The extinction of WW, time to reclaim your lead,

[Revolver]

We all know the that lead wheel weights have been an endangered species for awhile and will soon be extinct. Lead in general is getting hard for many people to find. Even though I currently have an ample supply of lead I am still very interested in recycling my boolits for numerous reasons.

Traditionally I have backed my shooting area with logs to catch my boolits. This is a simple method that is inexpensive and cheap. When the logs disintegrate you pickup the boolits. If you live int he woods, then logs are free.

Others say to shoot into sand or barrels with sand, I haven't tried that but it sounds very effective too. I haven't tried this because I would have to buy sand and a barrel, then the barrel would get ruined.

Many people have built metal bullet catches, which I am currently in the process of working on for myself. I have been testing various thicknesses of steel and have found that 7/16" steel plate hit at a 45 degree angle is effective with 357 magnum loads (boolits & j-words) without deformation (Shot about 50 rounds). My next step is to test 44 magnum against this same plate in hopes I don't have to source thicker metal, although I feel that I might.

What other methods of reclaiming your boolits are some of you using? :lovebooli

[Punisher422]

I have access to a lot of scrap lumber and my mother-in-law is a postal worker so she has access to unlimited phone books. I lined up phone books for three feet or so and then built a frame around them out of white oak to hold them together. When I shoot I tape a target to the front. A few hundred rounds later and the front phone book is looking rough but I'm a long ways from being forced to replace the phone books. This was just my cheap easy idea. It seemed safer than for me than to try to build a metal one.I'm sure others have something much more elaborate.

[Shuz]

I've been re-claiming my boolits for many years. I shoot into a mound of sand/dirt at 25 yds for a lot of my accuracy testing with handguns. I often find the spent boolits just lying on the surface at the rear of the mound. If I get energetic, which doesn't happen too often these days, I use a shovel and place shovelsfull of the dirt/sand pile on a screen deck I made outta 2x4's and screen cloth. I then shake the screen deck and the dirt falls thru exposing the boolits.

[fredj338]

IT's about all I am reduced to anymore in Kommifornia. I shoot at a private range once a month & can berm mine as long as I put it back in place. 20min yields about 50# of shootable alloy, not a bad time investment.

[geargnasher]

I've been recycling my own boolits from my private range for a couple of years. All my traps are boxes built from 2x10 lumber with plywood or OSB front/backs and filled with reclaimed #4 blasting sand. The front is covered with asphalt sheathing for target mounting and it helps keep the sand inside. When the front gets shot up, I unscrew it, dump the sand on a tarp, shovel it through a screen, replace the front, and shovel the sand back in the top. I lose about a 5-gallon bucket of sand from each 4x4 trap every time I recycle.

There's a long sticky on boolit traps with lots of good pictures and discussion for ideas, particularly for the steel traps.

Gear

[soldierbilly1]

My (old) club routinely mined the berms. For a $10 donation, I would get a weighed, 30 lb bag of mined range scrap.
Worked for me.
The club stays in business and so do I!
billy boy

[just.don]

There's a long sticky on boolit traps with lots of good pictures and discussion for ideas, particularly for the steel traps.

Gear

That sticky convinced me to do a crumb rubber trap.
2'x2'x3' stops everything we shoot.
I like it because it does not deform/destroy like steel or abrade like a sand trap.
One can see what their bullets look like. makes looking for cutting, blow by, skidding, etc much easier.

[odfairfaxsub]

That sticky convinced me to do a crumb rubber trap.
2'x2'x3' stops everything we shoot.
I like it because it does not deform/destroy like steel or abrade like a sand trap.
One can see what their bullets look like. makes looking for cutting, blow by, skidding, etc much easier.

i love mine too. we go to our range earlyer than usual when the trap is getting heavy heavy and get a 1/2 6 gal bucket. already alloyed so no mix necessary.

[Duckdog]

The rubber mulch trap is kind of the ticket. I have one I made with rubber pavers, some mulch, and a plastic tote. A 15 gal tote full will stop anything I've shot at it so far. Nothing has ever went through.

Nice thing is, you can move it to anywhere you want to shoot.

[just.don]

Nice thing is, you can move it to anywhere you want to shoot.

Mine is mounted in a lawn mower wagon. Put it where we want it when we want to shoot. Store it where we need to for it to be out of the way when not in use.
For my application, very handy!

[beagle]

Not to hijack the thread and kinda in line with the discussion.

I was talking with my hay man the other day. He mows and rolls the hay on my place. I was wondering how a 4' X 5' roll of hay would work for a backstop. Just wondered how long it would take before the bullets started penetrating lengthwise.

Anyone had any experiences with this./beagle

[Thompsoncustom]

hmmm I like that hay idea. I have a bunch of square bales I might have to try out as my steel trap works but they all explode on impact and some lead is lost.

[beagle]

Maybe back that up with a piece of slanted sheet steel to deplect the rounds downward into a sand box for recovery....... Have to see some other opinions but it might work./beagle

[ssnow]

I use a round bale of hay for a backstop. I lean a 1/2 sheet of plywood against it for stapling the targets. I just set up a new bale, and am currently in the process of salvaging the bullets from the old bale. I have about 1/2 of a 5 gallon bucket full so far, and am not yet 1/2 way through the bale. I have used the old bale around 5 years or so.


How does it work? Well, pretty good, but there are several variables, such as kind of hay and age of the bale.


Over Memorial Day weekend, we shot somewhere between 800-1000 rounds of 223 into it, around 40 or so went completely through the bale. You see, the bale will stop A 223 round, but when you put 20 rounds as close as possible to the same hole, you eventually cut a "tunnel" through the bale, and subsequent shots could go through.


The bales tend to be self-healing though :) The bales get rained on, and settle, filling the holes, and becoming more dense.


We also shot 22, 45ACP, 45 Colt, 9mm, 40 S&W, 44 Mag, and 357 into the bale. None of these rounds will go through the bale, unless you shoot enough into the same spot to form the aforementioned tunnel.


All in all, it makes a pretty good backstop, but is not 100% effective for all calibers. Adjust accordingly :)


Obviously, all the rounds can be recovered for smelting. But I have to say, it really is quite the job to go through the whole bale to recover the bullets. Time wise, I'm not sure it's worth the effort, from the recovery aspect alone. But, if you are in need of a backstop, it does work, and makes it more worthwhile.

[Duckdog]

That's where the rubber mulch really shines. You can just sift through it and get your bullets back in almost pristine condition, unless they hit another bullet.

It is really sweet getting all of your lead back as easy as that.

[beagle]

I know that stuff's good but finding some way to contain it that lasts for a while is the problem. Most material tends to get shot up too quickly./beagle

[Longwood]

I tried some, (2 bags), shredded rubber, that I got at Home Depot but found that a 45-70 bullet would go full length and out of the bottom of a five gallon bucket packed full.
I saw some rubber chunks in a couple of different sizes at a fancy landscaping rock place that sure looks like it may work a whole lot better if I ever see a need to try and catch bullets again.

[Longwood]

My idea for a trap, is a plastic barrel with a screw on lid, full of rubber chunks. It may need a thin steel plate in the bottom.

Cut the center out of the top and put a round piece, cut from an old quarry conveyor belt, on top of the rubber chunks then screw the lid ring back onto the barrel.

I have asked for belting a couple of times and never got turned down if they had any.
When the piece of belting gets chewed up, replace it.

[Duckdog]

The muclh I am using has been in use for a couple of years and is still good. What I did in my plastic tote, was the get rubber pavers, 16x16, and shoot through one of them first, then into the mulch, with one of them in the back of the tote. I shoot 45/70 @ 1600 fps as well as 30/06 @ 2250 fps and have ever shot through it. Hit that tote, though, and it does not last that long. The mulch I'm using is in 1/4" to 1 1/2" chunck, like wood would be. I get mine at Menards, if that helps.

[btroj]

I just shoot into the berm. I may not get all of my lead back but I can easily bring back some left by others.
Last 3 trips to the range I grout home 64 pounds of range scrap. I figure I will get about 40 pounds of useable alloy from that. I probably shot about 15 pounds of lead on those trips.

My goal for the ear is to bring home more each day than I took. So far, I am well ahead of schedule. About 200 pounds ready to melt down right now. I figure I can get another 200 easily.

[dnepr]

I use a 16" by 16" by 36" box filled with scrap lumber , some boolits go through but it catches most and it was all built from free scraps , the bonus I figured out with this set up is that seperating the boolits from the wood mulch is easy , a 5 gallon bucket with water in it , wood floats lead doesn't

[UtopiaTexasG19]

For my situation the easiest back stop/lead collection device is a defunct refrigerator or freezer obtained for free from a local appliance store or neighbor who has had one go bad. Just lay it down on it's backside with the door facing up and the top facing your shooting position. Fill the unit with dirt and nail a scrap piece of plywood on the top where you will then tack your paper targets. The plywood keeps any dirt from falling out the bullet holes and I replace mine once a year. Even rifle loads at 100 yards only go 1-2 feet into the dirt and you have 2-4 more feet for safety. I have used my set up for over 5 years and it has a long time to go. Next time I clean out the soil to reclaim the lead I intend to place a plywood or corregated tin sheet vertically into the soil at the 2 foot mark so the front 1/2 of the box is easier to clean out but until now I've reclaimed 99% of what I shoot. Soil is shovelled onto a hardware cloth screen and into a wheel barrow to recycle back into the box...

[frankenfab]

Many people have built metal bullet catches, which I am currently in the process of working on for myself. I have been testing various thicknesses of steel and have found that 7/16" steel plate hit at a 45 degree angle is effective with 357 magnum loads (boolits & j-words) without deformation (Shot about 50 rounds). My next step is to test 44 magnum against this same plate in hopes I don't have to source thicker metal, although I feel that I might.


I used 5/16" for the sides of mine, at a 55 degree angle. My brother torture tested my trap (while I was gone, BTW:twisted:) with a .270 at 25 yds., shooting at the very far right side, and it dented the plate a small amout is all. I normally would never shoot a rifle that close, or at that angle.

I think 3/8" would be better, but I feel completely safe. I made my trap mostly for handgun shooting, anyway. The .440 Cor-bon and .500 Linebaugh don't leave anything but a lead smear at 25 yds.

[colt 357]

I go to our range early before it opens shoot. We pick up brass then mine for lead. just a few minutes each weekend usaully yeilds about 70 to 100 pounds per month. I already got more then anuff to make it tought next summer. I stock pile so when I don't have time to do it I have plently to got thought it.

[Thompsoncustom]

Tires work great in bullet traps. I drive down interstate 20 here in Iowa a lot and over the past week I started picking up tire tread that had came off semi's and cars. Right now I have two semi tire treads around my bullet trap and about 3 car ones jammed in it and it works great. The rubber slows down the bullet enough that it never reaches the back of the trap. I would say I have went from 20% lead recover to 95% just by adding the free tire tread. Thought I would pass it on.

[FergusonTO35]

Good tip, I'll have to remember that. I have some logs on the back part of my place that I need to cut up.

[Wally]

I've been re-claiming my boolits for many years. I shoot into a mound of sand/dirt at 25 yds for a lot of my accuracy testing with handguns. I often find the spent boolits just lying on the surface at the rear of the mound. If I get energetic, which doesn't happen too often these days, I use a shovel and place shovelsfull of the dirt/sand pile on a screen deck I made outta 2x4's and screen cloth. I then shake the screen deck and the dirt falls thru exposing the boolits.

I have done the same...1/4" hardware cloth is too small (if the sand is wet) and 1/2" is too big--need 3/8" but I cannot find it.....