Chance to buy a BIG lot of lead - opinions?

[halvey]

I have a chance to buy big lot of lead.

He says 70 cents/lb for plumbers lead and has 1500 plus pounds. 1/4 are ignots and the rest is scrap.
Then he has 4 five gallon pails of wheel weights, at 30 cents a pound. I think he thought the buckets were 100 pounds, but they should weigh more I think?

Think this is still an ok deal?

I am new to casting, but thought I could just trade or ebay it if it didn't work out.

What do you think?

[C. Latch]

I'd probably buy the wheelweights at that price. The plumber's lead would be great if you shoot blackpowder much, otherwise I don't see the need to have more soft lead on hand than you have in wheelweights. I'd certainly try to get the ingots, not the scrap, if I only bought part of the plumber's lead.

If you're a new caster, grab at least the 4 buckets of wheelweights.

[RogerDat]

Plumbers (plain) lead is used as-is in a muzzle loader otherwise at best you might find using it 50/50 with the WW's along with 1% - 2% tin for moderate pistol will work ok. Otherwise you have to get some printers lead or other antimony and tin alloy to mix with the plain lead to make it useful for bullets.

Snag the WW's for sure, not more than an equal weight in plain plumbers lead. Possibly less than equal amount. Go for the ingots rather than the scrap in the plain lead. Smelting and pouring ingots takes time and propane which costs money. If the price is the same then try to get the already processed stuff.

[dilly]

All that soft lead will likely have to be alloyed or traded. That's not necessarily a bad thing; just buy some linotype (or similar) and work out a ratio that suits your shooting needs. You could even trade some of the soft for linotype (different alloys aren't always valued at a 1:1 ratio).

Up to you how much capital you're ready to tie into it. If you plan to shoot for the rest of your life, you'll get around to it eventually.

[Hickory]

So you could get close to a ton of lead.
That may sound like a lot, but, it's not.
If it were me, I'd not sell one ounce of it.
1900-2000 pounds of lead will go quick, quicker then you think.

[ascast]

I would but it all, with out any hesitation.

[DerekP Houston]

I would but it all, with out any hesitation.

Same here if I could figure out how to get it all home :D.

[scottfire1957]

Some of that plumbers lead might have had soldered joints, so expect some tin in it.

[4719dave]

By it all before its gone word travels fast ..

[toallmy]

I'd get it all , if your pocket can comfortably stand it . But around here the scrap price is .20 if they buy from you . Last year the yard charged me .60 most of the summer but went to 1. For plumbers in the fall . So I spread the word I was looking for some and it is showing up I offered .40-.50 cent for clean roofing or plumbers . Then I set up a route to collect wheel weights . I'm on the east coast we don't have condors .

[runfiverun]

get it all and get it now.

uhhh,,,,,,, I mean,,, soooo. where you from?

[Beagle333]

Buy it. Buy it all. And buy any that he's heard about or can get ahold of. And make sure he calls you with any he finds in the future. :grin:

[mfraser264]

Would suggest buying it all. My father and I use 158 grains as an average for bullet weights and how many we can cast per pound of lead. The math here shows that in theory you could cast
84,177 - checked my math twice. Set for a lifetime here I would say.

[RogerDat]

Some of that plumbers lead might have had soldered joints, so expect some tin in it. Good point, look for the solder joints and cut the pipe on either side of it so you can keep the solder joints separate.

It does have a market value, and a value in trade, question you need to ask is can you afford to tie up your capital in this purchase or would buying this prevent you from buying something better?

[triggerhappy243]

at that price, I would buy it all.

[Wayne Smith]

I would buy it all, cut out the joints in the scrap. The scrap that is melted will have some tin in it, save that to mix 50/50 with the clip on ww's if you shoot something like a 30-30 or 45-70. Waterdropped it is a great hunting alloy. Hard enough but will expand on contact. The pure from between the joints save for cap and ball shooting - if you don't yet you are likely to! It's great fun. The tin joints is close to 25% tin and used for alloying pure or ww's to pour more easily.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

id buy it if I could, for sure. I use 50-50 ww/pb for my 45-70, it works fine, but for hunting I quench the boolits, if cooled slowly they expand too much.

[dragon813gt]

get it all and get it now.

uhhh,,,,,,, I mean,,, soooo. where you from?

Same response I was going to post. W/ pure lead you can buy small quantities of alloys like Linotype to achieve the desired results.

[Geezer in NH]

Buy it

[scottfire1957]

Another answer from me. It's really, really simple.

If you need it, buy it.

If you want it, buy it, both options provided you can afford it.

If, in mho, you have to ask, neither applies. So, if buying as an investment, is it cheap enough to make a buck after shipping?

[triggerhappy243]

where is all this lead at?

[lightman]

Thats a fair price. I suggest buying as much as you can afford. Its only going to get more expensive and harder to find. The soft plumbers lead can be sold, traded or used to mix your own custom alloys. Its perfect for black powder. The wheelwrights will have to be sorted for zinc but will make good pistol bullets.

[Nose Dive]

Get 'et!! Get all of it! Post some for sale here....it goes fast and can profit a bit .....

Nose Dive.

Cheap, Fast, good. Kindly pick two.

[bob208]

if a deal like that showed up near me I would be loading it in the truck for the trip home.

[ProfGAB101]

The scrap metals market has taken a serious dump as of late. - Just look at the lead price ticker they show here - Kitco.com is showing new lead @$0.766 / lb I would counter with $0.25/lb for the wheel weights and $0.55/lb for ingots and only $0.45/lb for the 'as is' scrap plumbers lead.

[blltsmth]

I'm only going to add my 2 cents here. Dig through the ww buckets and make sure they are LEAD. Bring a magnet with you and swirl it through the bucket a couple of times. Those Pesky IRON wheel weights will stick to the magnet (not just the clips) and will read FE (IRON) under the clip and ZN wheel weights are just that. A pair of NIPPERS applied to any suspect ones will tell the tale!!

[oley55]

great deals ain't worth a hoot when money is tight! :sad:

I've been watching this Craig's list offer for a 3000-3500# boat keel at 50 cents a pound for over three weeks now. The listing no longer says boat keel but that's what it is. It's in n JAX Florida https://jacksonville.craigslist.org/for/5517076948.html

[triggerhappy243]

oley, you live right there.... worth a look at least.

[Tazza]

Gotta be careful with lead from boat keels, my dad got one a few years back, it was concrete with a lead casing. What was meant to be 600 odd kg, was 200kg of lead and 400kg concrete.

Before you buy it, drill a few holds to be sure it isn't just a lead skin you are buying.

[brass2bullets]

Make sure it's pure lead with no fillers. If it's good then buy as much of it as you can. You can never have to much lead.


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[lightman]

Keep in mind that when you buy large amounts of lead that you need a way to deal with it. A 3000# boat keel can require a trailer to haul it on and something to load and unload it with. Then you have to deal with melting it. Its a lot of work, but worth it if you have the way to handle it.