I?ve been scouring the internet for reasonable deals on lead with little success. First and foremost, what is an acceptable online price per pound? And secondly, are there any outfits that you know of that offer constantly high quality lead at a reasonable price? I haven?t had a chance to hit up the local scrapyards or service stations for wheel weights yet, but would just like to have some on hand as soon as possible. Also, I see all kinds of lead on places like eBay, but once again, the prices are all over the map.
Thanks in advance!
RMR Bullets looks to offer better prices than many, but am still unsure what a good deal really looks like, other than free😀
https://www.rmrbullets.com/shop/rmr-in-house/casting-lead-from-rmr-jacketed-bullet-cores-approximately-12-brinnel-hardness/
You may be able to find some lead at local tire shops. Stick-on wheel weights (SOWW) or Clip-on wheel weights (COWW). Expect to pay a small fee. You will find more SOWW?s nowadays, probably. This gives you a starting place with lead.
Rotometal is a good place for alloys. This is a lead mixture with tin, arsenic, antimony, lead. You can arrive at a desired hardness and blend accordingly.
For my 10mm and 9mm, I use SOWW + Hardball alloy from Rotometal. My mix yields a BHN of 11.3. It doesn?t lead my Glock 20 or 26, 19, 43. I also shoot a 10mm MechTech carbine w/ 16? barrel; It doesn?t lead it either at 1600 fps.
Lots of things to learn here. Suggest lookup up a cast bullet site. Best of luck.
Thanks, I?ve been reloading for a number of years, and wanted to learn casting and powder coating.. Below is the mold I ordered.
Lee Truncated Cone Pistol Mould (Handles Included) - Double Cavity 401-175-TC .401" 175 gr
https://postimg.cc/ZWZmy0f1](https://i.postimg.cc/ZWZmy0f1/04876-C24-3349-442-E-A8-D9-67112-D003-FF6.jpg)[/url]
Exact bullet, mine is 6 cavity. It kills hogs DEAD!
I powder coat and I?ve killed hogs out to 120 yards.
I would imagine that the shipping would really raise the cost of any lead you could buy online. do you live on the Coast or where there may be a boat yard that might have some old sailboat keel lead? or can you scavenge the backstop of a shooting range? old tackle boxes or dive weights at yard sales can also be a good source.
Thanks, no ocean close by living in MN, but tons of boat yards around here. Will have to look into that
I do have the attached laying around, but would likely not be of any value for casting, but I guess I don?t know. They are used in the printed circuit board industry, and are 60% tin, and 40% lead, measuring aprx 1.5? in diameter
https://i.postimg.cc/nc39n77Y/FDDC248-F-789-A-411-D-8-BD1-AC143-C7-EA695.jpg
I would throw those balls in the pot. I don't know if plumbers still use much lead ingots for cast iron pipe but that was a good source. also old roof vent flashings are lead.
So the tin content isn?t to high? 60% tin and 40% lead
Thanks Blaster
by themselves the tin is high but mixed with other scrap or pure lead it shouldn't be. I could be wrong as I am not a metallurgist or expert in casting, but I think a high tin content only raises the melting temperature a bit and makes a lighter bullet. others more knowledgeable might tell you different. the thing you DO NOT want to do is get any Zinc in your melting pot. it turns to "cottage cheese". I am told.
Tin is used to harden the bullet, as well as to aide in the fill out of the mold. Tin and antimony both hard the lead, but in different ways. Antimony can make your mix more brittle.
Quote from: blaster on September 05 2022 06:44:23 AM MDT
by themselves the tin is high but mixed with other scrap or pure lead it shouldn't be. I could be wrong as I am not a metallurgist or expert in casting, but I think a high tin content only raises the melting temperature a bit and makes a lighter bullet. others more knowledgeable might tell you different. the thing you DO NOT want to do is get any Zinc in your melting pot. it turns to "cottage cheese". I am told.
I would avoid zinc like the plague. It burns, similar to magnesium, but the smoke is very toxic. Like most metal fires, it can be difficult to put out. I've never tried it mixed with lead, but a small amount of zinc shavings goes up pretty easily.
I was concerned about that as well after doing some reading. Between service stations, junkyards, and boat yards I should be able to come up with something. Thanks Graybeard!
Just seems like there should be a use for these 60% tin / 40% lead balls, but if not, they can just continue gathering dust 😀
I?ve purchased lots of lead over on Castboolits site. Watch the want to sell forum, or check the vendors forum. You need 30 days/30 posts to sell, but no restrictions on buying.
Thanks, Rvrrat14, another member here has also mentioned, and has been helpful regarding Castboolits.
Been offline for a few days, and you have had some good responses. Here is the way it worked for me.
I thought the idea of bullet casting sounded good. But by the time I priced lead and shipping, I was paying as much for lead as I would pay for a comparable weight of plated bullets. I tried the scrounging route, but as I have mentioned before, my area is apparently saturated with bullet casters as no place had any lead.
Finally one day I was headed out to shoot with a friend and this came up. I was venting about the difficulty getting economical lead, and I noticed he was looking at me funny.
He said "You know what I do right?".
I replied "Sure...You're a pharmacist."
"A nuclear pharmacist." he added.
So, I found my lead source. But there was/is a catch. They will call me and expect a pickup within 48-72 hours, a week at most. And they will have a pile of lead between 1500 and 3000 lbs they want gone. I pay them scrap yard rates, which means I have to have between $300 and $800 cash on hand when they call. And, I can't just say "pass" if I ever want to be called again.
That was nearly 20 years ago now, and I couldn't even guess how many tons of lead I have picked up over the years. I clean and sell most of it, first via the local classifieds, and now to a couple of customers that found me that way and have standing requests.
Regarding your high-tin shot. Don't know how much you have, but tin is worth about 10X lead. So I would post up at the cast bullets forum and see if I could get a trade at 5:1 of your high tin shot for wheel weight lead. I bet you will have plenty of takers. For that matter, drop a local classified with the same offer. I have a couple hundred lbs of tin solder bars that came from a similar trade years ago.
Thanks sqlbullet, that?s a great idea