Where to buy lead

[darkh2odiver]

I know I'm late to the game but I have to start somewhere. Does any one know if there is any place to buy lead in the New Orleans area. I'm willing to travel an hour from the city. Or am I better off buying online. I've tried the tire shop thing but as we all know they all ready have contracts and agreements set up. Any help would be great.

Thank you,
Scott

 

[kcinnick]

I know I'm late to the game but I have to start somewhere. Does any one know if there is any place to buy lead in the New Orleans area. I'm willing to travel an hour from the city. Or am I better off buying online. I've tried the tire shop thing but as we all know they all ready have contracts and agreements set up. Any help would be great.

Thank you,
Scott

How much do you need? Small quantities from the foundry's is expensive. I am kind of low right now or I would sell some hardball, you are welcome to buy some when I get my next order, it is a known bullet alloy, and will probably run $2 a pound. Best bet is buying from someone on the cast boolits forum in their sellers section, or sometimes ebay has some good deals on cleaned lead. Really, for scrap lead a the normal price has exceeded $1 per pound shipped. I use to be able to watch the auctions and would pick it up if I could get it at or under a $1 per pound, and lots of times the seller would sell you more lead at the price you won the auction.

 

[headspace]

I'm about to go to my Dad's shop and raid his used wheel weight barrel..

 

[Goatwhiskers]

As I've posted in some other places, be VERY careful about buying WW lead from fleabay. I'm sure there are reputable sellers but there are known cases where someone melted the weights down without separating the zinc ones first. It's easy to have your heat too high and melt the zinc weights along with the lead ones, thereby contaminating the lead. You DO NOT want zinc in your material. Rotometals is a good source, also the sellers on the castboolits forum. 'Nuff said. GW

 

[mudgrip92]

I have been wondering for a while now about wheel weights. So yes you can use them for bullets ? Reason being I have about 50 pounds or more in my shop at home but only thinking of getting into the reloading game. The weights are as far as I have got due to the price of everything else.

 

[pwl822]

second getting from castboolits forum, you will know what your getting ,prices on ebay are about same but you really have no idea what it is or hardness

 

[darkh2odiver]

Thank you for the responses and PM's have been returned.

 

[darkh2odiver]

.

 

[Goatwhiskers]

Mudgrip, yes WW turn out to be pretty much the prime material for boolits. You can shoot as is, or water drop or heat treat if you're worried about hardness. By the way, hardness is greatly over-emphasized. Granted, pure lead is only good for muzzle loaders, but with WW or other good alloys FIT is king, leakage of gas past a poorly fitting boolit is the prime cause of leading, in fact a very hard boolit driven at higher velocities will lead before a softer one. Go to the castboolits forum, there is more info there than you can absorb in 2 or 3 readings. GW

By the way, be sure to check those in the bucket for zinc, I use a pair of electrician's pliers, the lead ones can be cut into easily, the zinc ones are hard. No, you can't tell by looking.

 

[kcinnick]

Mudgrip, yes WW turn out to be pretty much the prime material for boolits. You can shoot as is, or water drop or heat treat if you're worried about hardness. By the way, hardness is greatly over-emphasized. Granted, pure lead is only good for muzzle loaders, but with WW or other good alloys FIT is king, leakage of gas past a poorly fitting boolit is the prime cause of leading, in fact a very hard boolit driven at higher velocities will lead before a softer one. Go to the castboolits forum, there is more info there than you can absorb in 2 or 3 readings. GW

By the way, be sure to check those in the bucket for zinc, I use a pair of electrician's pliers, the lead ones can be cut into easily, the zinc ones are hard. No, you can't tell by looking.

Size is King, then lube, then hardness. If you look at reloading manuals, they will actually specify a hardness for cast bullets. That can be adjusted with Antimony, and getting to a 2% tin content will help greatly with fill out. And don't be hard on yourself, ugly bullets shoot straight if they have a smooth base... not too ugly, but they don't have to be perfect. I shoot almost exclusively cosmetic rejects. Contrary to popular belief, wheel weights have very little antimony in them these days, sure, 80 years ago they were 3% antimony, but today some wheel weights are almost as soft as pure lead. It is almost impossible to learn everything about casting in a lifetime, much less by reading. You learn by doing, so get out there and melt some lead.

 

[darkh2odiver]

How much do you need? Small quantities from the foundry's is expensive. I am kind of low right now or I would sell some hardball, you are welcome to buy some when I get my next order, it is a known bullet alloy, and will probably run $2 a pound. Best bet is buying from someone on the cast boolits forum in their sellers section, or sometimes ebay has some good deals on cleaned lead. Really, for scrap lead a the normal price has exceeded $1 per pound shipped. I use to be able to watch the auctions and would pick it up if I could get it at or under a $1 per pound, and lots of times the seller would sell you more lead at the price you won the auction.

Sending you a PM