Lead sources when WW are gone?

[GrizzLeeBear]

As posted in the other thread, looks like lead WW's will soon be gone. Most tire shops around hear will not give or sell WW's to anyone. So where we gonna get our lead?

Has anyone bought lead from a foundry / supplier? Even if you bought it at market prices, it would still be much cheaper than buying boolits or j-word bullets, right? One of the advantages would be that you could get a large amount of a certain alloy that would be constistent throughout the whole batch. No smelting / cleaning of the lead. Can you get it in 1 - 5 lb. ingots? Might have to get together with some other caster in the same area and do a group buy in order to make a "minimum" order, though.

[Naphtali]

As posted in the other thread, looks like lead WW's will soon be gone. Most tire shops around hear will not give or sell WW's to anyone. So where we gonna get our lead?

Has anyone bought lead from a foundry / supplier? Even if you bought it at market prices, it would still be much cheaper than buying boolits or j-word bullets, right? One of the advantages would be that you could get a large amount of a certain alloy that would be constistent throughout the whole batch. No smelting / cleaning of the lead. Can you get it in 1 - 5 lb. ingots? Might have to get together with some other caster in the same area and do a group buy in order to make a "minimum" order, though.I'm aware of a solder manufacturer in Canada -- Alberta or Manitoba -- who sells solder to your chemistry specification in 500-pound minimum quantities.

[crowbeaner]

Check out American Tin and Solder in Providence RI. Their #14 alloy is just perfect for boolits and shot. 90% lead, 2.5% tin, and 7.5% antimony. Right up our alley. Best price is on 500 lbs. Ask for Allen. 800-292-3418 401-456-0900

[Jim]

As long as there are commercial plumbers, there will be plumber's lead and copper alloyed solder(tin).

[docone31]

This also brings to mind a question I had a while back.
What about zinc?
I now how miserable it is to cast.
I have been wondering about casting larger, sizing down and paper patching.
Has anyone experimented with alloys?
Once wheel weight is gone, things get different.
Down here, wheel weight is mostly gobbled up by fishermen. At the range, a few of us cast. That is a few out of a large club.
Ross Seyfried had an article on paper patching smaller diameter jacketeds to fit the bore of the rifle in mind. The point was, in his neck of the world certain calibers became hard to find economically.
That miserable zinc, that with which we try to avoid, is it possible that is the alternative aside from direct purchasing?

[testhop]

testhop is here with an another dumb idea i just bought some sabos that you put a 22 cal bullet in andshoot it out of a 30 cal rifle maybesomething could be done for other cals to maybe a 30 357 429 after all the blackpowder shooters are doing it now

[docone31]

That is basically what a paper jacket is. Two wraps of paper sized down.
Now, if we could blend zinc with lead, smaller than bore diameter and wrap it.
Zinc is lighter than lead. We would need to come up with different bullet designs, powder charges, etc.
Zinc is politically correct.

[waksupi]

Grizzleebear, I had a friend who used to buy at the smelter in East Helena. Minumum pig size was 1000#. I don't know what he paid for it, but can imagine this wouldn't be all that bad, if the price was maybe 50 cents a pound. SWAG.

[454PB]

That East Helena smelter has been shut down for many years, and they are planning to completely remove it as soon as all the "historical preservation" stuff is done.

There are still some small tire shops that will sell WW's around here, but it's getting tougher all the time.

[PatMarlin]

I think it's a good time to start developing our hunting loads with a mix of pure lead and ww's with gas checks anyway.

Also- recycling is paramount. I shoot into old dry stumps and dry cut logs. I can get every bit of my lead back. I think every one should shoot into a trap, and limit shooting at ranges that will not let you reclaim boolits at the backstop.

I'm Patmarlin and I approve this message... :mrgreen:

[jonk]

Well I can say that a 5 gallon bucket dumped through a sifter at my local range yields about 8 pounds of lead, 1 pound of jackets, and about 5 pounds of stone, wood, and other junk. A bigger pain to smelt than wheelweights but it is free. Worst case I have to buy some tin to stiffen it up as the jacketed cores are mainly lead.

Now if we go lead free on the bullets someday, I agree, buying it from plumbing houses is the way to go, unless you know someone in radiology at a hospital.

I will also reintroduce the sailboat keel idea.

[Jimlakeside]

I think there are many potential sources for lead. Who know, lead may go down when deman goes down. Here are a few sites to check out.


http://www.thomasnet.com/nsearch.html?cov=NA&which=prod&what=Alloys%3A+Lead&navsec=search&heading=1200609

http://nuclead.com/leadweights.html

http://www.theantimonyman.com/index.htm

http://www.bulletmetals.net/index.htm

http://www.maycoindustries.com/

[DLCTEX]

Zinc bullets would call for a very different world than the one we are now in. Much higher temps, sizing would be problematic as zinc is much harder, lighter weights, less or no expansion, etc. DALE

[PatMarlin]

Well I can say that a 5 gallon bucket dumped through a sifter at my local range yields about 8 pounds of lead, 1 pound of jackets, and about 5 pounds of stone, wood, and other junk. A bigger pain to smelt than wheelweights but it is free. Worst case I have to buy some tin to stiffen it up as the jacketed cores are mainly lead.

Now if we go lead free on the bullets someday, I agree, buying it from plumbing houses is the way to go, unless you know someone in radiology at a hospital.

I will also reintroduce the sailboat keel idea.

Oh my lord.You just jogged my memory. My half sisters first husband is an inspector of radiology equipment for most hospitals in northern California.

Ya think he may have a line on some lead? Geez- why didn't think of that before..
:roll: :mrgreen:

[runfiverun]

it isn't the price it is the availability. as in, cut off to small time buyers.
we will be doing group buys on it from the foundrys in the future.
they know where the little man buys/gets his ammo from it is easier to regulate "him" to death then to fight the whole bunch over the issues.

[deltaenterprizes]

Scrap yards will still have it.

[PatMarlin]

It will take years and years for the availability of lead to dissappear.

[RU shooter]

I think Pat has the right Idea, build and shoot into a Boolit trap of some sort.I made one at work only 30" deep with a 12 ga. mild steel plate at a 45+ degree angle near the back of it ,filled with plain old dirt/clay and has stopped every 30 cal boolit I have shot into it. A scoop and a sifter, 1 free hour and I can reclaim 99% of what I shoot.

Tim

[Fatman]

When they started with the bans on some fishing tackle here in Vermont I found the following places:


Alchemy Castings http://www.alchemycastings.com/

Ney Metals http://www.neymetals.com/

American Tin and Solder http://www.american-tinandsolder.com

Roto Metals http://www.rotometals.com

Atlantic Metals http://www.atlanticmetals.com

And if you live in Cali, they won't ship to you.

Fatman

[ForneyRider]

My coworker shoots into a berm on his property. He and his kids dig out the lead and recycle. His 9mm reloads are the cheapest to manuf. heh!

[runnin lead]

About 10years ago the local plumbing supply house sold scrap lead , then about 4years ago
I was able to buy 25 pound bars made up of 5 lb ingots , 3years ago they couldn't even get me any from their supplier

[Leadforbrains]

I picked up another five gallon bucket of WW from my new son in law, and I got almost a five gallon bucket full Sunday from a local tire shop. I am also mining the local range for lead. My own solution to the future shortage is to try to stock up with more lead than I can personally use in the future.