Guest
Where do you find pure lead? I have a buddie who restores old houses and runs into lead plumbing now and then. I also made friends with a local roofing company and get a lot of lead flashing for only a couple of six packe of beer a month.
-
Friends, our 2nd Amendment rights are always under attack and the NRA has been a constant for decades in helping fight that fight.
We have partnered with the NRA to offer you a discount on membership and Muzzleloading Forum gets a small percentage too of each membership, so you are supporting both the NRA and us.
Use this link to sign up please; https://membership.nra.org/recruiters/join/XR045103
Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:
Since I shoot smoothbores only (for now) wheel weight lead works for me...
My main source of FREE pure lead is at the shooting range, I help clean up after the muzzleloader shooting is done...
I get my bucket filled with spent round balls and minies in short time, (they are usually laying on the ground somewheres near the matalic targets)
My main source of FREE pure lead is at the shooting range, I help clean up after the muzzleloader shooting is done...
I get my bucket filled with spent round balls and minies in short time, (they are usually laying on the ground somewheres near the matalic targets)
The local FBI and Sheriff's Dept. have a range in the hills behind where I went to college. I used to dig around in the sand and dirt piled behind the targets and find pounds of lead, mostly .38 wadcutters. The Sheriff's didn't mind - as long as I didn't make a mess. Then the FBI guys caught me one day. Hoo boy. It's probably all 9mm FMJ there now, anyway.
I reuse my plinking and target rounds when I can find them. Sounds piddly, but if you shoot in the same spot long enough it will add up. I have a buddy who's a recycling engineer (runs a junk yard) and he keeps me supplied. I found a bunch in a dumpster when a local high school threw out the plugs from the lab rooms that were used to allow a sink to fill with water (each was a long hollow tube with holes on one end and a taper to the opposite end to plug the sink drain). Must have got 25 at about two pounds each. Didn't want to think about what they might have been in contact with over the years, but they were pure lead. (I was in HS at the time - I don't recommend hanging around one now a days). Found a weight belt with three, ten-pound weights attached on the bottom of a lake. I'm sure there was a story behind that. A friend got a piece that took two people to lift into his trunk at a marina where they had shortened a lead keel (maybe 200 lbs) free just for asking. Lead is all over. No wonder society is acting so odd lately.
I have been told that 1,200 shots/yr. is the magic number. If you shoot less than that it's not worth the time and effort (& initial investment) to cast your own balls.
I reuse my plinking and target rounds when I can find them. Sounds piddly, but if you shoot in the same spot long enough it will add up. I have a buddy who's a recycling engineer (runs a junk yard) and he keeps me supplied. I found a bunch in a dumpster when a local high school threw out the plugs from the lab rooms that were used to allow a sink to fill with water (each was a long hollow tube with holes on one end and a taper to the opposite end to plug the sink drain). Must have got 25 at about two pounds each. Didn't want to think about what they might have been in contact with over the years, but they were pure lead. (I was in HS at the time - I don't recommend hanging around one now a days). Found a weight belt with three, ten-pound weights attached on the bottom of a lake. I'm sure there was a story behind that. A friend got a piece that took two people to lift into his trunk at a marina where they had shortened a lead keel (maybe 200 lbs) free just for asking. Lead is all over. No wonder society is acting so odd lately.
I have been told that 1,200 shots/yr. is the magic number. If you shoot less than that it's not worth the time and effort (& initial investment) to cast your own balls.
...and "1200 a year rule of thumb" being for the initial financial investment trade off...
I've often wondered about casting but several things keep me from doing it...
I only use 1-1.5 boxes of Hornadys a month (3 Saturdays out of 4, 35-50 balls per trip), for 9months/year;
There's the element of time I'd have to start dedicating to the casting operation and I already don't
have enough time even to just shoot as much as I'd like;
There's adding another unnecessary element of danger to my life that I don't need (eyesight, hands, etc);
And I'd end up dedicating some amount of floor space to the operation that I already don't have enough of;
So as much as I'd like to do it for the experience of it, I can't justify it on any level...maybe after I retire.
I've often wondered about casting but several things keep me from doing it...
I only use 1-1.5 boxes of Hornadys a month (3 Saturdays out of 4, 35-50 balls per trip), for 9months/year;
There's the element of time I'd have to start dedicating to the casting operation and I already don't
have enough time even to just shoot as much as I'd like;
There's adding another unnecessary element of danger to my life that I don't need (eyesight, hands, etc);
And I'd end up dedicating some amount of floor space to the operation that I already don't have enough of;
So as much as I'd like to do it for the experience of it, I can't justify it on any level...maybe after I retire.
Factor in fishing sinkers and round lead (Mr. Twister) jig heads. I justify mine that way. I don't think I have any hobby/interests that are financially sensible, anyway. I went with the cheapest pot that had a thermostat and a dipper to fill the mold. Haven't seen a reason to upgrade in 20 years. Actually, I find myself buying a couple boxes of Hornadys rather than cast my own - unless the mood strikes me. Listening to the radio and running ball is not a bad way to spend a cold, February night. But that was before I got addicted to Internet Forums. 
Similar threads
