A 1000 lbs a year

[Blammer]

For those who shoot a 1,000 pounds of lead a year or more or if you feel you do shoot a bunch in the year.

I have a question.

Why can you not reclaim it from where you shoot it?

If I shot 1,200 lbs of lead a year, I'm sure I'd be able to get back at least some of what I shot from where I shot it....

[fishhawk]

well depends where you shoot at. in my case i have my own range and reclaim quite a bit

[danski26]

The range I shoot at allows no "lead mining".

[BruceB]

Seems like the "Nevada Outback" absorbs a lot of my lead. Shooting rocks, sagebrush, and bunchgrass at several hundred yards or more doesn't offer much in the way of reclamation possibilities.

However, I do a lot of paper-target shooting as well, and I do believe I might start work on some sort of portable bullet trap. With the present lead-antipathy in regulatory circles, it may become very important for us to conserve our favorite element.

What I really have to do is mine my sources more-frequently. There are a lot of WW that go to the dump or recyclers, I'm sure.

[jhalcott]

Most of the ranges in my area don't allow mining the berms. Some time after a good rain ,I'll pick up some BIG bullets laying on top of the ground. A couple weeks ago I got a 1# coffee can full. It took a half hour!

[Crash_Corrigan]

I'm going back East in the Spring to be a snowbird. Vegas from Dec thru Apr and High Falls NY from May to November.

We have a small farm/resort of about 80 acres. Most of it is fallow fields and grassy areas. There is a also about 25 acres of woods.

My plan is to utilize an unused field. I plan to make a backstop of railroad ties about 5 feet high and about 8 foot wide and 10 feet in depth. Within this area I am going to get some builders sand. Not too fine and pile it up with a few Ties here and there to keep it in place.

Most of my shooting is within 30 yrds but I will be able to set this up with about 300 yds of cleared field in front of the target area. This is not a very built up area but I still want to be careful

I wish I could round up a couple of those steel plates they place over trenches in the roadways. Of course I would have to have a small crane to move them....HA!

I have a few reactive steel plate targets that I will place inside the backstop but on the sand so the spatters go into the sand.

My paper targets will be arranged so that the rounds impact into the sand.

My hope is that after a sufficient time I will be able to mine the sand for lead without having to annoy anybody. I expect my biggest problem with be with vagrant seeds and bird droppings causing new growth in the sand. I guess I will be doing some weeding.

When I get this done I will post some photos of the project.

[imashooter2]

No berm mining around here.

[monadnock#5]

The places close to home where I used to target shoot are long gone. Posted, homes in close proximity or neighbors who can't wait to get the local constable aroused. So I shoot at a range where the back stop is a gravel bank. A gravel bank that collapses each spring.

I think it might be time to approach the range BOD's with a plan, especially now that it's dues paying season. Thanks for planting the seed.

[shooter575]

Some clubs here in Michigan has started to mine the berms. It seems they get some sort of
brownie points from the state EPA.Maybe it is like "carbon offsets" I do know that the can be given back to the shooters.It is not required to be turned over.
Maybe this angle could be used to get your club to mine?

[klw]

For those who shoot a 1,000 pounds of lead a year or more or if you feel you do shoot a bunch in the year.

I have a question.

Why can you not reclaim it from where you shoot it?

If I shot 1,200 lbs of lead a year, I'm sure I'd be able to get back at least some of what I shot from where I shot it....


The place where I shoot has at least four fellows who go over it every single day looking for anything of value. To some this is a significant part of their annual income. Can not imagine that.

I put about 600 pounds of linotype into those backstops annually. They dig those bullets up. Most are melted up but some are reshot. As the place where I shoot in this "field" is a bit unusual I'm told that I get their attention first. They particularly like my 50-70 bullets.

[FWAddit]

I like to shoot into the snowbank pushed up by the snowplow at the end of the dead-end township road we live on. Natural drifts work ok too. When the snow melts in March and April, the bullets are just lying around on top of the ground where they are easy to collect.

I have plans to make a big box out of treated lumber and fill it with sawdust from a nearby mill as a backstop for my 100-yard range. I have a big piece of truck tire innertube for the front, to hold the sawdust in. I figure four feet from front to back should be enough to stop the bullets. Packed snow usually stops them in less space than that.

Do you think I should use a steel plate for the far end, just to be sure?

Anyway, I'm thinking that after a summer of shooting, I would shovel the sawdust into a sifter made with hardware cloth to separate the lead, and then put the sawdust back into the box. Will it work? Anyone ever tried anything like this?

[Blammer]

for sawdust you'll need a LOT MORE than 4 feet!

after it gets wet it will be a PITA to sift....