Listing By State, Is It Hard For You To Aquire WW Lead??

[Hank10]

No problem so far, usually get them free.
H10

[cumminsnut76]

Missouri
not doing to bad here. Most people have somebody that comes and gets them but they are available if you build up a relationship with the place. Have my eye on a 30 gallon barrel full hope i get them.

[RugerBob]

Maine- I live in the southern part and have yet to get a tire shop to part with any WWs. Even offering to pay. Local scrap yard said they would sell some. I take some copper in on occasion.

Most of my WWs have come from NY as my Dad lives there and has a few places he gets it from. To bad its 10 hours away. So, in return I usually send him a 1000 or so cast 45s.

[Greenhorn44]

So The average in georgia is about 55 dollars a 5 gallon bucket.

[mold maker]

About every couple months, I show up at lunch time with a couple Papa Johns Pizzas. I go by every week and pick up what's available.
Now there are no stems and junk in the bucket, that the younger fellows even lift in my truck.
4 pizzas ($40.) usually get me 5-6 hundred lbs of weights from 2 shops.
I too am finding lots more iron and zinc weights in the mix. On the up side the stick on lead is also on the increase.
Ya better get all you can, before they become extinct. It is happening here in NC.

[dagger dog]

Indiana is A OK on lead weights so far, I am an auto mechanic 30+ years I save all the culls and stock pile , the good ones we reuse when balancing.

One trend I have noticed in recent years, most new vehicles are coming with zinc or steel wheel weights ' the battery cable ends are steel and the replacment types of cable ends which used to be lead are zinc, check out the replacment battery cable ends at Wally World, they are either zinc or steel no more lead.

Get it while you can!

[Blammer]

NC,

no problems I get 3-4 buckets free every couple of months and then of course I have the lead foundry close buy if I want to get some good stuff.

[wallenba]

Gave up talking to tire shops (suburban Detroit area), I just try to find the best deals from vendors.

[acl864]

So far so good for me in NC. I've only been looking for about 6 months. I've got about 150 lbs. smelted into ingots so far and all free. I've made some egg sinkers and some bullets for the contributors though.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I am a newbie and haven't smelted any yet.
but, I have started swaging some bullets with soft lead core.

I was out searching for WW lead and pure Lead yesterday.
I brought a handfull of swaged bullets to show the
tire shop/auto repair shop/junk yard managers.
this is a very conservative area and thought it might help.

after about 10 stops in four towns, I ended up with 3.5 buckets of wheel weights.
(one place 2 buckets $10 each)(other place 1 bucket $25)(last place 0.5 bucket free).
I also got 100 lbs plumbers lead...paid 30 cents a LB for that.

I did learn many things !

There is plenty of competition out there.
two places I stopped at were being serviced by a guy who casts scuba weights.
two other places are serviced by a Tractor pull guy for tractor weights.
Also, timing, in regard to knowing when the vendor who sells them the
new wheel weights shows up, because they usually offer paid recycling and
you gotta beat their price too (6 cents a lb...no big deal)

Showing them the bullets, and "NOT" asking for free lead
was the way to go, I think I got more lead at what I think was a better
price, because these were being recycled into Ammunition
and not into cash for beer.
(I was actually turned away from two tire shops when I
asked for free lead, I never even got a chance to offer
to pay for it...I'll wait a year or so before I try those places again)

Lastly, this is Minnesota. I guess there is a new state law, that all state, county, and city vehicles from police squad cars to school buses to snow plows to whatever, can have no Lead in the wheel weights.
Jon

[AviatorTroy]

No problems yet, I usually have to ask around but I just keep going to tire shops until I get one to give some away. Depends on who's working that day is all I can guess, some give them up and then next time no, others I've gotten no from and then next time they don't care. And I simply haven't had to ever pay yet. I would, but I keep being able to find someone who will just give them away.

Some thoughts.

1. Sometimes I ask and they ask what I'm doing with them and I'm always honest, I tell them I'm a recreational shooter and I can make ammo for my rare firearms with the WW that I cannot buy ammo for. More often than not the awnser is "Oh that's really cool! Have at it!"

2. Contrary to what others have said on this forum, I have found that the mom and pop places tend to try to get as much money for every little thing they can, and DEFINATLY won't give anything away for free, at least around here.

The major chains usually have a contract with a scrapper, but if they don't, or if you catch a guy that doesn't give a ****, then that's your best bet for freebies, especially if you walk in there with an empty bucket and a pizza or a 12 pack of Cokes.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

As stated above, Califunnyia has banned WW.

My son runs a store for a large tire retailer down there and as of the first of the year all unopened boxes of WW were picked up, put on pallets and shipped to stores out of Cal.

Part boxes went to the recyclers. Well most of them.

I have a small local gas station that lets me have the few they get, but at my age, I just might have enough to get me through.

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[RugerFan]

Not much problem in S. Georgia. Usually get them for free. I found I have better luck at tire stores if I ask for small amounts. When I say "I'll take all ya got" I end up with nothing. When I say "Oh just a few pounds" They suddenly feel more generous and I'll leave with 10 - 20 lbs which is better than nothing of course.

[Cerberus]

No problem in Central Florida. I can get them for the asking at individual shops, chain shops are sending them back to the place they buy them to be melted and for a credit towards the next order. I scrounge around the chain stores when closed and find enough around to fill a 3lb coffee can every few days.

[hoosierlogger]

INDIANA,

I dont have any problems at my buddys shop. He gives them to me for free. When he runs low on .38 boolits and I take him more. Now the other tire shops are another story. There are no WW to be had there. They all have a guy that comes and gets them already. I also have a junkyard down the road and have been successful at getting WW off of him. The owner is a drunk and the only time he is willing to deal on anything is if he is trashed. I could probably get a bucket full for a case of Coors light.

[Jon]

Maine- I live in the southern part and have yet to get a tire shop to part with any WWs. Even offering to pay. Local scrap yard said they would sell some. I take some copper in on occasion.

Most of my WWs have come from NY as my Dad lives there and has a few places he gets it from. To bad its 10 hours away. So, in return I usually send him a 1000 or so cast 45s.

I have a hard time finding any as well. I've resorted to berm mining at the range.

[Dframe]

Difficult here. Most are under some sort of contractural agreement to sell ONLY to battery companies.

[Cowboy T]

Got a couple buddies in Virginia. They tell me that it's gotten a lot harder out there after Obama's election. Apparently everyone's hittin' up the tire places now.

And it's already been stated what California's like....

[kentuckycajun]

S. Louisiana is a gold mine if you do a little hunting for'em. The major chains (Goodyear, Uniroyal, Sears, Wal-Mart, etc.) all recycle and are tightwads, even though a few will smuggle you a small amount. Most of the car dealerships & smaller tire shops are real generous. A lot of them already have people picking them up for fishing weights (or whatever), but it's not that hard to find connections. I just started looking about 1 1/2 months ago and I've already got over 1000 lbs. Haven't heard anything from any of the places about bans on lead WW in the near future. LA is a very conservative state with lots of "good ole boys" who would buck the liberals' environmental laws just out of general principle anyway - especially Obama's! (we don't like being told what we can or can't do)

[izzyjoe]

arkansas, i've got quite a few tire shops in my town, some of them will give them up some are already taken. but like it been said i ask for small amouts and take what's given. i'm not greedy so i take what i can get. if they say somebody already getting them i ask for just a few, some say ok. so i try to pick the big ones and get a big heap'n handful. i've only have one 5g bucket full, but i'd like one more. but i have about 250- 300lb. of pure lead so i think i have enough for a few years, but i still look for more. it dose'nt hurt to have more. what i wonder is if they banned lead what will they do with all of it, but the scrap price of lead has gone up to about .90 a lb. so most place can make more money if they scrap it themself's. if i'm scroun'g fer ww and somebody asks me what the scrap price is i reply i don't know i don't take them for scrap i use them.