Lead ball casting

[TheTyler7011]

hey guys, where would you recommend the best place ls to get lead? What’s the going rate for lt?

l have a couple ball molds and l would like to dive lnto making my own balls. l already make my own BP so lts about time!

 

[Eutycus]

I think the reason you're not seeing a big outpouring of advice on this post (yet) is because it is a much discussed topic. I've only been a member for about 5 months and have already seen lead discussed 3 or 4 times.

 

[bang]

Last batch I bought was off ebay. Not much in stores around me. Use to be able to buy ingets at army navy stores but those stores are nonexistent here. I had been using a pure lead roof vent fitting I got eons ago. Just lately melted the rest down into about 12 pounds of ingets. Sometimes at end of fishing season I'll buy up fishing weights if they are at or below average price per pound. Flea markets good here for them. Can probably get at gun shop that have lots of reload stuff but most likely going to be high compared to ebay. Have seen ready to shoot 100 plus on ebay.
https://www.ebay.com/bhp/lead-ingots

 

[Kansas Kid]

If you’re gonna get it from a supply place you might try Rotometals. Otherwise cable sheeting, old plumbing, roof flashing.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Make friends with a plumber or roofer. Plumbers get lead from demolition and replacement of old pipes. They are often grateful to have some to take the used lead off their hands. Roofers remove lead flashing when reroofing a house. They too need a place to take the lead.

 

[Eutycus]

One of the pieces of advice you'll more than likely get is to avoid wheel weights. Some are still lead but its a hard lead, an alloy really.Then there are weights that are not lead at all. You've got steel, zinc, plastic etc. From what I understand the wheel weight lead will work in a rifle. Do you have a way of testing the hardness?

 

[BIGBEAR]

Ask around , usually somebody has some they can part with ...
I just got some scuba diving weights , turns out it was fairly soft ..

I often wondered what lead is in old sail boat keels, certainly a lot there !

Talk to some roofers and plumbers - they come across it sometimes..previously mentioned.

 

[Eutycus]

Dentists in some parts of the country used to use a lead film for their Xray machines. But from what I hear most dont use this method any longer. They've gone digital.

 

[BIGBEAR]

Yes , and I just heard of a hospital under construction, they had to rip out the lead lined walls of the x-ray room .... 1/8 inch sheets lining the walls ....lots of bullets there !!

 

[Eutycus]

If memory serves me right, xray room lead is pretty good stuff. A little bit on the hard side but not too hard.
When the subject of scuba or fishing weights comes up I'm sure someone will advise you on the danger of any water remaining inside the weights. Even one drop of water can cause a fairly violent steam explosion when being melted.

 

[BIGBEAR]

Wow ... makes sense .. thanks for warning .

 

[bang]

hey guys, where would you recommend the best place ls to get lead? What’s the going rate for lt?

l have a couple ball molds and l would like to dive lnto making my own balls. l already make my own BP so lts about time!

Looked on ebay. Cheapest I've seen so far is 60 pounds, $99.50, free ship.

 

[Stumpkiller]

Last batch I got was from a recycling yard ("junk yard") of plumbers flashings from around sewer pipes. They gave me a five gallon pail full (I could barely lift) and said "don't worry about it".

Best ever was roof flashing. I still have a bit of that. Easy to cut and seems pure.

Most I was ever offered was a 12" tall piece by 4 ft by a foot wide cut off a sailboat's keel. I estimate it weighed about 1,600 lbs. But the "deal" was I could not use a power tool that would make shavings or dust where it was sitting outside their work shed. I tried axes and chisels, but finally settled on a hand plane and pulled curls off it. Eventually they had it carted off but I got maybe 100 lbs off it that summer.

 

[Grenadier1758]

One of the pieces of advice you'll more than likely get is to avoid wheel weights. Some are still lead but its a hard lead, an alloy really.Then there are weights that are not lead at all. You've got steel, zinc, plastic etc. From what I understand the wheel weight lead will work in a rifle. Do you have a way of testing the hardness?

Wheel weights are too hard for a rifle, although sometimes they will sort of work with undersized balls and very thick patches. They may work well in a smoothbore with a good wad or patch.

 

[Rifleman1776]

danger of any water remaining inside the weights. Even one drop of water can cause a fairly violent steam explosion when being melted.

The danger of water and hot lead is not with what is in the lead. That will boil and steam off as the lead heats. The danger is water droplets going into melted lead. Never, never ever, lean yer face over the lead pot while casting, sweat droplets can cause you serious injury, like blindness.

 

[sawyer04]

Wheel weights are too hard for a rifle, although sometimes they will sort of work with undersized balls and very thick patches. They may work well in a smoothbore with a good wad or patch.

Have used wheel weights for unmentionable bullets here.

 

[Melnic]

Locally to me a guy sells it for
$1.50 a lb cleaned up in ingots
$1.00 lb for sheets.
I have tested his stuff in my lee hardness tester as pure lead hardness of 5

Late last year, I got some from ebay and I can say that you have to look for feedback on these guys and that they are really PURE lead. (hardness of 5). You gotta buy alot to get the cost / lb down.

I spent some lunch time checking out wheel places for doing sinkers and they all had someone taking the stuff or had company recyclers and did not want to do anything for me.

My dive weights were not soft pure lead. They are used in unmentionables and fishing sinkers.

 

[45man]

The danger of water and hot lead is not with what is in the lead. That will boil and steam off as the lead heats. The danger is water droplets going into melted lead. Never, never ever, lean yer face over the lead pot while casting, sweat droplets can cause you serious injury, like blindness.

No, water dropped on the surface of molten lead is no danger at all. steams off. Water under the surface is bad. You can dribble water onto molten lead all day to steam fish or such without danger but never get water under the surface.

 

[45man]

Lead is never the same for each use. Scrap is used for sail boats or dive weights. You do not know what it is. Could be old Linotype to zinc or what makes weight. Pure is getting harder to find since recycled lead is a mix and our lead mine closed. I am blessed with several tons acquired over my life.

 

[Eutycus]

Alot of the sources mentioned in previous posts will get you lead, alot of it scrap. I'm assuming you mean lead in the pure form since you mentioned casting your own balls in the opening post.Anyway good luck on this branch of the hobby!