Lead Source?

[vtachrn]

I am just getting into casting my own bullets. I have everything I need but a cheap source of lead. I can buy fluxed and cleaned lead ingots off ebay, but its rather cost prohibitive. Anyone here cast their own bullets? Care to educate a guy that wants to learn and pass on the knowledge as well? I just need to figure out where and how to pick up scrap lead without paying a arm and leg.

[knockonit]

have a bunch of lead alloyed to 16 brinell , we cast thousand of 9mm, .45 and 223 over the years, have to figure out what i gotta get for it.
in north phoenix, and salvage yards aren't paying .10 lb, check it out.

good luck
rj

[XJThrottle]

Buy some wheel weight pliers, a morning, and $2 to get into the U-pull-it. All the wheel weights you can handle/push/carry.

[knockonit]

just make sure they are lead and not the new zinc crap, adding zinc to the lead makes a real mess to clean up.
don't ask, i just know threw away a whole lotta molten due to contamination to the lead from them. d

[Old Jeff H]

About 3 years ago I spent a few months putting together a little stockpile. Part of it came from buying medical isotopes from a fellow board member, but the bulk of it came from hitting up all of the local tire shops in my area and buying 5 gallon buckets of used wheel weights.

It took a lot of work to sort the steel and zinc out of the wheel weights, but it was actually kind of enjoyable and relaxing. As was melting it all down, fluxing it, and casting it. After it was all said and done, I ended up with about 2,000 lb of ingots.

It's really not that hard to find, it's just a lot of work to produce what you need.

Oh and if you decide that you want some pewter to mix in, hit up your local thrift stores. There's definitely a learning curve with knowing what's actual pewter, but I ended up with about 100 lb of that as well. Just make sure you're paying the right price for it.

[vtachrn]

Thanks for the ideas. Guess I just need to hit the ground and start scrounging. Whats the worst they will say? No?

[marlin39a]

Scrapyards can be a good source. Watch for sellers on Craigslist. Be wary of wheel weights, as most now are zinc. I’ve bought from sellers on castboolits.com with good results. Ask at yard sales, you might find some there.

[delta6]

have a bunch of lead alloyed to 16 brinell , we cast thousand of 9mm, .45 and 223 over the years, have to figure out what i gotta get for it.
in north phoenix, and salvage yards aren't paying .10 lb, check it out.

good luck
rj

16 Brinell is Lyman #2 alloy. 90% pure, 5% tin and 5% Antimony.

[Flash]

About 3 years ago I spent a few months putting together a little stockpile. Part of it came from buying medical isotopes from a fellow board member, but the bulk of it came from hitting up all of the local tire shops in my area and buying 5 gallon buckets of used wheel weights.

The board member is Bosshaug if the OP wants to contact him.

[knockonit]

LOL, YEAH, i had to go to a bigger pot to melt the big isotopes, whew they were monsters, used my turkey fryer and huge pot, even welded up a big steel laddle, we probably alloyed 2k lbs, and poured another 2-4 k of ingots of misc. hardness, to be used later.

as noted above the 16 brinnel is the winner in our world, little to no leading on all of the shooters we sized for.
the day of the wheel weights is about gone.
Rj

[mtptwo]

Buy some wheel weight pliers, a morning, and $2 to get into the U-pull-it. All the wheel weights you can handle/push/carry.

Yeah, but they put the weights on the inside of the rims now.

[Old Jeff H]

Although it's been 3 years since I did all my scrounging, and I'm sure that things have changed even in that short period of time, I did a spreadsheet on what percentage of the weights I acquired were lead, steel, and zinc. I'll see if I can remember to look for it tonight.

I also used a turkey fryer as my heat source, and I bought an enameled cast iron dutch oven from Goodwill for my melting pot. Wax based floor sweeping compound works most excellent for fluxing.