Lead prices

SoylentD said:
Tarps.

Also, I bought good lead from a fellow shooter - 500lb for $1, then 1000lbs for $0.65 locally.
If it's pure lead, I would say up to $1.25 if you're "hard up".. but yeah, keep it under a dollar a lb.
Click to expand...

Have you tried cutting lead with a chainsaw? I did, spayed cuttings over 10m, and even the stuff that landed on the tarp tended to deflect off. The lead cuttings hold velocity much better than sawdust. I suppose that's why we use lead to make bullets and not sawdust.
 
HIGHRPM said:
Bandsaw would be easyest .
Click to expand...
I tried to cut a small ingot but the lead got hot and stuck to the bandsaw blade. I finally used a sharp axe with good results. Another poster suggested a log splitter. That may also work but likely the wedge would need to be changed to more of a cutter like an axe head. Cutting lead cold and dust free is a problem that needs to be discussed more.
 
Last edited:
Nasty business cutting lead with a chainsaw or circular saw.

Easiest solution is find a bigger pot/stove. Melt/smelt lead into 1lb ingots that drops easily into LEE melt pot.
jethunter said:
Have you tried cutting lead with a chainsaw? I did, spayed cuttings over 10m, and even the stuff that landed on the tarp tended to deflect off. The lead cuttings hold velocity much better than sawdust. I suppose that's why we use lead to make bullets and not sawdust.
Click to expand...
 
I can understand why the handsaw method works as opposed to a bandsaw. Not much heat is generated when sawing by hand and spraying with soapy water. The axe method leaves no fine sawdust but a tarp under the saw should aid in lead clean up.
 
Watch your local buy and sell sites, just picked up a milk crate full to brim of older lead fishing net weights. $25 for an estimated 200+ pounds
 
I paid 20$ per pail for scrap wheel weights that I had to fill myself from a 55 gallon drum, but then when you factor in the time it takes to collect the weights, sort, melt, the trouble, the fumes, the time, the gas mask, the propane, then you ruin a batch with zinc, then go to recycler to bring the scrap clips/ww, then sort the ingots, seriously.

1000 9mm 124rn campro bullets = approx 130$ shipped tax in. = 17.7 pounds
17.7 pounds at 2$ per pound = 35$ per 1000

That's a substantial saving over plated, plus you save all the trouble of dealing with scrap ww.
But then, you still have to deal with casting bullets, coating or lubing, the fails, the leading, and everything else.

I started all this before I had kids, and you know what, I'm probably not going to have much time before I retire to play with all this again. When you have kids, you don't really get "full days off" to go somewhere with a truckload of scrap lead and smelt it all day.

But the good thing is that campro will happily sell you plated bullets that work and that you can load without any trouble.
 
Kryogen said:
But the good thing is that campro will happily sell you plated bullets that work and that you can load without any trouble.
Click to expand...

A lot of people. like me for instance, got into casting because you simply could not buy the boolits you were looking to shoot off the shelf.
Also, antique firearms demand soft lead boolits.

I have nothing but time on my hands now, so, if the raw material is free, casting to support my shooting habit makes sense.

M
 
Have to agree with Gnmontey , I reload for a couple antique calibers as well as cast several different rounds for my front stuffers and require soft lead. Haven't had the pleasure of sorting wheel weights, as I have been fortunately able to source other supplies of fairly clean lead.
 
Try looking up the X-Ray equipment suppliers/maintenance people in your city. They have slabs of lead from 25 to 80 lbs. A black powder shooter in our club was an X Ray tech and I bought a few hundred lbs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom