Sourcing Lead for molds.

[bfhb]

Hi All,

Just wondering what do you do for lead?

Do you just buy lead ingots, buy lead flashing from a builders merchants or just get scrap wheelweights from a kwikfit?
I have just tried my local kwikfit garage and they say the weights are all zinc alloy nowadays.

Thanks,

Mark

[Rutty]

Most rifle clubs have a ready source of lead, just a bit of labour required to recover it. Whether it would be suitable for your purposes I don't know, it would certainly require a bit of cleaning up.

Rutty

[Tony1954]

hi Don't use wheel weights, Try any plummers or builders for old lead ,what you require is Linotype (printers lead) but is very hard to get. Balls can be plain lead but Bullets require a harder mix (antinomy)or Linotype, tin only helps the lead to flow

[Simon_S]

Scrap yard thay sell it 70p per kg, and use scrap pewter. Look on e bay

[dodgyrog]

Scrap yard thay sell it 70p per kg, and use scrap pewter. Look on e bay

£1.40 per kg last week!!!

[bfhb]

If its that cheap I may as well buy a roll in the local builders merchants.
Saves time digging around in the back stops.

I've already made the mistake of thinking fishing weights are all made of lead!
The ones that arent make a nice crusty mess on top of my melting pot.

Mark

[Simon_S]

Thats gone back up in price £1.40 per kg, will be lot more to buy new lead flashing from B&Q.

[thibben]

Mark,

It boils down (no pun!) to what you are shooting?

Pure Linotype's a bit brittle to use neat, normally you use some in with scrap lead to harden the mix up a bit. This sort of mix is good im pistol cartridges etc.

If you were shooting say a 45-70 with smokeless then you would use a harder alloy, but if you were shooting it with black powder you would normally use lead with a 'bit' of tin (typically 20:1 or 30:1) as the bullet has to deform (obturate if you wish ) when 'smacked' by the BP exploding.

Wheel weights have been Zinc for a while. Lead flashing has other metals in it. Scap is just that 'scrap' and loosly lead. Bullet alloy from the butts of a 22rf range will be quite consistent and slightly hard.

Regardless of your source you will need to smelt it down and clean it up into one mix, this can be done on a gas ring and best done in good ventilation, drop a bit of wax in or Marvelux and stir, all the rubbish then comes to the surface and can be spooned off. You can then cast a supply of ingots of a clean consistent alloy to use later - pointless getting a good load only to find the next batch of bullets used don't shoot.

The Lyman casting book is a good refernce fo mixes or the Castboolits forum if you are just starting.

Sorry if I rambled at bit there!

Terry

[Simon_S]

Dont no why but the big scrap yards will not sell lead back to the public, and getting Wheel weights is a no go, lot of the new Wheel weights are Zinc. ...

[rickosf]

Just let it be known that you pay CASH for scrap lead and no problem you have a que at you door
Pick what you want and weigh in what is rubbish


no problem

Pick the best weigh in the rest

richard

[bfhb]

Just let it be known that you pay CASH for scrap lead and no problem you have a que at you door
Pick what you want and weigh in what is rubbish

wtf?

Anyway, to answer a few questions, I'm making my own air rifle pellets so whatever I can get is ok.
I did go into Travis Perkins today and asked how much a nine kilo roll of lead flashing was..
£36+VAT... Eek!

I think I'll be popping over the local range to ask if I can dig through the back stop when they are not shooting, although this may be a problem as they usually lock up when finished.

I did post a wanted ad on my local freecycle group, but it got refused on the grounds that I mentioned air guns and the mods were pacifists and they believed that lead was illegal to use.

Mark