The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

Hello all,

I thought i'd finally get my backside in gear and start loading my own shotgun slugs and would start by churning out a ton of slugs before sourcing hulls/powder etc. So today i just happened to be driving passed a scrap merchant (a large chain type one) and thought i'd drop in the see what scrap lead i could scrouge/buy, only to be told that private individuals can't buy scrap lead from scrap merchants??

Now i don't know if its because i was in a suit and thought i was a poorly disguised inspector of some sort or what but is that true? And if so where are you supposed to get it from? I can't imagine buying new rolled lead from DIY/roofing stores is going to be particularly cost effective

Best place is to go to one of ure ranges....do a bit of siveing, offer that club a token gesture of money etc bobs your uncle....

Outdoor range is MOD and indoor range owner almost definitely scraps/uses it himself

Have been getting promised lead from a roof friend of a friend for months but so far none has materialised

But is it true that scrap yards can't sell materials to private individuals now?? I knew they'd tighten up for buying stuff of people to try to stop scumbags ripping up drain covers and railway cabling, but whats the harm in selling once its been checked?

I would think that you need soft/pure lead for slug and range lead would not meet that requirement.
Scrap flashing lead is at the scrap merchant I frequent at around £1 per kg - lead piping is also an option but make sure it is absolutely dry before putting it in a pot full of molten lead. Leave it to stand and skim off the dross and save the dross to stir into your hard range lead that you would use for your pistol calibre carbines.

Might try some other (smaller) scrap yards then. And get changed before i go

After my stock of lead dried up, I tried the local scrap yards as well.

They refused point blank to sell me any metal whatsoever.

One merchant advised he would sell me some, but, I needed to buy it in 5 tonne lots.

I

Thats more or less what i was told. it wasn't the scrapyard between Shildon and Bishop auckland was it??

You do know there are dozens if not hundreds of perfectly good church roofs around the County Durham area?

Have a go at doing what I did....
Put an advert in the local church magazine! "if anyone has any nasty old scrap lead kicking around that they want rid of please give me a shout and I will gladly pick it up at your convenience"
I ended up with about 300 kg's (sorry Adam-660 lb's!)
For gawds sake dont mention what its for, although I did get a sizeable donation from the local vicar but he knows I am a shooter/caster.

Failing that, ask the other / better half to go to the scrappy, with or without a bucket of old brass to trade with-mine always gets a better deal than I do. I dont ask questions

I think it's because scrap lead is deemed hazardous waste or suchlike (perhaps commercial waste as you're trying to buy it), so you probably need something like a waste transfer licence before they'll let you have it. I had similar issues with getting used cooking oil from takeaways/restaurant when I made my own biodiesel.