finding pure lead

[tnlonghunter]

I second Birdman on the dentist thing. I've got mine from a dentist at church and he's thrilled to be able to get rid of it for free!

 

[jtmattison]

It pays to have a contacat at the phone company that can get you lead when they remove the old splices.

That's where I get mine but I'm in the phone biz and get it from our cable guys. I have 600 pounds in nice ingots. It took a lot of dirty work to clean it up and pour ingots but I've got a lifetime supply.

HD

 

[d.thomson]

Hi Im shooting a hawkes T/C with a 1/48 twist 50cal.

 

[d.thomson]

Tanks every one I have located a stain glass worker in my area and she has a small supply. Gess I sruck it good her husband is from england and he is a lic lead roofer. I havent talked to him yet but I will see if I can buy a roll or two off him. thanks again for all the feed back. Dave T.

 

[Matt B]

A place I've got lead, is a indoor shooting range. When they sweep up the floor, they put it all in a barrel. Sell it for $.01 a pound.

I just take it and melt it down into ingots.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Most of the lead you are going to get off a range is alloy, containing much tin, and antimony. It is not pure lead, unless it is an air rifle or pistol range, only. No reason not to use the lead again, but use it for making bullets for modern rifles and handguns. You will do better using pure lead. There are roofing companies in every phone book. Call around to see if you can find some lead. If you are only looking for a small quantity with each purchase, they may sell it to you. Otherwise, they keep for themselves and their friends. Same with dentists, and glass companies. Always check with the scrap metal yards. They are in the business of making money. If they can't sell quantities measured in tons, the get less money for it from the big buyers. They can sell you the smaller quantities and turn a profit faster than waiting several months to get enough to make a shipment to an industrial buyer.

 

I did not see this suggested in this string so here goes what may be a dumb suggestion. Why not use lead from the impact areas at gun clubs? Dig it up screen it through some hardware cloth and then melt it down and test its hardness. Can there be that much difference in performance if the batches you get are somewhat different in hardness?

 

[Homesteader]

Ah, one of them fancy rifled smokepoles, eh? Well, then I would definitely side with the rest of the posters and NOT recommend the use of wheel weights. They work well enough out of my Bess or my SxS 12 gauge, but I wouldn't dream of trying to cast wheel weight bullets for my Sharps, or for my .45 flintlock rifle.

Best of luck to you. Seems you're luckier than me, btw. I still haven't found a good source for pure lead. Well, other than Dixie. ($$$$$$$)

 

[hornetk4]

if you don't mind paying for it you can't beat the scrap metal yard people , they got tons on lead no pun intended . Plus in most cases you can tel what the alloy is by know what shapes different users used it for for instance plumbers use pipe lead to seal cast iron pipe and they usualy use pure lead for that . I personally have bought partial used bags of shot from the scrap yard so I know exactly what I was getting if it's a particular lead alloy they usually have it segregated so as to get top dollar for it . Short of having to pay for it for me it's the best source for lead , but I can't argue with some of the other posts it's always nice to get it for free .

 

[Blackfoot]

A friend of mine is a plumber and I asked him if he ran accross this "plumbers lead" and he said yes, So I laid the big question on him to see if he could get me a bunch.
It sounds that he can get it on his next job that uses it and could fill a 5 gallon pail for me if I want as there is a lot of wasted scrap when they use it. :grin: So I did tell him that I will take all I can get. :shocked2:

After I get the lead I will have to get a roundball mould and start making my own roundballs and see how they shoot.

 

[bramble]

Blackfoot,
Santa's bringing me a mould for Christmas, so I'll have plenty to do in the off season (I'll hunt in bad weather but I'm not punching paper in the rain). I called the local plumbing supply store and they sell lead in 5 lb lots for $9 for 5 lbs. Now I'm shopping the on-line stores for the best price on moulds & accessaries.
bramble

 

[BrownBear]

I located a fella with a bunch of lead-sheathed 1" cable dating from around WWII. He's not interested in the lead, but wants the copper. I strip the lead and give him back the copper, making us both happy. He's got almost two tons of the cable and can get as much more as he wants. Keep your eye out for any projects old cable from that era, and I bet you never have to worry again.

 

[Chiefs50]

I have pretty good luck at my local scrap yard. Lots of pure lead available but kind of pricey at .50/pound.

Wheelweights I get for free at a local tire dealer - well not quite free. I do drop off a 12 pack of beer now and then.

 

[Russianblood]

I'm waiting to hear back from the local dentist if I can have the lead from his X-Ray film. It looks promising. :grin: