How about just buying alloy?

[S.R.Custom]

Not from Midway or anything ridiculous like that... But where do the wheelweight manufacturers get their alloy? How much do they pay?

Now I enjoy casting bullets as much as the next guy, but if the truth be told, I have a fairly decent job and all this scrounging and fooling with scrap metal and begging wheelweights from the local tire dealers is not exactly the highest and best use of my time. It seems to me a few extra hours spent doing what I normally get paid for at work--which according to my boss is chit-chatting, drinking coffee, and surfing the net--would be a much more effective means of procuring some heavy metal. How much is virgin WW alloy these days? Or if shipping is too prohibitive, has anyone approached his local tire dealer about a "group buy" on new wheelweights?

[UweJ]

Hello

I don´t exactly know the prices in the States but we have just made a group buy here in Germany.We bought directly from the foundry and got our equivolent to your Lyman#2.
The price was 1Euro per Kilo. 1Euro nowadays equals 73 US Cent.
We were 3 guys and bought 1 Ton.
Just want to let you know how the price develops on this side of the pond.
Uwe

[imashooter2]

I'm certain truck freight on a couple tons of alloy would be better than paying someone to cast it onto metal clips so you could melt it back off. Spot price on lead is about $1.50 a pound, so I would expect you'd pay at least that from a foundry. Why not just go to the local scrap yard and pay whatever they want for used WW? You aren't wasting your time and you'll still get alloy a lot cheaper than from a foundry.

[C A Plater]

I haven't checked the price but do know the where. Mayco Industries (http://www.maycoindustries.com/index.htm) is a short drive in Birmingham, Alabama and have been tempted to make a 500-1000lb buy of one of the bullet alloys.

[Ron]

Uwej,
US 73 cents per kilo (2.2lbs) seems like a good price for that alloy. That would make it approx. 36.5 cents US per pound. Was this in ingots? What was the cost of freight?

[tommag]

Hello

I don´t exactly know the prices in the States but we have just made a group buy here in Germany.We bought directly from the foundry and got our equivolent to your Lyman#2.
The price was 1Euro per Kilo. 1Euro nowadays equals 73 US Cent.
We were 3 guys and bought 1 Ton.
Just want to let you know how the price develops on this side of the pond.
Uwe

You got the ratio right, but reversed the values. One Euro equals about $1.38 U.S. One dollar equals about .73 Euros. That still is a heck of a price, about 63 cents per lb.

[blysmelter]

1 Euro pr kilo must be a very good price!
Alloyed lead in 45kgs ingots cost around 3 Euros here in Norway. Scrap lead goes for approx 0.9Euro.

But yes, I guess I would do better working some overtime and buying my lead of the shelf, but would that be any fun?:)

[Springfield]

That's fine for all you over paid :-D working types, but some of us have more time then money. I have to watch my kids during the day anyway, so I'd rather take them with me to the scrap yard or the local tire shop and buy lead for .40 a lb than have it shipped in for more. YA know, the same applies for casting. If you have more money than time then just buy the bullets ready made. Those are the guys that keep me in business. Scrounging and melting it all into ingots isn't for everybody. I just took the kids on a 75 mile journey, each way, to buy 750 pounds of old fishing weights and scrap. Got a bunch of fishing weight moulds and 2 plumbers furnaces out of it too. Probably just gonna sell them. Don't need to be in the weight business too. Take them to the park or go scrounging, the time is the same. And they got to go over the Golden Gate bridge, they had never seen it before.

[UweJ]

tommag:Thanks for correcting the price, of course it´s the other way around.
Springfield: I would gladly go to a tire shop to get used WW but just about all you get here are Zinc weights since they started taking lead out about 5 years ago.Going to the scrap yard doesn´t make much sense here since the price difference to the foundry isn´t that much any more,except for soft lead used in Muzzle loading.I still clean out the range lead since you have to get all you can.
Uwe

[S.R.Custom]

It's not that I'm overpaid as much as I'd like to spend more time casting (and shooting), and less time scrounging...

Just for kicks, I looked up lead suppliers on the net... http://www.nuclead.com/brick.html ...and asked for a quote on 200 lbs of 92-6-2 delivered. It seems it's a "specialty, non-stock item" and would cost me $8.11 per lb delivered.

I think the scrounging will continue.

[ANeat]

I think you would have to get a ton or so and split costs between a few friends to make having something like that shipped worth while. Like Uwe mentioned.


Myself; I hit the scrap yards from time to time. Its been cheaper but here lately its been .30 a pound. You can pick thru what you want, sometimes WW, every so often a bit of Lino. Went there yesterday and someone had brought in about 30 pounds of 50/50 solder[smilie=1:

[shooter93]

A Foundry could be the way to go....I too prefer buying mine. It's cleaned well or pure for one thing and it's a time issue for me also. There is a Commericial Bullet maker near me. He gave me the number of his foundry a 100 miles or so from here. They deliver right to his door and it has to be an attractive enough price for him to make bullets and sell them. It's his only business and he's running 7 days a week. I don't know the pricing yet but buying several tons of the alloy I want would suit me fine.

[FISH4BUGS]

It's not that I'm overpaid as much as I'd like to spend more time casting (and shooting), and less time scrounging...
........but to me part of the fun IS the scrounging. I enjoy it almost as much the rendering, the casting, the sizing and lubing , the reloading, all to make it possible to SHOOT.
As a machine gun shooter, the cost is also a factor. When you shoot a couple of thousand rounds in an afternoon, purchasing the alloy makes it a far more expensive hobby.
I do not count my time in the equation. HOWEVER, my time IS my money - I am a self employed consultant, and have been for 25 years.
Different strokes for different folks - that's all it is..........

[jawjaboy]

IMO...the ~hunt~ for ww's makes the prize just that much more enjoyable. But that's just me!

[crabo]

In Dallas, WWs are selling for 50-75 cents a pound at the scrap yards. If you can find any linotype, it is a dollar a pound. It is getting really hard to find WWs. I found a couple of small shops that are throwing their old weights away. Some of the shops now deal directly with someone who comes around and will give them a lot of money for a bucket of wheel weights. I've realized that I have to make a committment to scrounging WWs if buying good casting equipment is going to be cost effective.

[klw]

Why not just buy from Art Green. I think that his linotype and lead are running about $1/lb delivered.

[VTDW]

Who is Art Green?

[klw]

Art has been selling bullet alloys for decades. Certainly 20 years that I know of. He actually helped Bill Ferguson get started in the business. Bill is in his mid-80's and Art is in his late 70's. Bill has stopped selling alloy but Art continues.

Best way to reach him is by phone: 310-274-1283.

Though the bulk rate post office package can have up to 75 pounds for under $10, Art can not lift that much anymore. And besides the post office hates packages of lead so they give him a REALLY hard time. Best Art can do is 40 pounds per package. I've got a 1600 pound linotype order and a 200 pound lead order with him now. One 40 pound package per month until it is through.

[9.3X62AL]

+1 for Art Green. I bought a bunch of WW ingots and foundry type from him last year, GREAT guy to deal with. I live about an hour from his office, so I just drive to L.A. and pick it up.

I do some scrounging, too. On the trip to L.A. I hit all the truck stops on the way in....north side of the freeway while inbound, south side of freeway outbound. Those are bodacious weights on the trucks, and "all right turns" back to the onramp is a trick passed along by my former clients who robbed banks. L. A. traffic is dogmatic.

[OeldeWolf]

Springfield, you must be close to my area. I am in the san joaquin valley/county.

I have just started casting for centerfire, and thus scrounging for WW materials. But pure lead is gettingh hard to find, also, around here.

OeldeWolf

[mto7464]

IMO...the ~hunt~ for ww's makes the prize just that much more enjoyable. But that's just me!

Same with me. Just like internet/ebay/GB shopping, it's the hunt.

[VTDW]

klw,

Thanks so much for the info bro.

Dave

[TAWILDCATT]

I just bought 2 buckets of WW at $26 I dont know how much weight yet but I cant lift them.theres at least 10 more buckets there.the price was what he gets from metal buyer.I will have to wt them to see the actual price. its a crap shoot on prices.does not seem to be consistent. :coffee: :Fire: :coffee: :castmine:

[LAH]

I bought WW metal from Mayco Industries. I asked for 95.5-4-.5. This is what Lyman claimed for wheelweight metal. It came in boxes marked #4 Babbit. It was about 15 cents per pound less than 92-6-2. Normally order 1000-2000 pounds.

[blysmelter]

Out of curiosity I checked out the price of lead from a trader, this wedensday lead was traded at approx 3400US$/tonn. Prices is up a whopping 230% the last 12 months.
I think I gonna go see if i can find some more lead!

[klw]

Out of curiosity I checked out the price of lead from a trader, this wedensday lead was traded at approx 3400US$/tonn. Prices is up a whopping 230% the last 12 months.
I think I gonna go see if i can find some more lead!

Art Green also had lead. I've got 200 pounds on order I think. Something like $1 a pound delivered.

Contacted Mayco. They wanted $2.17 per pound plus shipping for linotype. Art wanted $1 delivered.

[EDK]

One suburban St. Louis scrap dealer quoted me $.70 a pound for scrap lead this past week. Then my step-grandson (works for telephone company) send over 200+ pounds of used cable sheathing. GOOD KID. UNFORTUNATELY, IN TWO MONTHS HE IS LEAVING FOR HIS SECOND TOUR IN IRAQ. NATIONAL GUARD DOESN'T LOOK AS GOOD AS IT DID IN THE VIET NAM ERA.

Lead, like primers and powder, had stayed pretty much the same price for a long time. Powder hasn't jumped yet, but the lead and primers sure gave me STICKER SHOCK! I hadn't bought either in several years. I guess it will soon be time to start sifting through the backstop on my backyard range.

:castmine: :redneck:

[targetshootr]

The PO dropped their flat rate recently to something like 40 lbs. Probably had too many carriers with herniated discs. I've been lucky enough to scrounge all I need for years to come for next to nothing and time is not an issue. But whenever I need some down 'n dirty, old school heavy metal (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV9lgg-_-ss&mode=related&search=), there's always youtube.

[LAH]

The PO dropped their flat rate recently to something like 40 lbs. Probably had too many carriers with herniated discs. I've been lucky enough to scrounge all I need for years to come for next to nothing and time is not an issue. But whenever I need some down 'n dirty, old school heavy metal (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV9lgg-_-ss&mode=related&search=), there's always youtube.

This would be terrible. Glad it didn't happen last week. I received 62 pounds from Powder Valley & 58 pounds from Hi-Tech in flat rate boxes. Maybe it'll happen the coming week.

Below is from http://www.usps.com dated 7-29-07, 7:30 AM EST.

http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/123.htm#wp1071591
1.5 Flat-Rate Boxes and Envelopes
Any amount of material may be mailed in a USPS-produced Priority Mail flat-rate box or flat-rate envelope. When sealing a flat-rate box or flat-rate envelope, the container flaps must be able to close within the normal folds. Tape may be applied to the flaps and seams to reinforce the container, provided the design of the container is not enlarged by opening the sides and the container is not reconstructed in any way.

1.5.1 Flat-Rate Boxes—Rate and Eligibility
Each USPS-produced Priority Mail flat-rate box is charged $8.95, regardless of the actual weight of the piece or its destination. Only USPS-produced flat-rate boxes are eligible for the flat-rate box rate.

1.5.2 Flat-Rate Envelopes—Rate and Eligibility
Each USPS-produced Priority Mail flat-rate envelope is charged $4.60, regardless of the actual weight of the piece or its destination. Only USPS-produced flat-rate envelopes are eligible for the flat-rate envelope rate.

http://www.usps.com/rates/priority-mail-rates.htm
Priority Mail Flat Rate Envelope
Any mailable item sent in a Priority Mail Flat Rate envelope provided by the Postal Service, regardless of weight or destination.

Priority Mail Flat Rate Box
Any mailable item sent in a Priority Mail Flat Rate box provided by the Postal Service, regardless of weight (up to a 70-pound maximum) or destination.

[jawjaboy]

http://www.kitcometals.com/charts/lead_historical_large.html#1year

[lead_her_fly]

Why not just go to the local scrap yard
We have a scrap yard locally. Just the other day I went into their "Retail" side and looked in their mixed lead box. Do you know what I found? 6 25lb ingots (marked "not for resale") of Linotype in there! @ $.53 lb it was a cheap deal for the harder metal and I walked right out with it. There was pipe and wheel weights in there too but I pay from $10 to $20 per 5 gallon bucket of them from the tire stores and I have about 10 or so sitting in the garage right now!
Here is a suggestion that I have thought about if the supply dries up. Ebay. there are a lot of auctions for lead in ingots there. Already melted and clean and ready for the pot!
Here is a link to an auction ending soon. http://cgi.ebay.com/50-lbs-lead-ingots-for-bullets-sinkers-molds_W0QQitemZ330149392413QQihZ014QQcategoryZ3170 5QQcmdZViewItem

[klw]

The 40 pound limit I mentioned earlier was just the maximum Art Green could lift. For a man approaching 80 that's understandable.

But even though flax boxes can hold up to 70 pounds that does not mean that the post office will accept them. Yes they should but they don't always. Just don't want to be bothered.

[DiamondD]

Another way to buy your lead would be to buy a bag of Magnum shot. If you buy sizes that don't sell real well just after waterfowl season you can pick it up rather cheap. Magnum shot has more antimony in it than regular shot.

[LAH]

[QUOTE=klw;206667]But even though flax boxes can hold up to 70 pounds that does not mean that the post office will accept them.QUOTE]

Correct, sometimes they will not, but when push comes to shove they have no choice. It's the law. We used USPS Flat Rate boxes for 95% of our bullets. Yes we had problems with some Post Masters but the bullets were always delivered though I've had to call the toll free number at least twice. The Postmaster at Omak, Wa. was the worse case but he was forced to follow the Postal Regs. by his overseers. Certainly didn't like it but..........

I only say this to insure you guys that they have to take these boxes though sometimes it's a little trouble. My route carrier has a bad back so I tell him to leave my boxes at the post office and I'll pick them up myself. My Dry Creek Postmaster took the heavy packages, sometimes daily, though I did put them on and take them off the scales for her.

http://ourworld.cs.com/BHALSTE/creekerpics/Reloading/Post+Office+bullets.JPG

[klw]

The lady who delivers our mail has a problem with her hands making it very difficult for her to pick these up so we have agreed that I'll go to the post office and pick them up. That is fine with me.

But Art Green just can not get his post office to take the boxes at 70 pounds. I've had long talks with him about this. They just refuse AND their supervisors back them up. They can not be bothered. Art isn't a forceful personality and he is almost 80. Must take a real sh#t to be nasty to an 80 year old man. Of course Art earns his living doing this so he has a lot of boxes and they give him a lot of trouble. 40 pounds is the maximum they can be bothered to handle and even that isn't easy.

For awhile he was using a UPS store and letting the UPS people face off with the local post office. But now the post office wants UPS to pay them for taking packages and Art's UPS store has decided not to.

Art has tried every form of complaint. Nothing worked.

I offered to take his post office on. He declined saying that even if I made the point they would only find some other way to make his life h#ll! Your tax money at work!

[Scrounger]

Has Mr. Green tried the Click-N-Ship program? I have an internet account set up with the Post Office to ship packages, everything is done at home, addresses, postage printed. When done, there is an option to order a pickup by the Post Office next day. Perhaps they could then send out someone with equiptment to handle the 70 pound packages rather than have the regular person have to deal with it. I can well understand their reluctance to lift and carry 70 pound packages, that is the way back injuries happen. If I were him I'd gladly accept that 40 pound maximum because it's easier on him, too. And simply make his pricing at a $9 shipping charge for each 40 pounds of weight. Cooperation is easier than beating your head against someone holding all the cards.

[lead_her_fly]

I was at a local scrap yard to day doing some control work. When I was done for the day I asked about lead in general. He said he had some. Then I asked about Linotype. He said he had about #300! I asked what he wanted for it per pound and it was +$1. I was wondering if there would be any interest on the forum for it. If there is maybe I can get a better deal if I buy it all.
Comments?

[S.R.Custom]

I was at a local scrap yard to day doing some control work. When I was done for the day I asked about lead in general. He said he had some. Then I asked about Linotype. He said he had about #300! I asked what he wanted for it per pound and it was +$1. I was wondering if there would be any interest on the forum for it. If there is maybe I can get a better deal if I buy it all.
Comments?

And you live where?

[lead_her_fly]

Indiana

[LAH]

I was at a local scrap yard to day doing some control work. When I was done for the day I asked about lead in general. He said he had some. Then I asked about Linotype. He said he had about #300! I asked what he wanted for it per pound and it was +$1. I was wondering if there would be any interest on the forum for it. If there is maybe I can get a better deal if I buy it all.
Comments?

I could take it all if the deal was good........Creeker

[Sundogg1911]

I have a fairly good job too, but I find that scrounging, smelting, casting ingots, mixings alloys all to be a fun part of the game. :) If it wasn't I think i'd just buy my boolits. I find it a great way to relieve the stress from the day job. I guess to each His own. I'm not saying that I wouldn't use foundry alloy. I often do. (A good friend of mine does maintenance work for a PA foundry which lets me purchases less than truck load lots.) I'm very fortunate to have always had an abundant supply of used wheel weights and up until now Lino (My source is drying up) I like to keep as much alloy on hand as possible. It's only a matter of time before it all goes away :(

[Mr. Reaper]

There won't be any more lead wheel weights soon. I get my 20/1 alloy from Buffalo Arms or the Antimony Man. Pure and clean...no problems.