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Posted: 7/29/2013 6:11:00 AM EDT
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So someone sent me some cast projectiles for my 300 blackout. 20 rounds downrage and I'm hooked. So this morning I called every car service center within a few miles. Out of 12, 9 said NO. One said I can give you a couple but not too many since they are hazardous, another said come on over we have a whole bucket. I got there and the manager wasnt sure when I said I would take all they would give and he wanted to look it up and will call me back. The last place didn't answer, I just showed up and its two guys running a little shop they said sure but some other guy usually comes around and buys it. So i offerred $15 for a bucket of like 40lbs. (much cheaper than the internet) so thats all I could scrounge up.
Anyone else running into this? All the places that said no was because lead is considered hazardous waste and they have a company come pick it up. The one guy said if it was his shop he would give it to me, but since they were a chain they had to follow company policy with the recycling of it. |
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Lead WW are a thing of the past. They are no longer manufactured and allowed to be sold (new). I think you can thank Bill Clinton for this one, but I may be wrong.
Most modern WW are Zinc, some are Iron. Iron floats to the top and can be discarded. Zinc on the other hand can melt into the mix if your melt is to hot. Zinc in the melt will pretty much turn it to junk. $14 for 40 lb is not that great for unprocessed WW. You have to account for the clips and dross, you also have to account for the % of zinc/iron WW. Hard to find for sure. You might be better off searching for "Processed" WW for $1/pound or even (ouch) $1.50/pound. |
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Quoted:
If you know any medical/Xray/radiation people, the isotope cores make excellent bullet alloy. 31.5" per core and nearly zero waste. Wheel weights are drying up. I got into casting in 2009 and it was a tough proposal back then. What about the dentist? That a good place to ask? I also heard that pharmacies have the cores too. |
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Most dentists offices use electronic imaging nowadays so no foils to reclaim.
Look for the mom and pop tire places. Forget the chains, they won't sell to you. Lead wheel weights are still available but you will have to search for them. Most places that do have them may give you a few but they usually have their fishin buddies lined up that use them for sinkers. Pharmacies won't have the isotope cores. Find someone who works in nuclear medicine and see if they can help you out. Good luck! |
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Something to consider. If you're buying used wheel weights. Do you have a set up to smelt them into usable ingots? You are into 40 lbs for 37.5 cents. If you have to purchase any smelting gear you will go over $1 per lb easy. A couple of suggestions (disclaimer I sell some lead when I have extra), to start out buy some lead to try and see if you like casting etc... It can be quite fun, and lead is out there. To smelt an easy set up is a turkey fryer, a cast iron dutch oven (never to be used for food again) and a mold. I buy most of my "equipment" at the local thrift store. Also be on the lookout for pewter for tin. My best wheel weight score to date. 1200 lbs  |
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I am looking into getting the Lyman starter kit. Its $80, comes with a nice book and everything I need.
Now as for buying lead. If I cannot get it near $1 per lb, I have figured out its not going to be worth the effort. I can still get surplus projectiles for my 300 blackout for only 1-2 cents more then the lead will cost, but wont require a lot of effort. |
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I suggest the Lyman kit doesn't come with everything you "need". Begin reading at castboolits. It is not recommended to smelt in your casting furnace. Honestly you are going to be better off getting surplus bullets. Generally when smelting I have about 20% clips to lead after sorting. So 40 lbs of raw ww, you will lose some to zinc, steel and trash. My experience is 10% to 15%. 40 lbs becomes 36 lbs. Less 20% for clips, 36 lbs becomes 29 lbs. SO you are about 50 cents a lb not including you labor. You need to make sure you keep your pot temp low enough to not melt any zinc by accident. I do my smelt at 650 or less. Any Zinc's I may have missed hand sorting float on top. So you go to all the effort to smelt in a casting furnace to save $14. From the 29 lbs you end up with you can cast about 1000 200 gr boolits. But you are going to need a mold. So there is another $30 to $100. I am not trying to discourage you, but seriously unless you want to put in some pretty good effort the $$$$ just don't work out. And all that assumes that your ww's are the right bhn (hardness) for the load you want to shoot. Good Luck with whatever you decide.
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I figured to start off I would be in the red. I just hope that it would pay off in the long run just like reloading equipment.
Is there a reason you dont want o smelt in your casting furnace? I have to do some more digging. I remember finding a good price on lead ingots but my ebay watch list was deleted 
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| Also, I would try bringing a bucket to the shooting range with me next time, as they have 2 dirt pits with really hard dirt. There are tons of bullets just sitting on the top. I could see how easy it would be to scrape a bunch of the top. Range isn't far so I could randomly do it when I'm bored. |
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Basically if you smelt in your casting furnace you end up with a dirty furnace pot. Range lead is a different ballgame. Pick up all you can. Smelt them down, I end up with about 25% jackets to 75% lead if hand sorted. If you are luckey you can take the jackets to the local scrap yard and sell the copper. If not well you get lead for your labor. It will be softer than ww's. I always try to bring home more lead than I shoot. If I pick up 30 lbs per trip I figure it's a break even for me vs buying.
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| Range scrap is the new WW. Indoor ranges have lots of it in collection troughs that they have to dispose of on a regular basis. My experience is that most outdoor ranges don't want people damaging their berms. You can also try salvage yards, plumbers, roofers and the like. Put out the word you are looking for lead, any lead, and you may be surprised at what shows up. |
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since you are just starting why not buy 66lbs of the good stuff .
6Sb2Sn92Pb Antimonial Lead Modern equivalent of Lyman #2 Casting Alloy Commonly also known as Hardball or Magnum alloy Foundry Bullet Alloy with Certified Analysis 66 lbs. @$2.07/lb. Price: $136.62 Missouri Bullet Co. |
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Quoted: I am looking into getting the Lyman starter kit. Its $80, comes with a nice book and everything I need. Now as for buying lead. If I cannot get it near $1 per lb, I have figured out its not going to be worth the effort. I can still get surplus projectiles for my 300 blackout for only 1-2 cents more then the lead will cost, but wont require a lot of effort. Keep in mind you will replace this furnace very soon for a bottom pour furnace. You need to smelt in a large pot, flux your mix and pour the clean lead into a ingot mold. Casting furnace melts the ingots so you can cast bullets. Here is an on line free book about casting, can also print it out. Covers all phases of casting, from starting out to advanced. I learned a lot when I read it. Cast Bullets is a good site, but all the info you want is in this book. Do some reading before ordering equipment. Good luck
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