Lead Prices
- Thread starter Brad925
- Start date
Good question I was just told that Lead was at an all time low... I dont know if its true or not was also told ammo was supposed to drop inprice but store and ammo companies will hold out there prices as long as they can if there smart. a lead value drop will only show us savings if it stays low for a while
OK, no one has answered, so I will give a brief run down.
Firstly, they must be reloaded.
Secondly, anyone buying the scrap, such as used wheel weights, pour the bullets themselves, with equipment available from most shooting suppliers.
Virtually all pistols can use cast alloy bullets with complete satisfaction.
Cast bullets can be used in any rifle, with the following basic limitations.
For practical purposes, the speed that cast bullets can be shot is about 2000 feet per second. Therefore, rifles, such as a 30-06, which shoots a bullet about 2700 fps, have to have the speed reduced to about 2000 fps.
30-30 class rifles can shoot cast bullets as fast as their jacketed bullets travel.
Likewise, straight case, or nearly so, larger calibres, such as a 45-70, will accurately shoot cast bullets at their full, normal speed.
H4831 summed it up pretty well, as usual.......wheel weights are used by some for all their casting, they however are too hard if you are concerned about good quality bullets for muzzleloaders or Black Powder cartridge. They are too soft for most higher vel. use and although some will say to" quench them in water", this is a slippery slope as their hardness will revert back to before if not used right away. Your best bet is to use the WW but learn about alloys and have plenty of pure lead around as well as tin, so you cam alloy/mix your own for the optimum mix for the application you want.
I found the spot price for lead wheel weights as of today un cleaned was .14 cents per pound. However i paid .34 cents per pound just because i am in a small town and it was handy. Even at that it is still a deal. The pail weighed 145 lbs and that should get me about approxamatly 1900 or so of 500 grainers. Still a deal.
Hardness
What are the down sides to having too hard of a bullet? I will be using them for shooting steel for fun and not competion. Also will be using smokless in it as well to start. I am new to this casting and have not purchased the equipment yet. I won't even have the rifle till Friday but figured the lead would be more of a problem to get so bought it because the opportunity was there.
What are the down sides to having too hard of a bullet? I will be using them for shooting steel for fun and not competion. Also will be using smokless in it as well to start. I am new to this casting and have not purchased the equipment yet. I won't even have the rifle till Friday but figured the lead would be more of a problem to get so bought it because the opportunity was there.
