Who knows where the cheapest pencil lead can be bought?
My store has gone from $2/lb to $5/lb in one jump.
I'll go in with anyone who can get a decent price, but has to purchase in bulk.

Or maybe someone has 3/16 hollow core they don't want? I'd certainly be interested in buying it.

Maybe it's just a sign of the times....took the wife out to breakfast the other morning....ate nothing special, but the bill with the tip came to $35!! Good ol' fried eggs, bacon, and toast at home never looked so good.

If this lead thing doesn't get better, I'll be looking for another solution.....ack!

Any help appreciated.


edit: 3/16 lead, not 3/8, idiot!

Garage sales.....can't even begin to tell you........the pounds and pounds of lead gotten. Pencil lead, 3,4,5,6,oz. banana leads, 1 - 10 oz. plunking lead....it's out there, you just got be there at the right time.

I was lookin for lead today at Outdoor Emporium and I couldn't believe how much it cost....If I would've know it was gonna be so spendy I would have hijacked some from the lodge in AK. We had like 20 pound rolls in each boat and I bet each guy would use about 15 of it over the course of the summer. They wouldn't have missed the leftovers.

JD

Hikes in lead aren't a new thing......it left me speechless a few years ago. Used to look forward to the Fall "pre-season" sales to load up for 99 cents a roll. I'd buy enough for a season or two. Suddenly, those 99 cent deals didn't happen anymore. Now, I'm tap dancing if I can find it for less than 3 bucks.

did lead all of a sudden go up again? last time i bought any, it was in the $4 or so range.

i've heard it's total price gouging -- the lead market hit the skids when this recession started. the prices went up in late '06 from around $1.29 a roll to 3 bucks.

I guess I'm gonna have find my ol' solid core, pencil lead mold and get busy with the melting pot. I probably have 200lbs in ingots just waiting for a project..

Last time I looked, I think lead was selling for around $2300+ per metric ton, just over $1/lb. It wasn't that long ago, maybe 4 years, when it was selling for $700/ton. Soft metal prices jumped and it doesn't look like they are coming down anytime soon.

When you're purchasing fishing weights or bullets, remember that 10% of the cost is either PR or DJ federal taxes that come back to the state based on hunting and fishing license sales.

Anybody have a mold for making .300 slinkie shot?

Fish on...

Todd

I quit usisg slinkies years ago, too dang expensive... thanks Joe's for all the pencil lead, and other supplies...

Ok, figured I would throw this out again. I do not do this for a business but to help fellow fishermen out. I make my own lead wire (.185, .205, .250 diameters). This is solid core continous wire that I extrude. What I have done for some in the past is to make the lead wire for a split of the lead. (must be pure lead). If you have the lead I may be able to help you out. Just thought I would offer.
Bret

I'ts gotten real spendy the past couple years.$18.00 to $20.00 for a 4# bottle of .300 mag slinky shot.I still have a half bottle of some older .250 and the price tag reads $6.99.What happened????.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

I'm guessing the two wars are expending a lot of lead.

that's [censored]. china's economy took off in the past 5 or 6 years. first it was steel(it tripled in price around 2003), then copper, then lead. they started paying top dollar for our scrap, smelting it down, then selling it back to us at greatly inflated prices.

speaking of which, ever notice how the quality of pencil lead has gone downhill? i used to be able to mash it down thin enough to pull loose from a snap swivel when snagged up, the stuff on the market now is extremely hard.

I just paid $25..something for a 4# bottle @ Daves in Lynden.I felt like I was getting bent over but it's still a buttload cheaper than buying pre-manned slinkies.

You might want to check with the muzzleloader companies for molds or pre-cast round balls. Smallest I've found is .308


http://muzzleloadingandmore.com/products/accessories/molds_round_balls/index.htm

Slab Happy, let me look in my trays. I never use 3/16 hollow anymore. If I have some,you can have it for the cost of shipping. Still way cheaper than buying it or driving to my area.
edit---just went and checked. I have about 4#'s. Shoot me an email and I will let you know the cost of UPS to you area from mine. Bill

Maybe... but talk about questioning your sanity. Melting 20 pellets at a time, then having to trim each one... will make you appreciate the fact that $20 a bottle may not be that bad...

I melted up a piss load of "sling shot pellets"-the DoIt mold series, and said screw ever doing that again.

Thank God I've convinced my boss' kids that diving the 'hatchery hole' in the summer for "burried treasure" is a cool thing to do. Little buggers bring me a lifetime supply of slinkies and pencil lead every summer that I cut apart and clean up into usable pieces.

Think THAT's bad??

I just ordered a couple kegs of beer.

Its getting up towards $200 a keg.

The Dollar's going down the schitter.

Slinkie lead is not poured in a mold, It is cut into the proper length after being extruded and then placed in a tumbler. some time in the tumbler and it becomes round.

Anybody having lead shipped should take advantage of the USPS flat-rate boxes. The large box can handle up to 70 lbs and ship anywhere in the US for $13.95. Smaller boxes start at $4.95 I think. Even works to Alaska and Hawaii.