Does anyone know a good source for lead to make bullets? On one of the threads I saw someone mention roofers, (good idea). When my grandfather was alive we could get old lead from abandoned telephone poles (they had lead sleeves set into the ground).
lead
- Thread starter RandyB
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Check with somebody in the water department. Alot of old houses still have lead pipes. Don't go to the office and ask because EPA rules don't allow them to give or sell it unless to a qualified salvager. Talk to the workers on the service trucks.
dfariswheel
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My best source was just to go down to the local plumbing supply house and buy ingots of pure plumbers lead.
I usually bought it in 100 pound lots.
Each ingot was the perfect size for my casting furnace.
I usually bought it in 100 pound lots.
Each ingot was the perfect size for my casting furnace.
Rafter-S
Member
Let everybody know you are looking for lead. The problem will be finding pure lead, for your muzzleloader. There are lots of buckets of wheel weights available, but they won't work.
I had a buddy who knew where an old salvaged fork lift was. We got the lead counterbalance weight out of it. It was pure and weighed several hundred pounds.
Like I say, there are lots of sources. You will just have to scrounge them up.
Rafter-S
I had a buddy who knew where an old salvaged fork lift was. We got the lead counterbalance weight out of it. It was pure and weighed several hundred pounds.
Like I say, there are lots of sources. You will just have to scrounge them up.
Rafter-S
Whitworth
Member
..........RandyB, as someone already mentioned, let other shooters know you're in the market for lead. Lead on either end of the hardness scale (Pure-soft, lino-hard) is more difficult to get. In between is all manner of scrap stuff.
A possible source is the radiology dept in hospital and clinics as the radioactive emission tubes are transported in lead containers. A secret is (and it's a shame) is don't mention 'bullets' or 'shooting' as these days people get all freaked.
My neighbor is in construction and one job was some deal with radioactive storage of some type. Possibly medical stuff. Anyway there was an outfit from Texas contracted to hang the access doors and line the walls with lead. The doors weighed 18 tons!!! The lead was delivered from a foundry in plates 3/4" thick, 16" long and 4" wide, with dovetails designed to be stacked up and then bolted in place.
When they were done there was an almost full pallet left. My neighbor asked about it and they said he could have all he wanted. He just had to get it before the scrap guy showed up. He called my house, but since I work at night, I was asleep. My wife told him I had all the lead I would ever need!!!! NOT!!!. Great guy that he is, he backed up his Ford ranger and loaded almost 1600 lbs and brought it back for me. PLUS he stacked it up off to one side of my garage door.
He said he'd have gotten more, but his tires looked like they were going to blow out and his bumper was almost on the ground. A couple days later he also brought home a whole bunch of lead strips used as gasketing / caulking material. All this was just luck, but he may be in a position to bring more some other time.
Since I shoot every Tuesday, the rangemaster knows what I'm interested in and that has worked out extremely well on several occasions. Once we had the oportunity to buy pure tin at $2/lb. They'd demo'ed out a science building at a local university and all the water supply was in tin pipes
. The guy must have had a freaking TON of the stuff. If you put the word out you might luck out too.
Rick
A possible source is the radiology dept in hospital and clinics as the radioactive emission tubes are transported in lead containers. A secret is (and it's a shame) is don't mention 'bullets' or 'shooting' as these days people get all freaked.
My neighbor is in construction and one job was some deal with radioactive storage of some type. Possibly medical stuff. Anyway there was an outfit from Texas contracted to hang the access doors and line the walls with lead. The doors weighed 18 tons!!! The lead was delivered from a foundry in plates 3/4" thick, 16" long and 4" wide, with dovetails designed to be stacked up and then bolted in place.
When they were done there was an almost full pallet left. My neighbor asked about it and they said he could have all he wanted. He just had to get it before the scrap guy showed up. He called my house, but since I work at night, I was asleep. My wife told him I had all the lead I would ever need!!!! NOT!!!. Great guy that he is, he backed up his Ford ranger and loaded almost 1600 lbs and brought it back for me. PLUS he stacked it up off to one side of my garage door.
He said he'd have gotten more, but his tires looked like they were going to blow out and his bumper was almost on the ground. A couple days later he also brought home a whole bunch of lead strips used as gasketing / caulking material. All this was just luck, but he may be in a position to bring more some other time.
Since I shoot every Tuesday, the rangemaster knows what I'm interested in and that has worked out extremely well on several occasions. Once we had the oportunity to buy pure tin at $2/lb. They'd demo'ed out a science building at a local university and all the water supply was in tin pipes
. The guy must have had a freaking TON of the stuff. If you put the word out you might luck out too.Rick
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