How much lead.

[Stationary Smell]

In my casting adventures I have found it hard to keep up processing wheel weights and having enough lead to cast. It seems like as soon as I smelt it into ingots, I use it. I'm curious where you guys get your lead ( if you buy it, where is the cheapest place?) and how much you keep on hand in ingots. I know that number probably varies depending on how much you cast... but I'm just curious.

 

[rjbmjb]

I bought most my used wheel weights on Ebay, for around $1 per pound plus shipping. 50 Lbs fit into a flat rate box, so shipping is under $15. Online suppliers are currently charging $2.50 to $3.00 per pound for casting alloys, so wws are still a good deal.

I also have a LGS that caters to reloaders that used to get some in occasionally, but I haven't seen any in the store for over a year now. Some guys are lucky enough to get them from local garages, but I couldn't find a local supply. Some states (including mine) have banned their use, so they are getting harder to find in certain areas.

I have 300-400 lbs on hand, but I haven't bought any in while since I started buying Berrys plated bullets for the handguns I shoot most often.

 

[blue32]

30lbs of ingots. Usually 60+lbs of range scrap. A couple pounds of various lubed/unlubed bullets on hand. I once bought one of those linotype ingots (~5lb) from midway to test a few rifle and 357 loads. Everything else has been sifted from the range. I've never had more than a literal handful of ww in my possession. I shot 79lbs in 2016.

 

[ReloaderFred]

I've got roughly 3 tons in ingots for my casting machine at the moment, and about another ton for my Master Caster at home. My partner just sifted out about 1,400 pounds of recovered bullets from the range that we'll have to smelt into ingots when the weather clears up.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Catpop]

Geez Fred, you sure do a lot of casting!
I too cast but not to that volume!
I still use straight clip on wheel weights from the local tire store. Although the last few times I have found more and more zinc showing up in the mix.
I also bought some tin off the Internet and made my first batch of Lyman #2, but I haven't had time to use it yet. Drats!
Good luck!

 

[res45]

I only cast about five hundred to a thousand bullets a year for each of 8 different calibers more for handguns than rifles,but I manage to scrounge up enough harder alloys to add to the stash to replace that. I still have around a thousand lbs. of hard lead ingots,wheel weights,Lino or Mono Type as well as close to a thousand lbs. of pure lead in the reserve and all the range scrap I get out of the berm from my shooting as well as my other friends that shoot there. I spread the word among family and friend that I want lead for casting and that helps get some small batches on occasion as well.

It much harder finding good quantities of free or cheap casting lead these days other than pure lead than it used be but there is still some to be had,it just takes a bit more effort finding it. I'm probably good to go for quite some time with what I have on hand at the moment.

 

[ReloaderFred]

Geez Fred, you sure do a lot of casting!
I too cast but not to that volume!
I still use straight clip on wheel weights from the local tire store. Although the last few times I have found more and more zinc showing up in the mix.
I also bought some tin off the Internet and made my first batch of Lyman #2, but I haven't had time to use it yet. Drats!
Good luck!

I've stopped handcasting these days. For one thing, the "hands" aren't what they used to be, and for another, I've found that the Master Caster allows me to cast all day long and not feel like I've been beat up.

The Bullet Master is for larger volume and it's set up in a friend's shop about half an hour away from my house. When I run it, I usually get about 20,000 bullets out of an 8 hour work session. I would get more if the machine was newer and had fewer problems, but it does get the job done. I've got the Lube Master set up for .38 bullets at the present time and it will keep up with the Bullet Master, but I can't run both machines at the same time, mostly because they're both older machines and don't run as smoothly as newer machines would.

I've got over 200 bullet molds, but I'm going to start selling off the handcasting molds. I haven't used any of them in about 6 or 7 years, so I'll sell them to someone who will use them.

Fred

 

[2011redrider]

Try cast boolits forum. Last time it was 60 lbs of muffin ingots for 69.00 to my door. No clips or smelting needed. Seller was Bushwack.

 

[Hillbillyz]

I buy lead pipe from the local scrap yard, and mix with the Linotype I get from there occasionally. All of it .60 a pound.

 

[armoredman]

I think I have 10 pounds or so left...but I have a Doe Run secondary smelter just around the corner, so I usually buy certified bullet metal there - wheel weights and other supplys are just to scarce out here.

...When I run it, I usually get about 20,000 bullets out of an 8 hour work session...

...and I'm happy when I get a whole 200 good bullets cast up in a session...

 

[dgod]

I've stopped handcasting these days. For one thing, the "hands" aren't what they used to be, and for another, I've found that the Master Caster allows me to cast all day long and not feel like I've been beat up.

The Bullet Master is for larger volume and it's set up in a friend's shop about half an hour away from my house. When I run it, I usually get about 20,000 bullets out of an 8 hour work session. I would get more if the machine was newer and had fewer problems, but it does get the job done. I've got the Lube Master set up for .38 bullets at the present time and it will keep up with the Bullet Master, but I can't run both machines at the same time, mostly because they're both older machines and don't run as smoothly as newer machines would.

I've got over 200 bullet molds, but I'm going to start selling off the handcasting molds. I haven't used any of them in about 6 or 7 years, so I'll sell them to someone who will use them.

Fred

Fred,
When you decide what you want to sell, let me know. I am interested in 356, 357, 309, 40, 451, 452. Especially Hollow Point molds.

Thanks
Dan

 

[jmorris]

I have my "stash" of WW ingots but I also use recovered bullets most of the time. After I smelt I drop a couple of bullets from my "test mold" and weigh them, they generally come out heavy (pure lead from jacketed bullets) so I mix in a little Linotype to get them to drop at the right weight if hardness is a concern.

 

[Cannibul]

Pure/scrap lead from the metal recycler. He doesn't play with wheel weights any more though.

I pick up my wheel weights where I can. I'll pay up to $20 a 5 gallon bucket for them. I've got two good buckets in the back of the Tahoe and 4 buckets I got for free that are mostly junk. I had surgery yesterday so they're going to sit in the back of the Tahoe for a couple of months, or until I can get someone to unload them for me.

I've also got a line going on six full buckets as well as a 55 gallon drum that's half full.

I'm currently sitting on around 300 lbs of pure and 600 lbs of wheel weights. I need to get some more pure lead as I'll be casting sinkers for a tackle shop later this summer while my buddy is on vacation. I'll need to pick up another 6-800 lbs to cover that.

 

[Catpop]

Cannibul,
Just swing by my house and I'll unload them for you.
Seriously, hope you recover quickly!

 

[kerreckt]

I have visited tire places and gotten wheel weights for nothing. Make sure and have an empty 5 gallon plastic pail. Seems they didn't care about the weights. Just didn't want to part with their pail. I deal with the same guys and trade beer. I always ask around about lead and such things. About five years ago, It all paid off when I heard about someone who had a ton of lead (literally) and wanted to sell/move it. They also had some beautiful Bridgeport mills and lathes. Long story short, I got about 700 lbs of pure lead and had about the same amount smelted wheel weights. I regret not having a place for a milling machine. So, the pressures off on the lead hunt for the foreseeable future, anyway.

 

[Schwing]

I am one of those unlucky folks who struggles with high lead levels (why is the topic of another thread and it has nothing to do with hygiene). Because of this, I keep my lead handling to a minimum. Sorting and smelting down buckets of wheel weights was a problem for me. Finding roofing lead and alloying it myself was less exposure but I want to handle it as little as possible.

I know that lead keeps climbing in price but you can still find it for around $1 to $1.20 per pound on ebay (including shipping) if you keep your eyes open.

I know not everyone can do this, I had to save up to do it myself, but I wait until I see someone selling for around that price and buy as much of it as I can. The last batch I bought was around 1200 pounds and will last me for a couple of years at least. One nice thing about this is that, while not guaranteed, I think you are more likely to get consistent hardness etc if you buy it all from the same seller. I tested ingots from several boxes on my last batch and they were all 14-15 bhn.