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Old January 24, 2011, 02:15 PM   #1
armoredman
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Decided to look for good local lead

Wheel weight cast ingots are becoming harder and harder for me to find, and alloying plumbers lead would be a pain, so I took the plunge to look for a lead supplier. I found one, local even.
Jami at Seafab Metals in Casa Grande answered the phone pleasantly, and when I said I was looking for bullet alloy, she knew exactly what I wanted. They've even started casting 25 pound string ingots there for hobbyists. Told her about using wheel weights, and she said, "Oh, don't use those, they're scrap lead, all junk!"
Long story short, until the end of January, (prices adjust 1st of the month to reflect market movement), the 25 pound ingots, (four in line ingots cast together, she said), are $2.03 a pound, and the 62 pound ingots they get shipped in are $1.75 a pound. Saving on shipping, (it's about 20 minutes away by car), that might be a decent deal, can still make 124 grain bullets for about $.04 each using the 25 pound strings - no SawZAll for the big daddy ingot.
I told her what Midway prices were for certified alloy, and she gasped, "That's terrible!". 'Tis, $35.49 for 7.4 pounds, or $4.80 per pound without shipping...eek. But then again, I don't know anybody that buys those things.
I know, I'm going to hades for not mining berms and smelting scrap and wheel weights, but I have no smelting setup at all, just my little 10 pound production pot. Plus, they're local, AND apparently friendly to bullet casters.
Thoughts?

Edit to add, surfed through their home page and they make bullet swaging wire, too. Cool!
http://www.seafab.com/extruded.htm

Last edited by armoredman; January 24, 2011 at 02:21 PM.
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Old January 24, 2011, 04:55 PM   #2
AlaskaMike
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Hey, if it's worth it to you to pay their per-pound rates instead of spending your time gathering and melting down wheel weights, then I can't see any problems with it. Melting down wheel weights is the part of casting that I like the least, with the nasty smoke from all the crud that burns off. I might argue with their characterization of wheel weight alloy as "junk", but I guess that's not unexpected from someone selling bullet metal ingots.

There's nothing at all wrong with getting nice clean ingots of bullet metal for a reasonable price though.
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Old January 24, 2011, 05:23 PM   #3
armoredman
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Yeah, it is, not enough tire shops, WWs getting snatched by battery makers, etc. We'll see how this works.
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Old January 24, 2011, 09:35 PM   #4
Stick_man
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Another place you may want to check out is Rotometals. Great people to do business with and very shooter friendly.

www.rotometals.com
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Old January 24, 2011, 11:37 PM   #5
armoredman
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Hopefully will drop by very soon and see what they have to say/show.
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Old January 27, 2011, 03:21 PM   #6
Quantrill
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A little further south is the "Antimony Man" who sells lead also. He is in Sierra Vista.
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Old January 27, 2011, 07:31 PM   #7
armoredman
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SV is a LONG ways off by car.
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