Future of lead availability

S

stubbicatt

New member
I don't purport to have any answers, but a question has been nagging me for a little while, so thought I'd share.

I understand that recently the last commercial lead smelter in the US shut down.

Wheel weights are changing over from lead to iron or zinc, and as I understand it, some states mandate "other than lead" wheel weights be used.

I wonder whether, in the future, it may become increasingly difficult for us to keep that part of our hobby alive, casting that is, due to lack of material?

As an aside, I also wonder about the average age of hobby casters. I have no information, but suspect that most folks who pour their own are getting up there in age. With fewer people to keep it alive, I wonder whether casting will go the way of the Dodo bird...
 
I think you have brought up some good points.

I think in time there will be more states regulating lead bullet use, I hate to see that day come.

As for the average age of bullet casters, I'm a little long in the tooth but I really don't count as I just got into bullet casting.
 
Like most things that the EPA has a hand in, no actual problem will be solved, but we will all pay more money. :(

I'm 58, and have been casting for over 40 years.

You're right, there aren't many young guys casting. It's hard to do while texting.:D jd
 
Like most things that the EPA has a hand in, no actual problem will be solved, but we will all pay more money.
Click to expand...

I am not widely indignant about everything, someone had to do something in the Northeast corner of Oklahoma.

F. Guffey
 
I got a little pile of lead and I shoot at my own backyard range. I'll just keep using it over and over til I'm too old to shoot it. :)
 
I recently found a very old scuba diving weight belt in my garage, I bought it close to 45 years ago but hadn't used it in over 35 years. It's a pretty old style, has several raw lead weights threaded through a web belt, gotta be close to forty pounds of lead on it. I was going to give it away, but based on the comments in this thread, I think it's going to get stashed away again for possible future bullet use!
 
I got a little pile of lead and I shoot at my own backyard range. I'll just keep using it over and over til I'm too old to shoot it.
Click to expand...

I'm with you Beagle333, I mine lead from my own range, smelt it in to ingots to be used for more cast bullets.:D
 
I wonder whether, in the future, it may become increasingly difficult for us to keep that part of our hobby alive, casting that is, due to lack of material?
Click to expand...
The answer is yes, bullet casting will continue to decline because of the diminishing supply of lead. Compared to when I started, when lead was already waning from use (drain pipes, telephone company, roof flashing, city sewer pipes, printing alloys, etc.), the last common source, wheel weights, are/have disappeared. Furthermore, access to lead is being curtailed by the EPA ( You cannot just go into a junk yard and buy it...they say that they are forbidden from selling to public). Recycling range lead will work for some...for awhile, but it is pretty much over for the majority of would-be bullet casters.
 
If you were a new caster, and you didn't have any lead, and you wanted to be sure you did have some lead for your future casting and shooting career/hobby...... you'd also have a smelting pot. :rolleyes:

Even if you didn't buy from Rotometals (yes, it is an extreme option, but thankfully it is still an option), currently available lead is often still found/offered in sizes that won't fit in a standard pot. Very common example: large isotope cores. I just got two new ones on Saturday.

30 pounds each of leaden goodness!! :)

attachment.php
 
Well, I'm young and looked into casting. I've never gotten into it yet because I don't shoot enough for it to be worth my time (there is a local guy that sells 1k .40 s&w for $60) but I think there are still lead sources. Two or three ballast's from sailboats would probably be enough to set me for life.
 
Wait a minute... EPA says scrap yards can't sell lead to the public?
Click to expand...
I live in Michigan. I have been told by scrap metal yards, that "...they cannot sell scrap lead to privet persons...". I made the assumption that they meant EPA, but they may have been referring to Michigan law. I still get lead wheel weights from automobile salvage yards.
 
I live in Michigan. I have been told by scrap metal yards, that "...they cannot sell scrap lead to privet persons...". I made the assumption that they meant EPA, but they may have been referring to Michigan law. I still get lead wheel weights from automobile salvage yards.
Click to expand...
I've been told the same by MANY places.

But... It isn't a Federal law or EPA regulation. It usually comes down to one of two things:
1. They're full of crap and simply don't want to sell retail (then they have to deal with sales tax, etc.).
2. It's a local law/regulation.


When I lived in the Salt Lake City area, I had at least eight scrap dealers tell me that it was "illegal" to sell to the public. I knew better, so I kept trying.

Eventually, I found two places that were more than willing to deal with me. One of them even suggested that I call ahead so that they could arrange for someone to walk around with me and "shoot" everything I found interesting with an XRF analyzer (laser alloy analyzer). The same place offered to sort wheel weights and make sure I was getting ONLY lead, if I so desired. :D


Now, I live elsewhere, but the scrap dealers here have always given me the "come on down and take a look" when I have called about lead alloys.
 
Oh, and one note, while we're on the subject....


Lead is down, and will likely continue to creep downward for at least 2-3 months (following iron, steel, aluminum, and brass). If you want to get some lead from a scrap dealer, now is the time....
 
About 3 years ago, my local scrapyards went "NO SALES TO THE PUBLIC" and now won't even let me go past the scales. No cruising the various piles of goodies for deals anymore. I'm not sure if it is all tied up by recycler's contracts, local regs, or just the liability if somebody tripped over a piece of something or discovered a wasp nest in an old refrigerator. But it sure is a shame....... all those barrels of WW, and dumpsters heaped with lead pipe and roof flashing just sitting on the other side of the fence staring back at me.:(
 
Chinese are still importing as much scrap metal as they can from salvage yards across this Country and the World which includes lead and its alloys. If there is a shortage in metal markets. It will be due to the Chinese and their veracious appetite for every ones natural and scrap metal resources. I wouldn't at this time advise y'll to start buying casting metals so's to stock up. But_ I believe there will be a time in the not to distant future those who didn't will wish they had. As for me and my squirreled away amount of this that & the other leads. "I'm in good shape."
 
Chinese are still importing as much scrap metal as they can from salvage yards across this Country and the World which includes lead and its alloys. If there is a shortage in metal markets. It will be due to the Chinese and their veracious appetite for every ones natural and scrap metal resources.
Click to expand...
China's domestic manufacturing and recycling was brought up to speed several years ago and allowed them to meet most of their internal demand. Now, since about March 2015, China is importing nearly nothing, when it comes to scrap metal.

They have run out of infrastructure to build, and (their) domestic production is meeting demand for nearly the entire export market.

Thus.... the scrap market here has crashed. Just three weeks ago, steel dropped 33%, aluminum dropped 40%, brass dropped 28%, iron dropped 42%, and lead dropped 20%. ...And that wasn't the first drop this year. Over the last two years, some metals have fallen more than 80%.

The market is down now.

The future is so "bright" that two of the scrap yards near me are closing up shop. They can't hold out for 2-3 years (or more) until the market comes back up. So they're liquidating what they have, and selling the land.
They'll probably be trailer parks by this time next year....
 
Well Mr. Franken Mauser I stand corrected sir. I knew the steel market was down due to the recent iron ore mining lay offs here in northern MN. But I didn't know that all medal market prices were affected. Including lead. Thanks for the correction & update. S/SMcG:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top