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bullet casters

What’s everyone paying per pound on lead at the scrap yard?

My local scrap yard won’t sell lead back to the public when I called and asked. I’m set up with a couple tire shops in town. I don’t get a lot of volume but they don’t ask for any $$$ for them. I give whoever gives them me a ten or twenty depending on how much is in the bucket when I shake their hand and thank them. They’re all local business with owner/operators... no chains. They seem pretty happy that someone comes around to get them. The few times I’ve gotten them... it’s about 50% lead to the rest being zinc, steel or those foam pads. It’d be neat to get straight lead from a scrap yard if they’d sell. I was bummed when they said they wouldn’t. The idea of getting sheeting... flashing... pipe... whatever in some quantity would be nice.
 
Once you invest in a pot, molds, lead, lube & a sizer it takes a while to appreciate cast bullets but it is nice to know you will always have bullets. Digital caliper too. But I'm looking forward to getting a deer with my cast 30-06 and a reduced load of 9 grains of Unique powder

Now I wish I hadn't bought so much bullseye
 
What’s everyone paying per pound on lead at the scrap yard?

i paid $2.16 a pound for lyman #2 bullet lead from mayco in b'ham alabama last month. you can forget the wheel weights these days. to much steel and zinc. the last several 5 gallon buckets i got, i was only able to get 1/4 a bucket of lead from each. then you got to melt, remove clips, flux, and pour into ingots. hunting for lead has become a dead end street. scrap yard lead is junk, you just don't know what you are getting. mayco bullet lead is ready to go. drop in the pot and cast away.
 
Mail call

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Got it!
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Maybe I’ll manage to make a few this weekend. I weighed my batch of 105s any it worked out to a bit over 1000. It was only my second batch after doing a run of about 900 using mostly WW lead with some pure lead sheeting added. It’s amazing what a little tin does to make them sharpen up and really pop.

First batch ever vs this one. I’ve almost shot up or loaded all the first batch. They flew plenty straight and didn’t lead up at around 11 BHN and pushed at right at 800 FPS... but they aren’t the lookers the new ones are. I barely added any of the 50-50 solder I got ahold of since then... probably in the realm of a few ounces to a full pot of straight WW lead. The difference is striking though. I got 25 lbs of 50-50 recently. I probably added too much. As it is... I’ve got enough tin for a long... long time given what little I’ll likely ever cast.
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Yeah last 5 gal bucket I got was only about 1/4 useful. Looking for other options now.

I did a quick hand sort (gloved/masked) and recovered around 15lbs of usable lead. I am keeping that little bit off to the side. To save time I will dump the rest in the pot this weekend around 650 degrees and scrape off all trash metals.
 
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