Boolit alloy price

[lancem]

I've come across alloy I believe to be ready to cast at $1.68 a pound. Is that a good price or the usual?

[huntinlever]

I've come across alloy I believe to be ready to cast at $1.68 a pound. Is that a good price or the usual?

I can only tell you what I use which is Rotometals, which by way of comparison comes in at $3.80 a pound for No. 2 ($19.00/5 lbs), so...I'd say that sounds like a heck of a deal! Are you sure of the alloy? If so, I'd pounce, personally. But then I'm not the most knowledgeable guy. Looking forward to what others say.

[MUSTANG]

I would buy it at $1.68 pound if it is in ingots and no shipping.

[lancem]

Got all they had $1.68 shipped, wish they had more. Was boolits not ingots, so I'll keep watching for more.

[jdgabbard]

I would be a buyer at that price. I won't buy Rotometals, or anyone else charging $2.50-3/lb, when the spot on lead is around $1/lb. Lead would need to get VERY scarce for me to pay that. Lead is currently at $2226/ton, so that's about $1.11/lb. You figure there is a little bit of a premium on any metal, and $1.68 is a decent deal. Not great, but decent.

[huntinlever]

I would be a buyer at that price. I won't buy Rotometals, or anyone else charging $2.50-3/lb, when the spot on lead is around $1/lb. Lead would need to get VERY scarce for me to pay that. Lead is currently at $2226/ton, so that's about $1.11/lb. You figure there is a little bit of a premium on any metal, and $1.68 is a decent deal. Not great, but decent.

I was ignorant of that, before this thread. I appreciate Rotometals for the purity of their alloys and given 60 lbs gets me 1000 bullets, which comes out to $0.14 per bullet, seemed reasonable. Yikes.

[243winxb]

When things are too good to be true.................... scam? Hope not.

And with shipping included.:shock:

[lancem]

When things are too good to be true.................... scam? Hope not.

And with shipping included.:shock:

Good place that I have bought from many times, so safe no scam!

[jdgabbard]

I was ignorant of that, before this thread. I appreciate Rotometals for the purity of their alloys and given 60 lbs gets me 1000 bullets, which comes out to $0.14 per bullet, seemed reasonable. Yikes.

I mean if it's all you can get it's all you can get you make due with what you have. But the way I see it is that most lead being sold today is basically like eBay pricing. Just some arbitrary numbers that get used because that is what people THINK the market is. The actual spot price (what lead is selling for in the market) is about $1.11/lb. And sure, purity is nice, but how pure is it really, and how pure does it really need to be? I've shot everything from boat anchors to wheel weights without any issue. And we can make educated guesses as to the possible composition of a given alloy based on how well it performs in various states. I mean how many of us mix scrap pewter or tin rich alloys into our stock to enrich it without knowing the exact composition of what we're melting into it??? I know I do... But at the end of the day, I'd rather shoot some alloy of questionable purity than pay $3/lb for essentially the same thing. That could change in the future. But lead isn't as scarce as people make it out to be. You just don't see as much of it on a consumer level - such as wheel weights. But that doesn't mean it's worth $3/lb either...

Edit: Actually, I totally forgot until I posted this, the Alloy's sub-forum (https://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?57-Lead-and-Lead-Alloys) actually has the Kitco Lead Spot price at the top of it. Spot as of writing this is literally $0.9710/lb. So it apparently tanked a bit since my previous post.

[Winger Ed.]

If I needed some, I'd grab it.

If you can't scrounge any-- additives included, and you don't have to drive all over to get it, then melt & clean it, etc.
Yeah, I 'd buy at least some and make my best deal on shipping.

It's not some sort of double brother in law price, with a preacher's discount-- but it's more than fair.

[lancem]

If I needed some, I'd grab it.

If you can't scrounge any-- additives included, and you don't have to drive all over to get it, then melt & clean it, etc.
Yeah, I 'd buy at least some and make my best deal on shipping.

It's not some sort of double brother in law price, with a preacher's discount-- but it's more than fair.

Yeah for me it's a deal enough. I don't really need it but as I retire more and more I'm casting more and more and there just isn't anywhere for me to scrounge. The closest scrap yard is over 4 hours away and no tire places any closer. The joys of living in the middle of no where.

[Rockindaddy]

A good boolit caster has to be a scrounger!!!! Besides feeding several subguns, I feed a pair of Gatlings! One a ten barrel 1878 and the other Colt is a 5 barrel Bulldog. They eat alot of lead! Was able to buy dug up lead pipe from a contractor for .50 a pound and I get 5 gallon buckets of wheel weights for free from a couple of tire shops I patronize. The lead pipe is usually pure soft lead. The joints are tin. If you melt everything and ingot it; I take a sample to my local scrap yard. The owner has a hand held atomic scanner that will tell what the ingot consists of. Sometimes have to remelt and alloy with tin and antimony. Its easy to shoot up 2000~3000 rds in an afternoon with a Gatling! Shooting my Thompson loaded with 230gr round nose does use up alot of boolit lead. Yeah the lead pipe is dirty. Melting out the dirt and crud is messy. Its a back yard, outside project. Really have to be careful throwing lead pipe with water trapped inside into the hot lead tub can be exciting and dangerous. You have to have a big pot and a nice wood fire to melt lead pipe that is stored outside. The water cooks out slow as the pot come up to temperature. No danger of a water/ hot lead explosion when heated slowly.

[dtknowles]

I've come across alloy I believe to be ready to cast at $1.68 a pound. Is that a good price or the usual?

Alloy ready to cast, could be soft but clean. Not a good or usual price but not a rip off. I often see better deals here in S&S. Ready to cast for what application. It would be a good price for 30 to 1 or coww or #2 but not so good if it is just clean range scrap.

[farmbif]

$1.68 for clean ingots is very good. I found a scrap yard that will sell me a 55 gallon barrel of lead, there is all kinds of stuff in it, probably a bunch of zinc and steel wheel weights mixed in. I didn't negotiate a final cost but will probably be 50-80 cents a pound plus a about 80 dollars in gas to get there and back. even if after melting down whats in the barrel if I get 50 percent of the weight back as ingots that is $1-$1.60 a pound plus the time, and propane used to melt it all down.
so in my opinion $1.68/lb for clean ingots is a very good price

[Winger Ed.]

The joys of living in the middle of no where.

Look on the bright side-
You probably don't get too many door-to-door salesmen or those Jehovah's Witness types.

[jdgabbard]

Look on the bright side-
You probably don't get too many door-to-door salesmen or those Jehovah's Witness types.

I usually run those types off by pointing to the sign the city put up that states my neighborhood is a no-solicitation zone, and informing them that I'll be calling the police now. That usually gets them in their cars pretty fast.

[fredj338]

A fair price for ingots ready to go. If I had to pay much more than that, I would likely not cast my own practice bullets, just doesn't pencil out. I scrounge most of my alloy.

[huntinlever]

I feel a bit like a

309763

[Winger Ed.]

Yeah for me it's a deal enough.

The older I get, the less penny pinching I do.

I don't pay $1.49 for a 12 ounce bottle of water, $7. for a cup of coffee, vacation at Disney Land, or throw away money on the lottery, etc.
An extra buck or so for doing something I really enjoy or want--- ahh,,, no big deal..

[gloob]

MBC bullets:

200 grain 45 ACP bullets at $48.50 per 500. That's 14.3 lbs of lead at $3.40 per lb, prior to tax and shipping. Already sized and lubed and ready to load.

I scrounge lead where I can. But a lot of my lead is in the form of bullet-shaped ingots from MBC.

[lancem]

Look on the bright side-
You probably don't get too many door-to-door salesmen or those Jehovah's Witness types.

Ha Ha, no never!

[fredj338]

MBC bullets:

200 grain 45 ACP bullets at $48.50 per 500. That's 14.3 lbs of lead at $3.40 per lb, prior to tax and shipping. Already sized and lubed and ready to load.

I scrounge lead where I can. But a lot of my lead is in the form of bullet-shaped ingots from MBC.

Plus lube or coating, plus time. I dont care all that much about my casting/coating time, I enjoy that, but $50 in matl for bullets when I can buy them for $65, seems a lot of work for practice ammo. No free alloy or even $1.50/#, yes.

[Old Two Wars]

I feel a bit like a

309763

Why???

[huntinlever]

Why???

Paying $3.80 a pound. I appreciate the quality of the alloy and to be honest haven't had a dependable source of WWs for years, so was glad to use the known metal. No complaints about the company but wasn't aware how seemingly above margin the prices are. In a way, not sure if this is where Ed was going, but I guess ultimately paying $130 for 45 pounds v. less than half that for the same amount - well, that's 800 bullets that will last a long time.

My metric has always been value - was what I paid worth the price? Sometimes I feel hosed paying cheaply, and sometimes I walk away saying "that was a good value" though it's price point was higher. A lot to be said for me to have clean, ready-to-go known alloy that I don't have to scrounge for in an increasingly dried up regional zone, that will last through several hundred bullets.

But I was unaware....so, yeah, a heel.

[charlie b]

I don't mind the cost of the Rotometal. I have no interest in scrounging or making my own alloys. FWIW, the price point of lead is usually set by folks who buy in the hundreds or thousands of tons. Breaking that down, repackaging, inventory, making specific alloys, etc carries a cost. I am happy to pay for the convenience.

But, I am not a volume shooter. 50lb of lead lasts me almost a year.

If I were an IPSC pistol shooter (or similar) then I'd be looking for the cheapest bunch of lead I could find and alloy would not matter much.

[Kraschenbirn]

From the price and OP's descrription, I've bought from the same source and been quite satisfied. IIRC alloy is 2- 2 1/2% antimony and a Bhn around 11 (+/-). First 60 lbs I received went for 'softball' handgun loads and boolits for my .38-55 Highwall (smokeless loads, of course). Considering the current scrap lead situation in my immediate area (as in NONE, ZIP, ZERO, NIL) and the hassle driving 50-60 miles, hoping the recycler will have something I can use and then, if he does, sorting , 'smelting', and casting that into ingots (last trip, I got barely 50% COWW/SOWW...rest was Zn or Fe) that $1.68 (shipped) price looks pretty good.

Bill

[Rickf1985]

You are not going to be able to buy any metal at spot prices unless you are a wholesaler and buying hundreds of tons of it. I want to see where you are going to get lead from anywhere now at less than 1.50 lb.. I am not talking about e-bay where you do not know what you are buying, I am talking about certified alloy or pure lead. Show me someone selling for "Spot" prices. Or even close to them.

[huntinlever]

I had posted in another thread, conflating it with this thread.

I just bought 60 lbs from Rotometals, which cost me $175. I'm getting 60 * 7000 / 400 (bullet weight) = 1050 bullets. $175/1050 = $0.17 per bullet. It's a lot of upfront cost, but over the course of the bullets, no problem with it. Like Charlie B, I'm not a volume shooter in my 45-70 and not having to hunt in a barren locale for bits and pieces here and there, also makes it worthwhile to me.

I find Rotometals good to work with and though I need to pay more attention to market conditions, I find value in buying from them.

[oley55]

Good place that I have bought from many times, so safe no scam!

Call me confused. In your OP you asked the the world if it was a good price and then you tell us you have bought from them many times. Has the price changed since your many times or.....?

[lancem]

Call me confused. In your OP you asked the the world if it was a good price and then you tell us you have bought from them many times. Has the price changed since your many times or.....?

I have bought many other things from them and know them to be a reputable firm. I have never bought lead before and didn't know what prices were like and so had to ask.

[fragman]

I did get 46lb of lead yesterday for $45 from a scrap yard. It was in the form of 29ib of boolits (not range scrap, unfired) and 17lb of jacketed projectiles. Gonna guess that the unjacketed boolits would probably be ready to melt into ingots and cast (as they were already boolits) and the lead in the jacketed is likely softer. I'm guessing they must have come from a reloader who passed on.

Not a huge haul by any means, but I was literally driving past it and thought why not stop and ask? Didn't cost me any extra gas and only 10 minutes of my time.

[fredj338]

I don't mind the cost of the Rotometal. I have no interest in scrounging or making my own alloys. FWIW, the price point of lead is usually set by folks who buy in the hundreds or thousands of tons. Breaking that down, repackaging, inventory, making specific alloys, etc carries a cost. I am happy to pay for the convenience.

But, I am not a volume shooter. 50lb of lead lasts me almost a year.

If I were an IPSC pistol shooter (or similar) then I'd be looking for the cheapest bunch of lead I could find and alloy would not matter much.

Order a pallet from roto its under $2/# delivered. You still need to alloy it though. For most handgun use, you dont need special alloy. Berm lead is over 90% usable & fine for 38sp to 44mag, just water drop for the magnums.
I scrounge because i shoot 8-10k rds a year in various handguns. So paying more than $1.50/# is my limit, but mostly i scrounge.

[charlie b]

Nope, not for handguns, which is why I use Lyman #2 alloy. And I don't use enough to order a pallet even if they offered it.

[GregLaROCHE]

I think you got a good deal as long as they are what they are supposed to be.

The price one is willing to pay for alloy has a lot to do with how much you shoot each and how heavy your boolits are.

[fredj338]

Nope, not for handguns, which is why I use Lyman #2 alloy. And I don't use enough to order a pallet even if they offered it.

For most applications, #2 is more than needed & cost more too.

[jdgabbard]

You are not going to be able to buy any metal at spot prices unless you are a wholesaler and buying hundreds of tons of it. I want to see where you are going to get lead from anywhere now at less than 1.50 lb.. I am not talking about e-bay where you do not know what you are buying, I am talking about certified alloy or pure lead. Show me someone selling for "Spot" prices. Or even close to them.

Certainly you pay a little of premium for any metal. I just bought some 1oz silver rounds the other day for $1 over spot, so don't tell me it can't be done. And I regularly buy lead for around <$0.50 over spot on the pound. That said, it's not from any companies. Usually from individuals selling various allows. And like I mentioned before, we don't need to know the exactly molecular composition to shoot these buggers. We just need an approximate allow composition. Think about how much lead plumbing pipe has been shot up over the years...

But I will say you're right about companies selling lead of given alloys. They're always higher. My issue is people selling scrap is they do so as though it is fresh new certified alloy. It's not, and they shouldn't have expectation of getting the same price Rotometals is getting for a known composition. I'm not paying $2.50-3.50 for your melted down ballast from your boat. Although it is likely an antimony lead alloy, it's not worth it. It's worth $1.50ish of my money. You might pay more, I won't...

[AxiVessel]

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