Much lead in your range ?

[Anthony333]

Hi people,

I am fairly new to casting Boolits. and i have been getting range lead at my local... just wondering how much lead is at your range, as mine seems to have LOTS !
Or at least i assume it is lots, i am digging about 15 litres of bullets per hour ( 99.9 % lead) no jackets are allowed at my range .. and i think that is around 37 kilos ? per hour by shovel, wire screen and hand picking the good ones out :-) .. i just find the sweet spot behind the service targets... Its dirty dusty and somewhat peacefull all at the same time .. semi rural area ..
I know there are about 3 others who cast at my club, but most guys just keep filling up my supply ... apparently one member had sent 30,000 projies of to get coated for his daughters IPSC habit :-) ( nice man hey ) and he digs all day for them !
I do believe he has a swager as well though ... so maybee he just casts the led rods ... either way, i think we can open a lead mine soon :-)

I am starting to hoard , as the going is good at the moment :-)
I do feel a little greedy tho...should i ?
Might evem sell the members their bullets back when i start to cast good ... the lead will be free, but the casting service i will charge for ... [smilie=w:

We pay around $50 AUSSIE average for a box of 500 .358 148 swc or .356 9 mm 125 grainers... so i will be saving A FORTUNE :-)
Plus, these hard cast boolits are a bit hit n miss with their alloys too so it would seem... :cry:

[Sasquatch-1]

The ranges I have belong to (only 2 in the last 30 years, both Izaac Walton League chapters) try to discourage mining as they believe it undermines the backstop.

[Jal5]

We have a lot on our berms too. No mining allowed but I just pick them up off the berm, its slow but it keeps me supplied in lead. Joe

[mpmarty]

Our club mines the berms and indoor range too. The club sells the lead to a recycler.

[stubshaft]

The range I frequent is used by the Silly Wett shooters on the weekend and plinkers. During the week the police, sherrifs department and prison guards use it to practice and qualify. Most Mondays and Tuesdays it is empty. I used to go down there with my smelting equipment and mine for lead. I did not have to do this often because very few (I know of only 2 others) people mine for lead there, and I can usually pull 500+ pounds in a day. Most of the lead I pick up is in the form of 12ga. slugs. I smelt it pour it into cupcake tins and bring it home.

I am lucky because there aren't too many casters here.

[shooter93]

It's mostly game comission ranges I use here and they don't let us mine them. The state has been cleaning them up and rebuilding the berms and the range closest to me I'd wager they took out 20 tons minimum. We also shoot at an abandoned strip mind that's like a huge pond.....if you could get down there and mine it when it's dry and manage to lug it out....the quanity wouldn't stop at 100 tons I'd bet. Many shooters have been shooting there for 50 yrs.

[AndyC]

A friend of mine, V-rog, and I collected almost 900 lbs of bullets (mostly jacketed) in about an hour at our local range about a month or so back. Didn't even have to dig - just scraped them down off the berm with a rake then shovelled them into eight 5-gallon drums.

[Forrest r]

I don't do any digging at a gun club I'm a member of, just pick the bullets up that are laying on the surface. It gets boring so I shoot a little & pick lead a little. The berms produce 400 to 500 #'s of lead ingots a year. That's enough lead for all my bullet casting & leaves 100 to 200 # to sell for reloading components like primers & gunpowder.

[Anthony333]

Wow, some great responses there... i dont dig very far for my lead, and can get as much as 250 lead boolits in a round 3 shovells full, not quite 900lbs a day tho ...!!!!!

Great Stuff !

[prs]

The range I frequent is used by the Silly Wett shooters on the weekend and plinkers. During the week the police, sherrifs department and prison guards use it to practice and qualify. Most Mondays and Tuesdays it is empty. I used to go down there with my smelting equipment and mine for lead. I did not have to do this often because very few (I know of only 2 others) people mine for lead there, and I can usually pull 500+ pounds in a day. Most of the lead I pick up is in the form of 12ga. slugs. I smelt it pour it into cupcake tins and bring it home.

I am lucky because there aren't too many casters here.



WOW! 500# a day for lead in Hawaii (southern-most state in the union) must really save you a fortune. It would be expensive as all get out to ship lead there.

prs

[beagle]

Not much on my current range as they just reworked it but it's building up and I pick up 6-8 ingots when I'm out there and nobody seems to care as long as I'm the only one on the range and don't disrupt shooting.

Now, my old range was loaded....especially the pistol range with a lot of .38 and .45 cast wad. Those combined with with jacketed stuff made a pretty good alloy. Of course, I contributed to the cause with my cast bullets.

Been watching the Gold Rush Alaska show on TV. Man, I'd love to have a smaller version of one of those rigs on a trailer for lead.

My god how the money (lead) would roll in./beagle

[SlowSmokeN]

I get lead from my local indoor each week. Spend about 15-20 min and fill a 5 gallon bucket about a 1/3 full. That is about what I can lift with out throwing my back out BECAUSE A STUPID CHICK HIT ME ON MY MOTORCYCLE WAS SHE WAS ON HER CELL PHONE!!!! Nothing like pulling a superman at 60mph.