Lead replacement?

[wb2754]

We all know that our supply of Galena is going to become harder to find in the near future thanks to big brother.

Reclamation is one obvious way to sustain our sport, but, at some point we are going to need a replacement for our beloved Silver Stream.

I am hoping to start a discussion about ideas/ alternatives.

The floor is open.......

[Airman Basic]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Lead_mines
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_smelting
Seems to be several available sources besides Doe Run

[bangerjim]

Mortgage your house and use bismuth. Readily available for a price!!!!!!!!

Lead will be with us for a l------o-----n-----g time. Greenies and grabbers love to instill panic in certain groups......now it is the casters.

banger

[mikeym1a]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Lead_mines
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_smelting
Seems to be several available sources besides Doe Run

If I read the first article correctly, only one of the seven sites listed is still active, and that is the one in Alaska, and the lead production is secondary. And, yes, we can buy all the lead we need from foreign sources. Too bad our hard earned money is going to go to places like central America, or china. Especially when we have abundant supplies here. Too bad we have a congress with no balls, to order the epa to mind it's manners and stop interferring with vital businesses.

[sqlbullet]

Keep in mind guys that we don't need much lead production. 99.5% of lead is reclaimed and recycled into new ingots. And, the demand for lead is falling. That is why smelters are closing. The cost of smelting lead from ore is astronomically high compared to reclaimed lead. And since almost all the lead used today can/will be reclaimed, what has essentially happened is we have made enough. Probably more than enough.

The trick for us is that sources we can scrap from are drying up. Reclaiming from batteries requires infrastructure we can't afford to put into place, WW are going the way of the dodo, plumbing doesn't use new lead anymore, and much of the old has already been scrapped.

The real question we should be asking is what regulatory nightmare is propping up the price of lead. There should be a glut of cheap lead on the market. Cheap enough that we should be putting our turkey friers away cause we can't melt down WW as cheap as we can buy new lead.

[fastfire]

I understand the reason for the closure is because of the EPA!

[w5pv]

They want us to panic,Doe Run was shut down because they would not spend the money to get in compliance.This guy at Nyrstar told told us how big of an expansion they were doing to get their production level up to handle the added sales that they expected.

[KCSO]

I have two tons stashed away so I figure I m good for a couple more years at least.

[JSnover]

its our own fault. We're a bunch of cheapskates who always want free stuff, reclaimed from somewhere. If we demanded new, virgin lead and we're willing to pay for it maybe more shelters would provide it. Instead we put them out of business by scrounging and scrapping.

[Mlcompound]

My brother made 2 of these for christmas. 1 is mine. Sweet. They work pretty good at catching most of the splatter. More are in the works.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/14/rupyjyry.jpg

[firefly1957]

A Walmart south of me had 180 used car batteries stolen the price of lead must be up :kidding:

[Mlcompound]

The larger the tire the better. These are 31-10.50x16. Save metal if u can find a 15 in tire. They catch about 80-90 percent. Some does bounce out but I may try some padding inside (felt or a towel). The target is on a threaded rod with a spring and the backing plate saves on misses.

[40-82 hiker]

Bismuth is too expensive (around $11 per pound) but is somewhat bandied about as a possible replacement (at that price?). What I do not understand about the bismuth is that it is VERY frangible, so not sure how that helps us. Shot shells have been available for some time with bismuth shot, but they cost like a couple of bucks per shell! I am not sure how all of this works... Doesn't sound good for bismuth...

Zinc might work, but molding needs head pressure to fill out the molds (somewhat of a PITA, though doable with a bottom pour and tight seal between pot and mold with a deep pot), and barrel twist rates will have to be increased to account for much longer bullets needed to meet a certain weight.

Think we are looking for that proverbial paddle here!



We all know that our supply of Galena is going to become harder to find in the near future thanks to big brother.

Reclamation is one obvious way to sustain our sport, but, at some point we are going to need a replacement for our beloved Silver Stream.

I am hoping to start a discussion about ideas/ alternatives.

The floor is open.......

[myg30]

My brother made 2 of these for christmas. 1 is mine. Sweet. They work pretty good at catching most of the splatter. More are in the works.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/14/rupyjyry.jpg

THAT IS a very good idea !! And easy to do too ! Thank you for sharing the pic.

Mike

[boog]

My brother made 2 of these for christmas. 1 is mine. Sweet. They work pretty good at catching most of the splatter. More are in the works.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/14/rupyjyry.jpg

I wonder if you put a piece of plywood over the front to hang/staple your target to, if that would catch everything? Might even be able to fill it with mulch (or paper, or sand) to not worry about ricochet.

[Mlcompound]

That is a good idea. It simply bounces off the rubber and some bounces out. Once it has a good size pile of lead it should catch even more. I do like that idea for bullseye practice and load development. I have originally been using a piece of firewood to hang paper target on. I will eventually split it up and dig out the lead.

[taiden]

That is a good idea. It simply bounces off the rubber and some bounces out. Once it has a good size pile of lead it should catch even more. I do like that idea for bullseye practice and load development. I have originally been using a piece of firewood to hang paper target on. I will eventually split it up and dig out the lead.

Just put a cork in the bottom of your wood stove and let it all drip out come winter. :bigsmyl2:

[singleshot]

Just put a cork in the bottom of your wood stove and let it all drip out come winter. :bigsmyl2:

Why simply let it drip out when you can be there ready with your mould? Just cast up some replacements! :-)

[JSnover]

Why simply let it drip out when you can be there ready with your mould? Just cast up some replacements! :-)

all these years we thought the fire should be under the pot and the flux stirred in from the top :groner:

[amosfella]

Powdered tungsten mixed with epoxy and paper patched... :kidding:

[fcvan]

Get one of them fancy 3d printers and print custom boolits ;)

[JSnover]

Get one of them fancy 3d printers and print custom boolits ;)

Whoa... That giant sucking sound is the mold industry going down the toilet. Dang.