bullet grade lead at $1.43 per pound

CALIFORNIA

CALIFORNIA

CGN Regular
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
3   0   0
Location
Quebec
I have found a scrap dealer in Montreal that is willing to sell smelted wheel weights in 40 lb ingots at $1.43 per pound if I order 500 pounds or more.

This is a great price, just check at what prices Midway sells lead ingots !

Are there any bullet casters in the Montreal area that want in on a bulk purchase?

Please PM me, thanks
 
Sorry, but that does not sound like a good price, let alone a great one.

If they will sell you linotype for that price, I'd be more enthused.

Spot price for pure is about a buck US per pound right now. Kitcometals.com.

The price that Midway sells at is like looking at the prices WalMart sells gold at to determine value.
Midway is selling pure, not mystery alloy, too. Depending on how the Wheel weights were processed, there is a very good chance that the scrap yard got a bunch of zinc into the mix as well.

I think you can do better. Esp if you are willing to do a little leg work, and offer tire shops cash for their wheel weights to match what they would get from the scrap dealer. Probably about 15 cents a pound.

Cheers
Trev
 
By the time you run around to the shops looking for "a deal", you will be just as far ahead to buy the scrap yard stuff. It doesn't matter where you get the wheel wieghts from, they will be of unknown content. The stuff from the scrap yard is likely a lot less hassle all around, especially for a few pennies a pound. trevj is right, linotype would be better.
If you're just picking it up yoourself, that's about as cheap as it gets. Spot prices are fine to look at but not very realistic when you have to ship the stuff. Canadian spot price = $1.25/lb then there is S&H and taxes on top of that. The scrap yard is more than likely selling it to you as coffee money, under the table.
 
I don't agree - it's not a bad price.

The Spot Price for lead is not what you should expect to pay. Here's more like it ($Cdn shipped): http://www.alchemycastings.com/lead-products/Pricing/203/CDNZone203-Bullet.pdf

I've converted several thousand pounds of wheelweight to ingots over the past five years and I estimate my average price per pound at perhaps $0.40. That takes into account some overhead for equipment (mitigated by the volume), but doesn't account for my labour, and it assumes a source - difficult to find, much less a reliable one. I can tell you, I would not sell mine (if they were for sale and they aren't) for less than $1/lb.

Most folks are not into the whole process of finding and smelting so their alternative is to look for ready made wheelweight alloy. Zinc - the Great Satan, yea it would be a good idea to examine the process they followed to make the ingots. It's real easy to avoid zinc (keep the melt temp under 700F) but not too difficult it seems, for careless or ignorant people to melt them into the alloy, which is not good.
 
bearhunter said:
It doesn't matter where you get the wheel wieghts from, they will be of unknown content.
Click to expand...

To be perfectly clear. It's not about whether you are getting wheel weights. It's about how they processed them, and whether they used, for example, a large pot on a turkey fryer (poor heat control) or used an electric temperature controlled furnace (excellent heat control) so that you avoid melting the zinc weights into the alloy ( a poor addition to your bullets). And whether they took good care when they did the job.

If you do it yourself, you have only yourself to blame if the zinc gets into the mix, and really, it's not that hard to prevent. But a scrap yard, that may be processing a 45 gallon drum of weights at a time, probably is less careful, than someone that requires zinc free alloy.

Guys casting Keel weights for a sailboat, for instance, would be pretty happy whether there was zinc or not.

Being as piccolig is in Montreal, I'd bet that there are a few places in the area that sell known alloy metals, that are within reach by a short drive. Phone calls are cheap, and dropping $750 on a pile of material that may or may not be what it claims to be, isn't.

As far as the link to Alchemy castings goes, I'd be interested in knowing what their "further discounts" are, for orders over 200 pounds. They may represent a better deal in the end, if you get the alloy you need, delivered.

I know guys sitting on literally tons of lead. It does not take up much space.

Lesse. A 250 grain bullet, 7000 grains per pound = 28 bullets per pound = 280 bullets per 10 pounds or 2800 bullets per 100 pounds.

I figure my stash of wheel weights is gonna last a while, at 37 grains per...:D

Cheers
trev
 
He shouldn't have to hard of a time finding wheel weights in Quebec......we have to change our tires every 6 months(winter tires next month).All he has to do is go and ask a bunch of tire shops what they do with there old wheel weights, usually at he end of the day.if he asks nicely and has a couple of pails with him,it won't take long to fill them,usually for free.
 
I think the great zinc monster is grossly overrated if you are even remotely careful. My local tire shop sells 5 gallon pails of wheel weights for $20.00. I bought 5. The percentage of zinc to normal weights is about 10%. If you keep your smelting temperature reasonable the zinc weights just float to the top of the mix and are scooped out and discarded with the clips and dirt. Easy.
 
I buy it in ingots for ~$1 here in Vancouver. They will produce any alloy I need. They recycle batteries and other lead items.
 
Last edited:
I buy it in ingots for ~$1 here in Vancouver. They will produce any allow I need. They recycle batteries and other lead items.
Click to expand...

Canam, I may new to casting but battery lead is the worst lead for bullets.
It is alloyed with calcium and other metals that are very unsuitable as projectiles traveling through a barrel
 
yes, if you use old batteries yourself.. I am talking about a professional smelter. No issues there.

You are likely reading warnings in manuals, etc. regarding melting down battery plates during home casting. That is definitely a bad idea.
 
I get my lead from a local garage...free, the owner is a shooting buddy. Also has able to pick up 200 lbs+ of Linotype from a local printing shop.
Bob
 
You might also keep an eye on the industrial houses selling babbit.

There are many formulas for babbit. When I was working in the mills years ago I discovered - quite by accident - that the babbit our mill was using (trade name "genuine nickle") was in fact what some of us call... linotype.

I piggybacked on a a mill order for a ridiculously cheap price. And still have a little over 750 lbs of linotype sitting in the back yard.

I don't know what that "babbit" sells for now, but it can never hurt to look.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom