Lead Buy

[lead4me]

I'm new to this site and I must say "I'm Hooked" friend at work got me interested in this casting thing as a way to save a little money & shoot a lot more.
Wife is not real crazy about it though as I've just purchased a L-N-L AP couple sets of dies, tumbler 3000 LP primers ect... have made my ingot molds and pot got an old turkey fryer, made my rounds and have 3 -5gal buckets wheel weights 10.00 each and found 400Lbs of lead in back of an old machine as a counter weight "FREE"
Don't have a boolit mold yet but waiting on a group buy. This saving money is getting kind of expensive

Question is I have a contact that has a Fork lift counter weight he wants to sell, I'm going to see it tomorrow. He says it is 400+ Lbs and is asking 300.00 for it. I ask him to measure it and he called and said it is 3' x 3' x 3". Does 400 Lbs sound right to you guys?? The small weights I pulled from the machine were 3"x4.5"x7" and they were 35+/- seems like this chunk "should" weigh more like 1200Lbs.

Its an hour drive and my buddy and I can wrestle 400Lbs into the truck but 1200Lbs will mean more friends an a different truck (Ford Ranger)

Thanks in advance and what a awesome site learning a lot. Can't wait to start making boolits.

[lwknight]

If you can get it for #300.00 and you think its more than 400 pounds then its a good deal but not exactly a steal because you will work your tail off to deal with it.
If its really 1200 pounds then its a steal even if you have to ruin a couple saw blades to get it cut into workable sizes.
Anytime you can get lead for about $1.00 per pound you will not get hurt too much. But do consider the work involved in dealing with it.

[Lloyd Smale]

400 seems a bit light for a chuck that big to me. Make darned sure its actually lead first. Many counter weights were cast iron.

[Andy_P]

Something's not right here.

A cubic foot of lead weighs about 780 lbs, so that piece should weigh about 1600 lbs if it's lead. Even iron weighs about 480 lbs/cubic ft, so if it is iron, it would weigh almost 1100 lbs. A 400 lb forklift counterweight isn't much of a counterweight, so it could be that it's much heavier than he thinks.

Buy it! It's easy to see if it's lead by chipping at it with a chisel, and if it turns out not to be lead, make sure you have an understanding with the seller for a refund. The biggest issue is moving and cutting it into manageable sized pieces - best to cut it where it is, into 3"X3"X3' bars for example - they'd still each weigh almost 140 lbs!

[lead4me]

Thanks for the reply's, I did so more searching online and found a lead calculator & if it is lead it should weigh in around 1600Lbs. Ouch! my Ranger can't haul it all, not in one trip anyway!! Might have too leave some there. Will let you know, will need to get rid of some, no way I can shoot that much lead.

[7of7]

... no way I can shoot that much lead.

You'd be surprised how much lead you can shoot...LOL

[dragonrider]

"save a little money".............HUH?????????
Once you start casting you will be amazed at how much lead you will go through. Even if you need to make three trips,,,,,,GET IT ALL

Oh and welcome to the site.

[BSkerj]

You will soon find out that 1600 lbs of lead is not enough. Kind of like gold fever...the more you have the more you think you will need. I am sure someone here may have a mould that you may need down the road and would be interested in trading. I'd keep it all..it is as good as gold on this site ! And welcome to the madness.

[sqlbullet]

I agree with the above comments. 1600 lbs will not go nearly as far as you think.

I have 700 lbs on my bench, 1300 lbs under my bench, and 400 lbs waiting to be transformed into ingots. I am picking up another 1000 lbs today or tomorrow.

I keep about one ton on hand, and sell locally anything over that. My shooting hobby is very much 'free' at this point.

[RayinNH]

Rent a U-Haul utility trailer and pull it home...Ray