Dog Ears Wilson, SASS #77948 Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 I'd like to try my hand at casting my own bullets sometime soon. I'll need advice on that when the time comes, but first things first. I have a potential source for wheel weights (the father of one of my students owns an auto shop). Keeping in mind that there will be lots of debris, steel clips, etc. how much should I offer him per pound? How about for a 5 gallon bucket? I don't want to insult the guy, he's been kind to me in the past (helped us find a good car for our son). Is it even worth it? Any advice would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adirondack Jack, SASS #53440 Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 I'd like to try my hand at casting my own bullets sometime soon. I'll need advice on that when the time comes, but first things first. I have a potential source for wheel weights (the father of one of my students owns an auto shop). Keeping in mind that there will be lots of debris, steel clips, etc. how much should I offer him per pound? How about for a 5 gallon bucket? I don't want to insult the guy, he's been kind to me in the past (helped us find a good car for our son). Is it even worth it? Any advice would be appreciated. Last fall I was paying 50-65 cents a pound for WW in the normal, slightly trashy, clips and all buckets. I figure the resulting alloy I get from em is worth about 75 cents to a buck a pound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kougarok George Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 I started casting about three years ago when bullet prices went through the roof. I did have a source for free wheel weights for awhile about 800 lbs. I brokered a deal of I will smelt them down and you get half. Between the steel clips and the zinc weights I neted about 80% return once smelted down.It was very dirty work with a lot of nasty fumes. I have bought wheel weights for about $.80 per lbs delivered. At that price it is just not worth it. I prefer to pay someone else to smelt it down. The one plus to wheel weights is they usually contain some pure lead weights which I separate out. So if I had to buy em, $.50 lb would be about my max. Yesterday I cast 42 lbs of bullets, about 2,000 for CAS. I also built a shot maker which makes about 50-60 lbs of shot in 2-3 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dog Ears Wilson, SASS #77948 Posted February 14, 2011 Author Share Posted February 14, 2011 Good info. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macinaw Posted February 14, 2011 Share Posted February 14, 2011 I have a friend at a tire store. I pay $20 for half a five gallon bucket. $40 for almost a full five gallon. 10 to 15 percent are Zn or Fe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dog Ears Wilson, SASS #77948 Posted February 14, 2011 Author Share Posted February 14, 2011 That's good to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clyde Henry 7046 Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Check with your local scrape metal dealer. They sometimes have scrape lead they sell. I have found its a lot easier to work with than WW. Most of the time I can buy the scrape cheaper than the WW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Assassin Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 If I was looking for quality lead I'd go to the local lead mine, The Shooting Range. After a match it's laying around for the taking, you just have to be willing to work for it. My wife and I have picked up a couple 5 gallon buckets full of lead. Made shot out of the stuff and it is not as dirty as WW. Wait till after a rain storm and the lead sits on top of the harder soil. Do some math, if 50 folks are shooting 5 stages at a monthly match, 20 bullets per stage. That's 5000 bullets. How many matches per year are shot at your range? Any annual shoots. Any side matches? There's thousands of pounds of lead if you have the desire, question is "do you have the ambition?" Most range lead is already a pretty good alloy. LL' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217 Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Gosh pard, You don't travel with the right gang. Folks just drop buckets off at the house (or they used to) and hubby would give them some bullets. Regards, Allie Mo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bramble Mountain Buzzard Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 I pay the local scrap price (the same as if they took them in themselves) at a tire store. The last time I got some which was about 3 or 4 months ago, I paid 20¢/lb. I call the scrap yard just prior to going in. BTW, I've paid as much as 46¢ a couple years ago when China was buying everything they could get. Every local yard is different, so check yours... Buzzard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dog Ears Wilson, SASS #77948 Posted February 15, 2011 Author Share Posted February 15, 2011 I knew I'd get some good advice. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elfego, SASS #50493 Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 About 15 years ago my neighbor came across about 5 tons of lead for the price of hauling it off. We split it 50 50 and we sold much of it. I got enough to buy a new set of truck tires. I still have a good supply of it. I recently bought some bullet alloy with 2% tin. I am alloying that with this lead 50 50. I used to buy wheelweights at the tire shop since the mid 70s but quit after the prices and amount of non lead weights went up. The last five gallon bucket of 'wheelweights' i bought at the scrap yard was 50 cents/pound. elfego Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hal A. Looyah #83098 Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 I keep the two largest and closest scrap yards programmed in my phone and call them to check the going rates for soft lead and wheel weights. The closest one was only paying 8 cents a pound for WW last week. I usually make offers based on the going rate. A big bag of sausage biscuits in the morning, or a case of cold Mountain Dew goes a long way at a tire shop. I don't want to pay 50 cents a pound for something I can get for 20. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mustang Gregg Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 In the last 30+ years, I have paid anywheres from FREE to almost $1.00/#. I have NEVER paid more. Lately, the going rate has been two 80# buckets for a case of Busch Light. BTW: I just was just offered 250 sq ft of 1/8" thick lead (very soft stuff) from an X-ray outfit. Supposedly it will be free(???). That would be great! Mustang Gregg [castin' & blastin'] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willie Earp, SASS#19022 Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 WILLIE'S LITTLE SECRET I have made a deal with a local stained glass maker; he does windows for house doors and such. I leave him a plastic bucket and tell him to give me all his scrap edging. Then I stop by about every 4 to 6 months and exchange the bucket for an empty one. Wall-la! Free Lead! I end up with about 30 lb each time and I tell him that he is doing his "thing" for the environment, because I am "recycling" the lead for him... This stuff is just about perfect for bullets, about halfway between pure lead and wheel-weights. (Shhhhhh! Don't tell anyone!!) Willie "The Recycler" Earp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dog Ears Wilson, SASS #77948 Posted February 16, 2011 Author Share Posted February 16, 2011 Some more good idears! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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