Sadly I do not have a life time supply of pure lead or lead alloy. If I only cast for one caliber I might have a life time supply. But If I only casted for one caliber my quality of life would suffer.
No, What I Have Won't Last
Yes, I Have Enough to Make It to the Other Side
I Just Don't Know
I Hoard for the Sake of Hoarding Itself
Sadly I do not have a life time supply of pure lead or lead alloy. If I only cast for one caliber I might have a life time supply. But If I only casted for one caliber my quality of life would suffer.
Last edited by Cowhide; 06-17-2021 at 10:42 PM. Reason: a typo
I have scavenged range salvage for many years and scrounged lead of all types anywhere I could. About five years ago, the wife and I bought this place where I can shoot, so though I have a pretty large stash, nearly all of it is going into a berm on land I own. I won't bother mining it as long as I have a good supply unless I sell this place, and I may not run out before the dirt nap and all of it will stay for the next owner, but it is comforting to know it's not going anywhere.
The range I am still a member of has no problems with me scrounging off the pistol berm and I could a five gallon bucket in a few minutes every trip. It's closed for a year while it's renovated, and part of that was lead removal, so it may take a while for them to build that quantity up again. I RSO out there now and then, but don't shoot on it much anymore.
There was a little stae run unsupervised range about 60 miles from me they closed down a couple of years ago. I drove out there about a year ago and they hadn't done anything to it except remove the benches and let it grow over. It's marked to stay out, but I could go in and mine lead no problem, there is a surprising amount on that berm, just not worth the trouble to me of driving that far and doing all that work.
When I lived in Topeka, the big range I was a member of there contracted to have the lead removed from their pistol range. It was like a big mining operation. One evening I looked at it, all the salvaged lead was in these big bags, each of which looked to me like it held a couple of 55 gallon drums full. I seem to remember more than a dozen of these bags on the ground at the time.
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I think I might. I bought 2 55gal' drums of wheelweights a bunch of years ago, 1500#, 1800#, I don't remember the weight. I'm just starting to use it and I'm not quite 70, so I think I have enough.
For a long time I thought I had more than enough, between scrounging and non-casting buddies giving me lead, I pretty much slowed down the hunt to a crawl.
Then I started loading a few rounds for a buddy with some very cool old English rifles. Then he kept pulling more out of the safe. And buying more cool old rifles(he's a doctor, he can afford such trifles).
Well, we shoot together and I typically shoot half of all the ammo I load for his rifles.
And I'm up to 50+ different calibers I'm casting/reloading for instead of the measly 10 or 15 for myself.
And now I'm pretty sure I don't have enough lead to last me.
Bummer.
Back on the hunt for more lead so I can load for the newest to the flock, a 280 Ross.
Last edited by 15meter; 06-23-2021 at 02:32 PM.
This is my first post. I just started to get into casting, hence the new member status here, and i reached out to 4 tire garages local to me. Acquired approximately 900# of wheel weights. After hand sorting that lot, I was able to scrap the zinc/iron and steel and keep approximately 420# of lead. So far that cost me only $80. So once melted down i'm hoping to net around 350# which works out to 22 cents a lb. Not a bad haul.
Good job, and welcome to your new obsessions!
"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government..... When the people fear their government there is tyranny, when the government fears the people, there is liberty." Thomas Jefferson
Thanks. I read a lot online here and other sites as well as a ton of youtube videos to make sure i was well informed before starting. did three sessions and melting down only 50# worth of lead. Did my first casting session last night with my MP 359-125 mold and was very happy with it's performance. My lead wasn't quite hot enough. i had it set to 720 but noticed the HP wasn't filling in well enough at the tip so i'm going to up the temp to around 750-760 and check the results.
That’s what i run my PID at 750’ and I add the sprue back to the pot so as to not lose temp. Also keep ingots hot at edge of rim of 4-20 pot.
Haven’t tapped into my big box of ingots yet still have 2000# in there. Been working on the excess on my casting table for past 3 weeks making 200 grain lee tc boolits for a 45 ACP and some 300 gr for the 45-70.
Will have to sort and melt my latest bucket of ww. Soon but it getting to hot now in La. with the humidity and skeeters so may be this fall for replacement.
"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government..... When the people fear their government there is tyranny, when the government fears the people, there is liberty." Thomas Jefferson
I have a buddy that managed to scavenge 1200# of sheet lead. So we trade & along with the 1200# or so I have of varied alloys, I am set for at least 10y of shooting at 9-10K rds a year.
EVERY GOOD SHOOTER NEEDS TO BE A HANDLOADER.
NRA Cert. Inst. Met. Reloading & Basic Pistol
I think I can last a lifetime with what I have. 2 milk crates, one WW, one soft. Soft is COWW + known soft. Plus another 100+ lbs. of soft lead pipe or old stuff from Dad. Oh, yeah, lots of other alloy, like pewter, monotype and solder.
One of my father's favorite statements: "If I say a chicken dips snuff, look under his wing for the snuffbox" How I was raised, who I am.
I keep finding huge stashes of lead all over but find myself helping out fellow casters in need so my supplies rise and fall constantly. But I want to keep at minimum 200lb of Lino/foundry/mono and 4-500lb of pure PB.
I bought a 55 gallon drum of linotype years back, not that I needed more lead.
There are many printer type collector pieces in the lot, including cast artwork, big headline blocks.
one of these days I'll actually sort through it all, conserving the best, using the text casts.
Salvaging old Marlins is not a pasttime...it's a passion
Not sure how long I will last so maybe. I can mine my backstop so it might last long enough.
Yes, I feel confident that I have enough to tide me over.
At 68, I have settled in on just a couple of alloys to do all my shooting. I intend to alloy as much as possible, this winter - then reassess the Lifetime Supply question.
I have enough metal & flux to really make a mess!
-Tom
Now,
I retired from the phone company with a lifetime supply. Since then I have been given lots of lead from an X-RAY room. If I was given anymore lead I wouldn't have a place to put it.
A GUN THAT'S COCKED AND UNLOADED AIN'T GOOD FOR NUTHIN'........... ROOSTER COGBURN
I dunno. How much does someone need who is 74 years old?
Jim
A bittersweet post, but I now have a lifetime supply. 2 months and one week ago a dear friend in poor health and I agreed on a price for his lead supply. Not including the 7 22 lb Linotype bars I’d taken the last day we met, he estimated he had 400 pounds of lead ingots, hard and soft and WW left. I also promised to help his wife after he was gone. He died the next week 3 days before I was to come over for the lead supply. This week his widow said I could start moving the supply. She felt I was paying too much (I didn’t think so) and am paying what he and I had agreed on. Moved 475 pounds Thursday. There’s at least 6 more 50 cal ammo cans full to be picked up. My age + what I already have + my friend’s supply = lifetime supply.
The Linotype ingots and clip on WW ingots were easy to ID per their markings and hardness. A friend is using his hardness tester to help me figure what the “B”, “X”, “II”, “P”, “IIII”, and “III” marked ingots mean. B and II appear to be like #2 and hard ball, which is nice for my casting. IIII seems to be clip on WW.
Last edited by Whole Bunches; 09-06-2021 at 12:54 AM.
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 |