My oldest son is out in his driveway melting down blankets! Yep, the ones they use to shield your privates or other parts of your body when they're xraying your foot. His FIL gave him 8 of them, I think. Each is heavy and made of lead.
The real key is your skill as a scrounger. When I told a buddy I needed lead, he came to a club meeting with a couple of boxes. They contained the lead piece he used at work to install new gas meters in homes. He kept the old ones instead of tossing them. Around here, they even used lead for water pipes (its why we're so dumb.) If you aren't sure, dump the old wheel weights into the pot and see if they melt (or rise to the top.)
One of the best places to scrounge lead is the bullet backstop of ranges. Some won't allow it. But public ranges don't prohibit it, its just unsafe if others are shooting. So it gives you something to do on a rainy day! The old bullets wash out of the backstop and accumulate like gravel at the bottom of the dirt. You pick them up and take them home for additional processing. I washed them to remove dirt and grit, then let them dry in the sun. The lead will then melt (be careful of trapped water) and the copper jackets or steel cores will float on the molten lead.
My son is casting ingots in an old fashioned cast iron cornbread mold. He makes little half ears of corn. I did the same 40 years ago. At least you don't need to worry about anyone grabbing your bucket of lead and running off with it. Lead ain't Texas cotton balls.
The best approach is to tell everyone you know. Suddenly lead comes from the oddest places. And you'll need tin. Look for bars and rolls of solder (50-50) at yard sales.
