Unable to get any wheel weights

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Ask your junk dealer if he'd be willing to sell 1000+ lbs. Might be enough to make him bite if he is figuring you only want <100 lbs.

[Hodagtrapper]

Just had a guy answer my Craigslist ad yesterday with 225lbs of 1" clean lead pipe. He drove 45 miles to bring it to me and I paid .71 cents a pound!

Chris

[bruce drake]

My gunclub rebermed the rifle and pistol ranges last spring so my handy source of lead has been buried under a lot of fill so I broke down and bought some lead over Ebay but I have bought from Rotomoetals in the past and recommend them as well.

[imashooter2]

Range scrap is the new WW. If you have an indoor range nearby, inquire within.

[BattleRife]

I my area here in north east pa,it's impossible to get wheel weights..
Where is a good place to purchase alloy for
Cast bullets..our local junk dealer refuses to sell any lead.. Bastard..

Pennsylvania is the center of the lead universe, if you are interested in buying new material. A company I used to work for used Grant Mfg & Alloying in Altoona quite a bit. You'll probably have to get a couple of hundred pounds, minimum.

[gwpercle]

For soft lead ... Get to know building contractor(s) who does renovations on old homes ...
lots of lead used in them ... Shower pans , Roof Jacks and Wall flashing , Leave him your phone # and tell him you will take it off the job site for him . They have trouble disposing of lead ... if you can use it Win-Win .
New Construction ...there was a time when all X-Ray rooms were lined with lead under the sheet rock , lots of scrap left over during construction ... modern X-Ray may be different .
Medical and Dental offices having renovation work ... a lot of time these walls get demolished ... all that sheet lead is now scrap ...ask the contractor to call you .
Gary

[Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang]

It is one of the primary metals used extensively in our society yesterday, today, and tomorrow and always will be, even though the stupid tree kissers and owl huggers try to get it banned.

I hugged an owl once, true story

[Rickf1985]

Just had a guy answer my Craigslist ad yesterday with 225lbs of 1" clean lead pipe. He drove 45 miles to bring it to me and I paid .71 cents a pound!

Chris

I hope you bought him lunch/dinner and beer!!!

[Hodagtrapper]

I hope you bought him lunch/dinner and beer!!!

He promised more lead in the future and I found out he started a Chimney Sweep business and will clean my chimney this coming spring.

Chris

[inspector_17]

Besides SS check the vendors out also.

[pacomdiver]

and dont forget while on trips, and your waiting in the rest area parking lot waiting for the woman to go potty and while walking the dog, look on the ground for lead, my last trip to virginia in september, i got just under a pound from 4 rest area stops, lots were the square stick on ones (soft lead) and they were pressed into the blacktop, i walked around with the dog and pryed them out with a screwdriver

[RogerDat]

Tire shops that sell used tires are generally a better bet. Corporate tire stores don't sell wheel weights to the public. Factory new cars don't have lead WW's on the rims. Since they can't be sold in some states or other countries the manufacturer uses non-lead for the new cars. This means it is when a car gets its second set of tires it may have lead WW's, in short an older car. Shops that sell used tires are also more likely to see older cars than say a dealer or the big tire mega center. Those older cars are more likely to have lead WW's and the private shops are more likely to sell to an individual.

If you live in a state that bans lead WW's give it up. WW's are not likely to be a source for you unless you find a bunch sitting in a barn.

Best prices for quality in ready made ingots are most likely to be found in our S&S section. People here generally know what they have and are using it themselves. FleaBay is more of a roll of the dice.

Consider being consistent in checking second hand and thrift stores for pewter items. Not only is it a useful alloy for our casting it has a fairly high selling price. A good garage sale score on a box of pewter items can be swapped for lead or sold to purchase it. Also watch for partial rolls of solder at garage sales. Not uncommon to find them in a $5 toolbox of "junk" and be able to get just the solder for 50 cents.

If just starting out casting I would suggest not getting bogged down in WW's but to consider figuring out what you wish to cast for, then what alloy mix would work for that and put a WTB (wanted to buy) ad in the Swapping and Selling forum. Or buy from Rotometals. That way you will know your alloy is good for your intended use allowing you to focus on your casting and other steps to making completed ammo.

WW's were just a means to an end chosen because they were very common at one time. Not as common any more, better to look for the soft lead used in old roofs, plumbing, xray wall shielding and then purchase or scrounge for alloy to add to that soft lead.

ISO containers are not something I have seen often but the ones I have found were near the same hardness as COWW's

Worth noting scrap prices are high right now. Lead at yard that was $1 a pound is now $1.25 and has no problem moving it by hundreds or thousands of pounds. If you can score some soft lead cheaper from construction or other sources it does help offset the stuff you purchase commercially or in S&S.

WW's at 50% lead yield need to be less than 65 cents a pound to not cost more than buying here without all that work of sorting. At 50 cents a pound for the bucket 50% yield is costing you a buck a pound for the lead. May do as well from a scrap yard for lead that isn't as much work to process.

Spring loaded prick punch or thumbnail will give you an idea of scrap hardness. Can spot dead soft probably plain lead, can't tell what is in the alloy that makes it harder than plain unless the form gives you an idea of the use. I bought a 400# flywheel because it was harder than lead and broke with a grainy structure. Melted with a torch too low to be zinc. Turned out to have 4% antimony. May have paid a bit much for it, but got a deal on some soft lead so it sort of balanced out.

[jonp]

I my area here in north east pa,it's impossible to get wheel weights..
Where is a good place to purchase alloy for
Cast bullets..our local junk dealer refuses to sell any lead.. Bastard..

I'll tell you what's strange. I stopped at a local place and asked about wheelweights and lead. The lady said they didn't sell. A month or so later the wife stopped as she was going by and bought half a bucket full of WW and some lead pipe.

[jonp]

Just had a guy answer my Craigslist ad yesterday with 225lbs of 1" clean lead pipe. He drove 45 miles to bring it to me and I paid .71 cents a pound!

Chris

I'd have paid his gas, too

[lightman]

Roger makes a few good points. Wheelweight alloy covers most of our casting needs and it was plentiful and cheap at one time. Its still available in some areas, not so much in other areas. You just have to look for it. A friend of a friend brought me a nearly full bucket a few weeks ago. They were 100% lead when I sorted them. A year ago another friend dropped off a bucket of old weights that ware also 100% lead. I have the promise from a few other people promising weights. Some of them will come through, and some of them won't.

[fayettefatts]

Have to keep looking. I stopped at a tire shop that does mainly truck and heavy equipment tires a couple days ago. Asked if they had any scrap wheel weights. Got a 5 gallon bucket full free. Didn't weigh them but I guess close to 100 lb and probably 70-80% lead. Bucket was outside and broken open with lots of dirt, rust leaves etc. so lot of work to clean/sort but still worth the time & effort for me.

[1903.colt]

I have two yards I BUY from . My advice is start the conversation with I would like to buy some lead if not to much bother when you have time . The know the lead market price have cash last lead I bought 800 pounds for .75 a pound clean heavy . This will render close to 800 pounds . My advice who ever were ever start the conversation with I would like to BUY your lead if not to much of a hassle pay with cash don't ask for change when you give the guy out back helping you 5 bucks you will find lots of lead .

[Chaparral66]

At a casting class in October one of the guys has a box full of "scraps" from one of the boolit swaging companies. I guess they only swage from new alloys and don't fool around with all the bits that don't make it into the boolit.

[white eagle]

check here

The Captain
Smelting reclaimed wheel weights and range lead into ingots, since 2007.

down in vendors on this site

[ulav8r]

Had a pulled pork salad for lunch today, about 45 miles from home. Drank a coke and took one to go. Thanks to an enlarged prostate there was no way I could make it with a dry seat. Pulled over on the side of the freeway. As I went around the back of the truck to get between the doors to keep from exposing myself I looked down and spied a partial wheel weight. After taking care of more urgent business, I picked up the wheel weight, it appeared to be just over half of a 3 ounce LEAD wheel weight. Nice bonus for the forced stop.