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Old 07-20-2010, 05:40 AM
walnutred walnutred is offline
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Default Most expensive lead I ever bought

Last night I answered a Craigslist ad for scrap lead and ended up with 100 lbs for $50. YIKES! Only reason I actually paid that much was he threw in one of those old gasoline powered lead smelters plumbers used to use. The smelter has not been used for many many years so will take some cleaning. However but it does have both pots and the ladle which gives hope the device was just set aside and not abused.
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Old 07-20-2010, 08:24 AM
Dan Cash Dan Cash is offline
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Sounds like you did well if the burner works. Lead runs about .60 per pound.
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Old 07-20-2010, 08:54 AM
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I have a great lead story. A fellow here in Alaska is building a commercial fishing boat and needed about a ton of lead for ballast. He was at his family farm in Pennsylvania and went to an old skeet range. He managed to sift out 2300 pounds of lead shot in a day and shipped it to Alaska to himself in postal flat rate boxes that held 70 lbs for a flat rate of $14.00 per box. For something like $400 he had it delivered to Alaska in 4 days. I like it when somebody figures out a clever way.
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Old 07-20-2010, 02:12 PM
jessegpresley jessegpresley is offline
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Originally Posted by windypoint View Post
I have a great lead story. A fellow here in Alaska is building a commercial fishing boat and needed about a ton of lead for ballast. He was at his family farm in Pennsylvania and went to an old skeet range. He managed to sift out 2300 pounds of lead shot in a day and shipped it to Alaska to himself in postal flat rate boxes that held 70 lbs for a flat rate of $14.00 per box. For something like $400 he had it delivered to Alaska in 4 days. I like it when somebody figures out a clever way.
I love this story, thanks for sharing.
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Old 07-20-2010, 02:20 PM
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Sounds to me like you managed to get a plumbers pot for $50 with 100 pounds of lead thrown in as boot .
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Old 07-20-2010, 05:40 PM
Fishslayer Fishslayer is offline
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He managed to sift out 2300 pounds of lead shot in a day and shipped it to Alaska to himself in postal flat rate boxes that held 70 lbs for a flat rate of $14.00 per box.
Guy I buy brass from also sells ingots. He builds wooden box liners & ships lead biscuits that way. He doesn't have many fans at the USPS.
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Old 07-21-2010, 08:10 PM
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50c/# is a fair price for lead now days. The days of free or cheap lead alloy for casting is quickly coming to an end for most of us.
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Old 07-23-2010, 11:01 PM
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Default Clayton & Lambert Plumber's Furnace

There is an excellent article over on the Cast Boolits website about cleaning and firing up a plumber's lead furnace. I have one and it is the best thing going for melting large quantities of lead quickly. They can be dangerous and scary, so use good sense in its operation and DON'T fire it up indoors.
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Old 07-24-2010, 05:46 AM
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try buying the lead thats been cast! not long ago i could get 500 cast bullets for $30 or so,thats why i started casting! its over doubled, how are they selling it at those prices? i guess its still cheaper than jacked bullets
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Old 07-24-2010, 06:30 AM
Skip Sackett Skip Sackett is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by walnutred View Post
Last night I answered a Craigslist ad for scrap lead and ended up with 100 lbs for $50. YIKES! Only reason I actually paid that much was he threw in one of those old gasoline powered lead smelters plumbers used to use. The smelter has not been used for many many years so will take some cleaning. However but it does have both pots and the ladle which gives hope the device was just set aside and not abused.
Son #1 just ran onto a sweat deal. 5 gallon bucket for free! Now that is different! I've paid as much as $20 for a 5 gallon bucket of wheel weights just so I could have the lead. Usually get 110# or so per so the cost per pound is 18 cents or so. @ a 90% recovery rate that means the price goes up to 20 cents per pound. Still, not too bad.

I did go to a place once and they wanted 50 cents a pound, I told them to forget it. Another place and I got 480# for $30, or 6 cents a pound. I gotten many free buckets so paying a little for them now is OK, within reason.

I have a guy right now I can get them from for $20 a bucket. I have enough stockpiled though, I'll just let them go.

Still, @ 50 cents a pound, for a 158gr bullet, that is still only a penny each!

As for the gas fired smelter, let me know how that works. My one Uncle used to melt lead for his fishing weights that way. Those things are hard to find now!
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