Metal recycler will not sell lead to individuals

[gunnut1]

I just called CMC Metal Recycler in Fort Worth to see how they sold their lead. They told me they sold only to mills and would not sell to individuals. Interesting. Has lead become that much of a hazardous material that recycler are afraid to sell it individuals? I REALLY don't want to pay the price for lead off of ebay and I would like to avoid mail ordering from anyone due to the shipping cost. Of course, I guess with the USPS flat rate it wouldn't be too bad.

Are there any more members who live in Fort Worth that have local supplier for lead? I am looking for pure lead for my muzzle stuffers.

[Electric88]

There are several metal recyclers around me in Michigan and Ohio that will not sell to individuals. It is sad

[gunnut1]

I guess we must be protected from ourslves.

I also have call in to Gemtek Recyclers. A few years ago I went to Discount Tire to see if I could buy their lead wheel weights and they told me that had to "turn them in" what ever that means.


I think I will stop my my mechanic's shop and if they will sell me their wheel weights.While I really need soft lead, I also can use wheel weight lead for my Cowboy guns.

[40-82 hiker]

I just called CMC Metal Recycler in Fort Worth to see how they sold their lead. They told me they sold only to mills and would not sell to individuals. Interesting. Has lead become that much of a hazardous material that recycler are afraid to sell it individuals?

Lead is no more dangerous now than it ever has been, given normal safety precautions. The politicians have turned it into radioactive waste by their rhetoric. :holysheep It's sad to see what politicians (Democrats at that!) can do with their pseudo-science. :veryconfu


I REALLY don't want to pay the price for lead off of ebay and I would like to avoid mail ordering from anyone due to the shipping cost. Of course, I guess with the USPS flat rate it wouldn't be too bad.

Buy lead from CB! Post on "WTB", and be glad to pay USPS flat rate (it is the best deal on this planet!). Properly boxed, one can ship 60+ lbs. of alloy in a MFRB for a very reasonable cost. Hands down, it is a great deal.

Good luck. Using CB I'm sure you'll have all the lead you need, and in rather short order.

[gunnut1]

Found a recycler close to my house that has lead and will sell to an individual. $.85 a pound. The only problem is they have no idea of the composition of the lead. Gonna check them out. I guess my main thing is the cost. I see lead selling on the open market for way less than a dollar a pound. I cerantlycearently do not have a problem with someone making a profit but I do not want to make their next car payment when I buy lead from them. And for what some of the guys wnat for their lead,I might as well buy precast boolits. But I cast because I enjoy it, I am learning things and it should be cheaper then buying precast boolits. I don't wnat to sould like a cheapskate but dang it I hate to be gouged.

And I do understand about the Flat Rate shipping. For what we are doing, it is cheap! (but my mail person hates me for the heavy boxes)!

[standles]

I think some of the recycler fear the EPA and the rules. Some are so convoluted that they don't understand anything but it is cheaper not to sell to individuals but only to mills certified by EPA to acquire and process. I would not be to hard on the recyclers but the damn federal government that is all intrusive. You could always go to your local walmart on Saturday and liberate all the lead wheel weights in the name of environmental protection. Leave a note from the EPA claiming confiscation.

[Mitch]

[QUOTE=gunnut1;3604056]Found a recycler close to my house that has lead and will sell to an individual. $.85 a pound. The only problem is they have no idea of the composition of the lead. Gonna check them out. I guess my main thing is the cost. I see lead selling on the open market for way less than a dollar a pound. I cerantlycearently do not have a problem with someone making a profit but I do not want to make their next car payment when I buy lead from them. And for what some of the guys wnat for their lead,I might as well buy precast boolits. But I cast because I enjoy it, I am learning things and it should be cheaper then buying precast boolits. I don't wnat to sould like a cheapskate but dang it I hate to be gouged.

You need to learn what you are lookin at in the scrap yards.i try to stick with that I know.i find most anything at the scrap yards here.lead sheet.old roof flashing and old pipe are very common here.these are most allways pure or close to pure lead.then there is solder in bars or just scrap tail ends of rolls.most bars are market with tin content being the first number like 60/40 and such.now and then some lino or mono type but not often here anyway.you may evein find some isotope cores.head out and see what they have and learn what they all are.I don't buy something someone else has melted into some sort of ingot or shape I do not know what they melted so I just avoid the hastel of figuring it out.you will pick up fast on most of the stuff you see

[too many things]

check with your local plumbers. all save the tear out plumbing and the old cast pipes have pure lead joints. find out what the scrap yards pay for cast iron and offer that to the plumber. he most of the time will let you have it and you get the lead"free"
the scrap places will not pay but very little for the cast if it has the lead on it.
very easy to break the cast joints . just be safe

[gunnut1]

Oh hell, I did not even think about the wonderful EPA regulations on lead. That explains a lot. They probably have to account for the amount of lead they sell an where it goes. That sucks! No wonder they won't sell to us.

[RogerDat]

Selling to the public is always a hassle. It is not just lead. I know one scrap yard just point blank said they did not want the hassle of a retail sales license, collecting sales tax, and people wanting to dig around. The other item that has been mentioned at a couple of yards is bozo customers that hurt themselves and want to the yard to pay doctor bills or they will sue. Either in the yard digging around they get hurt, or melting lead they invite the tinsel fairy and sue the yard for selling them the material. This prompts INSURANCE company to want to charge too much if they sell to the public.

While I am sure some places are dealing with concern over EPA rules there are other places which are not but just don't find it in their business interest. They can make more money having employees cutting up and separating the materials, getting brass valves off of copper and that sort of thing. Instead of waiting on the public who won't buy all that much in relative terms anyway. Most I have ever purchased at one time was about 480# where the yard I sometimes visit just shipped an entire crate full of 80# lead bars stacked almost 4 foot high, in short, they sold tons for the time it took their fork lift operator to put that on the truck.

On chain tire stores the CORPORATE office determines how they dispose of WW's or other waste. At least one shop that has been around a long time said the motivation was not how dangerous lead is but that the company coming around and picking them up gave receipts and provided records. Avoided the mechanics selling the scrap WW's on the side for cash. Another shop mentioned a law suit over a casting injury as being a motivation. Another shop they said they were told that some bozo who was buying them piled them up outside, literally tons of WW's in piles, they leached lead into some water table or stream and the sources (tire stores) were dragged into the case, at least to the point of having to hire lawyers. Having a certified hauler come get them avoids all that possible bad stuff. Corporations have rules to deal with the stupidest possible employee, managed by the dumbest possible manager, located in the most badly run municipal government dominion.

Let me put in a plug for the folks selling lead in the Cast Bullet forum swapping and selling. Even if you can get scrap lead cheaper at a yard by the time you factor in running around to locate it, the time and expense to smelt it and make ingots you will probably find the $1 a pound price for WW's and Plain lead that is the general forum member price is very competitive. Range scrap is another good source. Berm mining members sell some or you can find a local source. Bullet lead tends from the berm tends to cast good bullets.

[Epd230]

I have found that telling people that I am casting fishing sinkers gets better results. I have been turned away due to their anti-gun attitudes.

[RoadBike]

I've checked three scrap yards in my area. Two will not sell to individuals. The third one will, but he wants $1.00/lb for lead. I've had better luck with locally-owned tire shops, and I scrounging range scrap a little at a time.

From the two that won't sell, the business about collecting sales taxes was mentioned.

[Strtspdlx]

I've had very good luck stopping by my local farms. They usually collect scrap and they're more then happy to sell it to me for 30 cents a lb which right now is only 10cents more per lb then the yard would give them.

[Lead Fred]

Here in Washingrad we give the state $25 for a certified lead recycler permit.

I carry it with me when out lead shopping.

My regular stops know I have it, they just let me load up my bucket.

[jmorris]

Go shoot with these guys and after the match while others are picking up brass go to the berm and pick up lead for free. They shoot in several different locations around ft worth.

Rain over time has washed the surface down so bullets shot in the past will be sitting on top.

[fishnnut]

I just buy it from Rotometals. Buy $100 worth and get free shipping.I know what I'm getting that way also.

[Tackleberry41]

Part of it may be regulations, but as said the other part is just dealing with people. Why go thru the effort and book keeping to collect sales tax if you don't have to? Or worry about the liability? Its not like there is a huge jump in profits selling lead to reloaders vs selling it to some corporate entity.

[frank505]

Lead does not leach into three soil. The epa tried that on a range in Virginia. The best they could come up with was one to two millimeters around a bullet. So they shot themselves in the foot....

[dannyd]

Rotormetals best way to go now days most tire shops and yards will not sell to people anymore. Years ago Sears tire center kept me well supplied

[lightman]

The yards around here won't sell to the public. They don't even like for you to look around there when you are selling them scrap. The tire shops will but its hit or miss.

[RogerDat]

Rotormetals best way to go now days most tire shops and yards will not sell to people anymore. Years ago Sears tire center kept me well supplied

Rotometals is good if you feel you need a known alloy for consistent results, swapping and selling her on the forum is cheaper. Most will be lead from what the seller claims was the source, however those sources are not as consistent as what you will get with a seller such as Rotometals. Can't compare buying 99.99% pure and Linotype from Rotometals and buying scrap sheet lead ingots and used type metal from the forum. But at about 1/2 the price the forum can be very attractive.

Never had a chain tire store willing to sell WW's, best luck is with small private places, some of those already "have a guy" that comes by and collects the lead. Often a friend or relation that has been doing it for a long time. You just have to try lots of places and if you find one that will sell to you then treat them nice. Drop off donuts some morning, a pizza for lunch, that sort of thing.

I have had the opposite reaction to my telling people I make bullets from them. Most think it is pretty cool. Either way I figure if I have to lie about what I'm doing it just isn't worth it for WW's. They deserve a chance to decide if they are willing or not. If not oh well it still isn't worth being untruthful to me, might help that I'm not short of lead too. I can tolerate some rejection. But so far have not had any. Of course we are kind of belt buckle deep in red necks in this area :-)

[mfraser264]

RogerDat is correct about selling to the public, not easy. I have a friend whose family owned a scrap yard. When they did sell items people would return and complain about the weight not being correct. Your bathroom spring scale is not as accurate as a certified calibrated balance scale and the label was on the scale, I checked myself. Also the weight of the container was subtracted and that was not always understood. Also hear all the stories about people putting stuff in tool boxes to avoid the scale and sneaking things into the cars and so on.

[RogerDat]

funny that mfraser264 should bring up people swiping stuff. I was making a quick check of the bins at a scrap yard today and came across a large crescent wrench someone had left at one of the outside bins, I brought it back inside with me and gave it to one of the yard guys. He said most people just stick that stuff in their pocket. I told him I guess I may be easy but I'm not cheap enough to be dishonest for a stupid craftsman wrench.

Guess the get all sorts in there. I seem to recall a neighbor of mine was barred from scrapping cars after they found he was filling under seats and gas tank with sand to bump up the weight.

[gunnut1]

Got my Lee hardness tester and checked the metal from the guy on Facebook. Turns out it is pure lead. COOL! What a surprise.
And it make beautiful boolits. Thanks for all of the suggestions. I did find a place locally that will sell it to me for less than I can mail order it Rotometals. Of course that did not mention paying taxes so Rotometals might be cheaper.

As I stated, I hate being gouged.