What to do With Pure Lead?

5shot

Active Member
A local guy has cable sheathing for $0.90 a pound. In my rifles I generally shoot CWW + 2% Tin. If I need harder, I water drop. I still have several hundred pounds of CWW, and I am not sure what I would need the sheathing for.

Thoughts?
 

KeithB

Resident Half Fast Machinist
If you know anybody that shoots muzzle loaders you might could use it for trade, I traded some pure lead roof sheathing for some lino with a guy years ago over on CB. Some of them have a hard time getting pure lead.
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
I agree with trading it, or add some tin 1 lb to 16 will get you Elmer's recommended mix.

Or mix with COWW, still have a good alloy. May need a bit of tin for best casting.

Bill
 
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Will

Well-Known Member
I’d mix it with your COWW alloy and then you can do pretty much anything with it.

Pretty much everything I cast is some blend of pure lead and COWW. From 38 specials to 2400fps 308.
 

Longone

Active Member
Sounds like a good reason to buy a muzzleloader. There is still plenty of indoor time left and if you like to assemble things a Lyman kit will produce a good shooter when finished.
 

5shot

Active Member
Thanks for the suggestions. Don't have any Lino, but who knows what might be in the stash in the future.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Pure or near pure lead is generally more rare than the various alloys, I'd buy it and trade or keep it around to mix with other things. The price is sure right and many people are always on the prowl for deals on dead-soft lead.
 

5shot

Active Member
Pure or near pure lead is generally more rare than the various alloys, I'd buy it and trade or keep it around to mix with other things. The price is sure right and many people are always on the prowl for deals on dead-soft lead.

He says he has 15,000 lbs!
 

Ian

Notorious member
Oh my! Looks like time to start shopping for about 2-3000 pounds of 2F Swiss to go along with that. o_O
 

Bass Ackward

Active Member
OMG, people actually PAY for lead? :eek: .90 cents for PURE? What does lead sell for these days? I could be rich & not know it !!! I have a lead mine worth BIG bucks. :rofl:
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
suck it up and get yourself a lifetime plus 20 years supply.
you can find, barter for, or order mixer alloys to get you back to what your using now.

I could use 2-300 lbs of pure or near pure lead myself.
I cut ww alloy with it, swage it, make round balls with it and sometimes just start a small batch of alloy from 0 and work my way forward when I'm searching for something.

you could always mix it with scrap zinc ww's and shoot it if you have nothing else.
 

Will

Well-Known Member
I’m in the same boat as you fiver. I have a good stock of WW but pure lead is hard to come by. I’ve been debating just ordering from rotometals.

By the time I drive around looking for pure lead and giving $1/lb for it I would be just as well off buying and having it delivered to me doorstep.
 

5shot

Active Member
suck it up and get yourself a lifetime plus 20 years supply.
you can find, barter for, or order mixer alloys to get you back to what your using now.

I could use 2-300 lbs of pure or near pure lead myself.
I cut ww alloy with it, swage it, make round balls with it and sometimes just start a small batch of alloy from 0 and work my way forward when I'm searching for something.

you could always mix it with scrap zinc ww's and shoot it if you have nothing else.

How many pounds is a lifetime supply?
 

JonB

Halcyon member
I'm glad I bought lots of COWW, I could find 'em years back, when it was available around my area...they are just as rare as Linotype now-a-days.

I have always been able to find pure or near pure Lead in my area...and still can, usually for 30¢ or so, if it's an unknown alloy close to pure...and 60¢ for a known pure. BTW, those prices are not in nice clean ingots.

One time, I lucked out and met a fellow caster who was in need of Pure for his muzzleloaders and he had little use for the COWW that he could get for free. He had started to make ingots when we met, and he hated that process. We agreed on a trade of "about" 2 for 1. We met in a town about 20 miles from my house, the half-way point. I brought him 125 lbs of pure ingots and I came home with about 100 lbs of COWW ingots and a little over 200 lbs of used WW in the raw.
 

Hawk

North Central Texas
I remember paying the guys at the local tire shops $5.00 for a 5 gallon bucket full of cow.
Sometimes, you got 2 or three buckets full.
I probably have enough to shield a small nuclear reactor.