First trip to scrap yard

[Mitch]

This weekend in finaly decided ro go and see what i could find.I ended up with 161 lbs.Some was sheet and some was pipe.I was not all that sure about what i would end up with.i was looking for pure lead.i did pretty well in picking thru there box of lead.All of the lead checks between 5 and 7 BNH.I had 4 wiped solder joints on the pipe.I took meleted the solder off the joints and ended up with 1.5 lbs of solder.
I and no to keen on lead melted into ingots from the scrap yard.But there were ingots with names on them I think company names but no content markings they did not seem to be pure lead but not super hard.There was all kinds of small solder rolls on the bottom.i am not so sure abot the solder scraps be i do not know what the mix is.I am thinking of stopping again and takeing a 2nd look at the Ingots. Most of the ingots looked to be about 5 lbs and poured in strips.Oh yes and look for more pipe with solder joints
All said i think i did good!!!!

[BACKTOSHOOTING]

Nice score, What kind of priceing did you get ?

[stocker1042]

I asked my local yard and they were willing to sell WW or lead for .40lb. I didn't think that was too bad being they give .20lb.

[BACKTOSHOOTING]

I think thats a very good price. They are costing me .70 at my scrap yard but i may have found a source from a tire shop for buckets at a 12 pack of bud, Not much lead compared to the others thou.

[Mitch]

I payed a buck a pound sounds a bit steep.But then again most places here will not sell lead,and it seems every tire shop has someone takeing the lead.i will go back i am sure of that.they heave everything in one lump solder and all.So it i can get some great stuff next time it will be all worth thre price.

Whay do you all think of scraps of solder the bottom of the box is cover with it.Is there an easy way to tell if it is 50/50 or lead free.i am wondering about the poured ingonts too. they are in strips and look to be about 5 lb each.The best part is i can go thru and take what i want
i did not pick thru the bottom very well i am thinking there is some good stuff there if i dig enough.

[dmclark523]

Wow $.40 is amazing. $.70 is about the going price here in VT as well. I ended up with over 320 pounds my first time, mostly wheel weights. After all the junk and clips were sifted off, I ended with 275 odd pounds.
At that price, I'd be all over it!

[tg32-20]

OMG!!

If you can get any lead at $.40 a pound, buy all you can.

I live in CA and wheel weights went away along time ago. If you can find lead of any kind at a scrap yard (and they will sell it to you) it is a $1.00 per pound.

Tom

[runfiverun]

take a few minutes and look up plumbers lead and see what those ingots look like.
doe run is another good one to look at.

[rmatchell]

I live a few mins away from Doe Run, I have never been able to score any lead though.

[bhuch5]

Checked the local yard in Salem,OR on Wed this week looking for lead. "We have tons of it " the yard man said "$1.50 a pound". Sheesh no wonder they have tons. I came home empty handed. Guy on craigslist has 300 Pounds soft lead for $260.00. May give him a call. Happy shooting Bruce H.

[383]

In my area it seems the local tire shops either won't sell it or say it's spoken for. The local scrap yard wants .89 cents a pound which I think is a bit too steep. I can get isotope lead for .60 cents a pound, but am still looking for something cheaper.

[Mitch]

I know all about the tire shops.it seems they are all coverd.I will check a different scrapyard this week end and see what the price is.I to wish i had a cheep source of lead.Glad to see someone getting a better price.My thought is one day not so far away a buck a pound may sound cheep.

[HodakaGA]

A fair rule on solder is the duller the color, the lower the tin content.

[runfiverun]

sometimes the roll itself will be marked.
I have seen solder with 5% tin all the way up to 90% tin.
it is generally in the 40-60% range.
however if there is enough of the 5% stuff that equates close enough to 20-1 alloy to be very useful as is, and it's certified, so still a bargain at 1.00 a lb.

if you look at commercial cast prices it's running at about 3.25 per pound.
if you are buying lead at 1.00 [or even 1.25 a pound after clean-up] you are still coming out waaay ahead.

the day's of easy cheap lead is/are coming to a close.

[stocker1042]

Wow...sounds like one of the only good things about living in Jersey is having tons of scrap yards to contend with...and being close to both Philly and NNJ ports that send it all over the world.

Maybe I should save up some bread and go pick up a few 100lbs.