shotstring
09-09-2007, 03:21 AM
After talking with a female that handles all the phone calls at a not-so-local scrap yard (95 mile drive round trip in a gas-gussling Dodge van) she quoted me a price of $.20 lb for lead, of which she claimed they had 2 55 gallon drums filled about 1/4 full, some large pieces and another barrel outside with additional lead scrap.
Took the morning off to drive out and figured I would drive home with 500 or 600 pounds of lead.
After digging through the barrels, most of the stuff was a mix of corroded lead shot, range scrap, pieces of a battery even along with square covered copper wire with the wire still in it - but also corroded. Not impressed. Then I noticed a large square sink that was rather heavy. I know it was heavy as it fell over on my big toe on my right foot. Seemed to be some kind of a lead sink, with stainless small 3/8 inch pipes running through parts of it. The scratch test said it was lead but the gleam of metal says it was also tin. Too light for pure lead - weighted in a 68 pounds. They had four of these pieces. Then I found what looked like a small fat manhole cover of solid lead weighing in at 159 pounds. Add a solid block of lead with a canvas strap attached that weighed 95 pounds and I figured I was off to a good start. I wrestled that stuff over to the scale trying the entire time not to let in roll over me or flatten any limbs - only to find out that the owner comes out and says his girl doesn't remember talking to me or quoting 20 cents a pound. These large items go for 40 cents a pound. She doesn't remember me? I just talked to her an hour ago - and 30 minutes before that where she confirmed the price of 20 cents....and again a week ago where she QUOTED ME THE PRICE OF 20 CENTS A POUND IN THE FIRST PLACE!!! Words do not fully do justice to my sunken spirts as foam and spit started to fleck the corner of my mouth as I looked from the owner to the girl with the same incredulous look of disbelief and what was fast becoming hatred for those having given them birth! I used up 9 gallons of gas at nearly $3.00 a gallon to get here and they are pulling this????
"I don't recall" was the statement coming out time and time again from the girl. If she had said she just made a mistake and misquoted me,I could live with that by lie followed lie.....she had offered me iron at 20 cents a pound....I don't buy iron - no use for iron....oh, well someone else must have quoted you that amount. I was just echoing what you told me, not agreeing to anything...and on and on.
Finally the owner said I could have the small stuff at 20 cents but not the large pieces. I politely emptied my buckets back in his barrels, dropping in lead ingots, bar solder ingots, large truck WW's and all sizes of lead pieces, and just glared at them all as I climbed back in my van and drove off. Principle is principle!
But all this did make one thing perfectly clear. The array of lead to be found at scap yards can indeed be very diverse and confusing. I have no idea what alloy the sinks were made of, what grade the solder bar was, how much arsenic in the shot or how much antimony and what elements contained zinc and copper and which did not. It seems a bit scarey to spend 30 or 40 dollars for something that may be usable or maybe not so much. I would have no clue what my final bullet making alloy was by mixing up a bunch of this stuff. Then, for the plain lead, I would need to find a bunch of linotype which is tough to find and expensive to boot, and mix that with the lead and now you have a cost of $.75 a pound rather than the $.29 a pound I am paying for WW that only need a bit of tin to perform.
I was so much simpler in the days when I had thousands of pounds of hospital lead at our disposal that we mixed with 20% Linotype for an outstanding bullet alloy. It was just cast bullets - no figuring required. Now you have lead pipe with iron fittings - what do you do, bring a saw with you and cut the fittings off so you aren't buying iron you can't use? I don't know how you identify the zinc without getting it home to run tests, but by then you already own it.
What do you guys do? Just make your best guess, even when spending good money for scrap you aren't sure of?
Took the morning off to drive out and figured I would drive home with 500 or 600 pounds of lead.
After digging through the barrels, most of the stuff was a mix of corroded lead shot, range scrap, pieces of a battery even along with square covered copper wire with the wire still in it - but also corroded. Not impressed. Then I noticed a large square sink that was rather heavy. I know it was heavy as it fell over on my big toe on my right foot. Seemed to be some kind of a lead sink, with stainless small 3/8 inch pipes running through parts of it. The scratch test said it was lead but the gleam of metal says it was also tin. Too light for pure lead - weighted in a 68 pounds. They had four of these pieces. Then I found what looked like a small fat manhole cover of solid lead weighing in at 159 pounds. Add a solid block of lead with a canvas strap attached that weighed 95 pounds and I figured I was off to a good start. I wrestled that stuff over to the scale trying the entire time not to let in roll over me or flatten any limbs - only to find out that the owner comes out and says his girl doesn't remember talking to me or quoting 20 cents a pound. These large items go for 40 cents a pound. She doesn't remember me? I just talked to her an hour ago - and 30 minutes before that where she confirmed the price of 20 cents....and again a week ago where she QUOTED ME THE PRICE OF 20 CENTS A POUND IN THE FIRST PLACE!!! Words do not fully do justice to my sunken spirts as foam and spit started to fleck the corner of my mouth as I looked from the owner to the girl with the same incredulous look of disbelief and what was fast becoming hatred for those having given them birth! I used up 9 gallons of gas at nearly $3.00 a gallon to get here and they are pulling this????
"I don't recall" was the statement coming out time and time again from the girl. If she had said she just made a mistake and misquoted me,I could live with that by lie followed lie.....she had offered me iron at 20 cents a pound....I don't buy iron - no use for iron....oh, well someone else must have quoted you that amount. I was just echoing what you told me, not agreeing to anything...and on and on.
Finally the owner said I could have the small stuff at 20 cents but not the large pieces. I politely emptied my buckets back in his barrels, dropping in lead ingots, bar solder ingots, large truck WW's and all sizes of lead pieces, and just glared at them all as I climbed back in my van and drove off. Principle is principle!
But all this did make one thing perfectly clear. The array of lead to be found at scap yards can indeed be very diverse and confusing. I have no idea what alloy the sinks were made of, what grade the solder bar was, how much arsenic in the shot or how much antimony and what elements contained zinc and copper and which did not. It seems a bit scarey to spend 30 or 40 dollars for something that may be usable or maybe not so much. I would have no clue what my final bullet making alloy was by mixing up a bunch of this stuff. Then, for the plain lead, I would need to find a bunch of linotype which is tough to find and expensive to boot, and mix that with the lead and now you have a cost of $.75 a pound rather than the $.29 a pound I am paying for WW that only need a bit of tin to perform.
I was so much simpler in the days when I had thousands of pounds of hospital lead at our disposal that we mixed with 20% Linotype for an outstanding bullet alloy. It was just cast bullets - no figuring required. Now you have lead pipe with iron fittings - what do you do, bring a saw with you and cut the fittings off so you aren't buying iron you can't use? I don't know how you identify the zinc without getting it home to run tests, but by then you already own it.
What do you guys do? Just make your best guess, even when spending good money for scrap you aren't sure of?