Share your thoughts on scrounging up lead.......

[WILCO]

Was thinking of information we could share with the "newbies" when it comes to scrounging up lead for their boolit making activities.

What would you tell the guy just starting out on the hunt?

I'd tell them to keep the "Scrounging" bug in check. It's not a race and don't let it eat a hole in your wallet.

[Dusty Bannister]

While I have no issue with helping folks get started in bullet casting and building their own supplies of lead, I would also
strongly suggest reading many of the threads on this specific subject. One recent example would be
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?239956-Where-to-find-lead-in-ca
This fits most areas these days as the easy sources are drying up. But recognize the fact that this will result in a lot more
threads with a subject line something like, "OK I got it, what is it?" Much of that information is already in the stickies, but
remains unread by members (not just new ones).

I would not suggest to keep the bug in check, but I would suggest that they go on a crash course of self education so that they
will be able to recognize by sight, sound and feel, if a "lead" item is likely a good buy or not. Probably most important is to let
friends know they are searching for lead. Those extra eyes are very important for turning up an unexpected stash in someones
garage. Like casting, you learn by doing, but research can help with the learning curve. Good luck to the new guys. Dusty

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

The most 'timely' hint is,
-with the increasing Lead WW (wheel weight) bans, the last place to check out is the tire shops and auto dealships. Yes, still go there, but expect lots of Zinc WW's so don't pay too much.

-I go to Auto scrap (recycle) yards, The kind the strip everything off a car then crush it...especially if they are scraping out old cars.

-I have a friend that is a 'junk guy'. He hauls anything and everything away from vacated houses and/or companies for a fee. He comes across some Lead once in a while. Be friends with guys that do that...Or just 'cold contact' cleanup companies.

-Put the word out with all your friends and family. I do. Every once in a while I'll get a call that starts with, "Hey, you still looking for Lead?"...while I dislike talking on the phone, this is one of those times i'll put up with it. I got one last week infact.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?242212-I-ve-got-Linotype-now-what&p=2785168&viewfull=1#post2785168

-Last on the list is metal scrap yards...they generally try to charge you retail and are grumpy ta boot. If you have a friendly and fair scrapper near you...well that is a rare thing, by all means frequent them.

[slim1836]

Parking lot of tire shops, intersections, R.R. X-ings, edges of roads, pot holes, plumbers, roofers, remodelers, junk yards, joints of old cast iron pipe, are good places to look. You got to just look wherever you go. I have never bought any lead, but only have a few hundred pounds so far.

Slim

[9w1911]

I have bought scrap no shame in that, and those I buy from I tell them before you post this to craigslist, call me. If I dont buy it I know the guys here will.

[flyingmonkey35]

Seems to me local tire shops May sell you the coww about 35 bucks per bucket.

My local scrap yard will sell me lead at 65 cents a pound and cows at 45 cents a pound.

Average price on eBay is about 1.50 a pound of processed ingots. + shipping.

Figure 10 pound s get you a average of 500 + bullets (size weight etc).

You are at about 15 bucks per 500. Raw.

Not bad.

[35isit]

I have had better luck at tire stores telling them I only need a little. It is usually given to me. Sometimes it's a lot, a friend of mine gave me 3 or 4 buckets full. Also ask the guys in the back first, they just may give them to you also.

[mfraser264]

Let everyone you know that you are looking for lead!!! Friend, relations, co-workers, at church, everyone!!! Had a supplier in the other day and while at lunch we were talking. He has 2 - 5 gallon buckets of cannon balls in his garage taking up room, wants them gone. Asked that he bring them with him next trip and I'll make it worth his effort and he said he would. It works.

[JSnover]

Ask anyone who might have lead or might know someone. Have patience.
If you're scrounging wheel weights, busy intersections (honest! But be careful. I picked up about 5 pounds one night) and shopping center parking lots have produced a good amount for me. Any place where there are a lot of people who don't drive well, they lose weights all the time.

[roberts1]

Yep definitely tell people you know. I had a buddy stop by with a lead roof boot he found and another bust up some cast iron hubs to get me a couple pounds because they knew I'd "recycle" it. Be friendly to every plumber you meet. They are always running across lead. No shame in buying a little along the way either.

[1989toddm]

I have had little luck finding lead as I am in Washington state where lead weights are banned. For some reason I haven't figured out yet, most independent tire shops have buckets of weights but are hanging onto them. Anyone know why? I bought about 250 pounds a year ago in Indiana (where I grew up) from a tire shop for .34 a pound.

[ssnow]

If you are in an area where it is difficult to find wheel weights, then take a look in the Swapping & Selling forum. You can often find a good deal there, perhaps even better than you can do yourself if you consider the time and expense involved in obtaining and smelting them yourself.

If you are going to search locally for wheel weights, then pay a visit to all the tire shops in town and nearby. You will soon learn which shops are willing to sell them, and which shops cannot due to corporate policy. Many shops that are willing to sell them, will already have an arrangement with someone else.......if they have no such arrangement, then it's a matter of timing. Getting there the day after someone else bought them does you no good :)

Some shops will not sell them because an employee, or they themselves keep them. Busting tires is a hard job and if a good employee wants them, then that's where they usually go.

But these things change........employees will move on, or the owner may decide he has enough weights for his needs. The point being, even being turned down today does not mean you will be turned down 6 months from now.

True story; there was a shop I stopped and asked about weights at least 5 times over a 4 year period. The last time I was in that town I had a flat on a trailer and stopped there to get it fixed. So while they are fixing the flat, I say to the guy, "Hey, how about selling me some wheel weights?" He says "Sure. How much do you want?"

I bought 11 five gallon buckets.........Why he would not sell any before I don't know, but he did that day :) A little persistence sometimes pays off.

[jcameron996]

I haven't seen anyone mention mining lead out of backstops or checking with indoor ranges. I have picked up a few buckets from our local indoor range. It is pretty good lead and you get the added benefit of being able to sell the jackets to recoup some of your cost. Also, as has already been mentioned, let your friends and family know you are looking for lead. I have had several people give me lead that they came across or let me know where some could be found. Last but not least, and I am really hesitant to give up my secret weapon, my wife is the best lead scrounger I have ever seen. It doesn't hurt that she is blond and good looking and has a background in sales and could sell ice to an eskimo. She has gone into several places that either wanted to sell it or wouldn't even talk to me and had them loading the buckets in the back of the truck for her.

[plmitch]

Lots of free lead to be found out there. I'm picking up a free sail boat tomorrow I found on craigslist. The last one had #700 of nice lead in it. Be creative, its not going to come looking for you.

[9w1911]

In places where lead is hard to find like Reno, Nv, lots of shooters here, but more so lots of Kalifornians driving the prices up, 5gal buckets used to be 45.00 at this one tire shop, now he drives over the border to Ca and sells an unsorted bucket for 100+

[jsizemore]

I call all the recyclers to find their payout price for lead. That and other scroungers are your competetion. My scrapyard still charges me the same price that I paid 10 years ago because I keep his lead bin empty. The amount of lead isn't as big for him as in the past but I keep him from having to ship a small amount to their smelting facility. I sort the zinc and steel out so he doesn't have to and only pay for scrap lead. Win, win for us both. I could go to all the tire, gas station, plumbing, and stained glass shops in the vicinity to cut him out and pay a smaller price but my time and gas would cost me more. When the local reserve center cleans their bullet traps he sets those to the side for me. When he finds live ammo or primed brass, I dispose of it for free. I try to be an asset and not a nuisance. Oh, and I pay cash.

[twc1964]

Ask anone you know to keep an eye out for lead. my daughters bf's dad works at a hospital that is tearing out a radiology area. now I'm waiting for all the sheet lead he's going to save for me. also the grandfather of bf has a roofjng business. he's saving the lead vent tubes and flashing for me
leads where you find it i reckon. just my 2 cents

[dikman]

My asking friends/acquaintances etc hasn't proven to be very productive, and the tyre shops I've asked just tell me they sell it to the scrap yards and don't seem overly keen on selling it to me. However, I've been digging the berms at my pistol club (it's a lot of work and takes time, but that's not a problem for me). I swapped 180 lbs (of smelted range scrap) for raw pure lead, which is what I really want, with another member here, and through him found someone who will basically buy all the smelted range scrap I can get. I charge what it costs for me to buy pure lead at the scrap yard, so he's happy ('cos I do all the dirty work) and I'm happy 'cos I can replace it with pure (smelted 1280 lbs. of range scrap so far).

So try asking at the ranges, you never know.

[tengaugetx]

I let everybody I know I cast and will take anything from a splitshot up. It is amazing how many people have 5 or 10 pounds of lead (or more) laying in their shop or garage they would love to get rid of.
There is one local tire shop I get wheel weights from. They give them to others as well so I go by there relatively often and get smaller amounts. I have a guy I know who is a plumber that brings me lead on occasion. Onother who works for the phone company that brings cable splices by from time to time. I also pick bullets out of the berm when I go to the range. It all ads up after time. I have collected about 1,000lbs over the last year.

[bangerjim]

For me it is ONLY scrap yards! All kinds of stuff. Tire stores are a waste of time. And playing "parking-lot-lizard" is too time consuming to find 1 or 2 WW's. OMG! I don't even mess with WW's any more. I mix my alloys from the various alloy components to arrive at what I want....with NO water dropping.

good luck finding lead in some areas of the coutrny. Thank you....... to the owl huggers and tree kissers of America! :kissarse:

banger

[Alvin]

For those in San Diego, or anywhere close to the Mexican border I suggest taking a trip down there and look to make a deal with the scrap yard or tire shops. I am friends with a taxi driver there and he is trying to procure me at least a thousand pounds of lead at rock bottom prices. I'm hoping they will be melted into ingots even if I pay a little more, but I'll take a thousand pounds of lead wheel weights all the same.

[dbosman]

My cynical side says I must suggest you be careful melting those ingots. Particularly if the driver insists on unloading inside your garage.
They may contain strange fluxing agents. ;)

[Alvin]

My cynical side says I must suggest you be careful melting those ingots. Particularly if the driver insists on unloading inside your garage.
They may contain strange fluxing agents. ;)

I understand exactly what you're saying, and I will be driving them back anyways. Probably best that I don't melt them down so that way it's a little less suspicious to the border agents.

[RogerDat]

I was able to find a scrap yard that sells lead to the public, some will not (hazardous material argument). I checked at 15 tire stores at least and found 3 with existing personal arrangements, and 4 that will sell them for about a nickel more than the scrap yard would pay them. Knowing that price and beating it by even a little helps encourage selling them to you. As does stopping in with a box of donuts for the crew to say thank you. I hit those tire shops on a semi regular basis and it is pot luck as to if someone else gets them first. But persistence pays off, over time I have accumulated several buckets of sorted WW's. Sometimes I get 30# and sometimes it's 130# from making my rounds.

I budget a set amount for lead and carry some of it in cash all the time. I have a home bathroom scale in my car trunk. Ready for the opportunity to put money in the hands of someone with lead at a slightly better price per weighed pound than they will get from scrap yard. But a whole lot less than I will pay once the scrap yard has it.

I will also say between a dozen donuts, and regular purchases from scrap yard I pay a somewhat discounted price, guy at the counter said your a "regular" customer call it $40 for what would have been closer to $50 at the "going" rate. They have also been willing to scan some of my ingots of scrap to verify content. Relationships in business count for a good deal. I try to stop in every week, sometimes I buy a little, sometimes more, and sometimes nothing but I have made it my business to be seen as a repeat customer.

Going to shops or scrap yard at off peak hours is good also. When tire shop is busy you can be an annoyance and scrap yards may well have "other" stashes of lead that if they have time they will let you into or direct you to.

[a.squibload]

Hmm, advice for new lead scroungers?

DON'T DO IT!

(Leaves more for me! :razz:)

[kenn]

For me it is ONLY scrap yards! All kinds of stuff. Tire stores are a waste of time. And playing "parking-lot-lizard" is too time consuming to find 1 or 2 WW's. OMG! I don't even mess with WW's any more. I mix my alloys from the various alloy components to arrive at what I want....with NO water dropping.

good luck finding lead in some areas of the coutrny. Thank you....... to the owl huggers and tree kissers of America! :kissarse:

banger

One of the many scrap yards in Texas wants .50 per pound for COWW and SOWW. I'm gong to go clean them out one day if someone hasn't already and try to get it down just a little to account for the clips. That's a great deal, I think. Shop around as Banger says.

For the tire store hunters, forget the big chains unless you know someone there personally that is a manager. They have contracts in place. Otherwise the small independent stores are you only hope IF lead is still legal in your state.

I've found my own local "very small" tire shop that will fill a 5 gal bucket every 2-3 months and it's donuts and a new bucket as far as cost. It will take a very, very long time to reach my collection goal at that rate so I'll be filling in a little from sellers here and local yards over time. As many have stated, it's probably best to start collecting NOW and not wait if you really want to do this casting thing. The value/cost of lead won't be going down - ever. You'll always be able to get your money back in the future if you stop casting assuming lead bullets don't become completely illegal to shoot anywhere, even on private land.

[JSnover]

Garages, too, but not the way you think. I had a transmission replaced five years ago. Noticed the collection of junk cars behind the shop, waiting for a scrapyard run. Asked the owner if he ever found anything interesting in those cars. We swapped stories for a few minutes and he dragged out three 5-gallon buckets. One had a few pounds of mixed WW, another had about a dozen 1 pound ingots (two or three were zinc), the third one held about 20 pounds of Lino.
I was one of his favorite customers because I always paid - his shop was in a rough part of town - so he gave me the buckets for nothing.

[40-82 hiker]

True story; there was a shop I stopped and asked about weights at least 5 times over a 4 year period. The last time I was in that town I had a flat on a trailer and stopped there to get it fixed. So while they are fixing the flat, I say to the guy, "Hey, how about selling me some wheel weights?" He says "Sure. How much do you want?"

I bought 11 five gallon buckets.........Why he would not sell any before I don't know, but he did that day :) A little persistence sometimes pays off.

I think this is one major key to lead mining. Keep going back, but not too soon. Also, vary the day of the week. Many tire stores have recycle guys come by on the same day of a week, so if you are told "you just missed our recycle guy yesterday", go back the next week or a couple weeks later the weekday before that. Doubt they would have a full bucket before then...

[WILCO]

A big bump to the top!

[62chevy]

After that other thread this needs another bump.

[el34]

A tip I got on this forum a while back is to check yellowpages dot com for "used tires". Most results are small shops that don't have rules against selling to you. In the Dallas/Ft Worth area I pay $60 for a full bucket (120-130lb) that is running about 70-80% SOWW and COWW, mostly SOWW.

[1989toddm]

I've pulled a couple battery cables out of the auto parts store trash lately with lead clamps on them. Lead and copper! Not much lead but it's a boolit! Or several if casting .224.

[fredj338]

Scrounging is fine, but gas costs $$, so driving all over hell & gone to find cheap ww is cost foolish. I always ask when in a location that may have lead something, but stopped doing drive bys long ago. It is location driven, but around here, just a huge waste of time. I do get lucky now & then, but not often. Put the word out, let the scrap guys come to you. I get the occasional call form a contractor or other guys that have alloy to trade for bullets I have already cast. Work that angle too.