”We know they are lying, they know they are lying, they know we know they are lying, we know they know we know they are lying, yet they are still lying.” –Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
My Straight Shooters thread:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...raight-shooter
The Pewter Pictures and Hallmarks thread:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...-and-hallmarks
My neighbor is a roofer so I asked him about getting the lead he removes from roofs.
A few days later I found a pile of lead at my gate.
Then a few weeks later, another pile.
After a couple of more I told him "I'm good!"
It is mostly pure lead.
I cut out the solder joints before smelting, then smelt the solder joints into separate ingots.
Perhaps go to some roofing outfits and see how that works for you.
Good luck to you.
1A - 2A = -1A
You can never have too much lead!!!!!
Lead is great trading stock, lead is easy to sell on forums where people cast boolits.
Get a bi-lingual friend to write down that you will pay cash or beer for lead [in Spanish and English], offer 2x what the scrap yards pay (I pay .50˘ a pound for pure), and hand it out to the roofing crews and leave cards at the roofing supply shops
I get a lot of pure from scrapers that get cast-iron pipes
and of course the holly grail is linotype/monotype from print stores
Where in S.C. are you, OP? I just drove down to Mount Pleasant from VA yesterday and would have happily brought you a “starter supply” gratis if you’re a newbie! Drop me a PM if you are in the Charleston area and I’ll see about bringing you some of my excess next time I come. I hate to see the new guys get frustrated with some of the hoops you have to jump through these days. I fear the days of cheap and abundant lead from old fashioned COWWs are about done.
Froggie
"It aint easy being green!"
Pay special attention to any metal recycling outfits near hospitals. They will occasionally (maybe a couple times a year) have lead sheeting from X-ray room walls. That is the good stuff, nearly 100% pure, and melts clean often with no dross to be skimmed off. It doesn't absorb radiation either.
I built boolit traps for all my guns so I recycle everything I shoot. But, I cast for friends and don't get that lead back so the search goes on.
Sometimes you can find good deals on Craigslist or offer up
A vote for anyone other then the conservative candidates is a vote for the liberal candidates.
Exactly what I do. Also, my tire dealer will give me a bucket of wheelweights for free, about once a year. It helps that I am a steady customer of his. I tell everyone I know that I mold my own bullets, and have received free chunks of lead every now and then. Be prepared to smelt down any scrap lead, but don't use your molding pot to do that; it will get coated with gunk. Rusty muffin tins are good molds for clean lead. There are members/vendors here that sell lead by the box for a reasonable price.
Wayne
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger - or else it gives you a bad rash.
Venison is free-range, organic, non-GMO and gluten-free
We have around here a grocery chain that's called Hy Vee a once a week they publish a for sale and wanted circular. I just put in a lead wanted ad in there and got all kinds of responses. I now have more lead than I'll probably will ever need. Tere's still plenty of lead out there. It doesn't have to ww as you can harden up pure lead. Good luck
I would say that by this time of day, the OP has had a chance to make the rounds and has the first day of a long term quest behind him. I hope he did not get "skunked" but he would not be the first or the last to have a day like that. It would be a positive factor if he does some up with some "treasure" to reward his efforts. Mostly, he will have a better idea what to expect the next time and will follow up on the ones that show promise. There are some good photos of lead "in the wild" so he will have a reasonable idea what he is looking for at the scrap yards and in out of the way places. This is be beginning of a life time hobby that has surprises and rewards and an occasional "aw shucks" when you end up buying something that is someone else's trash. That is when you turn junk into tractor or tiller weights or just a lead slab to hammer on.
So how did the first adventure go?
Well, OP... what's the report? Did you score or crap out? What is the state of wheel weight searching in the state of South Carolina?
Froggie
"It aint easy being green!"
For me it just isnt worth the gas & time to source ww at tire shops. If they sell to you, the buckets will be lucky to have 50% usable metal. If you go, yes gloves & buckets, they like to keep theirs & the ww can be filthy as well as sharp objects. They throw all kinds of stuff in those buckets. I wouldnt give more than 50c per & thats if you can sort for lead v steel or zinc. Otherwise buying ingots in the swap & sell is a far better bet even at $1.50 per # delivered.
EVERY GOOD SHOOTER NEEDS TO BE A HANDLOADER.
NRA Cert. Inst. Met. Reloading & Basic Pistol
MY buddy is a super for a construction firm & did the same thing, asked one of his roofers what they do with lead shtg removed. After about 1200# worth, he stopped taking it.
EVERY GOOD SHOOTER NEEDS TO BE A HANDLOADER.
NRA Cert. Inst. Met. Reloading & Basic Pistol
Check with local plumbers for sheet lead removed from houses and contractors. Also pass the word on to friends and you may be surprised. I had a lady who heard I was looking and called and told me her husband was a fisherman and did I want his fishing weight lead. 200 pounds of wheel weights.
My idea is that the wheel weights I accumulated about 9 years ago and the range scrap I continue to grab at my range every time i shoot will all be turned to ingots as time allows and that is my stash for when/if we can no longer buy cast boolits or even metal from a supplier. I pray that day never comes of course. I do look forward to the casting process some day but suspect I’ll wait until the kids are older and I have more free time. I went on a year-long journey almost a decade back hitting every tire shop I could and scored about 20 5-gallon buckets of wheel weights. I figure if I net 1500-2000 pounds from that I’d be pretty happy.
As a civil engineering construction inspector for over 40 years most of my lead came from the side of the roads I worked on. The word spread to the workers I saved wheel weights and they would keep an eye out for me. Railroad crossings , intersections, and accident sights around guardrails usually had a few.
Many good suggestions already have been made, however, there are still many places left if you look.
Slim
JUST GOTTA LOVE THIS JOINT.
Looks like we will not get a report from the OP. Wonder if he gave up, or got so much stuff he is busy sorting and smelting it? LOL
Don Verna
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |