Sheet Lead

[meister mash]

Friends, guy I work with gave me some sheet lead.
Said a buddy of his is a contractor and salvaged this.
I'm thinking dentists office or something?
Well what I am wondering is, that stuff is almost pure soft lead like water pipe or stick on wheel weights?
Guy has a couple more of those rolls that he said he wouldn't attempt to load by his self.
Trouble is, it's a 3 hour drive to where they are and I have no other business there or I would have them already.

[sharpsguy]

3 hour drive or not, ypu need to go get them. Now.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Figure cost at about $1 per lb. for pure soft lead, the distance traveled is half the fun of getting this for free! Jump in the van or truck and go get it! Figure you can sell some of it to defray costs.Robert

[Toymaker]

Pure lead. Could be sheathing for an x-ray room or the pan for a bathtub or shower. I'd drive three hours to get it. Love pure lead = got some BHN 6, 8 and 10 I'll trade ya. 8-)

[Petrol & Powder]

Road Trip !

[imashooter2]

Well, I'll be the stick in the mud... 3 hours drive one way? For how much weight? Less than 500 pounds and I wouldn't start the car.

[tddeangelo]

I got some sheeting in the same manner you described. Very nice lead. Mine was glued to sheet rock initially, so there was some leftovers still affixed and had to burn off when I melted it into ingots. That makes a nasty smoke, so make sure you have a good outdoor area for ingot-making.

Other than that, pretty easy stuff to work with. I got just shy of 400lbs of it and would happily go 3 hours to get a big pile of more of it if I had that opportunity!

[Beagle333]

Three hour drive... that's about 50 bucks in gas for me.... yep, if it's too much for him to lift, I'd spend an afternoon and go after it.

[bangerjim]

Shielding lead is considered near pure. Sometime it has a bit of Sb for stiffness (not enough to worry about), but I treat it as pure.

Depending on your "need" and $$ situation, getting it is well worth the time, gas, and travel. I always get pure when the chance pops up as it is the main % basis of all the alloy mixes we know and love!

bangerjim

[runfiverun]

I drive 3 hours just to get to work.
a hundred [plus] pounds of lead?
I'd not even have spent the time typing the question here and would have went and got it already.

[tddeangelo]

Plus, us black powder guys really prize pure lead for our frontstuffers. The pile of sheeting lead I got is now all made into ingots, and once I settle on a ball size for my flintlock, I'll turn a few of those ingots into balls to run through my rifle.

Always have my eyes open for other opportunities and pure (or near pure) lead. I figure it doesn't spoil and won't get cheaper, so get it when the getting's good!

[John Boy]

Meister, here's a good read for you that includes sheet lead hardness. Book mark it for future reference
http://www.lasc.us/castbulletalloy.htm#UNS

[merlin101]

Geez, I'd be back already and trying to figure where I'm gonna stash my new treasure!

[Toymaker]

Beagle, what kind of tank do you drive????!!!!!????? :kidding: Granted, hauling a load back would take more gas but my pickup would still do it for under $50.

Ok, Meister Mash, if you're dragging your anchor, where is this bonanza?

[Hardcast416taylor]

Well, I'll be the stick in the mud... 3 hours drive one way? For how much weight? Less than 500 pounds and I wouldn't start the car.


Must be real nice to say you would pass it by if less than 500 lb.! You must live in the quicksand area of Pa near NY.Robert

[imashooter2]

Must be real nice to say you would pass it by if less than 500 lb.! You must live in the quicksand area of Pa near NY.Robert


I'm down by the Philly airport.

A lost day, plus gas (probably tolls) and wear and tear on the car... Everyone makes choices. Maybe if I didn't have anything on the shelf I'd feel different.

[dragon813gt]

Must be real nice to say you would pass it by if less than 500 lb.! You must live in the quicksand area of Pa near NY.Robert

He's not alone. I wouldn't bother for less than a quarter ton either. A two hour drive one way is about the max I'd go for a few hundred pounds. This puts me in the Poconos or a little past Harrisburg. It's not that expensive to order certified alloy from a foundry. But you do need over $1k because you're ordering half a ton minimum.

[Beagle333]

Beagle, what kind of tank do you drive????!!!!!????? :kidding: Granted, hauling a load back would take more gas but my pickup would still do it for under $50.



I got a 2007 Tundra SR5. It gets 18mpg. I was basing that on my trips to see Mom. It takes me 3 hours to get there (he said "it's a 3 hour drive to where they are") and a round trip burns 50+ bucks. Not sure how many miles it is, but it's right at 200 each way. (and that isn't hauling a quarter ton of lead one way) :grin:

Still.... worth a few hundred pounds of lead. 8-)

[RogerDat]

If you spend $50 in gas and get 500 lbs. then you are talking about 10 cents a pound. There some downside to that great deal that I'm not seeing?

[GoodOlBoy]

I got a '79 chevy pickup, gets about 2 gallons to the mile. I would take a hatchet and drive three hours ANY day for 100lbs of pure sheet like that. Anything more is a bonus. And considering what sheet lead will sell for in S&S? I understand everybody has to make a choice, but I know what my choice would be.

GoodOlBoy

[imashooter2]

If you spend $50 in gas and get 500 lbs. then you are talking about 10 cents a pound. There some downside to that great deal that I'm not seeing?

The lost day. And gas isn't the only cost in 6 hours of driving.

[lightman]

I would probably go after it, even though I'm sitting pretty good on lead. I'd grab the Wifey, hop in the truck and make a day of it. The fuel and a meal might put you into having 10 or 20 cents a pound in it. My thoughts are that if its on rolls its probably really clean, and lead is getting more scarce. The Guy that has it could become a valuable contact for you, too! It helps that I'm not working anymore!

[bob208]

-where you located? if near me I will drive my truck for half the lead.

[ascast]

are you still here? go now!

[mold maker]

Lead is just lead to those of us who have more than a life time supply. It's value is determined only by how bad we want it.
I'm different, call me a hoarder of brass and lead. I never had a big bank account, but have always had a gold mine of free lead and brass. I can not pass up a good price in time or money for either. Lord help those left to deal with it when I'm gone.

[Southron]

Geeze....you must be a a multimillionaire!!! I envy you!!!

Someone offers to GIVE me ten pounds of soft lead, I get all excited and happy!!!! Then I pick it up before he has a chance to change his mind.

[bdicki]

It never hurts to put the word out, I mentioned bullet casting at the skeet club and the next week I got this. Left over from when he cast down rigger balls.
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t182/bdicki/IMG_0660_zpssmiw3i47.jpg

[meister mash]

Don't have my location posted?
I am in Wyoming.
There is some backing paper stuck to it that will have to be burned off.
I think that a saws all is what I'll use to cut it

[dilly]

Don't forget to keep the lead sawdust when you use the saws all.

[bangerjim]

Don't have my location posted?
I am in Wyoming.
There is some backing paper stuck to it that will have to be burned off.
I think that a saws all is what I'll use to cut it


Wyoming?!?!?!?!?! EVERYTHING is at least a 3 hour drive in Wyoming! We had to drive 2 hours for McDonalds and 3 hours for a good hardware store.

Now I have everything within a 15 minute drive. And shooting is only ~20 minutes away.

I cut normal lead sheeting with BIG tin snips....easy cutting....no "lead-dust" to catch and clean up....quite....easy on the olde bones. Just hauled a bunch home this afternoon. Time to cut into strips for the re-melting pot! I only use a power saw (dual rotary carbide blade saw) on thick lead. Cuts thru 3" thick lead like a hot knife thru butter.

[Budzilla 19]

I would have been on that like, well you know the rest of that statement! Man, get that stuff, it is almost gold on here to those that use it. Make a road trip like was mentioned before! I will BET that there is something worth seeing on that trip in Wyoming! And it's FREE! Just my .02 cents! Good shooting to you.

[Springfield]

My son and I are planning a road trip the latter part of this month as my wife and daughter are going on vacation with her sister. So if you don't want it give me the address! If shoot BP and can use all the soft lead I can get. This is assuming it is at least 500 lbs worth.

[skeettx]

Wyoming??
Why you drive three hours for a Sweet Roll !!!!!
ROAD TRIP !!!
Yeeee Haww!!
Mike

[RogerDat]

Do not deny this now downtrodden lead, once it had a highly valued position. On walls keeping x-rays from blasting around and causing who knows what damage to people and the environment. It has been torn down from it high station, you are its one chance at redemption! You can and must put it through the crucible and bring it forth renewed, with new purpose, refreshed and reformed.

Cliff notes version:
Go get that stuff made to regulation purity, melt it in whatever pot you use, cast into ingots. Otherwise some really good lead is going to go to waste rather than down range where it belongs.

+1 on it is also about building relationships. You go get the lead, say howdy to your friend, maybe take him out to lunch. Next time the lead he calls about might be a 55 gallon drum of Linotype from someone's shed. At least a couple of times I have purchased lead that someone "set aside" for me even though that was not what I was currently looking for. I find a use for it eventually, so I thank them, bring some cookies and the next time they call me aside it is some really good stuff they are holding for me to look at. Relationships go further than cash alone will.

[deepwater]

Of course you must run the numbers of dollars to budget costs. But, as a hobby, the road trip for "free" lead is part of the fun. Any other added benefits with contacts and relationships is a bonus.

deepwater

[meister mash]

Here is the stuff he already gave me.
I found a sawzall with wood blade to work great on lead pipe so it was great on this too. First little pile was just one role.
:bigsmyl2:
http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt333/meistermash/20150620_160537_zpszvcm9yhk.jpg
http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt333/meistermash/20150620_160526_zpsjmzpzpgk.jpg
http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt333/meistermash/20150620_160513_zpsgmzyjaik.jpg