Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting Lead Sources

That gives me an idea. I'm gonna investigate costs for significant quantities of tin. I figure companies like Rotometals and solder manufacturers have to get it from somewhere, they don't smelt it themselves. Pure soft lead I have in spades and I care not very much for stuff with antimony in it as I very seldom chase speed with attendant "hard cast" alloys. (Boy there's an over-worked and over-embraced term these days.) I'm happy living in the sub-2000fps world anymore and simple binary alloys serve me just fine for all the handgun and rifle shooting I do.

I'd like to meet a swimsuit model (or her mother) who's old man owns a tin mine.

I haven't tried any quenched. I think you may want to add a but of ww alloy to get some arsenic and a bit of tin too. I've mixed it 50/50with ww and it casts well. I've also done 1:1:1 with ww and mono for a fairly hard cast.

Bb

I had recently picked up lead from the local scrap metal yard. $30 for 52 lbs. most of it was in the form of hockey puck shaped/size ingots. They also had some lead pipe sections with what looks like brass couplings moulded into the lead piping. They also have lead sheeting which seemed pretty soft. Are those sources generally good quality lead sources? I may have to go back and grab that scrap. They are only about a mile from me.

Location????

If you were near me, I would part with some of my stash. Mostly pipe lead, got about 3000 pounds of the stuff. Most is melted down into ingots.

But I am tucked way up in NW WA state, right on the salt water. Port Angeles, WA.

So much "lead" isn't pure. When I was casting I boughtva hardness tester. Seems that pure lead runs $2 a pound.
I had a guy that was hot for my stash but never followed through. Not a lot of bullet casters now.

2,800 miles east of you.

When on a search for somethin here, it might be handy if people listed at least the state and more specific location even better.

Re-read my original post. I was asking for information/contacts on obscure sources that don't show up under the umbrella of a Google search. I was NOT asking for members here to part with their own stashes. In that light, my AO makes ZERO difference to the information I was seeking.

any boat marinas on any lakes mite have a junk small sailboat or houseboat that has lead in the keel ? it shows up here in FLA often

Never thought of that.

But, the overwhelming majority of boats around the lakes here are either bass boats, or ski boats, john boats on the river. Can't recall even seeing a sail boat here.

A lot of dirt track racers add lead ballast to various parts of the car.

Being automotive wonks, most of it is wheelweight metal.

Roofers are a good source of soft lead as has been mentioned. I would add sifting the dirt from the berm of your local pistol shooting range. Jacketed bullets generally contain soft lead as does 22rf. Last batch I sifted and melted tested was 97%+
Lead with the balance being tin and antimony. Easy to get a couple hundred pounds in an hour or so.

If you are near a boatyard check for junked sailboats , they usually use lead for ballast in the keel

my local garage saves them for me for free. My local roofer swaps me lead for beer. My local shooting range lets me mine the berms for lead. In fact after cowboy action shoots there is a lot of lead just laying on teh surface below where the gong targets have been set up. Good hunting!

I'd take wheelweights if offered anyway but I have enough hard alloy to last my lifetime.

Lead use on roofing around these parts isn't too common. If it ever was it's been depleted long ago.

No local shooting ranges to mine lead. There's a couple state run ranges in far off places but the last time I visited them was THE last time I'd visit them.

No cowboy action anywhere around here that I know of.

If you are looking for soft lead you are going to be looking mostly at roofing lead, plumbing lead, X-ray room shielding, stick-on wheelweights and cable sheathing. Those are the most common but there are others too.

Contact any local roofers, plumbers, demolition contractors, contractors that do hospital or medical office work, telephone co linemen/installers or local tire shops. Small shops in small towns seem to be the best chance. Start with the one that you buy your tires from.

Most scrap yards have quit selling to the public but it would be worth the effort to check with any local yards.

My buddy got in on the lead shielding from an X ray room. Dead soft and about 1 inch thick. He cast lots of sinkers of all sizes. He says that is his retirement lead. He got it for a bucket of sinkers already cast. The contractor tore down the old X ray room and all the walls was covered by this lead. Most roofer keep the lead soil pipes and flashing to sell for alcohol. Good luck with your search.

We tore apart an old x-ray machine that was being sent to the dump and it had 2 Bars of pure lead weighing 100 pounds apiece...Score ! I still have one to reduce to Ingots .

Good score over the weekend.

My hunting/shooting buddy called me Saturday and said get up here to the house and get this stuff off my tailgate. He'd been given two large totes of old reloading stuff. Mostly old brass ready for a ride to the scrap yard, but a bunch of cast bullets and 3K of new unopened Beeman air rifle pellets, and 2 Pringles cans full of lead shot.

Gave me most of the brass and all the lead, and some old corroded ammo I can pull down and get bullet cores out of. Most of the lead bullets are 7 BHN and the air rifle pellets are as dead soft as it gets. The bullets are nothing I can use so they'll get melted down with the pellets. I'll save the shot for muzzleloader shotguns.

All in all I'd guess there's 30 or so pounds of soft lead there.......

Your location would be helpful in case guys as myself are sitting on a bunch