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where to find lead
mrankh
Member Posts: 915 ✭✭✭✭
me and a friend are looking to find some lead for casting, hes got a 32 and a 50 and i have a 45 and i was just wondering what are some good places to find lead cheap or free besides scrap yards. anyone have any places you know of that sometimes have lead floating around
Comments
I was installing a multi-fold door system on a house a few years ago while the roofers were working.
I picked up several pounds of scrap pieces.
You can buy freshly foundered casting metal from midway usa and several other reloading businesses.
Be prepared to pay through the nose since prices have shot up(pun intended) over the last few years.
I procured about 1000# of wheel weights and 400-500# of linotype when the prices started trending up starting 4-5 years back.
Be advised that zinc based(stick on) balancing weights are not useable for casting.
Bought 100 lbs of wheel weights a few weeks ago from a business that sells/installs bunchs of tires.
You're lucky. The usage of lead wheel weights has been banned here in the People's Republic of New York. Getting tougher to find affordable lead.
http://www.rotometals.com/Bullet-Casting-Alloys-s/5.htm
Go here.
http://www.rotometals.com/Bullet-Casting-Alloys-s/5.htm
Great Link!
THANKS [^][^][:D]
It is a lot of work to clean, Smelt, and separate the Copper, BUT - I am SO GREEN, Recycling the POISON!
If I may - ASSUME - that the calibers listed in YOUR question - you are casting for BLACK POWDER arms; rifles and revolvers; you are looking for PURE LEAD.
In my personal hunt for "sourcing" and research for BP arms is that PURE LEAD is best for them. My hunt/search for a local source was no farther than my nearest fishing gear supply. Lead Wire on a spool; diameter does not matter. It should be very close (99%) to PURE LEAD. It won't be in-expensive. But it IS a quick source for your casting.
1 or 2 pounds will make LOTS of projo's for your BP arms.
If I may also - there is a BLACK POWDER section on this forum, of which to "mine" much more information.
Sir - thank you for your service, keep your powder dry, and a Merry Christmas to you and your family.
They seem REALLY soft to me.
I am currently tinkering with COD down weights, shotgun shot, and lead free solder to get "closta" a Lyman #2 alloy mix for modern boolit castings. Wheel weights, from my research, have trace amounts of arsenic, which helps in the alloy mix. Shotgun shot has a percentage of antimony, making the alloy harder. MAGNUM shotgun shot has MORE antimony but is HEAVILY coated in GRAPHITE; lubricating the shot for the bore. The graphite, for my mix, is just more dross to skim off the top of the melt. Just regular shotgun shot is my choice best. Lead Free solder - right on the package - states; 95% TIN, 5% Antimony.
All of this just to cast some (less than 50) 38 caliber boolits (i.e. Cast Boolits Dot Com) for plinking... but success after aging them for a week - with a hardness test of 18 HBN. (21 is around lino type hardness)
Oh - and don't get me starte on LUBE RECIPES... Gack! Snort! wheeez...
I hope this explanation is clearer than mud.
Keep your powder dry - Merry Christmas.
This is why I went "sourcing" at fishing supply stores...
sigh.
My STATE is OCCUPIED. I feel that soon I will be required to SHOW I.D. just to go to the local store to get a loaf of bread... Ooops - wrong section - please disregard the last few sentences - it belongs in the POLITICAL section. sorry.
Keep your powder dry.
EvilDr235
Sir,
If I may - ASSUME - that the calibers listed in YOUR question - you are casting for BLACK POWDER arms; rifles and revolvers; you are looking for PURE LEAD.
In my personal hunt for "sourcing" and research for BP arms is that PURE LEAD is best for them. My hunt/search for a local source was no farther than my nearest fishing gear supply. Lead Wire on a spool; diameter does not matter. It should be very close (99%) to PURE LEAD. It won't be in-expensive. But it IS a quick source for your casting.
1 or 2 pounds will make LOTS of projo's for your BP arms.
If I may also - there is a BLACK POWDER section on this forum, of which to "mine" much more information.
Sir - thank you for your service, keep your powder dry, and a Merry Christmas to you and your family.
No bpcr shooter I know or read of uses pure lead for casting bullets. Pure lead does not give a good mold fill, and is not hard enough to prevent leading. Tin, pewter,and solder are added to reach a 20:1 or 30:1 lead:tin. I've put 10.000 rounds through two Sharps '74s in 45 cal, and have always used a 20:1 mix.
A cap & ball or front stuffer will be fine with pure lead.
A pound of lead is 7000 grains. Divide that by the weight of your bullet, and there is your yield. My 480gr bullets are 14 per pound. Barley enough to get my barrel warmed up....
If the wad is doing it's job, the shot never touches the bore. The primary purpose of graphite is to keep the pellets from bridging in the loader and sticking together in the shot cup.
Old car batteries and radiators.
Melting lead from old car batteries is a good way to die due to contamination and deposits from the residual compounds used to make the batteries function as they create the same types of gasses used in WW 1 by the Germans.
I stand corrected,
and I learned something.
Thank you.
hopefully - the fellow who started this thread/question will chime in with his findings.
Keep your powder dry...
Old car batteries and radiators.
NEVER EVER USE CAR BATTERIES. IT IS A VERY GOOD WAY TO DIE.
quote:Originally posted by jltrent
Old car batteries and radiators.
NEVER EVER USE CAR BATTERIES. IT IS A VERY GOOD WAY TO DIE.
i picked up on that one haha didnt seem to make much sense to me very dangerous only took a second to think about that
Maintenance free/low maintenance batteries use calcium metal-doped lead to catalyze the hydrogen gas generated from water electrolysis back into water. That is what makes the batteries low maintenance or maintenance free, you don't need to add water to the cells as often like in the old days. When the battery lead is melted down there is enough sulfuric acid from residual electrolyte trapped in the lead dioxide and lead framework of the battery plates to react with the small amount of calcium metal in the lead alloy.
Normally when sulfuric acid (or water) gets in contact with calcium metal it undergoes a rather vigorous reaction that generates hydrogen gas. In and of itself this is no big deal, hydrogen is a simple non-toxic asphyxiant that is also flammable. But the lead alloy used in batteries also contains a bit of antimony and even arsenic to help harden and strengthen the lead to withstand the vibration and general knocking-about batteries have to withstand in order to survive normal automotive use.
When hydrogen comes in contact with arsenic and antimony, or compounds of these two elements, the hydrogen reacts to form ammonia analogues called arsine and stibine, AsH3 and SbH3. Both of these are heavy gases and both have the similar characteristic odors of rotting fish. In World War One the Germans experimented with these, along with phosphine, another rotting-fish-smelling gaseous ammonia analogue with formula PH3, as war gases. As such they were highly effective since they are deadly in amounts too small to easily detect.
In even smaller amounts that are too small to immediately kill they cause rather painful lung damage that often eventually leads to emphysema and lung cancer.
I just go on EBay and run a search for lead or soft lead and buy from there. Much simpler than chasing down sources, melting down and cleaning wheel weights (there's about a 25% loss from the clips, dirt, etc.). I'd rather spend my time casting the bullets.
Raw lead is worth less then a buck on the open market right now. Stocks are up and used lead is down. I buy batteries for recycling and prices are down.
Scrap soft lead is maybe worth 50 cents a pound now. The local scrap yard asks way too much for lead. The only time I asked they wanted like $4 a pound.
Wheel weights are about 40 cents a pound.
I guess they do not like craig at his list. Insert that for elsewhere in the top of my post.
Well, . . . Not me. [:D]
I cast all my bullets from roof plumbing vents. Every roof I change, I change the lead vents.
Roofers throw away tons of pure lead every day.
Well, . . . Not me. [:D]
I cast all my bullets from roof plumbing vents. Every roof I change, I change the lead vents.
Construction people toss lots of stuff away every day. Best or worst I ever saw was brand new never used air handlers in a multi story hi-rise because the engineer specked the wrong units. The wrong ones were hung and never used. When removed the union workers dumped them in a dumpster.
Some day we will pay for our stupid ways, if we are not paying already.