I'm done smelting

[hydraulic]

The first Thursday of every month I stop by the local Ford dealer and go back to the tire room and exchange buckets behind the wheel balancer. Today I wound up with six lbs. of WW's after sorting out the irons. This is about average for this time of year. I keep them in 2lb coffee cans and a can full weighs an even 20 lbs. I'm storing the cans out in the tool shed and have about 7 full cans. I used to sort the WW's into a dutch oven and then smelt them when the oven was full, but I now have something over 300 2 1/2 lb muffins sitting out on the walk in. I'm 77 years old, now, and I quit going to the Quigley year before last, and this year I quit shooting at our local lever action silhouette match. Can't hit anything anymore. I have a few acres out along the Missouri River with a 100 yd. rifle range. Once or twice a week, weather allowing, I go out with my 03A3 and shoot off 40 rds. at the TQ-4 target, prone, hoping to see my score improve. But mostly it gives me 40 '06 empties to reload; 11 grs. of Red Dot behind the Lyman 311413. Beats shuffleboard. So why do I keep collecting WW's? So someday, many years from now, hopefully, some youngster just start to cast will stumble across all those coffee cans full of old WW's. I'm sure it will make his day.

[RobS]

The future of cast booliteers will be left in written and spoken words along with the actions of those from the past. Perfect!

[melloairman]

It will give you more time to cast, reload , and shoot . Enjoy the 3 as long as you can . And yes some day some one will appreciate your labor .Marvin

[Hardcast416taylor]

Twice a year I stop by my friends GM dealership for oil changes. He swaps pails (5 gal.) from his tire area with my empty one for free of charge. I am getting a higher number of other than lead weights in each pail. I have a back log of about 800 - 900 lbs. of weights to sort and smelt. I already have about 1K lbs. in ingots already so I`m not needy. All told with all types of leads that I have on hand should be at the ton mark or more. Somebody will find a use for it when I`m gone, I hope!Robert

[Bigslug]

I should start writing a movie script - which will probably be relevant in about 10-20 years - about a boolit-casting archaeologist who - following clues located in an old caster's garage - puts on his fedora and his bullwhip and enters into a deadly, worldwide race against minions of the evil battery industry to find the mythical Land of (Cadillac ) El Dorado: fabled location of the Lost Tire Shop of the Ancients, where the streets are paved with 94/3/3, and all pot nozzles run free of zinc.:mrgreen:

I'm beginning to think we should all put up a small shrine over our pots that has one solitary lead COWW on a plinth to remind us of the better times. As it currently stands, I'm a range-scrap scrounging lunatic. At 43, I can see the day when bending over to pick up a slug will require more effort than it's worth - better to bank it now. Let those who find my carcass deal with the tonnage.

[Mitch]

Enjoy the 03 that the main thing still have a bit of fun.i supose I will be about the same if I am around 25 more years.Some one will love my stash at some point I hope so atleast.the lead collecting just gets in yoiur blood and it is something you just do no matter what.maybe one day a young person will come along and need abit of Elmering and hit the jackpot who know what may happen.

Bigslug you are right at 53 is is a bit tuffer to bend over and pick em up but you still will lol.I started this game just about 3 or 4 years ago and nering the ton mark in my lead stash.i can only imagin what ill have in few more short years.

[country gent]

Lead can still be found and is out there right now. But quaality known lead is becoming harder and harder to find. Chatting with a friend who casts last night and he said last 2 buckets of wheel weights he got were 60-80% zinc and steel. Last sundays session with the son was more zincs and steels than used to seeing but not that bad. I havent smelted (other than last sunday with son) very much the last few years.

[mold maker]

I been telling you young whipper snappers for near twenty years to put aside for your later years.
Now the later years are here for all of us.
Stay away from my stash, til I'm gone.

[lightman]

Both of my boys hunt and shoot and one of them reloads, but neither of them seem to be interested in casting. I have made sure to explain to them about the different lead alloys and its value. Hopefully it will find its way to some other caster after I'm gone. I plan to shoot a lot of it!

[mfraser264]

Keep casting and shooting!!! I'll not give up until my arms are not able to hold up a rifle then I'll go the bench. Keep going......

[castalott]

I wish I lived closer.....I bet we could have some dandy times yet....I have modified my shooting by getting bigger targets and getting closer......

Dale

[RogerDat]

Pulling it aside and putting it up for someday seems like a good idea. I'll use it, a family member or friend will use it. Or a total stranger will carry on where I left off. It's all good.

Your scores may not be getting better but you can bet they would be getting a lot worse without the regular practice. You know what they say about use it or lose it. My vision is not what it was, can't pound the bulls eye over open sights any more, but like the man says I move a little closer and I can pretty much scare the darn thing if not hit it. Beats what is on TV by a good bit.

[runfiverun]

sooo you got a back stop that gets 40 boolits at a time in the same general area over and over again you say...

[bangerjim]

I can go out to several scrap yards on any given day of the week and haul home as much pure and alloy as I care to buy for $1/#. CLEAN LEAD! Sn. Hardball. Pewter. Solder. Alloys. I do not mess with WW's any longer. They have 1,000# containers full of them!

There is tons of lead out there. People just need shift the mind-set of "buckets of free weights". Memories of a by-gone era. Slaving over a hot stinking smoldering re-melting pot full of greasy WW's is something I sure do not miss. Most everything I get only needs a bit of beeswax to clean it up because it is clean to start with.

Many are using range lead with success. If from an indoor range, it is very clean. Have re-melted several hundred # of that stuff. If you have to mine it from the berm ground, well........see re-melting WW's above.

Good luck to you guys still relying on only WW's (free or not) for shooting alloys. It is coming to an end...........rapidly. (thanks to the greenies) Look around for alternatives and mix your own as I now do.

bangerjim

[popper]

I'd be glad to drive up from Madison next week to relocate some of that lead, IF I could get the wife to let me.