Question about wheelweights

[Beetmagnet]

New guy here...new to casting but not loading. I'm planning to be loading by the end of the summer. Until then I just want to learn and acquire equipment little bit at a time.
I found a country auto shop that has multiple 5 gallon buckets of lead wheel weights. Other bullet casters in the area give the guy 50.00$ a bucket. My question to you is, is this a fair price?

[btroj]

Yep, fair

[uscra112]

Get 'em while you can!

[Jailer]

Seems a bit high to me but they aren't too hard to come by around here. I don't pay more than $20/bucket.

[gwilliams2]

I usually trade a 5 gallon bucket of beer on ice for a bucket of wheel weights... But I'd still say that $50 is a fair price in many areas.

[runfiverun]

ummm,, if he gets that much why does he have so many?

[dverna]

Maybe he has so many because there is a large percentage of zinc and other casters have been burned?

[exdxgxe4life]

A shop by me sells them for $45. It's on the higher side of fair, but just know that their are many places (at least by me) that wouldn't sell them to me for any amount. I'd say buy it, and then work on getting some free ones in the mean time.

[BBQJOE]

Most tire shops already have "that guy" who buys their wheel weights exclusively. hell yeah, take 'em when you can get them!

[ku4hx]

My 5 gal full buckets weight 100 pounds or so depending if they're full to the top or rounded up. At $50/100 pounds, that's $0.50 per pound. Yeah, I'd call that a pretty good price in today's political climate. I used to get a 5 gal bucket for $20 just a few years ago. But, I also got gasoline for $.0299 per gal once too. Both of "those days" are gone.

If you're casting 124 grain 9mm boolits, each will cost about .88 cents each. I could easily live with that.

[runfiverun]

need some 0's in there.
a complete loaded round will be less than 8 cents probably closer to 5.
stupid primers.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Something you should bear in mind about buying the pail as is. There is going to be just about everything that a tire repair place throws away in that pail, from broken valve stems to cardboard pieces to floor sweepings to razor blades. Not to mention the Fe (iron) weights and Zn (zinc) weights and of course the rubber weighted stick ons along with the vanishing lead weights. This may bring the actual price of lead weights higher by having to sort out the worthless trash for the lead. I used to get full and over flowing 5 gal. pails of just lead weights for FREE and gas was .18 cents a gal. and was pumped for you.Robert

[roberto mervicini]

I got ( 3 ) 5gal. buckets almost full, once the rubber valve, the bolts and the cigarette buts eliminated I smelted, tooke all the clips and impurity including the zinc WW that still float on the surface I got 148 lb. of clean WW.
I didn't check the gross weight at start, but if I need to guess I would say 30% was the garbage portion.
So if the original weight was 211 lb. x0.50 = $105.50
148 lb net : 124 (grain 9mm boolit)= 8354 boolits
$105.50: 8354 = 1.26 cents each boolit
if is a 350grain 45/70 the cost per boolit will be near 3.6 cents, ....cheaper than the gas check !!!!!!

[Beetmagnet]

ummm,, if he gets that much why does he have so many?

Pretty much why I was asking the question. He is in the middle of a large rural area and gets most of the tire business surrounding his area. He is always busy. If its a fair price then I will grab what I can. The concensus so far is that its fair. Thanks everybody fir your input.

[runfiverun]

yeah [man this hurts to say] it's not an awful price considering spot price for lead is about 90 cents a pound.
you just have to carefully consider the deductions.
you'll lose about 20% to clips alone.
even if it comes out to $1.00 a pound for the lead, when it's all said and done, you are still $2.00 ahead of buying them from the store.

I must be getting old, I still remember how ripped off I felt when a guy wanted $5.00 for a bucket of ww's [that might have had 2 zinc weights]
cause it was about 1/3 stick on weights.

[dbosman]

Pay the man and move on. Probably happily.
Save the zinc to trade to the cannon ball guy. He swaps for lead.
Save the other metal to take to the recycling or scrap yard for cash or more lead.