Thinking about casting my own, sources of lead?

[Black Snowman]

OK, I'm considering starting to cast my own bullets and I'm trying to talk myself out of it. I don't really like lead bullets on general principle. But I enjoy reloading so much I think this could be a fun addition. My current stumbling block is a good source of lead.

Those of you who cast from some "free" or very cheap source of lead where did you find it? Do you go around asking tire shops for old wheel weights? I'm not asking to steal your source, just trying to figure out where to start looking

 

[LAH]

Your a man after my own heart. Casting is a great joy if you have time. Go for it. Wheelweights will work fine. Try any place that sells tires. Junk yards are good also. If you serious about casting, drop me an email.

 

[Murphster]

In my neck of the woods, we're blessed with "scrap metal" yards. They have the wheel weights pulled and sitting in giant bins. They weigh your car when you pull in and weigh it again when you leave. You pay by the pound.

 

[444]

I did the thing of going around to tire shops and asking for old wheelweights. Some said no, they sell them to someone. Some said no, they reuse them. Some agreed that if I left them a five gallon bucket, they would throw the old weights into it. I ended up working real hard to get enough wheel weights.
Then, I discovered the junk yard. I bought over 950 pounds of wheel weights in a 55 gallon drum for like $35 as scrap metal. That ought to hold me for awhile.

 

[joab]

I used to go to a shop that did semi tires. They couldn't give me any from the tires they worked on because they were already spoken for. Same thing at the local Pep Boys (they said the sent them to a recycler)
But walking around in the parking lots always paid off with a few pounds.
Intersections for some reason also seem to give good results.

The best thing is a bro-in-law that manages a tire store.

 

[taliv]

what a coincidence. i spent the better part of the day looking for deals on lead and came up blank. i was about to call the scrap yards tomorrow.


for those of you who cast, how many bullets do you get per pound?

a pound is 7000 grains, right? and if i'm making a 200g 45acp, then i'd get 35 bullets (maybe minus some slop), right? something about that just doesn't seem right.


i just bought 10,000 once-fired winchester cases today from a police range, so i'm looking for a lot of very cheap bullets. my best other option at the moment appears to be 10,000 185g STAR bullets from wideners for $300.

anyone ever used star? get what you paid for?

 

[LAH]

What doesn't seem right about the weight?

I've loaded lots of Star 45-230-RN-FMJ bullets for the locals, no complaints.

 

[halvey]

Then, I discovered the junk yard. I bought over 950 pounds of wheel weights in a 55 gallon drum for like $35 as scrap metal.

That just gave me a warm fuzzy feeling.

 

[rick_reno]

I used to cast my own, I got my raw materials from a small (not one of the national chain stores) tire shop that I bought my tires from. I've still got about 300 lbs of ingots all fluxed and ready to go should I want to cast again. I found casting wasn't my cup of tea, I wanted to shoot more than I wanted to make bullets. If you go the casting route, make sure you understand and follow all the safety rules of doing it - there aren't a lot of rules - but they are important.

 

[taliv]

you guys have any idea how much you pay for electricity to head the lead?

i suppose i ought to be able to figure out how much energy it takes to melt a pound of lead, but i don't know how efficient the pots are.

i think electricity runs about 5 cents / kwh, most places, right?

 

[Black Snowman]

Electricity is CHEAP. 700 watt heating element the larger Lee pots have use less electricity than running the vacuum cleaner, a good size TV or computer. It's time taken away from vegging in front of a CRT for me so the electricity cost is moot

OK, find scrap metal yard. We have a few of those around KC Take Jeep so I can actually haul the booty home If I can score a decent amount of lead, cheap, and without a lot of work, it makes this look a lot more enticing.

Damn. I've already have my initial supplies in my wish list on MidwayUSA.com . . . this is starting to look inevitable.

 

[LAH]

Go for it snowman.

 

[jerryd]

Know anyone in the Telephone Co.? Talk to the line gang see if they are pulling out any old lead cables,and take the sheath off, or any old lead sleeves from the splices.

 

[lvl1trauma]

Casting

Taliv,
That sounds right about the poundage. You gotta remember that a pound of lead ain't much volume. If you are going to buy that many bullets from Widener's you must be picking them up since frieght is going to eat your lunch. If you live in NE, TN just give me a hollar and I will be glad to come over, or vice versa, and get you squared away on casting.

Lvl1trauma

 

[Rabid Rabbit]

Guess I'm the odd one

I get my lead from digging out the backstop at my range. Of course I never thought about a scrap yard I always thougt they would be charging something like $.25 per pound. Maybe I'll call around.

Watch out for the copper plated, or TMJ bullets, if you don't nick them with pliers the jacket might split and spray lead. I never had it happen but thats the warning I was given.

 

[onecruiser]

I have 3 vehicles to maintain and at least one of them needs tires each year. When I go I just ask if they have any weights they want to get rid of. About every 2 years or so, I get a taker who charges me between 10 and 20 dollars for a five gallon bucket.

I probably go to the range twice a month or so and I usually have 50 to 100 pounds of weights not yet melted and 40 pounds of ingots. I find it to be fun and I never make a chore out of it. I do it when I'm bored and I can cast up 100 to 200 in less than 30 minutes or so.

 

[NoHarmNoFAL]

I think you might be overthinking it here, try an indoor range. Two of the ones I get my brass from will almost give it away. They were charging a $.01 per pound because that is what the scrap guy's were paying. You will have to skim the copper off but that can go to a scrap yard for $$ also.

 

[Rapidrob]

I work for a company that installs and removes x-ray equipment. Each system that is trashed has any where from 350 to 2,000 pounds of hard lead in it as it used for counter weighting the x-ray tube and devices. Most companies will give you the lead if you take it out yourself. And no, wingnut, the lead is not radioactive. X-rays are radio waves. I do alot of casting and shot making. I can get several tons of lead a year for no cost. Check the yellow pages for x-ray repair/service. Just an idea.

 

[bfox]

I agree With a post that said try the small tire shops .
Big ones I have tried would never give me any .
I found a place that put them in coffee cans 2 bucks a can . They sure are easier to carry around that way . Everytime I go he asks me if I want a truckload .
Wish I had a place to keep them .
Black Snowman I Know you will use Lee stuff if you decide to do it
get a Lee 6 cavity mold you won't be sorry .

I got a Lee 6 cav 230 gr. TL should put it in the sell section .
By accident midway shipped a double order . Had to pay twice cause
I cancelled order first day because I forgot something . Order said cancel
confirmed biut 4 days later got a doulble order just decided to keep them .

Good Luck Bill

P.S. I got a Lee 20 lb pot but someday I am going to get an RCBS or Lyman

 

[cracked butt]

Don't go to the well lit, surgically clean garages and tire shops, look for the ones that have junk cars out front, rusted parts lying about, and large areas of concrete,gravel, dirt around their building soaked with oil.
These places aren't going to be too concerned with recycling or waste cleanup.
Take a 5 gallon bucket or two to the place with you.
Ask them if they have any old wheelweights/ battery cable terminals they want to get rid of. More than likely they will, with the only price being that you have to haul them away.
They often throw them in 5 gallon buckets or old steel garbage cans- either dig them out of the cans and put them in your bucket, or offer to exchange your clean 5 gallon bucket for their lead filled one.

Expect the 5 gallon bucket of lead to weigh 120-150 lbs, so if you don't have a veyr strong back, bring help, or perhaps a dolly if you have access to one.

 

[Black Snowman]

Thanks for all the advice guys. Now I just have to get off my duff and make it happen

 

[Geoengr]

This post brings back memories! When in college I was poor as a church mouse but still wanted to shoot. I took up reloading but still needed to economize more so I took up casting as well. My cousins own a stain glass winow shop and I got scrap lead from them. I think most of the lead they use is lead tin mix with no antimony (relatively soft). I had picked up some antimony from a friend years before that just knew I was a candidate for casting some day. I mixed my own aloy and had a great time. Most of my shooting was with 44 mag and .357 mag. The scrap had one problem though. When they repaired windows they took all of the old lead out. Paint putty and crud included. That stuff stunk to high heaven when you melted it. I made up batches of mix (100 pounds at a time) to keep from interupting the bullet production process. Keep in mind that the solder joints in a window are 50/50 bar solder and will spike up the tin content of the mix. Overall I had great results and shot a lot more for a lot less money. These made great plinking loads and they held together when shot into phone books.