I noticed that lead was a little over a dollar a pound...

[doglover]

Do any of you folks save all the lead sinkers you find around lakes and rivers? And if so will scrapyards buy them for a percentage of whatever the spot price is?

 

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[texwolf]

I save all of mine and some day will need all that lead to make bullets so we can kill the ZOMBIES.......

 

[doglover]

That leads pretty heavy. I don't think it would take too many of those sinkers to make a pound. Of course a person would want to handle it with some gloves so as not to absorb any through the skin and wash your hands real good after handling it. Just a thought. I've been out on the lake beds since the water levels have gone down here in Texas. I figured the more lead we can get out of the lake the better the water. Of course I know they run it through a water treatment plant anyway. Brass is another good metal to collect as well. Also been finding golf balls out on the lake bed. I guess people have been hitting golf balls out in the water.

 

[surfin]

Just did some research on this for a project. turns out lead is inert. If you drop a lead sinker in to the water the water will not take on a higher lead content. Only if you break it down to a molecular level do you get the lead contamination. Which happens if you fire it out of a gun or something like that or also if you rub it off while handling it....Wear gloves and you good.....For sinkers not bullets.....

 

[Swartzie]

I have heard that soldiers would chew on lead musket balls to quench their thirst. Here's a pic of one I dug not long ago. The picture doesn't do this thing justice. It is chewed all to heck and back. Kinda neat I think.

-Swartzie

 

[boogeyman]

Just a hint...

Make some calls to the local bait shops & tackle shops. Some will buy your better condition sinkers & lead heads for decent money. But with that being said, if lead continues to go through the roof........... Sometimes you may get skunked, but end up with enough sinker money to cover batteries.

 

[doglover]

I appreciate everyone's comments and suggestions. I never would have thought anyone would have ever chewed on a lead bullet to quench their thirst but I guess they didn't know as much about lead back then. Maybe that's why so many of them didn't live past 70.I bought an AT Pro and have been hitting a dried up lake bed close to where I live. I've been digging all the signals above iron in hopes of finding some gold. I did manage to find one 14 Kt gold bangle (three thin gold rings linked together) It looked like an earring. Took it to a jeweler and he said it was worth about $48. In the process, I've dug up a lot of lead sinkers. There must be thousands of them on that lake bed. I figured if I could make a little spare change with them; why not? Probably not worth the time, but you never know until you look into something. The only thing holding me back from detecting more is this heat. I can last about 2 hours and then I've got to go. That old sun wins everytime. The good thing is the drought has enabled me to hunt the lake bed the bad thing is it is hot as blazes and the water is getting low. Thanks.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

Well if you're digging them anyway, might as well save them and make a little cash off the deal. Get a 5 gallon bucket and toss them in until it's full, and take it to the scrapper. Of course you'll probably need a friend or two to help lift it.

 

[N.J.THer]

I know someone that takes them to fishing shows and sells them. I think he sells three or four for a dollar.

I found a lead ingot a few years back...I think it is a 5lb ingot...woohoo $5 bucks in scrap lead. Actually that is one piece I would not scrap since it is just too cool.

Good luck with your scrap lead business.

NJ

 

[boogeyman]

Was gonna say if you have a yard sale put some in plastic sandwich bags & sell for a buck a bag. I'm always amazed what some people will buy & what they'll pay.

Amazing what we've learned through the generations. Chewing on bullets for thirst, using mercury for VD, various poisons to cure stomach ailements. Truly amazing any of our forefathers survived.

 

[doglover]

Theres lots of ways to make money if a person will use their imagination. I had a cousin who used to go to golf courses and get into the ponds. He would wade in there and pick up golf balls with his toes then sell them for about a quarter a piece or something like that. Of course that was back in the 60's when money was worth more and he's since passed on. Also I was thinking of whats one thing nobody will hardly ever pass up? And thats popcorn. Buy you one of those popcorn poppers and set up at a trade day like Canton where thousands of people go to buy and trade and you can make you some money. Go to Sam's wholesale and buy you a bunch of sodas and and put them in an ice chess and sell them for a dollar a piece. The only obstacle is the all the red tape and fees you have to go through to get set up. Everybody's got to have their finger in the pie. Thanks everyone.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Don't know about Zombies, but I toss all the lead I find into a can and cast my owm round balls for my muzzleloaders.

Lead's about $2.19 a pound and shipping is a b!+c#.

 

[doglover]

Don't know about Zombies, but I toss all the lead I find into a can and cast my owm round balls for my muzzleloaders.

Lead's about $2.19 a pound and shipping is a b!+c#.

If you lived close, I'd probably give you some of the sinkers I find for nothing. You've probably got some fishing areas close by. I bet theres a lot of sinkers there for the finding.

 

[kenley]

Lead ain't gonna hurt you unless it comes at you at over 300 fps. Don't breath the fumes. I make all my .45/.38 bullets out of wheel weights. Do my cooking outside. My poor mother cut chicken and pork with the same knife. We threw hambergers on the grill with our bare hands. Tossed salad with our bare hands. Drank from the garden hose and creek. Had asbestos insulation in our stoves. Even played cowboy and Indians and our cap pistols didn't have red plugs in the barrel. Damn. I didn't mean to get off on this nanny state crap. Of course it may kill me, I'm only 72. My house was built in 1920, full of lead paint. My baby crib was painted with lead paint every time one of the kids chewed off the old paint. LEAD AIN'T GONNA HURT YA! Government will hurt you.

 

[doglover]

Lead ain't gonna hurt you unless it comes at you at over 300 fps. Don't breath the fumes. I make all my .45/.38 bullets out of wheel weights. Do my cooking outside. My poor mother cut chicken and pork with the same knife. We threw hambergers on the grill with our bare hands. Tossed salad with our bare hands. Drank from the garden hose and creek. Had asbestos insulation in our stoves. Even played cowboy and Indians and our cap pistols didn't have red plugs in the barrel. Damn. I didn't mean to get off on this nanny state crap. Of course it may kill me, I'm only 72. My house was built in 1920, full of lead paint. My baby crib was painted with lead paint every time one of the kids chewed off the old paint. LEAD AIN'T GONNA HURT YA! Government will hurt you.

You're the boss of your life and what you do is up to you. State of mind has a lot to do with getting sick or not. I've known people that went on all the time about how they were feeling bad and sick and they were usually laying around in the bed most of the time and going to the doctor. I've known others who smoked all their life and lived to see 95. I don't smoke or drink but I love bacon and eggs, hamburgers, sodas, ice cream, pizza, and other things that are supposed to be bad for you. I may drop dead from a heart attack some day but I thank God everyday for everyday He gives me. Life is short even if we live to see 100. If the right one don't get you then the left one will. God bless you and I wish you the best.

 

[ivan salis]

pre WW2 era lead off shipwrecks -- known as "low alpha" lead is highly valuible * --its badly needed to be used in solder for computers * -- after the A bombs were set off in WW2 and post war open air testing it screwed up the lead supplies in the world for use with computers ( basically its contaminated - and thus no good) --so only pre war lead is good --so it is running short in supply and is worth $$$ -- I would rather find a ship full of WW2 era "low alpha" lead ingots than one of WW2 era silver bars weight for weight.

 

[doglover]

pre WW2 era lead off shipwrecks -- known as "low alpha" lead is highly valuible * --its badly needed to be used in solder for computers * -- after the A bombs were set off in WW2 and post war open air testing it screwed up the lead supplies in the world for use with computers ( basically its contaminated - and thus no good) --so only pre war lead is good --so it is running short in supply and is worth $$$ -- I would rather find a ship full of WW2 era "low alpha" lead ingots than one of WW2 era silver bars weight for weight.

Thanks for the information. I didn't know that. The only thing I can't figure out is why the pre WW2 lead didn't get contaminated also. Was it all on sunken ships under the water? And if so, can't radiation contaminate the water also?

 

[bazinga]

Lead ain't gonna hurt you unless it comes at you at over 300 fps. Don't breath the fumes. I make all my .45/.38 bullets out of wheel weights. Do my cooking outside. My poor mother cut chicken and pork with the same knife. We threw hambergers on the grill with our bare hands. Tossed salad with our bare hands. Drank from the garden hose and creek. Had asbestos insulation in our stoves. Even played cowboy and Indians and our cap pistols didn't have red plugs in the barrel. Damn. I didn't mean to get off on this nanny state crap. Of course it may kill me, I'm only 72. My house was built in 1920, full of lead paint. My baby crib was painted with lead paint every time one of the kids chewed off the old paint. LEAD AIN'T GONNA HURT YA! Government will hurt you.

Lead is here to kill us all!

 

[ivan salis]

the water depth helped to protect the lead on the sunken vessels * the water acted as a sort of filter --the lead in the lead mines was exposed to the open air thus it was ruined.

 

[Bum Luck]

You could always collect lead by trying to break into my house, 240 grains at a time, meet Elmer Keith!

I have been using linotype lead for decades, 4% tin, & 12% antimony. Bullets are Brinell Hardness of 22.

I never have to clean lead fouling out of my barrel, and bullets are seldom seriously deformed, even at 1400 fps hitting rock. Bullets are nicely defined in the molds.

I'd find a source for buying it outright; there's no fishing market here to speak of - lot's of fishermen, but no market. They're notorious for being stingy, and I don't like to waste time dickering with irrational cheapskates. An honest scrap dealer is a good resource, and sometimes he's willing to swap stuff. I make a point to learn something from him every time I see him.