Buying scrap lead question ...

[Eutycus]

When possible, look around for junk or scrap sailboats. Depending on how much you would like to stockpile you may hit the motherload in one boat. The keel is typically full of lead.

Just make sure there are no droplets of water encased in that lead. 1 little drop in your melted lead and you might find yourself looking at a pretty nasty "eruption" of sorts.

 

[Lippy984]

I have 150 pounds of sailboat ballast in 50 pound blocks.

100 pounds was pure lead.

50 pounds had 4.5% antimony. Add 5% tin and you get Lyman #2ish.

Roto-Metals will test your lead for 50 bucks last time I checked. And provide a report.

Sheesh for $50 you oughta make sure you have a bunch of the same stuff!! Not YOU, just in general

 

[Eterry]

I've used WWs and roof flashing 50/50 mix for years... but only for round ball NOT going in a revolver.
Revolver and Minie Balls need pure lead.

I have a neighbor who has a roofing company and a friend who's a plumber. I got lead clean outs from the plumber.

Btw, I just bought some .675 RB from TOTW... no way are they pure lead.

 

[Eutycus]

The wheel weights should be great for penetration if that's what your going for. You probably won't get too much expansion or "mushrooming" but in a large caliber you really don't need it.

 

[64Springer]

Wheel weights can be stuck in a vice and squeezed as thin as you want them.

Totally malleable.

Wheel weights will go SPLAT when striking the side of a thick skinned animal. Including Bambi.

It's only when you get up to Lyman#2 that you get penetration without much expansion. 90 lead. 5 antimony. 5 tin.

Many people load Hardball recipes for dangerous game. Like Yogi. Hardball will go through Yogi his little sidekick and the pick a nick basket too.

Wheel weights ain't a Hardball mix and folks really should stop equating the two.

Hit up those tire shops and smelt some FREE lead.

 

[1971fx]

when hospitals take out X-ray rooms they dispose of wall sections full of sheet lead.

75 pound unused lead tile from x ray room construction.

 

[user 31257]

My wife and her brothers own a masonry contracting business and that’s where I get my lead. They save scraps of new lead flashing as well as any old flashing they remove. I don’t know what the hardness of lead flashing is but it’s pretty soft. If you know any masons it might be worth asking.

 

[buckleymarka56]

I scour scrap yards, craigslist, and talk to roofers. It helps that my father in law owns a roofing company! Sheet lead and vents from roofs are the best, but lead pipes if you do find some are great too. Those types of lead usually have some tin solder on some of it so cut that off and save for harder alloys if you want it to be really soft. I have several sources and once they get to know you and what you're looking for they generally will start putting stuff to the side for you. This is what I did today, 193 lbs!View attachment 209583View attachment 209584

That's exactly what I do. Go to the scrap tard, 1 buck a pound.
It's usually flattened lead popes from commercial buildings.
I cut it up with tin snips. Cuts right through it. Melt it, use a piece of wax ( parifin wax from the grocery store).
It will either flame up, so be very careful. Or smoke like hell. If your married, DO NOT do this in the house.
All organic materials wi float to the top. Ladle it off and , Presto , darn near pure lead.
I wear leather gloves and a double filter respiratory when melting and pouring lead.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

Here in washingrad they outlawed lead period.
Even tho as a kid we would look for lead nodules in the eastern part of the state.
Its still there, but nay a scrap yard or tire store has one. The are regulated and have to be turned in.

 

[Ohio Rusty]

I test my wheelweight lead for casting unmentionables. I use a pair of sidecutters/wirecutters . A wheelweight will cut into easily and leave a nice cut. A zinc or steel won't bite into at all. A pure lead stick on will cut into like butter.
Ohio Rusty ><>

 

[Fitzhugh Williams]

When a dentist office moves, usually they strip the lead out of the xray room areas. Be on the lookout for those. The balls may glow in the dark a little. . . .

 

[Rob M.]

Some good ideas , thanks guys . I'd always heard about the x ray room walls but that has never been a possibility . Was neat to see that giant chunk from the wall ! Wow !

 

[64Springer]

Your average, soft and FREE clip on wheel weight.

I did this in a vice with my antediluvian muscle mass as the power.

The power from a rifle if considerably more.

It flattens right out. SPLAT. This also means you can use it for bullets. It will form to the rifling just fine.

Doughnuts for Lead. As Wind In His Hair would say: Good Trade.

 

[Eterry]

One more thing... if you see an old bldg bring demo'ed stop and ask the workers for some lead scrap. I did that about 10 years ago. I asked them their favorite beverage, left and came back with a case of pilsner. I got about 100 lbs.

 

[Abarnes]

Just curious .... I've hoarded quite a bit of lead but wouldnt mind having more . I asked the local junk yards about lead and they were more than willing to sell me it cheap but its 5 gallon buckets full of wheel weights ....and for the life of me I just could not get them to understand I want pure lead ....so , my question ...where do folks find lead these days ? What do I ask for other than lead ? Back in the day it was lead water pipes but that isn't a thing anymore , at least around here ....perhaps car batteries ? but I've never stripped a battery for its lead plates before , and it sounds like a nasty if not dangerous job .....Are there any other things that I am missing that would have enough lead it in them to make them worth obtaining for making round ball ? Thanks .....

I stopped at Pacific steel and recycling the other day and got two 14 lb diver belt weights for $0.80/ lb works like a charm, just have to remove a little dross off the top.

 

[Rob M.]

I stopped at Pacific steel and recycling the other day and got two 14 lb diver belt weights for $0.80/ lb works like a charm, just have to remove a little dross off the top.

Diver belt weights ?!? How interesting .... Very cool

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

Just keep in mind, NOT ALL stick-on weights are pure lead. I work in a small Harley shop. We can’t get pure lead in NJ anymore, so a lot of weights are steel. The factory weights on the bikes are stamped zinc. So I make sure I save all the old pure lead weights when I change a tire.

Otherwise, my local scrapyard still has a fair amount of roofing lead and old plumbing pipe.

Lippy give my regard,s to Sussex....

 

[ZUG]

Years ago before the ECO craze you could find soft lead or any lead almost anywhere either free or at a small cost. Now - good luck finding ANY lead. I used to buy scrap lead from tire shops and recycling companies for cheap - not anymore. In the "green" states it is not allowed to sell scrap lead from a scrap yard or tire shop to the public. All this is a way for the anti-hunting/firearms crowd to end the use of firearms for hunting or recreation.

 

[1971fx]

I worked at a boat yard in Sag Harbor NY and saw many older boats with 500+ pound keels and ingots used as ballast

 

[smoothshooter]

Just curious .... I've hoarded quite a bit of lead but wouldnt mind having more . I asked the local junk yards about lead and they were more than willing to sell me it cheap but its 5 gallon buckets full of wheel weights ....and for the life of me I just could not get them to understand I want pure lead ....so , my question ...where do folks find lead these days ? What do I ask for other than lead ? Back in the day it was lead water pipes but that isn't a thing anymore , at least around here ....perhaps car batteries ? but I've never stripped a battery for its lead plates before , and it sounds like a nasty if not dangerous job .....Are there any other things that I am missing that would have enough lead it in them to make them worth obtaining for making round ball ? Thanks .....

The more modern clip-on weights are not lead at all.
The few stick-on weights you see are stiill pure lead as far as I know.