The thrill of the Hunt! (Kind of)

[DGV]

How many on this forum enjoy the search and scrounging aspect of finding good alloy enjoyable?Or even more enjoyable than casting or smelting. Whether it's WW metal, range scrap or Plumbing lead.

[RED BEAR]

I enjoy the finding not so much the looking anymore.

[WHITETAIL]

I am always on the lookout for
more lead.
You never know where it might
show up.:redneck:

[ghh3rd]

At work was introduced to someone and first thing I asked him was got any lead you don’t need. Everyone in my department knows I cast boolits and look for lead. This guy looked surprised, and I was equally surprised when he said he did. His neighbor who was old and dying had lived through the great depression and still found value in things that others didn’t. He gave the guy a 50 lb slab of lead and told him not to throw it away... it had value.

He brought it in to work the next day and I alloyed it and it’s now in 1/2 and 1 lb Lee ingots in my lead stash. You never know where your next lead fix will come from.

[lightman]

I always enjoyed the aspects of hunting for lead and the smelting process. I can't honestly say I like it better than casting but I don't find it to be the dreaded chore that some do. My smelting set up has evolved into a fairly efficient process although there is still a certain amount of work involved. As silly as it sounds, I rather enjoy sorting wheel weights too! I sorted a bucket and a half for a friend last week. I split a 5600# score with the same friend summer before last and I think I sorted all of those weights. My Wife says it keeps me off of the streets and out of the bars!

[GregLaROCHE]

I really enjoy finding it and then stacking up the ingots I’ve poured from it.

[ioon44]

I don't find dealing with tire shops and scrap yards much of a thrill an more.

[725]

My wife almost revolts when I stop and pick up WW's in the street. just the price I pay...………….

[dondiego]

My wife almost revolts when I stop and pick up WW's in the street. just the price I pay...………….

But......but.......you are saving the environment from a deadly poison!......and recycling too!

[lightman]

But......but.......you are saving the environment from a deadly poison!......and recycling too!

I just tell mine that I'm saving a Condor or a Pigeon.

[Winger Ed.]

When I get new tires, I still walk around the parking lot picking up scattered wheel weights.
I don't hunt Lead like I used to after a big score several years ago.

A buddy who is a Plumber and job superintendent had a project one time in remodeling a entire floor in a hospital.
They demo-ed out a few X-Ray rooms. Behind all the sheetrock was 1/8" Lead sheeting.
His guys had it all rolled up and ready to cash in when he told them he had to take it all to a HAZMAT site
that would accept radio active materials. It took 2 trips in his pickup to bring it all over to my back yard.

[ChristopherO]

[QUOTE=Winger Ed.;4549955]

A buddy who is a Plumber and job superintendent had a project one time in remodeling a entire floor in a hospital.
They demo-ed out a few X-Ray rooms. Behind all the sheetrock was 1/8" Lead sheeting.
His guys had it all rolled up and ready to cash in when he told them he had to take it all to a HAZMAT site
that would accept radio active materials. It took 2 trips in his pickup to bring it all over

That's just wrong! LOL

[Winger Ed.]

[QUOTE=Winger Ed.;4549955]That's just wrong! LOL
Old age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill.

[lightman]

[QUOTE=Winger Ed.;4549955] That's just wrong! LOL

I agree! :drinks: Sounds like something that I would do! I would have bought my buddy and his crew lunch or some beer or something.

[Winger Ed.]

[QUOTE=ChristopherO;4550064]I agree! :drinks: Sounds like something that I would do! I would have bought my buddy and his crew lunch or some beer or something.
Yeah, we skinned 'em on that one, but all things considered, he took good care of his crew.

[kevin c]

I loved the hunt when I started out. It was fun learning where to look, how to test the metal, what equipment to acquire to melt, alloy and ingot it, store it, label it, inventory it, and of course, cast it.

I still like casting, but I cast in volume for the action pistol game. Better for me now to draw from my stockpile of analyzed alloy or go to my known reliable sources of alloy in bulk with predictable content rather than spend the time scrounging for lead in small quantities or of unknown content. For instance, I'm pretty sure I could score a keel or two from a nearby marina, but the lead might not be what I want to use, and I don't have the equipment or transport needed. Easier for me to stay with what I already have set up.

I still hunt for and enjoy scoring tin.

[lightman]

I like big scores but I prefer those big scores to be lots of small stuff vs one large piece. You're exactly right about having the ways and means to deal with a sail boat keel or a huge counter weight. I would choose 50 buckets of wheel weights over a big chunk of lead equaling the same weight. I probably have the stuff to deal with a huge weight and for sure can borrow anything I would need, but its a lot of work.

[ghh3rd]

In my younger days my father chopped up a big chunk of lead that I found with his torch. Gotta watch the fumes with that much heat though.

[nagantguy]

Love the hunt and the acquiring of lead. When a distant relative passed some years back I got an entire shed full of Lyman #2 ingots and a than a few winters ago a fellow member here scored a huge roll of sheet lead and we split it 3 ways if I recall correctly. And last summer a fellow from one of my firearms classes gave me several hundred pounds of tin blocks. And around the same time I traded brass for a MFRB of 60/40 tin soddering strips . The first house I bought after getting out out of the Corps had a tire shop across
The alley and I scored a 5 gallon bucket every few weeks! Still have 2 full buckets; just don’t enjoy smelting dirty wheel weights when I have much cleaner ready made or easily made alloy at hand.

[pls1911]

Still have some stock needing alloyed... six 200 pound rolls of roofing lead, half a dozen buckets of WW, and most of a 55 gallon drum of linotype and typemetal letters, and big printers headline blocks and advertising artwork I need to sort through.
I smelted and alloyed about 2000 pounds of roofing materials, vent caps and babbit a few years ago and haven't been able to get excited about it since.

I just don't hunt for it anymore....had to tell my roofing contractor to stop delivering lead.

[kevin c]

...last summer a fellow from one of my firearms classes gave me several hundred pounds of tin blocks...I need to start teaching firearms classes then!

I have a five gallon bucket full of range scrap that has been sitting around untouched for more than a year because, like you, I have much cleaner and more hassle free (note I mean less hassle, not no hassle) sources of lead.

[lightman]

No kidding, what a score!!!
My go to type of lead has always been wheel weights. I like the alloy but its a good bit of work. Sorting, smelting, even the time hunting for them. About like your bucket of range scrap. Crazy as it sounds, I do rather enjoy the smelting process and even the hunt! My all time favorite source is Isotope lead. Its a suitable alloy and is super clean, just about zero waste. I wish I still had a source for it.