Where to buy pure lead

[robert smith]

I'm interested in running my own roundballs, I have a Lyman mold and a primitive ladle and a Rapine bag mold on order. I want to use pure lead, if possible, so where can I buy it and how much should it cost for approx 100#. Alternatively, what is the next best source for almost pure lead?
A wise man learns from the mistakes of others while a fool insists on just learning from his own.

 

[Rebel]

Most scrap yards have pure lead. If you can scratch a mark in it with your thumbnail it is soft enough to use. I think the last i bought was about $.18 a lb. So that would be about $18 for 100 lbs. Price may vary in your area.

 

[Ohio Rusty]

I get mine from a local plumbing company. They tear out old lead pipe and bring it back for recycling. They sell as much old pipe as I want to carry for a couple of bucks. *NOTE* You can't just melt lead pipe as there is water trapped in the accumulations inside the pipe. This would lead to an explosion of molten lead. I always open the pipe lengthwise and scrape out any nasty stuff inside the pipe first. If you don't mind the cleaning job, it's cheap to get and it's really pure. My favorite is thin roof flashing. I wish I had more of that as it makes the purest softest lead I've ever used.
Ohio Rusty

 

[Runner]

If you catch them remodeling a hospital or doctors office, the x-ray room has lead sheeting in the walls. It is soft enough to fold up like thick cloth. You can buy a truck load cheap if you make the right arraingements. The containers the products nuclear medicine uses for radiation treatments are shipped in molded plastic containers with lead inserts. Most of them are too hard to use with muzzleloading, but a few have 14 pound pure lead containers inside them. Take out a couple of screws and the lead is free. Hospitals tend to collect these because it costs to get rid of them. A person that will remove the lead, trash the plastic, and remove the lead from the premises will often get permission. You have to take it all, so you need a friend or smith the does hardcast to take the harder material. My present supply is lead pipe, lead sheet from an x-ray room, and one 37 pound medicine container melted, mixed, and cast as ingots.

The local smith sells virgin ingots for 20 cents a pound I think in 10 pound blocks. Shipyards, for those of you on the coast or near the larger bodies of water, use larger amounts of lead in keels on the larger boats. Since they buy large amounts, they might be a cheap source.

 

[Stumpkiller]

It is surprising where you can find it once you start begging . . . er, asking. Lead pipe and roof flashing are the best IMHO. Relatively easy to handle and locate.

Open the yellow pages and start calling plumbers, recycling centers (used to be called junk yards), roofing contractors and ask if you can buy some scrap lead. Often they will say "come get it for free". My best source is a scrap yard owner who saves me odd pieces in exchange for a six-pack. He usually gives me a five gallon pail full - about 60 lbs on average. Anything under 25

 

[Black Hand]

Have you thought about chopping it up with an axe? I have friends who break down large pieces this way. Might work for you as you won't have lead "saw-dust" this way.
Black Hand

 

[Ridge]

I've melted shotgun shot down for lead balls. It's expensive to make them that way, I know. But since I carry a fowler I need both anyways.

 

[NORD]

Hey crossed arrows I have ordered pure lead from Midwayusa before, here is the link:

http://www.midwayusa.com/ebrowse.exe/browse?TabID=2&Categoryid=8662&categorystring=685***

You might also want to try asking your local blackpowder shooting club if they do large bulk orders of lead for casting bullets. That's what I did and ended up saving lots...I got it for like $0.70 per pound.

Good luck!

:front:

 

[onefeather]

i buy pellets and melt them

 

I get mine from a local plumbing company.

Water, L! The worst drawback to old lead plumbing pipe is the stench it can give off. Make sure you melt and throughly flux it outside, unless you're looking for a divorce or a house that smells like a urinal caught fire! Pee-U! Pure lead can be gotten from roofers and chimney repairmen, its often used as flashing on roofs around chimneys. Home Depot carries rolls of the stuff, but I'm too cheap to pay what they want for it.

Just :m2c:

 

[Stumpkiller]

I have a bunch of sewer pipe seals with the oakum still attached from the scrap yard. Them fellers smell mighty awful in the 'ol pot, I'll tell ye.

 

[arcticap]

If you can find anyone who shoots airguns indoors in their house into a trap of some kind, they usually don't have any way to dispose of it. The extra soft pellets totally flatten into "pancakes" when fired into a metal backstop at low velocity. :winking:

 

[Halftail]

Crossed Arrows,
If ya just lived a little closer I give ya a bunch.Yesterday I salvaged probably 30 lbs from an old chimney we tore the top off[url] of.In[/url] the summer I shingle roofs and have gathered quite a collection of scrap lead.........oh....probably something like 500lbs or so. eace:

 

If you are luckey enough to come by a large quanity of lead you can melt it down in an old iron pot and use a old fashioned aluminimum ice cube tray to cast a nice 20 odd pound ingot. It makes it easy to store.

 

[Rebel]

I pour mine into an old metal muffin tin. I think it has 8 muufin spots. The ingots are small enough to get in my small cast iron casting pot.

 

[robert smith]

Great ideas, Pilgrims. Keep them coming. I just picked up a cast iron muffin tin with 7 small spots at the Goodwill store yesterday for 3 bucks to pour small ingots for my primitive ladel. It's made in the USA but has a German name on the handle. This is great! Now I have another addiction to scrounge for!

 

[Runner]

I use a muffin tin also.

 

[brushbuster]

bein one o, them thar plummers i has anuther i,dee
i let that lead pipe sit out in the weather for around six months in the hot texas sun before i even cut it up.
this helps to remove any residual moisture.
i then use an old axe to chop it up in small pieces ,and scrape it off pretty good before putting it in the pot
every one is right about the stench thats why you do a little at a time ,but if you already have a hot pot of lead going always leave a little lead in the pot after pouring and add small pieces the stink isn't as bad when you do it this way.

another thing you can do is goto a plumbing supply house such as fergusons,hughes,morrison or moors,and purchase the ingots from them :m2c:

 

[musketshooter]

Before you melt the whole lot of lead pipe together, be advised that the joints are "soldered" together with tin. Remember, it melts at a lower temperature so it is the only way that lead can be attached together. These joints should not be melted with the rest of the pure lead pipe. It will harden the lead if it is combined. Cut the joints out and use them for lead cartridge gun bullets.

 

[robert smith]

Many thanks for all of your input. Based on what you wrote, I narrowed my search down to scrap flashing as being the best lead for roundballs with the least trouble and stench. So, I went lookin and got lucky yesterday, buying over 600 lbs of lead flashing for 20 cents/lb! I figure I've got enough for about 15,000 roundballs of .570 for about a penny a ball. That should hold me for awhile. Now, my return advice for all of you is to let your fingers do the walking in the yellow pages and contact scrap dealers, roofers and contractors for this flashing material. Let them know what you want it for and what you're willing to pay and give them your name and phone number. Better still, follow up with a note reminding them so they can put it by the phone. Sooner or later you'll get a nice surprise call. The roofers and contractors aren't worried about getting rich on this stuff, they just want to get rid of it because the landfills usually won't take it. Good luck and good shooting. :thanks: