Buying cast bullets as scrap lead for smelting yea or nay?

[crazyponie]

I was picking through a barrel of WW at one of the local scrap yards yesterday and one of the workers asked if I wanted to buy ready made cast bullets. He showed me a barrel half full of shiny cast pistol and rifle bullets. Just looking at them I guessed the pistol to be .38 and larger, the rifles were probably .30 cal or better. Of the four handfuls I sifted through most appeared to be already lubed. A lot had gas checks on them as well. He told me it would be the same price as the WW, .60/lb. I'm too new to this game so, I'm asking if you were looking for lead in order to cast your own bullets would you buy it over the WW? I'm thinking I may just go buy a couple hundred pounds of them over the steel clipped WW. What to do?

[HangFireW8]

Buy buy buy!

[farmerjim]

There are no steel clips on cast bullets, It probably has tin and antimony in the proper amounts. They may be good enough to load as in some cases. The lead they came from has already been cleaned and fluxed. $.60 a pound is a good price.
Go for it.

[mold maker]

Hurry to the bank and borrow the money if necessary. You have struck the mother load.

[PaulG67]

Buy all of them!!!!!

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

crazyponie,
Welcome to the forum. That is a very good question for a newbie.

60¢ per lb...
That is about the cut-off for me to buy COWW in the raw. If they are from a Tire shop, from a state like Minnesota, where because of the Ban and/or limited use of 'NEW' lead WW, causing a large percentage of the used COWW to be Iron or Zinc...then I wouldn't pay 60¢. Now if these COWW came from a automotive recycler (AKA:junkyard), then the likelyhood that most COWW will be Lead, then I would pay 60¢.

with that said, I'd pay 60¢ ....and probably as much as $1 per lb for cast boolits.

Good Luck

[2wheelDuke]

Lubed boolits make nice flux for the pot.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Harter66]

While visiting family in Ar I broke a spring on my trailer and we went to the salvage/scrape yard . I found a pair of matching main leaves suitable for the needs . My Dad says they have a big crate of brass and another of lead if you want to look .
Talk about the mother load . 2, 1# coffee cans of 150 gr 38 wadcutters , several 5# rolls of soft flashing 20-25# of 45&50 cal RB and a heap of corn muffin ingots . 151# in all . At 30¢ /# the total which must have been eyeball bucket deducted for tare was $43 . Take all of someone elses work and run if it's bullet metal . It runs a buck a lb on most forum sources and it's easy to get several hours tied up in range scrap,ww and other salvage metal sources.

I'd sure snag all I could get.

[NyFirefighter357]

We all should be that lucky! Run and get them all.

[OS OK]

Why are you sitting there reading this? Get your butt in gear!

PS...welcome!

[runfiverun]

I'd boil them to get the lube off and use the lube as flux.
a ton of boolit lube melting off in a pot turns into a nightmare quickly there ain't enough fire to deal with the mess.
but you'll end up with good alloy you know will make boolits again because it's been proven to do so before.

buy the whole drum or drums whatever they got, you'll wish you'd bought more at some point down the road.

[shoot-n-lead]

I have always just added some to my handgun smelting pot, along and along, until they were all gone. Never has been enough to cause any kind of problem.

But, with a huge quantity, something else would be in order.

Buy'em.

[leadman]

If you don't want to shoot them use a covered pot to melt them down into ingots. Leaving the cover on will burn up the lube without causing a big fire. Could save some lubed ones to flux your pot with.

[Mauser48]

Sounds like a good deal to me. Let me know if there are any 38 or 30 cal bullets in there
that you would be willing to sell as is if you don't use them.

[rmark]

Buy them, then buy a gun to shoot them.

[Don Fischer]

I don't suppose you'd post the GPS coordinates would you? :-)

[crazyponie]

Sadly, it appears that coming on here and asking for advice cost me. I stopped by with four empty buckets to buy as many of the bullets as they would hold. The owner said they were all gone. Someone was waiting for them to open this morning and asked about a barrel of cast bullets that he had heard about online (there aren't a whole lot of yards that will sell lead around here). He said the guy bought the entire thing, almost 600lbs worth. It wasn't a total loss, since I was there I picked 88lbs of lead WW. I didn't know a source of lead had to be kept such a secret from other caster's, lesson learned. He took my number and said he would give me a call next time someone sells them some.

[leeggen]

Now that is LOW for someone to come on here and ask about the lead then someone else go buy it after hearing about it. Lesson #1 when lead is infront of you buy it immediately. Lesson #2 don't let anyone know where it is lesson #3 follow lesson #1 first.
CD

[Harter66]

No honor among ......lead horders .

Could have been a friend of a friend thing .

[RogerDat]

No honor among ......lead horders .

Could have been a friend of a friend thing . I would certainly hope so. At the least one would expect a member here to buy some and leave some not take the whole score. You might want to edit your location to be nearest major city or something such as "S. Central Michigan" that is enough to let people know where you are from without giving away the exact city. Hint I live near enough to Lansing for internet use but I could have as easily have said South Central Michigan because Lansing is not the closest post office by at least a couple or three, it is just the closest major city.

Having a few bucks worth of mad money in your wallet to clinch a deal while you go to the bank and get the full price can be useful. As well as saying thank you with some donuts, or a pizza or whatever.

Lot of guys might buy the lead from the yard, you being the one that appreciates them looking out for you can go a long way. Half a dozen donuts next time you stop in and letting them know you appreciated them taking the time to show you that other barrel of stuff even if the deal did not work out can help you being someone they "look out for".

Just so you won't feel bad:
Once went home to look up EPBM which seemed sort of like pewter but I wasn't sure. Came back first thing next morning and it was gone. It was high tin like pewter and there was probably 20# or more in the bin.

Hauled around a dozen or more 5# ingots through two, no three moves. Finally got around to trying to use the ingots and had them tested (see I noticed they were harder so visions of linotype danced in my head) Turns out I not only bought a bunch of zinc I moved it three times. :-)

The tray I use to dry tumble lube bullets on was supposed to be a big heavy tray of pewter, or so I thought... it wasn't.

Kiss a fair number of frogs without finding a princess, miss a few princesses making sure they aren't just a frog. We have all done it.

[melloairman]

Sadly, it appears that coming on here and asking for advice cost me. I stopped by with four empty buckets to buy as many of the bullets as they would hold. The owner said they were all gone. Someone was waiting for them to open this morning and asked about a barrel of cast bullets that he had heard about online (there aren't a whole lot of yards that will sell lead around here). He said the guy bought the entire thing, almost 600lbs worth. It wasn't a total loss, since I was there I picked 88lbs of lead WW. I didn't know a source of lead had to be kept such a secret from other caster's, lesson learned. He took my number and said he would give me a call next time someone sells them some.
IMO they needed to contact you first to find out what your intentions were . Marvin

[Dusty Bannister]

IMO they needed to contact you first to find out what your intentions were .

? They? Meaning the scrap yard, who has no idea who either party may be, or the hoarder that took advantage of a newbie and bought it all?

[Harter66]

Or perhaps offered to split ?

At this point it is a blunt point .
We can debate the morals of an individual that swooped a gravy boat ,maybe even appeal to his/her conscience. I learned a long time ago that if the first guy fusses about an item or tries to low ball a seller that it's time to pounce pay the asking price and let the other guy swing . Knowing now that the lack of experience in such matters was the cause I'd expect the OP to get a PM . Or not .

[Dusty Bannister]

"He told me it would be the same price as the WW, .60/lb. I'm too new to this game so, I'm asking if you were looking for lead in order to cast your own bullets would you buy it over the WW? I'm thinking I may just go buy a couple hundred pounds of them over the steel clipped WW. What to do?"

When the OP posted as above, it removes any doubt as to the intent. It is also clear that the lack of experience might allow an innocent mistake in giving a clue to the location of the source. Still, it is rather heartless of an individual to just buy it all, knowing a newbie is just getting established.

I do hope that the purchaser will reconsider his actions.

[RogerDat]

Yeah I can see if someone is trying to low ball or dicker then someone else might say I'll pay the asking price and the low baller would be out of luck. I can also see walking away because price is not worth it. But I would hope that people here would not take advantage of a newbie asking a question.

In my opinion if buyer is from here he should be reaching out to the OP and offering a bit of the good fortune to him via a PM. If the person who bought it is from here he is missing a chance to connect with a new caster in his area, a new caster who might well come across other good deals that he would willingly share, I know folks in our area do that from time to time.

Hope karma remains the witch it has a tendency to be if the deal was snatched by a member here.

I would tell the OP to keep plugging away and looking. Short time after I missed out on that EPBM tin score I walked into a 455 lb. barrel of printers lead, mixed linotype, mono, and foundry. Only find because you are out there looking. Check out what printers lead looks like and let them know you would like to find that, describe the cast version and describe a linotype pig or show them pictures at the yard. Read the thread here on pewter so you will know what to look for then ask at yard where they might put pewter or cast and plated items (some consider pewter same category as a cast & plated faucet or porch light fixture). Printers lead and pewter have a higher value so if you can get those at scrap prices you can use them or trade/sell to provide your supplies.

Would also say you are doing pretty well to have a source for lead WW's at a reasonable price, bread and butter purchasing those but have the money on hand for a good deal on a side of beef if you should find one. I did have a tough time explaining the barrel of lead & getting it out of the car was a challenge but I had learned what it was and knew value and use. Begged forgiveness of wife and moved it bucket at a time.

[lightman]

Welcome Aboard! Sorry to hear that you lost out on a good score but we all have stories about the one that got away. I've melted lots of cast bullets with lube on them and deal with the smoke by lighting it. I also have a large fan in the shop that sucks the smoke out. Thats a fair price on wheel weights, fair but not great. Maybe buying a few at a time will get you reconized as a regular customer. Like Roger said, a few donuts from time to time can open doors. It seems you have already started off good with the guy. Yards here won't even talk to you about selling anything.

[melloairman]

IMO they needed to contact you first to find out what your intentions were .

? They? Meaning the scrap yard, who has no idea who either party may be, or the hoarder that took advantage of a newbie and bought it all?
The hoarder that took advantage of a newbie and bought it all .

[PaulG67]

"He told me it would be the same price as the WW, .60/lb. I'm too new to this game so, I'm asking if you were looking for lead in order to cast your own bullets would you buy it over the WW?"

Absolutely, it has already been melted, all the crud has been removed, no clips to deal with. It is a much better deal than buying WW's.

[leeggen]

Now I was not saying it was some of our forum it could be someone else saw that was at the scrap yard and saw it then told his buddy that was looking for some lead. The op was not the only one to be told about the lead the yard man wants to make money so he will tell everyone he can.
To melloairman welcome to the insanity of lead. You don't have to injest to be inflicted. You learn as you go and just have fun all the way, it is fun!
CD

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Sadly, it appears that coming on here and asking for advice cost me. I stopped by with four empty buckets to buy as many of the bullets as they would hold. The owner said they were all gone. Someone was waiting for them to open this morning and asked about a barrel of cast bullets that he had heard about online (there aren't a whole lot of yards that will sell lead around here). He said the guy bought the entire thing, almost 600lbs worth. It wasn't a total loss, since I was there I picked 88lbs of lead WW. I didn't know a source of lead had to be kept such a secret from other caster's, lesson learned. He took my number and said he would give me a call next time someone sells them some.
Well, that's a bummer. to those who comment that it might be a member...there are a lot of poeple who just lurk this forum, in fact right as I type this, "There are currently 606 users online (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/online.php). 200 members and 406 guests" ...cut and pasted from the bottom of this page.

Like someone else said, we all have tales about the one that got away. I got a Dandy. When I first started working my first 'real' job in the electronics field (in 1985, I Had just graduated as a Electronic Technician), which btw, that was one year after Control Data (in my State) had just layed off some 2000 Electronic Technicians...So jobs were few.
Anyway, I started my Job at a Electronics PCB manufacturer, but since I had no experience, I started as a shipping clerk. Now they did hire one of the 'experienced' Control Data Tech's at the same time, for the job I applied for :evil:.

So I was looking hard for another job. My dad (a postmaster) found a listing for a Tech at the State's Main Post Office building. I told everyone at work, as I was so excited about the potential Job. There were many other Techs at that company. So, for a post Office Job,being a well paid Federal thing, there was two 4 hour tests on a Saturday, to qualify for an interview. I get to the location where the tests was to be given, and find that Half of my co-workers were there too...all thanking me for telling about the opportunity. I took the test and did real well...a co-worker who was a vietnam Vet, I guess he did well on the tests also, but he received 'bonus' points added to his test scores, due to his service. Well, I didn't get the Job, My Co-worker did. While I was happy for him, I sure was kicking myself for telling everyone.

[crazyponie]

All,

I probably should not have even posted my comment about what happened. Just repeating what the worker told me was not meant to be a slam on anyone from this forum. I learned a lesson and have already moved on. Heck, just like has already been mentioned it might have just been a new person lurking the forum and wanted to get a good start on his hoard. I'll admit, that I visited the forum once in a while for a couple of months prior to actually joining. I read and learned as much as I could about the process of casting my own bullets. I've been reloading my own ammo for about 5 years and thought this would be the next logical step in my pursuit of being able to shoot more and learn another skill/hobby.


The lead hoarding sounds like (correct me if I'm wrong) to be just another part of the thought of self reliance and being able to have your own ammo source. Not to much unlike reloading components were a few years ago. I learned from the experienced reloader's then and listened to them about being stocked up. Now, I wont admit how many pounds of powder or cases of primers I bought prior to things going South on the supply chain but I may not NEED to buy any for a long time. So, with that being said I will take my lumps on buying these bullets and carry on with sourcing more lead. Thanks again and I look forward to learning from all of you.

[Virginia John]

WOW, I must frequent the wrong junk yards.

[lightman]

Thats a good attitude and I applaud you for it. You are correct about lead being like reloading components. You can almost predict when shortages will happen and it pays to have a little stock stuck back. At one time I tried to keep a years worth of components on hand. Now I try for 2 election cycles! Free or cheap lead is getting harder to find so get it a little at a time as you come across it.

[melloairman]

Now I was not saying it was some of our forum it could be someone else saw that was at the scrap yard and saw it then told his buddy that was looking for some lead. The op was not the only one to be told about the lead the yard man wants to make money so he will tell everyone he can.
To melloairman welcome to the insanity of lead. You don't have to injest to be inflicted. You learn as you go and just have fun all the way, it is fun!
CD
It is the insanity and greed of man not lead . And ingesting lead has nothing to do with it IMO . The poster seems ok at this point so the lesson has done him well .