Where can I find PURE lead?

Bobshouse · October 1, 2000, 03:58 PM

My Lee drive key shotgun slug mold says to use only Pure lead. It goes on to say that wheel weights are not pure as they contain alloy to harden them. Howabout those 1 pound fishing weights at Walmart or Kmart are they pure? Any tips to where exactly a person could obtain pure lead around their hometown? Thanks for the help....Bob

beemerb · October 1, 2000, 04:23 PM

Telephone book under metal salvage yards.Give them a call.They sometimes get pure lead in and the prices are better then ordering plus paying shipping.

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Bob--- Age and deceit will overcome youth and speed.
I'm old and deceitful.

zot · October 1, 2000, 06:33 PM

isn't shotgun shot pure lead? 25 lb bags are
cheap, it contains arsenic but burns off when
melted, I use it for the same slug mold,

Mel Hoskin · October 1, 2000, 07:44 PM

Try a plumbing supply house/dealer. They should have it, and it is cheaper than buying fishing sinkers and shotgun shot.. <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by beemerb:
Telephone book under metal salvage yards.Give them a call.They sometimes get pure lead in and the prices are better then ordering plus paying shipping.

[/quote]

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Southla1 · October 1, 2000, 08:38 PM

Do the plumbing supply house or a full line lumber ayrd. It is at a small, but full line lumber yard where i get it when needed. It is called plumbers lead. The price varies from 80 cents to a buck a pound. I lucked out some time back.....my nieces husband works for a diving company and he had about 50 pounds of pure lead that they were going to use for divers weights in the back of his truck when he saw me eying it he said to "go ahead and liberate it" ............I did

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Carlyle Hebert

TEXAS LAWMAN · October 1, 2000, 10:43 PM

Back in my muzzleloading days... I found the cheapest source of pure lead was a local hospital. They used a radioactive material called "technetium" (pronounced 'tek nee shee um') for diagnostic tests. The technetium is shipped in a lead jug (shaped like a Florence flask). I paid about 10¢ per pound in the mid '70s. The stuff was dead soft lead. (No, the lead doesn't become radioactive, it just blocks the radioactivity.)

Southla1 · October 2, 2000, 08:31 AM

Texas State Lawman............. Speaking of hospitals. I remember a few years back I went to a Louisiana State Surplus Auction in Baton Rouge. The have them monthly where the state gets rid of its junk. I noticed this donut looking object on the floor and looked at it. It was about 2 feet in diameter and about 1 foot high with a small hole in the center, and it had a tag on it identifying it as a part of some type of x-ray machine from one of the state hospitals. I took my knife and tested it and it was PURE LEAD. Well I bid on it and got it for $3.50. When the auction was over I tried to move it and they had to come with a forklift to raise it.

. When they set it in my truck the back sagged

. When I got home and rolled it out it almost buried itself in the ground. I had to cut it up with a recip. saw to get it in small chunks so I could put it in my cast iron pot on my crawfish burner to make ingots from it!. I sold most of it for two bits a pound. And alloyed about 150 pounds with linotype for myself.

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Carlyle Hebert

Contender · October 2, 2000, 01:11 PM

Carlyle,

That sounded like a neat adventure

I have gotten mine from a local machine shop that does some assembly of mamogram machine parts (x-ray) They get alot of sheet lead that they line internal parts of the machine with. I take the scrap and melt it down. Some has adhesive on it and it will not burn off. That I take to the scrap yard for 9 cents a pound. Usually pick up a few hundred pounds at a time.

Dave McMillan · October 2, 2000, 03:44 PM

Check the phone book for Stained Glass shops. The "came" used to make leaded stained-glass panels is pure lead and the shops typically have to pay someone to take their "hazardous waste" scraps away.

My local shop ends up with about 20 pounds a month.

Jack Straw · October 3, 2000, 11:41 AM

If you wish to find it on the web and pay some shipping charges you could try www.buffaloarms.com.

Their stuff is something like 99.9% pure.

Jack

schlickenmeyer · October 4, 2000, 10:46 PM

I get mine from dental x-ray film liners. figure that's as pure as can be. also free.

October 1, 2000, 03:58 PM	#1
Bobshouse Senior Member Join Date: September 29, 2000 Location: CalaBANALLGUNSifornia Posts: 336	My Lee drive key shotgun slug mold says to use only Pure lead. It goes on to say that wheel weights are not pure as they contain alloy to harden them. Howabout those 1 pound fishing weights at Walmart or Kmart are they pure? Any tips to where exactly a person could obtain pure lead around their hometown? Thanks for the help....Bob

October 1, 2000, 04:23 PM	#2
beemerb Junior member Join Date: October 2, 1999 Location: AZ Posts: 1,759	Telephone book under metal salvage yards.Give them a call.They sometimes get pure lead in and the prices are better then ordering plus paying shipping. ------------------ Bob--- Age and deceit will overcome youth and speed. I'm old and deceitful.

October 1, 2000, 06:33 PM	#3
zot Senior Member Join Date: April 2, 1999 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 566	isn't shotgun shot pure lead? 25 lb bags are cheap, it contains arsenic but burns off when melted, I use it for the same slug mold,

October 1, 2000, 07:44 PM	#4
Mel Hoskin Member Join Date: April 8, 2000 Posts: 29	Try a plumbing supply house/dealer. They should have it, and it is cheaper than buying fishing sinkers and shotgun shot.. <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by beemerb: Telephone book under metal salvage yards.Give them a call.They sometimes get pure lead in and the prices are better then ordering plus paying shipping. [/quote] ------------------

October 1, 2000, 08:38 PM	#5
Southla1 Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 19, 2000 Location: Jeanerette, La. Near the Posts: 1,999	Do the plumbing supply house or a full line lumber ayrd. It is at a small, but full line lumber yard where i get it when needed. It is called plumbers lead. The price varies from 80 cents to a buck a pound. I lucked out some time back.....my nieces husband works for a diving company and he had about 50 pounds of pure lead that they were going to use for divers weights in the back of his truck when he saw me eying it he said to "go ahead and liberate it" ............I did ------------------ Carlyle Hebert

October 1, 2000, 10:43 PM	#6
TEXAS LAWMAN Senior Member Join Date: August 27, 1999 Posts: 304	Back in my muzzleloading days... I found the cheapest source of pure lead was a local hospital. They used a radioactive material called "technetium" (pronounced 'tek nee shee um') for diagnostic tests. The technetium is shipped in a lead jug (shaped like a Florence flask). I paid about 10¢ per pound in the mid '70s. The stuff was dead soft lead. (No, the lead doesn't become radioactive, it just blocks the radioactivity.)

October 2, 2000, 08:31 AM	#7
Southla1 Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 19, 2000 Location: Jeanerette, La. Near the Posts: 1,999	Texas State Lawman............. Speaking of hospitals. I remember a few years back I went to a Louisiana State Surplus Auction in Baton Rouge. The have them monthly where the state gets rid of its junk. I noticed this donut looking object on the floor and looked at it. It was about 2 feet in diameter and about 1 foot high with a small hole in the center, and it had a tag on it identifying it as a part of some type of x-ray machine from one of the state hospitals. I took my knife and tested it and it was PURE LEAD. Well I bid on it and got it for $3.50. When the auction was over I tried to move it and they had to come with a forklift to raise it. . When they set it in my truck the back sagged . When I got home and rolled it out it almost buried itself in the ground. I had to cut it up with a recip. saw to get it in small chunks so I could put it in my cast iron pot on my crawfish burner to make ingots from it!. I sold most of it for two bits a pound. And alloyed about 150 pounds with linotype for myself. ------------------ Carlyle Hebert

October 2, 2000, 01:11 PM	#8
Contender Senior Member Join Date: December 10, 1998 Location: NY Posts: 680	Carlyle, That sounded like a neat adventure I have gotten mine from a local machine shop that does some assembly of mamogram machine parts (x-ray) They get alot of sheet lead that they line internal parts of the machine with. I take the scrap and melt it down. Some has adhesive on it and it will not burn off. That I take to the scrap yard for 9 cents a pound. Usually pick up a few hundred pounds at a time.

October 2, 2000, 03:44 PM	#9
Dave McMillan Member Join Date: October 1, 2000 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 43	Check the phone book for Stained Glass shops. The "came" used to make leaded stained-glass panels is pure lead and the shops typically have to pay someone to take their "hazardous waste" scraps away. My local shop ends up with about 20 pounds a month.

October 3, 2000, 11:41 AM	#10
Jack Straw Senior Member Join Date: July 26, 1999 Location: Georgia Posts: 362	If you wish to find it on the web and pay some shipping charges you could try www.buffaloarms.com. Their stuff is something like 99.9% pure. Jack

October 4, 2000, 10:46 PM	#11
schlickenmeyer Senior Member Join Date: July 1, 2000 Location: mn Posts: 150	I get mine from dental x-ray film liners. figure that's as pure as can be. also free.