Buying lead

[isaac0071]

Is .80 cent a pound a good price

[scottfire1957]

What kind of lead? Coww, pipe, ingots, shipped?

[isaac0071]

Its from scrap yard

[bangerjim]

I get all kinds of "lead" from scrap yards. Is it
clean
ingots
sheets
pipes
rolls
range garbage
solder bars
COWW
SOWW
lino
alloys

your listed price is getting up to the top of the price range unless it is a good alloy and clean....dirty COWW's at that price are pretty pricy, considering the scrap clips and the possible FE & Zn in there.

Let us know what form it is in.

banger

[isaac0071]

It's two 15 pound bars and some lead flashing.

[Jungle867]

Is that the only place you are able to get lead besides mail order? Sometimes you have to pay a premium for availability....but .80 is pretty high.

[isaac0071]

I was on my way to utah to pick my mom up for the holiday and seen a scrap yard on my way through grand junction and stopped. My local tire store saves coww for me at 20 dollars 5 gallon bucket.

[RogerDat]

would those 15 lb. bars have a keyhole at one end? Sort of flat on the bottom and rounded on top? That could be linotype bars, great price for that hard lead alloy. Or 15 lb. bars of plumbers lead which is plain soft lead as the flashing probably is and for that it is a little on the high side but not ridiculously high. Mystery bars could be anything, so you really can't put a specific value on it, what is it worth to you?

You would pay ~ $1 a lb. plus shipping buying from members on the forum, or $2 a lb. plus shipping from Rotometals. More and more folks are finding none of the local scrap yards will sell lead so they would consider it a good deal.

Even if all soft lead, you can mix it around 50/50 with your WW's for pistol. Sounds like you are in the same boat I am, a bucket of WW's tends to be cheaper than what I get from the scrap yard. Been getting pretty choosy about scrap yard purchase due to the scrap yard being nearly twice the price of WW's.

[isaac0071]

The bars do have hole in them have to take a closer look when I get to my mom's and I can take some pics.

[RogerDat]

The bars do have hole in them have to take a closer look when I get to my mom's and I can take some pics.

That would be really cool if it was lino. These bars in the picture are confirmed lino, the hole at the end is partly broken off. The hole was for a hook to feed it into the melt.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=96171&d=1391920519

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=96171&d=1391920519

[isaac0071]

Darn mine don't look like that there square

[jsizemore]

Since your new to the party, take a magnet with you just in case. If they aren't magnetic then the flashing boots and them will have little dross. If you don't have a stash then the price is good. If you have a pile then not so good.

[RogerDat]

Darn mine don't look like that there square

Well those pictured are a "common" form I don't think they are the only form. The hole is a good indicator, hardness is a good follow up indicator. If you don't have a hardness tester check out the sticky on using art pencils which come in different standardized hardness. Good general check since lino is much harder than plain lead. Hard enough it goes "tink" more than "thud" when struck with a hammer. Can often be broken with a hammer, note how those holes in picture have the ends broken off, they were dropped into bin or on concrete floor and that thinner part broke off, plain lead would have just dented or bent a bit.

[too many things]

if it were window weights for the old double hung wood windows , they have a hole too for the rope. Most were cast iron but I have removed soft lead too. Lead was used on the wider window

[RogerDat]

if it were window weights for the old double hung wood windows , they have a hole too for the rope. Most were cast iron but I have removed soft lead too. Lead was used on the wider window

I came across some of those at a garage sale this summer, the cast iron, not the lead. Was an estate sale and the guy took me back to a shed to see if they were something I could use. Rust was pretty much a dead giveaway. But I had forgotten about those type of weights. Don't they usually have rounded bottoms on the other end from the hole?

[isaac0071]

I melted some coww and mixed some of the bars I had gotten. My ingots didn't look as shiny as before. I don't know if I fluxed good anough. http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/11/26/1f63c8e71543d49e3a09c8c9d30ab9dd.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/11/26/0fa3433246a1b2fdd76d1ff7953ca677.jpg

[RogerDat]

So how hard are they? BTW - nice pictures

The "LYMAN" lettering sure cast nice and crisp. Lube grooves that sharp would not be bad at all.

Bet shiny has more to do with temp of melt or mold temp, bet someone that really knows just by looking will weigh in soon.

[isaac0071]

Not sure yet still need to invest in a tester.

[RogerDat]

Not sure yet still need to invest in a tester.

For around $10 you can pick up the art pencil set mentioned in the sticky of this lead forum. Art pencils come in a set and each has a very specific hardness. The sticky describes how to use the pencils to scrape the lead and determine how hard the lead is by how hard the pencil is that can gouge the lead. Cheap, repeatable, and fairly accurate. Available from most office supply stores, or even some Wal-Marts.

Not as precise as a real tester but can tell you the lead is ~BHN of 15-16 or between 7-8 or whatever. Close enough to give you a good idea of what you have as lead.

[isaac0071]

Thank you I'm going to pick one up as soon as I can. I really would like to no what my lead is that I'm powder coating.

[dikman]

Drop it on a concrete floor. My lead bars go "thud", my range scrap has a definite metallic ring to it. Won't tell you the actual hardness, of course, but it should at least let you distinguish between soft lead and an alloy of some sort.

[Vinne]

A cheap test is to scratch it with a nail. If it scratches easy it is soft lead but if it takes a lot of pressure then it is harder and would be worth the price. That still doesn't tell you if it will need to be mixed with something for casting the bullets you may want but it will be a deciding factor in buying or not. Good hunting.

[RogerDat]

Thank you I'm going to pick one up as soon as I can. I really would like to no what my lead is that I'm powder coating.

I do not powder coat but have been looking into it and reading the forum posts. That said I thought I understood that one of the advantages of powder coating was it prevented leading of the barrel, which is one of the reasons that one normally needs a harder lead alloy. This makes me think that with powder coated your cast projectile could be a bit softer without problems.

[sprinkintime]

Is .80 cent a pound a good price

I'm buying lead of all types from sheet, bar or what-ever for .30 a pound at salvage and I know they pay .15 a#, .80 is high from a salvage place.

[Dusty Bannister]

It is now down to .70 here in NE KS. Area has a great deal to do with the current prices.

[RogerDat]

Locally the pay .25 - .35 a lb. charge .65 - .75 a lb. so it is really region dependent and varies a bit, probably due to price they are getting or available supply. Some members have reported salvage yards charging $1 a lb. or a little over for WW's