Scored some lead today

[Paul R]

Wife & I finally agreed on the remodel of our bedroom & ensuite. After getting all the drywall & ceramic tile off the wall in the shower, & then breaking up the poured-in-place base, I found the pan to be sheet lead. After getting it out and looking it over, I found, written on the bottom,'4ft. X 4 ft. 80lb.'. It'll take some cleaning & casting into small ingots, but I don't think I'll have to worry about having enough lead for a while.
I got kind of excited about finding it, so wife thought it might be something we could sell & pay for part of the remodel. Silly girl.
Paul

 

[Sperit de bois]

not to worry,,,you can wash up in the sink while you cast the round ball.

 

[Col. Batguano]

what does scrap lead normally sell for?

 

[jamesthomas]

Last time I bought some scrap lead it was .50 cents a pound, scored 50lbs of lead roof vent flashing. 80lbs for free sounds like a winner to me!! :hatsoff: :bow:

 

[Col. Batguano]

I've been casting scuba weights out of wheel weights. The hardness of the alloy in those doesn't matter too much when all they do is hang on a weight belt. If they weigh enough, fine. If they don't, put on another one! Since I teach scuba to as many as 12 at a time, I need a LOT of weights, since the average student needs about 20-25 pounds each, and I need them in various sizes, 1-5 pounds each, that's a lot of wheel weights!

 

[Sperit de bois]

Been swapping lead for Maple Syrup,, talk about a sweet deal :rotf: :wink:

 

[Matt85]

lead goes for around $1 per pound these days.

thats a nice find, 80 pounds can go a long way depending on the caliber you shoot.

-matt

 

[cynthialee]

Sweet find.

(is now waiting to see who tears up their bathroom looking for lead) :haha:

 

[Rifleman1776]

lead goes for around $1 per pound these days.

thats a nice find, 80 pounds can go a long way depending on the caliber you shoot.

-matt

Yep. $1.00 a pound these days, or more. Local metal buyer/recycler sells a 5 gal. bucket of mixed lead for $100.00. If you want only soft you have to separate and sell back the hard stuff to him at a discount. I have no idea how that works out price-wise for the soft stuff. But, it is a source.

 

[tomme boy]

The scrap yard I go to, I can get as much soft lead as I want. They always have a few thousand lbs. of roof flashing there. They get $0.45/lb for it. I picked up 15 lbs. of pewter in the form of mugs and water vases. I gladly paid them .35/lb for it as it was in the cast pile. That is about 90%+ Tin. I use this for the cast bullets I cast for my pistols and rifles I reload for when making up a large batch of alloy.

 

[jdkerstetter]

It'll take some cleaning & casting into small ingots....

May I ask why you would go to all of the extra work of casting it into ingots? I would just cut it into managable pieces and melt those as I was casting bullets. Being thinner, it melts faster.

Granted ingots look better when one is selling the stuff, but it seems like a lot of extra work if your keeping it.

Enjoy, J.D.

 

[razorbritches]

just pokin around a garage sale I found lead roof seal the kind used for water heater vents and such sucker cast over 50 .600 round balls didn't look like much but at .50 cents I couldn't go wrong

 

[George T.]

It always pays to keep ones eye's open. I assume you went back with fiberglass. I used to use wheel weights with a little tin added for pistol bullets and cable sheathing for round balls. I got tired of the muss and fuss so I buy them now! Geo. T.

 

[tomme boy]

The fuss is worth it to me. I shoot over 10K rounds of 45acp a year. over 5K 308 win a year. Add that up if you have to buy them.