I had the opportuntity to buy some lead the other day from a 'scrapeyard' that was approx. 1/8 inch thick and was evidently in a sheet before being bent this way and that. It had numerous (drywall ?) screws lodged in the lump. I asked where it came from and the guys working the yard didn't know. I went ahead and bought it [100 lbs. @ $0.60 a pound] but a friend said it may have come from a hospital/and/or Dr./Dentist's office where they use it to protect the X-rays. The questions is...if indeed this did come from the above source would it still be safe to use/melt/cast???

I had the opportuntity to buy some lead the other day from a 'scrapeyard' that was approx. 1/8 inch thick and was evidently in a sheet before being bent this way and that. It had numerous (drywall ?) screws lodged in the lump. I asked where it came from and the guys working the yard didn't know. I went ahead and bought it [100 lbs. @ $0.60 a pound] but a friend said it may have come from a hospital/and/or Dr./Dentist's office where they use it to protect the X-rays. The questions is...if indeed this did come from the above source would it still be safe to use/melt/cast???

Is OK...X-rays can't cause other materials to become radioactive.

We purchased a bunch of isotope containers from a scrap yard. These are harder than pure lead. They look like cannon balls with a small clip to hold the lid. These make pretty fair bullets.

60 cents? That sounds awful high to me. sundog

Is OK...X-rays can't cause other materials to become radioactive.That's for sure.

From Batman27409...the $0.60 cents a lb. kinda hit me hard too but...the London Metals Exchange quoted $0.54 cent a lb. the other day s-o-o. Also, I haven't purchased any lead in years and when I visited 4 tire shops the other day and tried to get some wheel weights from them they ALL had contracts to sell them to a group that makes batteries they said. One guy at a local shop said he'd sell me WW for $0.12 cent a lb. but he ain't never got none. What the hey! Used to buy Lino for a nickle a lb. but that was 20 (+/-) years ago!

PS - thanks for the info on the sheet lead.

Buying lead? I have not had to buy lead in 15 or so years, most of the lead that a friend and I share has been given to us. In fact the local gun range lets us come out and get as much lead as we want for free. After reading the posts I am glad I have not had to buy the lead. I know when I first started reloading I could pick up lead from tire shops for about $10.00 for 50 lbs. Alot of people that I and a friend cast bullets and fishing weights for will bring us lead for the weights and the bullets. So we save money on that as well.

Buying lead? I have not had to buy lead in 15 or so years, most of the lead that a friend and I share has been given to us. In fact the local gun range lets us come out and get as much lead as we want for free. After reading the posts I am glad I have not had to buy the lead. I know when I first started reloading I could pick up lead from tire shops for about $10.00 for 50 lbs. Alot of people that I and a friend cast bullets and fishing weights for will bring us lead for the weights and the bullets. So we save money on that as well.
Hey there!
I'm the friend Loco is talking about. I've found that spending a few bucks on ebay for fishing weight molds has paid off big time in free lead. Folks around here will save up alot of lead with the intention of casting fishing weights. I trade them the weights I cast for the lead. I ALWAYS come out ahead. I've also picked up about 300# of linotype the same way.

Here is a pic of a radioactive container. This stuff is about like wheelweights, and cast well without any alloying.

Might want to be careful with the isotope containers, if it held an alpha or beta emitter that *is* ionizing radiation and might give you a few REMs yet.

You'd get more exposure by flying on a commercial airliner though, I think.

I had the opportunity to buy some lead the other day from a 'scrapeyard' that was approx. 1/8 inch thick and was evidently in a sheet before being bent this way and that. It had numerous (drywall ?) screws lodged in the lump. I asked where it came from and the guys working the yard didn't know. I went ahead and bought it [100 lbs. @ $0.60 a pound] but a friend said it may have come from a hospital/and/or Dr./Dentist's office where they use it to protect the X-rays. The questions is...if indeed this did come from the above source would it still be safe to use/melt/cast???

I have worked in hospitals since 1978 and have disposed of a lot of lead sheeting from x-ray departments and isotope and nuclear medicine containers. We have a radiological safety offer on staff who verifies that all materials are safe prior to disposal. I have cast a lot of bullets from this scarp lead without a problem. All the best...
Gil

I too work in a hospital and have used the radioactive containers for casting bullets. My question is, what is the hardness of the stuff compared to wheel weights. I do add a little shotgun shot to my wheel weights to bring up the hardness.
Bob,
:)

I recently did a hardness test on this alloy. It was 14 BHN, the same as my 20 year old wheelweight alloy.

The sheet lead most likely was from drywall with a lead backer. This kind of drywall is very common in areas where X-ray equipment is used. The walls can be finished just like any drywall, which is the idea of it.

I recently lined a new xray room with the lead backed sheetrock, I had the option to get lead sheet or the lead backed drywall, I wish I had gone with the sheet lead. I could have put it up with Liquid nails and then put new rock up over it, would have been a lot lighter to work with. The scraps made very nice bullets though. Another source for lead is the dentist office. My dentist has to pay a disposal fee to get rid of it so I get it for free. Only about 40lbs per year but I mix it about 1:10 with wheel weights and it seems to be a good alloy. Joe