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Old June 19, 2011, 10:11 AM   #1
Civil War Life
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Looking for lead supply

I am looking for a supply of pure virgin lead. Would like it in 1 or 2 lb ingots and 100 to 200 pound orders. Any leads will be appreciated. This lead is to be used for making .50 and .58 cal bullets for Civil War shooting.

Thanks
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Old June 19, 2011, 10:16 AM   #2
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It doesn't have to be virgin lead or even 100% pure. I use stick on wheel weights for most of my bp casting. They're 99.5% pure with a BHN of 6. Pure lead has a BHN of 5. Clip on weights are too hard. My .58 minies from a Lyman mold and a Lee mold both slide down the bore of my three band Enfield from the weight of the ramrod down to the last three inches or so.
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Old June 19, 2011, 10:22 AM   #3
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I would recommend finding another local person who casts their own bullets and make a deal with him. When you buy a bucket of lead he gets the clip on you get the stick on. In my last 3 five gallon buckets I've probably accumulated about a third a bucket of stick on wheel weights.
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Old June 19, 2011, 10:59 AM   #4
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couple of things; don't know how wide spread this is yet but here in CA they are getting away from lead in the wheel weights, can't remember what they are substituting but it might be something you want to remember and check on before you just throw a batch in the melting pot. 2nd, check around at plumbing supply places or call a long time plumber. Its being phased out too with building codes etc. but sometimes they will still want to repair an old cast iron septic line, or some such, using melted lead to seal the joints. (I gathered as many wheel weights as I could find but had to buy another 50-60 pounds to cast diving weights that we used back when we were gold dredging and a plumbing supply was the cheapest back then).
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Old June 19, 2011, 12:32 PM   #5
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Try E-Bay they have several guys supplying “PURE” lead from time to time. It's worth a look.
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Old June 19, 2011, 02:22 PM   #6
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I have come across lead from time to time, in remodeling plumbing systems in older houses. I don't know for sure what hardness it is but i makes some dang good fishing lures!!!! ( i don't have any competition for the used lead either):barf:
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Old June 19, 2011, 03:04 PM   #7
Marco Califo
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http://www.missouribullet.com

http://www.missouribullet.com

They carry alloy ingots. Ask them if they can meet your needs,
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Old June 19, 2011, 03:09 PM   #8
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I disagree with HH on his comment about pureness. You want as pure as you can get for your purpose. Look for a local salvage yard for lead. They often get old x-ray shielding, pipe and electrical casing, etc.
Finding it in handy ingots will be a problem. The people who have ingots have gone to the work of scrounging scrap, melting, cleaning and recasting into ingots for their own use.
Finding lead is an ongoing endeavor. My last came my way more than five years ago. I'm now down to under 100 lbs on hand which means time to start scrounging again. I'll probably go to the local metals salvage yard. He had it last year at 50 cents a pound.
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Old June 19, 2011, 05:00 PM   #9
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Scuba weights.
Most divers have lots of pure lead weights laying around.
Most divers quit diving in just a few years, so there's plenty of this stuff available.
The problem with it is the water that might be in it.
If it isn't removed it will turn to steam when the lead is melted and make a real mess.
Heating the lead, slowly, and letting the water escape safely should make all this unwanted lead ok to use.
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Old June 20, 2011, 04:11 AM   #11
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Missouri Bullet Co supplies me with my lead, but if it is too much, maybe a local bullet maker will be able to supply your needs.

Missouri Bullet uses somewhere close to 30 tons of lead a month, so a few extra ingots shipped to them from the mine are going to be cheaper than me ordering from the mine.

I do not use the lead for bullet making (I use it for fishing weights) so I do not know how easy it is to take lead back to the pureness state. The folks in the bullet casting section might know the answer. http://thefiringline.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=43
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Old June 20, 2011, 07:19 AM   #12
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Email sent.
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Old June 20, 2011, 10:06 AM   #13
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Check your plumbing stores for plumbers lead.
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Old June 20, 2011, 06:32 PM   #14
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Thanks to all who responded, especially macsters who provided all those links. I appreciate the effort he went to. Thanks mate!
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Old June 20, 2011, 10:27 PM   #15
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Another place to check is on the CastBoolits site. They have a swapping and selling section where you can almost always find somebody needing to sell off some lead. Plus, there are a couple site sponsors that sell lead in ingot form. Most of it is going for around $1 per lb.
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Old June 20, 2011, 10:52 PM   #16
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Civil War??? The last one? Or the one comming up???
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Old June 22, 2011, 06:53 PM   #17
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One place to look if you live anywhere near a coast or lake where there are sailboats is a boatyard or marina. Often they have old keels from sailboats laying around and they are rarely under 500lbs and usually well into the tons of very pure lead.
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Old June 22, 2011, 10:51 PM   #18
chris in va
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The local recycler has literally hundreds of those roof flashing doodads that are soft lead. Roofers turn them in for a few bucks.
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Old June 24, 2011, 04:56 PM   #19
Hawg
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Quote:
I disagree with HH on his comment about pureness. You want as pure as you can get for your purpose.
Rifleman, I've been casting for bp for 42 years. 99.5% pure is plenty soft enough for any bp use. All I've used for my bp casting for the last 10 years has been stick on weights. I've cast minies for two three band Enfields, round balls for a .50 and a .54 Hawken, round balls and conicals for a number of .36 and .44 revolvers. Not to mention three 44-40's and a few other various bp cartridge loads. I'm pretty sure I know what I'm talking about.
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Old June 25, 2011, 12:26 AM   #20
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Quote:
Civil War??? The last one? Or the one comming up???
Yep! both.
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