How To Judge Scrap Lead?

[American]

I got a lead on some lead and I'm going to check it out this afternoon. Oh, goody! Now I need to know how to tell if it’s the good stuff - I mean, I can tell lead, but I can't tell it much...

The guy said some of it is from a hospital in kind of bars that have been cut from thick sheets - he said it is bent into manageable bundles. I'm guessing that's almost certainly OK?

He said some of it is in buckets and is "shavings". Any red flags here? I guess I'm looking out for old battery lead here, or something equally undesirable?

He said he used to cast fishing weights with an experienced buddy
who said it was some of the purest lead he had ever seen.

What do I need to watch out for here? Should I just buy 10 pounds or so and then test it somehow? How? I think I'll have to pay 40 cents a pound - is pure lead worth that in quantity?

Any advice will be appreciated.

[Ohio Rusty]

American wrote:
"I got a lead on some lead ......."

Don't you just love the english language !!!! <BG>

Ohio Rusty ><>

[Leftoverdj]

Scoop up the sheet stuff. X-ray shielding is close to pure lead and 40 cents a pound ain't bad. At a guess, the "shavings" may also be sheet lead, particularly if they came from the same source. Look at them and see, but I have run across trimmings from the installation of X-Ray shielding. Looked as though the sheets had been cut slightly oversized, then given a final trim for an exact fit, leaving the trimmed ribbons as scrap. That's the closest to "shavings" that I have ever run across.

[MT Gianni]

American wrote:
"I got a lead on some lead ......."

Don't you just love the english language !!!! <BG>

Ohio Rusty ><>

Hopefully some miner found the leed and removed the whole lode. Gianni

[montana_charlie]

The old 'scratch it with a thumbnail' test is pretty useless. But, if you can use your thumbnail to peel off a thin sliver from a corner...that is pretty soft stuff, maybe even pure.
CM

[Boz330]

Sounds like X-ray room shielding. I got a bunch of that some time back and it is great for BPCR boolits. 40 cents is a great price if you can use it.

Bob