Interesting thread--enough so, that I have to join in. I have melted and sold (on this site) a few tons of lead from many sources and most of my experience follows what has been said here. I will comment on two subjects that are not in line with my findings--OK--three. The third is that indoor ranges ARE NOT the best places to buy lead and here are the reasons. #1-lead dust, or as I call it-"mystery dust". Recovered in dross, this stuff is of quantities great enough to be a concern with health, disposal, and financial loss. It is heavy, so you're paying good money for a product that will not be recovered in the final sale price. I've offered it to several scrap yards and been turned away every time--some have been very professional recyclers and others are kind of 'junk yard dogs'.
So, what is it? I sent a sample to BNE and his findings came back as very high lead content--80-90% as I remember. I tried to melt some by itself and still no molten lead, I called several powder manufacturers-no idea. Lately, I've read some comments about primers having something with lead in the name, so????. You can't melt it, can't sell it, so???
Lastly, the remainder of jackets--it aint copper or brass- put a magnet in it and it all jumps out of the bucket!!! Its steel with a copper wash!! You have to find an awful dumb scrapper to not catch that one!