Lead source

[pcmacd]

I've a lifetime supply of lead ingots, over 1200#, but that is MY lifetime supply.

I've a friend interested in casting his own, but nowadays I have no idea the best places to look for lead salvage.

I'm sure this subject has been beaten to death here, but any suggestions would be welcome.

[dtknowles]

Shooting ranges and scrap yards. If you want salvage, S&S here if you want ready to cast ingredients.

Tim

[BJung]

Shooting ranges or members of shooting clubs that have access to their range

[bools-eye]

I'm not sure if this is peculiar to New York, but very few of the many scrap yards I have contacted have lead, and if they do, they are asking prices that make it worth just buying virgin metal from Rotometals. Ranges are a good source, if you are the first one to lay claim. I had a good source until the range admins saw the price the scrap yards around here were getting, decided they'd rather salvage it, and that dried up right away.

However, I have had excellent luck on craigslist, to the point I've nearly built up my own "lifetime supply". Searching "lead" in the "for sale" listings gives you many, many posts for crystal glasses, old batteries, etc., but if you are persistent, actual decent metal can be found. The map feature lets you select the search area easily to catch any listing within your maximum travel distance. Cast that net wide. It takes patience. I've seen lots of scuba and fishing weights of mystery metal going for nearly $3/lb, old estates or casters getting out of the hobby selling ingots for well over $2/lb, and holding firm (and again, as far as I'm concerned, mystery metal -- I don't trust some stranger's ingot not to have a random zinc wheel weight in there, for instance).

Over the course of the last two years, checking a saved craigslist search twice a month or so, I have manged to get about 800 pounds of (as best as I can tell) pure lead. I'll list the exact prices for reference, but again, this may be particular to NY, so take it with a grain of salt, and comparison to the crazy prices I mentioned above.

Scrap yard lead roof sheeting and virgin ingots: $1.67/lb
New, surplus lead roof sheeting: $1.83/lb
X-Ray room salvage sheeting: $1.00/lb

Good luck to your friend. Having a solid stash of bullet metal is one of my favorite warm-fuzzy feelings.

[charlie b]

Sources around here are non-existent or are already contracted. The only ones I know salvaging are going into Mexico for it.

I go to Rotometals for my stuff too, but, shooting rifles I don't use that much. Maybe 100lb a year.

[Sasquatch-1]

I belong to a private gun club. We have a pistol range that is more lead than it is backstop filler. I can take a screen, a bucket and a rake and recover half a 5-gallon bucket in about 20 minutes. Find and join a club that allows mining the berm.

[lightman]

Yeah, this has been discussed before. But what hasn't? It never hurts to go back and review.

The first and biggest thing is what I call "networking". Tell your Family, Friends, co-workers, ect that you're looking for lead. The more eyes looking the better.
You can buy it. Scrap yards, (Many won't sell to the public but a few will), RotoMetals, a few bullet companies will sell it. Check Craigslist, Facebook Market Place (someone had ingots for sale last week $1 a pound) or any local swap shops. Check the Swapping and Selling thread on this forum, Tire Shops ( start with the one you do business with), Talk with local plumbers, talk with local roofers, check with any local scrappers ( the guys with lots of junk appliances in their yards), talk with your local telephone man about cable sheathing or splice covers, talk with anyone that you know at a local hospital about Isotope Containers. Place want to buy ads on your local Facebook page, Craigs list, the bulletin board at your range or club, local swap shops, ect.
You may be able to mine it from the backstop or bullet trap at your range.

Over the years I have scored lead from all of the places I listed above. Good Luck!

[crackers]

The backstop of the twenty-five yard range - leftmost lane.

[jonp]

There are a couple of people on here that sell them and if you look up at the banner Rotometals is right there. The days of stopping at the local tire shop are coming to an end.

[openbook]

I've taken quite a few buckets of scrap weights from tire shops and never been asked to pay. Some of them thanked me for taking em. Independent shops are more likely to have a pile of them somewhere and "auto" shops are less utilized than "tire" shops. The buckets are usually half or more iron with a little bit of zinc and 25-30% lead. Yes it takes two to three hours to sort through a bucket with dikes, if it's worth 45 lbs of free lead to your friend then I can recommend it. It's satisfying to melt them all down at the end though the sorting gets old.

I've heard going to tractor shops is a great improvement because they tend to use larger weights and they tend to be lead more than iron etc. Haven't tried it yet.

[GregLaROCHE]

I’ve got a lot of ingots that will last me a while. I collected from my club's indoor range. The other day I was offered more, because they want to get rid of it. There are big piles that have been swept up from the cement floor. Maybe I’ll go and get half a ton to help them get rid of it. Over here, everyone is really scared about lead and no body want’s to melt it down.

[reddog81]

Where ever you can find it. Craigslist, armslist, friends in construction/demolition or family who work with fleet vehicles and could source wheel weights. That's how I get mine.

I probably have about 1,200 pounds also. That's about a 3 or 4 year supply for me. I look online a few times per month at craigslist and armslist occasionally.

[dondiego]

Talk to the roofers in your area. They often encounter lead on roof penetrations and sell them for scrap.

[jimb16]

1200#s? That might last me a year or two. I cast for 24 different calibers and as a skeet shooter, I make my own shot. Every time I make shot I use 150# of lead. I seem to go through an awful lot of that stuff. I try to keep at least 1500#s minimum. When I get that low, I go hunting....

[slim1836]

If your live in the country, check with the water co-ops. They use lead washers of pure lead in their chlorine bottle connections. The workers usually throw them on the ground as they must use a new one each time hooking up a new bottle. I've had them set them outside the fenced in area by a post for me to haul off.

I can mine the berms at our private range anytime if no one is using it also.

Slim

[fredj338]

I think shooting berms are the best bet today for free alloy. WW are pretty much gone, but berm are full of bullets. I have a couple outdoor ranges I shoot where I can mine all I want as long as I put the berm dirt back in place. Depending on what you pick out, it can be 99% useable alloy.

[gwpercle]

Here are the places I have found lead but I live in Louisiana and we are very backward .
Indoor shooting ranges
Metal scrap yards .
Independant -local used tire "shops" not national chains or brand names but the small one or two man operation ... they will sell you wheel weights they can't reuse .
Bring a cold six-pack (or two) of beer near closing time and they will enjoy and look forward to your visits .
Construction sites ... sometimes still used , lead sheathing for flashing and X-Ray protection can still be found ... More so in older houses being demolished ... Get to know some building contractors or construction workers ...

That's all I have ,
Gary

[35 Rem]

Good news for casters in Florida if you could get in contact with the people who are removing all the lead pipes from these houses. :)



https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/in-a-first-epa-survey-puts-a-number-on-lead-pipes-around-us/ar-AA19ttdC?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=ca29761629dc47c5bee6f44e3bca0782&ei=12

[MightyThor]

Good news for casters in Florida if you could get in contact with the people who are removing all the lead pipes from these houses. :)



https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/in-a-first-epa-survey-puts-a-number-on-lead-pipes-around-us/ar-AA19ttdC?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=ca29761629dc47c5bee6f44e3bca0782&ei=12

This is only part joke. While supply lines have not been lead for a long long time, drain pipes, particularly for tubs, toilets and larger drains in old homes have a fair chance of having lead sections. In particular, dirt traps under a tub were used well into the modern day. Ask a plumber friend to hang onto some for you. I have salvaged several pounds from my own rentals. And yes, they will be gross and disgusting, wear gloves if you are squemish

[dondiego]

This is only part joke. While supply lines have not been lead for a long long time, drain pipes, particularly for tubs, toilets and larger drains in old homes have a fair chance of having lead sections. In particular, dirt traps under a tub were used well into the modern day. Ask a plumber friend to hang onto some for you. I have salvaged several pounds from my own rentals. And yes, they will be gross and disgusting, wear gloves if you are squemish

That is good lead though. Especially for ML projectiles...

[35 Rem]

This is only part joke. While supply lines have not been lead for a long long time, drain pipes, particularly for tubs, toilets and larger drains in old homes have a fair chance of having lead sections. In particular, dirt traps under a tub were used well into the modern day. Ask a plumber friend to hang onto some for you. I have salvaged several pounds from my own rentals. And yes, they will be gross and disgusting, wear gloves if you are squemish

Yeah, I have something like 25 or 30 lbs of lead plumbing that I got within the last 10 or 12 years at a local scrap yard. I was amazed to find it as I would have thought lead water pipes would have long since been gone.

[Sasquatch-1]

A tiny bit off subject, but I was watching a historic video on post WW2 telephone systems and the supply chain associated with it. I was sitting there drooling on my adult bib watching all the lead sheathed telephone cable being manufactured.