Pb SCORE!

[LiveSteamer]

I am just getting back into reloading after about a 20 year lapse. Previously, I purchased all my bullets for reloading, but with the current and possible future political climate I believe it imperative that I control all components in my reloading. That means getting into casting and stockpiling primers, powder, brass, and lead. I started my lead acquisitions a few months ago at a local auction where I won 100 pounds of lead in the form of tractor wheel weights for $15. I was attending the auction with a friend and when I won the lead he said I didn't know you were looking for lead, I have some you can have. He is a retired telephone lineman and gave me about 75 pounds of pure lead in the form of cable shielding. I bought 50 pounds of wheel weights on eBay and another 50 pounds of processed wheel weights in the form of ingots on this forum as well as some tin ingots. That was enough to get me started.

Then it was time to look for local, reliable, economic sources of lead for stockpiling several more hundred pounds of lead. I began by stopping by rural mom and pop local garages and wheel shops thinking they would have buckets of lead wheel weights "out back" that they would want to get rid of. The common theme was "we sell our wheel weights to the junk yard". I offered to pay more than junk prices, if they would save them for me. No one was interested. Today I decided to check the junk yard in the local town. I asked if they sold scrap lead. The guy behind the office counter said yes, it is 15 cents a pound, just see the guys in the yard. As I headed to the yard he said and we have wheel weights if you are interested. I found one of the guys in the yard and asked about the wheel weights. He took me to the back of the yard where there was a full 55 gallon barrel of wheel weights. The yard guy says fill your container and bring it to the front of the yard and I will weigh it and give you a weight ticket to take to the office and pay. Well, I was caught off guard, I didn't have a container. So I headed to the local Home Depot to buy a 5 gallon Homer bucket. On the way I got to thinking, I would have to carry the 5 gallon bucket full of lead across the junk yard to the office and then across the parking lot to my truck. I settled on a 2 1/2 gallon bucket as my "lead collection bucket". Back to the junkyard and to the 55 gallon barrel of wheel weights. Glad to have the work gloves from my truck. I began filling my bucket. This was some pretty nasty stuff. A mixture of clip on wheel weights (not sure if they are all lead, maybe contain some other metals), stick on wheel weights, and some strips of what looks like lead strips about a quarter inch thick, half inch wide and three to five inches long. And it was all DIRTY! Lots of crud on the wheel weights and loose in the barrel mixed in with the weights. But ***, it was 15 cents a pound. I filled my 2 1/2 gallon bucket to within about two inches from the top and lugged it across the yard to the scale. 39 pounds, paid my $ 6, including tax, and lugged the bucket to the truck.

Feeling proud of myself that I had found a source of lead at the local junk yard I thought what about other junk yards. So I headed to a junk yard in an adjacent small town. These folks were a little more upscale, as the billed themselves a recycle yard, not a junk yard, (and to prove it, they provide the plastic buckets for free!). I asked if they had any lead wheel weights. The yardman said yes and as he was guiding me to their 55 gallon barrel of wheel weights he asked me if I was one of those guys who reloaded his own bullets. When I said yes he said the boss had said to show "those guys" the heavier lead, and he led me to a bin containing linotype. BINGO! I get a bucket and fill it about half full, (about half the linotype in the bin, thinking I would leave some of it for some of the other "those guys" who reload). I put my bucket on the scale, 48 pounds at 77 ¢ per pound = $ 35.42 plus tax. I then asked the yardman about the wheel weights. He took me to their wheel weight barrel and said it was 28 ¢ per pound. This stuff was much cleaner than what I had bought at the previous yard and looked like it was 100% lead clip on wheel weights. I grabbed my gloves and another one of their buckets and threw several handfuls of wheel weights into the bucket and toted it to the scales. 30 pounds at 28¢ a pound = $ 7.84 plus tax.

Bottom line.
Afternoon of scrounging junk/recycle yards
39 pounds of dirty mixed wheel weights
48 pounds of very clean linotype
30 pounds of clean clip on wheel weights
New 2 1/2 gallon collection bucket
Two free plastic buckets
Two new sources of lead
Total cost $ 56.69

[slim1836]

That's a good haul.
Separate the stick on wheel weights from clip on weights as they are mostly pure lead. Keep all different types separated and labeled.
This will help when you start blending your collection for the hardness you want.

Slim

[DerekP Houston]

Wow thats a good haul! The yard I go to doesn't speak much english, but they understand cash and "where's the lead"

[triggerhappy243]

Lynotype??????????? 77 cents a pound? Where are my buckets?

[OS OK]

Der...just remember this phrase, ... short and sweet..."Quiero comprar Plumo?" (I want to buy lead.)

What if you could find a junkyard for big trucks...or a big truck shop? Think of the size of those weights!

[DerekP Houston]

ahh you caught me, i was going to lookup the spanish translation before I made another trip. I really need a truck again, this civic ain't cutting it for hauling lumber and lead for my hobbies :D.

[merlin101]

Pick up a dozen doughnuts and drop them off at the 'good' yard, that will help them remember you and they'll be more likely to save good stuff for you.
You did real good!

[runfiverun]

at 15 cent's a pound I woulda had them load the barrel in the back of my truck and dealt with it at home.
your gonna regret not having the whole thousand pounds of that lead shortly.
B.T.W. those 1/4X1/2 strips were probably lino-type spacers.

[Budzilla 19]

+1 on the whole barrel being loaded in the truck! It won't go bad, sort when you feel like it, and try to keep that grin off your face every time you look at that big ole pile of lead weights! You did good.

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

While I have a policy against paying for lead, I have to question walking away from a 55 gal drum full and only getting a bucket of it. For $0.15/LB! I don't understand.

[triggerhappy243]

you come across the best deals with only $10.00 in your pocket.

[LiveSteamer]

While I have a policy against paying for lead, I have to question walking away from a 55 gal drum full and only getting a bucket of it. For $0.15/LB! I don't understand.

I walked away with only a bucket of the 15¢/lb wheel weights for two reasons. First, I want to sort the bucket to see how much COWW I get out of it verses SOWW, zinc ww, steel we, and trash. Second, in talking to the counterman they constantly have a supply of wheel weights available. I plan to compare the "quality" of this bucket of wheel weights verses the "quality" of the bucket of 28¢/lb wheel weights I purchased at the other yard, which on first glance appear to be almost all COWW. Once I decide which is the best value, I plan to stop by the winning yard every time I go to town (about once a week) and get another bucket full. Both yards assured me that they have a constant supply available for sale. I can handle a bucket full at a time much easier than I can a full 55 gallon barrel.

[triggerhappy243]

Where is the "' like"' button?

[RogerDat]

With it getting toward fall, it would be good to have several hundred pounds of checked and sorted wheel weights on hand to smelt into ingots. Best time of year to make ingots in quantity is once it gets cooler. Buy them the donuts, courtesy goes a long way. The guy munching your donut is the guy that sees all the lead that comes in before anyone else. Think about it like that and it makes the cost of 1/2 dozen donuts seem trivial. I think you have the right idea, slow and steady but if you can swing a larger purchase at a good price that can really make the stash grow. Might also ask where the cast metal goes, there is sometimes pewter or EPBM that goes in there. They view it as the same product as cast bathroom fixtures or metal garage/porch lights.

I found a tray such as a box lid from printer paper or plastic drawer sitting in lap with a small pile of WW's was the best way to sort, that and a pair of long handled dikes to nip and check if soft enough to be lead or too hard so pitch aside. Kept the wasted motion to a minimum to have every thing right at my hands so I can nip and toss, nip and toss. Box of harbor freight nitrile gloves were a good idea those things are nasty and handling lead you really don't want it rubbing on your skin.

Those 5 gallon Homer buckets full are hard to carry but 3/4 full is about 75# and they will stack about 3 high nested without any problem for storage. I would buy the 5 gallon size and just not fill them for transport. Accumulate them at home as you accumulate lead. At home you can fill them 3/4 full when you don't have to move them far or can use a dolly. Can go 4 high but lifting that high can be more strain, depending on own height. At one time I had 3 @ 75# and 1 @ 50# for stacks that were 4 buckets high. Was a good time melting em all down. Happy ingots.

[mold maker]

Regarding the % of Fe/Zn to lead. It will only get worse as time goes on. Getting a good supply at today's prices is an investment in your shooting future.
Remember when handgun factory ammo was about $6. a box and WWs were free everywhere? That was only a few years ago and now their not even available most places.
Remember when gold was $400/oz? Don't ya wish ya had bought a couple grand worth at that price? Remember when ya turned 16 and the world lay before ya?
Time marches on without your permission.

[LiveSteamer]

Thanks all for the tips on sorting wheel weights and other advice. I stopped by the recycler this morning and asked if any other reloaders had been by and if they had bought any of the Linotype. The purchasing manager said a couple of reloaders had been in looking for lead but neither of them had any interest in the Linotype. He said he was anxious to get rid of the rest of it as he was having trouble selling it. He said that if I would take the rest of it, he would sell it to me for 70¢ a pound. So I left with 107 pounds of Linotype to add to the 48 pounds I had bought the other day.

So, this afternoon I sorted wheel weights from the two yards. I sorted half a 5 gallon bucket from each place. I sorted into three piles. Lead clip on wheel weights, lead stick on wheel weights, and everything else (iron and zinc wheel weights, clip on and stick on, value stems, and the rest of the trash). After sorting each half bucket I examined the size of each pile and estimated the relative proportions. For the 15 cents per pound weights I got about 30% lead clip on wheel weights, 10% stick on wheel weights, and 60% iron wheel weights, zinc wheel weights, and trash. For the 28 cents per pound weights I got about 80% lead clip on wheel weights, no lead stick on wheel weights, 20% iron and zinc wheel weights, and hardly any trash. So, once again you get what you pay for. So, each time I go to town I will buy a 2 1/2 gallon bucket of 28 cents per pound wheel weights. I am only going to pick out any obvious trash and stick on wheel weights, if there are any, and melt the whole batch skimming off the clips, iron and zinc wheel weights.

[crowbuster]

livesteam. Take your two wheel cart with you to haul the score to your truck. Fridg cart or such. nice score

[bruce381]

where are at again? wish they had yards like that out here.

[FISH4BUGS]

15 years ago I had a friend that sold his tire shop. He called me and said "...we are closing on the sale at 5 this Friday". That was on Wednesday. He called me and said to come and get as many wheel weights as I can take away. I lived 45 minutes away and took 2 days off from work to take advantage of his gift.
Many 5 gallon buckets, many one and a half hour round trips, and bloody fingers later, I had my lifetime stash of over 2000 lbs of wheel weights. I have since added to it, and still get a couple of buckets a year from 2 garages.
Every once in a while I will go into a smelting franzy and do up a batch of ingots. I also accumulated some 200 lbs of linotype in 25 lb pigs and letters and spacers. I cast with 5lbs ww to 1 lb linotype for all my handgun caliber bullets.
I know where there is another 500 lbs of linotype in letters and spacers but the guy has to pass away first - he is retired printer and has them in his garage in letter sets.
I am truly fortunate to have come across this. I still scrounge lead even though my guns and reloading stash is in my will and I have a lifetime supply.
You did well. Take care of those guys at the junk yard. Those donuts (or even a six pack of their favorite beer) will go a long way.

[MaryB]

Individual letters are likely foundry type, better than Linotype! And if he has complete sets they can sell for far more than scrap on ebay to collectors.

[leeggen]

Had a guy come by couple days ago, as we talked he ask about the guns I reload for. He was telling me about a tool bx he had bought at and auction, inside was these lead chunks that looked like what plumbers used. I told him I cast for a couple of my guns so he told me he would send me some over. Turned out to be Detroit virgin lead in 5 LB. chunks. I got three of them and I will see him soon to check about anymore he my have or find at an auction.
Think I'll buy him some shells for his pistols.
Good finds are a wonderful thing, atleast til smelting starts at 95 degrees, awwww heck it is always good.
CD

[Traffer]

Are you sure we live on the same planet? People around here are happy to pay a dollar a pound for wheel weights. I had to drive 70 miles to get soft lead at a dollar a pound. The only deals I can find around here is on tin or pewter. Just bought some old mugs for about 60 cents a pound.