Price of Pb

[MrWolf]

I live right on the ranges of Joint Base MDL! No way in hell can you get out there even though they pay companies hundreds of millions of dollars to do just that. And that is where the cops shoot.

Out by the Medford area there was a scrap place that would sell to folks and was very reasonable. Can't remember the name, it has been at least 15 years. There are bus companies around that may let you get some of their huge (call em cigars) ww lead. I just realized how long ago it was since I had to deal with the scrounging out there. Muchbeasier to move to a free state like I did

[rockrat]

Our local scrap yard, IIRC, pays 10 cents/lb and charges $1/lb. They usually have lots. One time I went in and they had bundles of lead sheeting, about 4ft x 4 ft x 2ft , sitting on pallets, ready to ship. They would have been glad to sell to me instead!!

[Rickf1985]

Out by the Medford area there was a scrap place that would sell to folks and was very reasonable. Can't remember the name, it has been at least 15 years. There are bus companies around that may let you get some of their huge (call em cigars) ww lead. I just realized how long ago it was since I had to deal with the scrounging out there. Muchbeasier to move to a free state like I did

Are you thinking of Red Lion metals? On Rt. 70 just west of the Red lion circle.

[dtknowles]

That's why I've been buying from Kathie. If I can't buy it for $0.50-0.75/lb then there is no upside to buying it. I can buy lead from Kathie for $1.55/lb shipped to my door. Unless I can get scrap for under $0.75/lb I lose money in time, labor, and materials smelting it down into clean ingots. Back when you could get wheel weights for $20-30/bucket there was an incentive to buy. When the buckets were $100/bucket but still 95%+ lead there was still an incentive to buy. But now, not so much. Especially with PC techniques having been ironed out, it doesn't really matter too much what alloy you're shooting. So that range scrap with a little tin to help fill-out is all you need to get great shooting bullets.

I would not pay $1.50 for lead unless it had a few percent of tin in it. Not saying it is a bad deal but my local scrap yard is cheaper. I only trade with them for clean lead, mostly sheet, flashing and roof vents. I do not melt it into ingots, I just cut it into squares that I can stack neatly. Takes almost no effort. I do cut out the solder seams and segregate them. Sometimes at the scrap yard there are somethings that are special. I got a lot of solder and Babbitt for the price of lead. I snag the big lead wheel weights if they are on the top of the pile. I say trade with them because I bring them my scrap brass, aluminum, zinc and steel but usually I find enough I want to bring home that I have to give them some cash too.

Tim

[jdgabbard]

I would not pay $1.50 for lead unless it had a few percent of tin in it. Not saying it is a bad deal but my local scrap yard is cheaper. I only trade with them for clean lead, mostly sheet, flashing and roof vents. I do not melt it into ingots, I just cut it into squares that I can stack neatly. Takes almost no effort. I do cut out the solder seams and segregate them. Sometimes at the scrap yard there are somethings that are special. I got a lot of solder and Babbitt for the price of lead. I snag the big lead wheel weights if they are on the top of the pile. I say trade with them because I bring them my scrap brass, aluminum, zinc and steel but usually I find enough I want to bring home that I have to give them some cash too.

Tim

It's got a bit of Antimony in it. But no tin. I add about 2% myself... That said, she advertises it as 12 BHN, but I haven't tested it - I don't have a way to. That said, based on her analysis of the lead, it should be around 9.8bhn. Which is fine for my applications. With 2% Tin, it should sit right around 10bhn, which is good enough for everything I do. I imagine even HPs would expand at that hardness...

[MrWolf]

Are you thinking of Red Lion metals? On Rt. 70 just west of the Red lion circle.

Yup think you are right. They were reasonable back then. Think there was a bus yard on 130 in Cinnaminson but no idea what is going on now out there.

[jim 44-40]

Back in the day, I had told a guy If you run into any lead in your travels let me know.Came home from work one day and there was a 3 ft×3ft about 5inch thick slab of lead in my driveway.Guess it was a counter weight for something.Cost me 25.00 bucks in the 1980's

[Rickf1985]

And how did you deal with that chunk of lead that probably weighed just over a ton?

[jdgabbard]

Back in the day, I had told a guy If you run into any lead in your travels let me know.Came home from work one day and there was a 3 ft×3ft about 5inch thick slab of lead in my driveway.Guess it was a counter weight for something.Cost me 25.00 bucks in the 1980's

I wish I had friends like that...

[Sam Sackett]

And how did you deal with that chunk of lead that probably weighed just over a ton?

Chain saw.
Sam Sackett

[Rickf1985]

Chain saw definitely but how did he pick it up and hold it to cut it? Huge flat plate of lead laying on the driveway will be a bear to get off the ground.

[jdgabbard]

Chain saw definitely but how did he pick it up and hold it to cut it? Huge flat plate of lead laying on the driveway will be a bear to get off the ground.

Well, that part requires you to have a little lead in your pencil...

[jsizemore]

Chain saw definitely but how did he pick it up and hold it to cut it? Huge flat plate of lead laying on the driveway will be a bear to get off the ground.

You only need to be 10% smarter than the tools and material.