Is this lead usable for reloading? If so, what's it worth?

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AFK

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I was hoping to find out from some of the experts here about this lead. I am in the middle of a demo job that was a doctors office. We have to rip down some walls and one room has lead sheets under the drywall. This was the xray room. So far I would approximate that I have about 600 lbs. of lead "sheets". The lead is about 1/8" to 3/16' of an inch thick and it covered about a 6' x 10' area of the wall. Would it be worth cutting it up in to pieces and selling them in 10 or 20 lb. lots? If so, what would be a fair price? Although I do reload, I have no experience with casting my own, so any input would certainly help.

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Yes!

It is pure sheet lead, about as pure as you can get.

It would have to be smelted and alloyed with Tin, and perhaps Antimony to make better bullet casting lead.

But it is certainly worth some money to any bullet caster!

rc
 
If you can mark the sheet with your thumb nail, chances are it is pure lead.

For muzzle loaders (patched ball) it's great. But for handgun and rifle it needs to be alloyed with tin to make it harder. Black powder rifle shooters like the stuff because they have a known standard for alloying bullets. Those big 45's & 50's eat a lot of lead quickly.

If you don't need the money just store it away, prices are not going down.
 
It may be worth more just-like-it-is to a blackpowder shooter.

I'd say it is worth $1 per pound, shipped. (so ship it as cheaply as possible: 60# lots in USPS flat rate boxes.) It's already in a nice enough form you don't need to cast into ingots.
 
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Well I could definitely use the money, Christmas is coming and the wife needs new tires before winter. I would be interested in cutting it up in to sellable lots. I am not looking to get a premium price, but what would be fair to both buyer and seller?
 
AFK, a guy at castboolit forum list his pure lead ingots at $1.15 per lb shipped. That was as of last month. They were from wheel weights and range recovered lead.

You could list it in private sales section on THR.
 
were from wheel weights and range recovered lead.
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That is not Pure lead.
It is an unknown composition lead alloy of unknown hardness.

To most, it would not be worth as much as the pure sheet lead the OP has.

rc
 
I looked on Ebay and it seems that that there is someone selling the same thing for $20.00 per 11 lbs plus $6.00 shipping and he/she is successful at that price. I am thinking $2.00 per pound shipped might be fair.
 
but what would be fair to both buyer and seller?
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I spend a little time over at the castboolits site and you can buy it there fairly regularly for $1-$1.25 per pound. I'd offer it for that plus shipping and see what kind of reception you get.

I've sold quiet a bit for $75 per 50 pounds shipped. Mostly mine was wheel weight alloy but pure goes for about the same.
 
Thank you for you responses. $75.00 for 50 lbs. shipped sounds pretty fair to me.
 
While determining the actual hardness may enhance the sale, and bring a few more dollars, it's probably not worth the expense to buy a hardness tester for this one batch. Just advertise it, telling where you found it, and people will know what they're getting. Alternately, there's a method of testing lead hardness using ordinary pencils of different grades, like H or HB. That's the simplest way to test, very accurate, and reasonably precise.
 
Here is an even simpler way.

If you can scratch it with a thumb nail, it is pure lead.

If you can't, it isn't.

But it would be Very Unusual to find 1/8" lead sheet lining a wall, or shower floor pan, or on roof flashing, that isn't very pure, soft, malleable lead.

That won't stress crack or break over time after being bent into corners, pounded into shape, and nailed in place.

rc
 
That is not Pure lead.
It is an unknown composition lead alloy of unknown hardness.

To most, it would not be worth as much as the pure sheet lead the OP has.
Click to expand...

True, I should have thought more on that before typing. :)
 
But it would be Very Unusual to find 1/8" lead sheet lining a wall, or shower floor pan, or on roof flashing, that isn't very pure, soft, malleable lead.
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Yep.
 
rcmodel said:
But it would be Very Unusual to find 1/8" lead sheet lining a wall, or shower floor pan, or on roof flashing, that isn't very pure, soft, malleable lead.
Click to expand...
Yep again...

Current spot price on Pb is 95 cents a lb. Since the lead didn't cost you anything selling it for a dollar a pound is a very good profit and a very good price for the caster. IMO everyone wins and it's much better than all that good lead being scrapped or sent to china to make something cheap for us to buy and make them richer. :)
 
Thanks for the help guys/gals. I decided to list it in the classified section.
 
The thing is you will need to cut it, bend it or whatever to fit in the USPS flat rate shipping boxes up to 70 lbs for a medium box cost $13.00 rounded
Large box $18.00 rounded

So it's the best deal on shipping.

If you can melt it, it's denser and easier to ship.
 
I think you could get over 20 pounds in a Priority Mail flat rate legal envelope, which ships for $5.90, if you cast a 14x9x0.5" block. :) Or stacked four 1/8" sheets (but they might not stack well enough to get more than 3 in the envelope)
 
Any dense metal like lead is usable to reloaders. The E.P.A. has closed down the last operating smelter in U.S. China is buying up huge amounts of lead. I would suggest to get someone with a tester to check the hardness. I hope you can help out shooters & your pocketbook. Nice find.
 
You are one lucky.........

looks like typical roofing lead. What a financial windfall for you. Just make sure it did not come from a nuclear reactor! :)
It can also protect you from Kryptonite!!
 
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