In California sales of scrap lead to individuals illegal. That cuts off my local metals recycler as the primary source.

I am in California, soon to leave. I plan on fleeing to Idaho. Is this the same in all states? Is lead easier to get outside of California? Should I stock up now or wait?

Yes, I know I can get it from Rotometals but the cost is so high it is hardly worth casting.

My ranges all forbid collecting backstop scrap. It is considered hasmat and not to be touched. ........I hate California.

your local yard here [in Idaho] may or may not sell to individuals.
that policy might also change depending on the demand on the open market.
I have had the same place refuse to sell to me, then beg me to take that pallet of lino-type pigs off their hands at 65 cents a pound and called a pig 20 pounds..
you just have to call around.

if I were coming here and I already had lead in hand I would surely bring it with me.
in my town here [pop 2-K] I could rattle off 15 names of people I know that cast their own bullets.
there has to be more because I find bullets on the berms from time to time that I don't recognize.

quote:

pallet of lino-type pigs off their hands at 65 cents

That is like striking gold!

It will be nice to come to a place with people who share my traditional American values.

Yes indeed. The last I bought for as a buddy was $2.00 per lb. As to your request, you can buy base lead or 50/50 or 95/5 at any plumbing supply. If you want a Lyman # 2 alloy you use 1 lb. 50/50 to 9 lbs. of wheel weights. Now the [problem is that the last administration to the best of my knowledge has outlawed the old style wheel weights + the current pot metal variety are useless in casting. There are still some tire centers that may still have some. I don't know. I do know that I have a friend's son that loads + casts up in Stephenville that went to the junkyard + they told him that unless he had a smelters license they could not sell to him. Scary shit, right?

Go over to the classified WTS section at cast boolits. We have lead and alloys for sale quite often.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forum.php

I find that old men who have reloaded all their lives to be an awesome source of lead for casting... I am being kind of tongue=in=cheek, but it is true... they usually have a stash of ingots in their garage or basement, and are ready to get them out of the way! It's also a great way to make new friends, and learn old time tricks of the trade!!!

Wise man your grandfather, Mike.

movers are coming monday. i have spent the last 2 weeks daily filling up a 12 x 5 ft double axle trailer with 3 shops worth of crap and hauling it 3 hours away to the new place. last load had over 600 lbs of WW. am leaving two 5 gal buckets full of WW here cause i'm too damn sore to load em and don't have the trailer anymore. its my sons and he drove away with a load of mesquite b b q wood yesterday. point is, wish you were here so i could give em to you. i live between san antonio and corpus. anyone that wants em can come get em, and load em, between now and weds. and yes there are some "obama weights" mixed in. its my house till thurs.

I'm one of those old guys with a bunch of lead and alloys in the garage. Been trying to sell it off for years. Casting bullets seems to be less year by year.

Dave

there not in here!!!!!! honest!!!!!

i have about 1500lbs of lead that i got when i was a laborer. they were water service lines(to each person's house, 3/4 - 2" dia). i melted them down to ingots. i used to lead coww on cars, but the garages don't have them. i believe that they are zinc coww? i buy tin from rotometals or someone else.

JohnC
This may well be too late, but if nothing else, why don't ya offer those two buckets up for the taking if you are unable to take with you.
New owner may well not know how to make use of approximately 250 pounds of WW lead.

[quote]anyone that wants em can come get em, and load em[/q

thats not offering em up??? really? and yes, its too late.

Son of a gun, too late now.

Couple weeks ago I gave a casting buddy
12 5 gal buckets full of scrap bullets from
the indoor range in trade for 100 ingots.

Back about '1990 I cleaned out the range
and brought home 75 buckets level full.
This was the last of it.

Still have around 3500 ingots under the
bench I likely won't ever live long enough
to use up.

This is called: Rub it in, Rub it in!! HA!

George

I'm in the same position George. I've been collecting wheel weights, plain lead, + linotype for years + casting them into ingots. I'm sure I'll never use mine up in my lifetime either.

if i never fill up and dump out another one of those RCBS muffin tins of 4 ingots again it will be too soon. and i still have maybe 600 lbs or more of WW ready to go.

Well John, if you ever decide to part with some, mu friend Jim will be glad to help. Actually, if you are interested you might consider when you make your trip up here to see the Savage Scout + 1926 Colt that I could get Jim to show up at the same time + maybe ya'll work a deal. It would save me shipping on the 32-20 ammo as well, as my mercenary soul prescribes.

if i'm not mistaken, and i often might be, i think i remember telling you not to hold them 2 guns for me, to sell em if you can. but sure i'll look at em. as for the ammo, once the time is right i'll gladly send ya a check for whatever costs you incur.

Yeah, John, I remember. I have a friend that is interested in the Colt + a Ruger RSI Mannlicher in 7x57 but I haven't seen any money yet.

Visit the tire shops and small garages. They throw the old wheel weights into a five gallon bucket. Some charge and some give it away. For soft lead visit plumbing shops who are called to replace old piping. Auto batteries contain 10 or more pounds of lead but be carefull of the acid.

I cusrrently have about a half ton of lead, split between wheelweights and soft lead and hae been uing the sources above for 40 years.

Forgot to state USPS flat rate box is the best way to ship lead. Up to 70 pounds in a medium box for $16. Just tape it securely so the box does not open.

That's true as far as it goes. It is the cheapest way to ship (priority USPS). The problem is will it get there? I mailed 3 boxes of lead to a friend here on A.R. The 3rd actually arrived intact. The 1st two were slit open by someone in the postal employ. I saw the pics. They denied it of course. Probably thought they had some precious metals inside; they were right in a way. Also, when you ship that way you are supposedly automatically insured for $50.00 for the contents. Go ahead + try to collect + see where that gets you.

Everything Randy said is true.

I take it that the USPS has not only not recompensed you but is ignoring you? And then we have the talk these days about doing away from the P.O. (+, of course, it's all Trumps' fault; to stop mail-in voting) How about just plain ineptitude in the current system?

quote:

How about just plain ineptitude in the current system?

That describes about all of government, most of business. The Peter Principle writ large.

Dave

True. I recall when Clinton was going to "shut down the government" then went on to say that he wasn't talking about everyone, just nonessential personnel. Did you just hear yourself, Bill?

quote:

nonessential personnel.

There would be no government. I sometimes wonder if we would be better off.

Dave

quote:

I take it that the USPS has not only not recompensed you but is ignoring you?

Yep.

wow. we had a hard time getting someone to pickup range lead. there are only 2 guys in the club that cast. They take what they need which isn't much. We were thinking of making ingots then selling it.

Range lead is .25 a lb with free pickup.

all the new-ish ranges are using crushed rubber backstops. Just tray and sort through that.

In Wichita Falls,Tx there is a fairly new indoor range called High Caliber. Their hired hand that cleaned their traps got severe lead poisoning. He is in very bad shape and a big law suit about to happen.

I'd be willing to bet that his lead poisoning was from breathing the lead residue in the indoor range. It can kill you. He could have been picking up the lead without gloves then ate a sandwich but I doubt it. The vapor ingestion is bad news.

Check your community for old radiology clinics/hospitals that have closed. These are common now that med centers are housing everything. They will have pure lead plates in the walls, doors, and ceilings. They are usually screwed to metal or wooden studs behind the drywall/tiles. If the real estate company wants to re-purpose the building they may want the lead out of there.

True. I got a few 4' X 8' sheets of lead from a GC friend that was doing a remodel+ knew I cast.

I have about 50 lbs of pure lead flashing in a roll - left over from a re-roofing on my house.

That's great if you are shooting BP. Otherwise, you will need to mix tin + antimony to get a useable mixture. I have a buddy who is doing this right now. I gave him 11 lbs. of tin, he bought the antimony online + already had a beaucoup of the regular pig. I'm looking forward to his results. So far he says he is getting a Brinnell hardness of 15.8. That is right at Lyman # 2.

So anyone still willing to part with some of their lead, want to try again at casting some bullets. Sounds like when shipping via flat rate boxes, they may have been too heavy and that's why problems with shipping with USPS, tho it is a good cheaper way to send heavier things.

NC.....pm sent

I've got lead, lead alloys, tin and babbit that I would sell. I prefer to sell locally because proper packing is a pain and I can't handle a box of lead with a cane. I live in Seattle, PM me if your interested.

Dave

A shame you are not close to us.

I can give you all the lead you want.

I bought a swimming pool worth of lead shot.

No idea how it got there, and the man who had was happy to get rid of it.

We put it in 48 gallon drums.

I have used several, and still have several left.

Mixed lead shot, about #2-4 or so.

Very good for cast bullets.