron mold for most but also have the CB ingot molds as well. The plastic boxes will hold around 70'ish pounds of ingots depending on how they are stacked.

I also just built me a 2"x2"x10" angle iron ingot mold as well and after the first use found I needed it to be divided in order for the ingots to fit in my boxes. Once I have the dividers in they will stack and I should be able to put in around a hundred pounds.

My main stash of alloy is still in original form and put up in a conex box up on my property out of he way until I need it.

[Griz44mag]

Range lead stays in the barrels until time to smelt.
After smelting, it gets cast into 1# Lyman bars, they drop easily into any of my pots while casting. I store them in wood boats made from 1X12" lumber and screwed together, 50# per boat. I cut a web strap and thread it through drilled holes to make a carry handle. It takes 10 minutes to cut up the board and screw it together with drywall screws. I think I have 30 or 40 of them now. That's small enough to be handy to carry out to the casting table.

[I'll Make Mine]

I'm going to be using a cast iron 7-cavity "muffin" pan -- I think it's for individual corn bread, really; the cavities are too flat and wide for good muffins or biscuits. I expect the ingots to weight 2 1/2 to 3 lbs, and stack nicely (as long as the pan is level when I pour 'em).

[sparky45]

Here's how I have "stored" my stash in the past:
http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb351/glynnm1945/Lead2.jpg

Now I cut it up in 6" lengths and melt it into 2# triangle ingots.

[evan price]

Heaped in buckets on an old trailer behind the barn.

[Lizard333]

I have a 55 gal plastic drum cut in half. COWW in one, SOWW in one, and dead soft in another. I have over three tons there. Another 12 buckets worth of COWW still to melt. 4 more buckets I just got I still have to sort. One five gallon tub filled with Mono. That one stays in the garage.

Everything else is outside, leaning up against the garage.

[Digger]

How do I store it ? ..2 lbs muffin trays . . been using the same two trays since I started .
The two pounders are a nice size to drop into the pot with a little preheating ,

digger
49495

49496

[dieguy59]

I have several ingot molds, several 1 lb,corn cob,and 5 Lee molds. The Lee ones I over pour so they ceate 1, 4+ lb flat brick. They stack nicely between the studs in the garage wall,out of the way. Though large, a swift crack,with a hammer,will break them into managable chunks.

[WILCO]

My idea is to get a Lodge Logic cast iron loaf pan to make pigs.....

I can't fathom someone wrecking good cast iron on such an endeavor. I just store my lead in whatever shape I find it. Also have a few "Lead muffins" laying around.

[badbob454]

i store mine in c channel ingots weigh from 4-6 lbs depends on how full i get themm , they fit in my meltin pot 20lb. ol drippy just fine
this ingot is is coww's with 3% tin ... I stamp them to remember what i have.
pb... for soft lead
coww ...for clipons
lino for you guessed it .
tin for ... hi tin mix
and 50/50 for cow and pb mix

[dieguy59]

I like the idea of stamping them, especially if they are a known blend. Next week they might become 'unknown',haha.

[10 ga]

I "refine" my "ore" into ingots. Muffin pans, SS dog dishs, Castboolits mold, mini muffin pan etc... Mark each as to source, COWW, SOWW, plumbing lead, solder joints, battery terminal or battery cable connectors, electronic devices solder connections, cable sheathing, x ray atomic shielding, with a magic marker sharpie etc.... Then stack in milk crates and store in shed. I cut any soft lead sheeting etc into pieces that fit right into the bottom of the crates nice square sheets. My unrefined ore is just piled into the sorting piles ready to smelt at the smelting location out side. 10 ga




lead paint dust ZZ

[HATCH]

I get my lead from a foundry.
4 inch disc about 1 inch or so thick.
They are 5 lbs each.
I can put about 800lbs in a 30 gal rubbermaid container

[zxcvbob]

I have buckets and buckets full of little muffin-shaped "condiment cup" ingots. Each weighs about 1.5 pounds. I don't know how much each bucket weighs, I can barely move them on a slippery concrete floor.

[500MAG]

I have found that plastic milk crates work well. They are square so, it is easy to stack the ingots in nicely.

[twotoescharlie]

wife found some miniloaf pans at wallyworld ,they cast up a 6 pound ingot that stacks very well.

TTC

[thompsonm1a1]

my stash is in lyman 1lb bars. easy to use in my good old drip o matic melter.

[Bullet Caster]

You guys are certainly blessed to have a horad of lead stored up. All my lead resides in the 40 # pot waiting on the next boolit casting session. I just wish I had a hoard of lead, as y'all make me envious. I believe some of you have more lead stored up that you'll ever use in a lifetime, that is unless you're a very high volume shooter. BC

[John in WI]

I have about 2 tons of various alloys. All are in "1 pound" Lyman bricks. I throw them back into the buckets the ore came out of. I get ~250 bricks in a 5 gallon bucket. ~4000 one pound bricks aren't any trouble at all. They sit quietly in their buckets awaiting use.

Casting ingots that you then have to recast smaller in order to use doesn't make any sense at all to me, but it appears to be very popular here.

I'm with you. All of my first smelting (WW and range scrap) were cast into an old metal mess kit tin. The plate that has 2 kidney shaped halves. Easy to store, but about 4" too wide to fit into my casting pot. So that meant having to recast all of them just to use them for casting boolits.
These days I'm casting into muffin tins that are the perfect size to fit in the pot. I store the lead muffins in plastic milk crates, with there identity scratched in (in case the permanent marker wears off).

I think it's a good idea to refine it and cast it in ready to use sizes.

[Andrew Mason]

i take soda cans and cut about the top inch off so they fit under my lee bottom pour.

they stack ok, i keep them in 5 gallon buckts.
one bucket holds about 300lbs of lead.

[bslim]

All of my COWW are in 1# RCBS ingots (3000 lbs.)stored in 5 gal pails. I add tin to the 1# WW ingots but not to my pure lead ingots. My pure lead ( 4000 Lbs.)is in 6 Lb. angle iron style ingots stacked on the floor up against the wall of my garage. I find the 1# ingots easier to add to my pot while I'm casting. I rest them on the lip of my pot and preheat them before adding them to the melt. The 6# angle ingots get cut in half on my band saw and again are pre heated before being added to the melt. With the 40# Magna pot, I find I don't have to stop production after adding the ingots. IMHO the size and shape of your ingots is directly related to its' end use. Storing them in one shape and then having to melt them down and formed into another shape to suit your end use seems a bit much. To each his own.

[ShooterAZ]

I store my alloys as muffin tin ingots, stacked and stored in cardboard boxes in my shed and labeled as to what it is.

[sw282]

l pour mine in a 6 muffin cast iron pan. Each "muffin" is app 1 1/2lbs. The muffins are stored in 5 gal buckets. Range lead muffins go in one bucket. Clip on ww muffins in another. l put all my stick on weights in a seperate bucket unsmelted

[captaint]

Most all of mine is in 1lb ingots - stored in those (about 12--14 inch plastic milk crates. Each one holds about 350 lbs. One for WW, one for pure, one for higher Sn content. I do have a bunch more to melt though. Don't know where I'm gonna put that !! enjoy Mike

[sleddman]

I fill a 5 gal bucket half way up with 1 lb ingots. Stack the buckets in each other si when you have to move them they are only about a hundred lbs or so. Better on the back and they stack nice inside one another. Mine are about 6 foot tall, LOL.

[imashooter2]

I fill a 5 gal bucket half way up with 1 lb ingots. Stack the buckets in each other si when you have to move them they are only about a hundred lbs or so. Better on the back and they stack nice inside one another. Mine are about 6 foot tall, LOL.

It's been a long time since I was willing to lift 100 pounds in something as awkward as a bucket over my head... :oops:

A good system though. No reason a man couldn't keep the piles shorter if he wanted.

[crabo]

I made three gang molds that are 8"x 2.5" C channel. They drop out a 3 pounds.

http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w482/Crabo308/Lead/Pouringingots_450x600.jpg

I store them in a bin in a wall storage unit I built. I have enough unsmelted WW to fill up the front row, and probably another stack. My pure lead is in the same form on the other side of the unit. It is full with two complete stacks and another full stack. I am set for life.

http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w482/Crabo308/Lead/WWingots_600x450.jpg

[Down South]

I have several tons of different alloys. Much is COWW that I have cast into Lyman ingots and muffin pan ingots. I built a pallet that sits in the corner of my shop that I keep the ingots stacked on. The rest is in buckets or boxes marked with what alloy they contain.
I have about 1000 lbs of pure that came from an X-ray room to melt down yet.

[mold maker]

There are quiet a few different ingot molds available. I use a different style or maker name (11) for each kind of lead alloy. They are then stacked perminately in milk crates. The crates stack with over 700# each. Each crate is marked with contents. After 48 years, I moved in 09, and it took longer, to move the lead, than all the rest of my posessions. I had no idea how much junk I had accumulated. Disposing of the junk, made room for many more crates of lead, and casting tools.

[rodsvet]

I store my linotype the way I bought it, in 22 lb. pigs. I have 200 lbs. of type. If you ever want to sell or trade it when it's in pigs or type, there is no doubt what you have. Once it's in ingots, it can be hard to prove the whole lot without a lot of testing. Just my .02. Rod

[Texxut]

Everything is stored in 1# lyman ingots. Soft lead is stamped w/ a star, WW is unstamped and WW w/ tin added is stamped w/ a T. Reversing every other ingot , they stack very neatly and stable on the foundation of the garage wall.

[cbrick]

5 pound ingots, flat top & bottom making for very stable stacking. The ingot mold is the RCBS 10 pound cast iron pot filled half full. It'll make 10 pound ingots when filled but 10 pound ingots will not fit back into the RCBS 22 pound pot.

54406

Rick

[FISH4BUGS]

For years, I would pick up ingot moulds here and there. I have about five different shapes and sizes all the way from some home made ones to the Lee and Lyman ingot moulds.
I have buckets and buckets of wheel weights (I scrounged them for many years), linotype pigs (25 lb bars), and smelted ingots of all sizes. I have about 2000 lbs of everything all told, and that should probably last me for the rest of my life.
Any smelted ingots (aside from the 1/2 pounders that are pure linotype) are from 1-2 lbs, are stored in 5 gal buckets, and are marked with a sharpie, along with a note in the bucket when it was smelted and the melt temperature.
When casting, they pre heat perfectly by laying across the Lee 20 lb pot. Run the pot down, drop a few in as you go. Just weigh it before dropping it in so you know how much linotype to drop in with it. My standard pistol caliber mix is 5lbs ww to 1lb linotype.
All this lead......kind of like looking at your ready-for-winter wood pile - great comfort knowing it is there.

[Beagle333]

My pure stash. About 90#, or probably a year's worth. 'Must get MORE! :bigsmyl2:
55490
(and the things that look like bricks under the lead..... are just bricks. Sadly.)

[WHITETAIL]

:veryconfuI have been storing lead for a long time now.
I smelt it and use lyman and rcbs moulds.
And a few corn moulds.
Then they get marked with steel stamps.
WW or L
Then they get put in a 40lb. cat litter bucket.
They are stacked agenst the wall in my gerage.
As far as I can tell each bucket weight is approx 350lb each.
There must be about 7,000lbs.