Commercial source For Pure Lead

lorne19

lorne19

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Hi everyone. I've begun the process of gearing up to cast for my growing collection of Victorian arms and am having difficulties securing a supply of lead. Given that I will be casting for black powder arms such as the Snider, Enfield Muzzle loader etc I will require pure lead. Can anyone suggest a commercial source for pure lead? To head off the inevitable, I don't have the time to scrounge scrap yards and the like for possible sources of scrape lead. My local range has offered me all the lead I can carry if I'm willing to clean out the bullet trap but this lead isn't pure lead and therefore unsuitable for my purposes. I see the Rusty Wood Trading Co in B.C offers pure lead by the pound but shipping from B.C to Quebec will likely be high for say 50-100 pounds. Can anyone offer alternative options?

Thank you
 
50-100 pounds is miniscule and probably won't make most commercial suppliers' minimum order. Then the shipping will be killer.

The way you get lead at an economical price is to order by the truckload, or at least the pallet full. That is what commercial suppliers cater to.

But, reading your post again maybe you don't actually want a commercial, as in industrial source, but just a place to buy retail? Canada Metals is in Montreal.
 
lorne19 said:
To head off the inevitable, I don't have the time to scrounge scrap yards and the like for possible sources of scrape lead.
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I suggest making the time, it’s worth it and doesn’t take that much effort.

Look for a metal recycler and see if they will sell you some, stick on wheel weights are also pure lead, dive weights, boat keel’s. Make a couple calls and all of a sudden you have lots fall in your lap.
 
Thank you for the suggestions. As I've said I need pure lead and scrape pure lead is thin on the ground locally. As a renovation contractor I've put the word out locally for some years for roofing lead and NONE has ever found its way to me. Lead flashing on houses is a rare thing today with tin, aluminum and copper replacing it. Lead pipes are almost unheard of anymore and being self employed I simply don't have time to spend days scrounging. Canada Metals is perhaps worth a try. There at least in the same province as me, I'll report back.

Thank you
 
My suggestion to you is get an address from shippingtoderbyline.com/ and buy your metals from rotometals.com

Orders over $149 will get you free shipping.

Pick up your metals in Derby, a short 45 minute drive for you. The money you save is worth your time to go pick it up
 
With the amount of Industry around Quebec City and Montreal, I would be pretty much shocked, if there was not at least a couple sources there for pure (or near enough) lead ingots.

In days gone, I would say to check the yellow pages, for Metal Suppliers, and call around some. Nowadays, it's a web search, PLUS the Yellow Pages (a lot of these operations are run by some pretty Old-School folks!). Actually, call around a lot, I found that various metal suppliers in the same city often had drastically different attitudes towards small buyers, and drastically different pricing!

A bunch of years back, I lived on the south shore of Montreal, and found a couple old school scrap yards, with stuff in piles, that you could wander around and pick through. Old school enough, that they were still handing out tittie girl calenders. Not the kind of a place where they would be like to have a website, if you know what I mean.
 
lorne19 said:
Thank you for the suggestions. As I've said I need pure lead and scrape pure lead is thin on the ground locally. As a renovation contractor I've put the word out locally for some years for roofing lead and NONE has ever found its way to me. Lead flashing on houses is a rare thing today with tin, aluminum and copper replacing it. Lead pipes are almost unheard of anymore and being self employed I simply don't have time to spend days scrounging. Canada Metals is perhaps worth a try. There at least in the same province as me, I'll report back.

Thank you
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There is a zillion miles of lead pipe (and it is pure lead) still in the ground under city streets and when a municipality does a infrastructure refit , the old "toxic" lead water line is always replaced with modern non-toxic.
Municipalities always advertise street closures where re-hab is going to be done so watch for those & take a box of doughnuts for the boys in the trench's and it wont take long to acrue a 100 lb lead pipe ( about 3 lbs per ft.).
 
Scrap boats often have lead weights.


Perhaps you could partner with other locals and mix and separate lots into pure and non
 
What are you planning to pay per Lb for a 50-100 lb order at your commercial source if I may ask?

There might be guys here with a gigantic stash of pure lead who are willing to cash in a bit.
 
I believe Canada Metal has an office in Montreal. I buy pure lead wire from them and I believe it comes from there. Ask for recycled battery lead. This stuff is 99.7% pure and is re-refined.
 
SteveB said:
I believe Canada Metal has an office in Montreal. I buy pure lead wire from them and I believe it comes from there. Ask for recycled battery lead. This stuff is 99.7% pure and is re-refined.
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I sent them an email as that would appear to be my closest option. Three days and no word yet.
 
SteveB said:
I believe Canada Metal has an office in Montreal. I buy pure lead wire from them and I believe it comes from there. Ask for recycled battery lead. This stuff is 99.7% pure and is re-refined.
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They sell to commercial outfit with an account in big quantity. 2000 pounds at a time.
 
If you end up messing with "found" or "scrap" lead - might be worth to get a "hardness tester" - does not tell you what is in the stuff, but seems to come up with a Brinnel Hardness Number that you can compare to pure lead, versus lead alloys, etc. I had a Lee Hardness Tester - a spring loaded pointy thing used in a reloading press as per instructions - then would measure the dimple using an optical thing with a scale - .1 mm or maybe .01 mm increments? I am sure was all based on consistency / longevity of that spring - but seemed to be better than nothing - although I have met many "old timers" that gauge lead "quality" by a thumb nail scratch, or sound that it makes when dropped on concrete floor, etc. Is hard to beat foundry certified stuff though - from the certificate I saw with a spool of wire - is just no doubt what it is made from, and what amount of contaminants (copper, zinc, etc.) might be in there.
 
oldrodder said:
Seller located in Burlington, ON advertises on KIJIJI.

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-buy-sell-ot...in-sn-antimony-sb-alloys/1496368088?undefined
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Kijiji is a good source.

I bought 300lbs of pure lead from a guy who demolished a dental praxis.
The lead came from the X-ray room, and the sheets were neatly rolled.

I kept 150 lbs, and brought the rest to the recycler, the money I got paid for all the lead.

I cast pure lead for my Colt Walker only, so the 150 lbs will last me several life times.
 
fingers284 said:
There is a zillion miles of lead pipe (and it is pure lead) still in the ground under city streets and when a municipality does a infrastructure refit , the old "toxic" lead water line is always replaced with modern non-toxic.
Municipalities always advertise street closures where re-hab is going to be done so watch for those & take a box of doughnuts for the boys in the trench's and it wont take long to acrue a 100 lb lead pipe ( about 3 lbs per ft.).
Click to expand...


Don't forget the coffee and the donuts . coffee on a cold day goes a long way . good idea Fingers284.
 
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