Almost Had a ''KABOOM'' in My Pot

[sw282]

Was processing some range scrap from an indoor range in to lngots. l found a LIVE 22 round.
That would make a big surprise..Fortunately l caught the 22 before it went swimming in
Galena Park Pool..This was my first..l knew about the hazards of this scrap when l bought it...
A rare opportunity to get a supply very cheap..l wear PPE for just such surprises. Face shield,
spray sock, Coveralls over my regular long sleeve shirt and pants. Welders gloves for my hands.
l had been pouring the scrap from a bucket into a pan before adding it to the pot.
l will continue the practice

[Artful]

Good Catch - just say no to the tinsel fairy

[Yodogsandman]

Good catch, glad you found it! Seems like a good system to check what's going into the pot next.

[imashooter2]

I've processed a lot of indoor range scrap. I pour the buckets into a wheelbarrow for inspection and then add to the pot with a long handled garden shovel. That way if I miss something, at least I'm not standing right over the pot. This might be a modification in your routine worth considering...

[DerekP Houston]

I've processed a lot of indoor range scrap. I pour the buckets into a wheelbarrow for inspection and then add to the pot with a long handled garden shovel. That way if I miss something, at least I'm not standing right over the pot. This might be a modification in your routine worth considering...

If I ever get back in to WW i will give that shot, thanks for the tip!

[Mk42gunner]

I've processed a lot of indoor range scrap. I pour the buckets into a wheelbarrow for inspection and then add to the pot with a long handled garden shovel. That way if I miss something, at least I'm not standing right over the pot. This might be a modification in your routine worth considering...
My smelting routine is similar. Since I usually wait until one of the coldest days of the winter to reduce range scrap or the wild WW to ingot form, I am normally already wearing a canvas coat and overalls, a hat and leather boots and gloves. Add a face shield and I am ready to start.

I sort (read clean out the junk and trash) on a sheet of plywood laying in the driveway, then use a longhandled shovel to transfer to the pot. Put a lid on and wait until it melts.

Robert

[w5pv]

I had a primer in the melt that sprayed lead all over,lucky for me I had laid a mould across the pot and it caught most of the splatter.I got a little on my face and a spot on my glasses and some on my clothes.I consider myself lucky and now put a cover over the pot.Please be careful.

[mold maker]

I had the same experience with a live 22 LR in outdoor range lead. Now I tumble it in a cement mixer with running water. Drying on a concrete driive and raking back and forth, allows me to inspect much closer.

[warpspeed]

I've processed a lot of indoor range scrap. I pour the buckets into a wheelbarrow for inspection and then add to the pot with a long handled garden shovel. That way if I miss something, at least I'm not standing right over the pot. This might be a modification in your routine worth considering...

Same here.

[OS OK]

If you take the time to separate FMJ's that might need a 'clipping' you can ingot those by themselves, they generally are softer lead. the regular cast boolits can stay by themselves and that way they give ingots with a higher BHN rather than the RS getting progressively softer on each recycle.

Don't get your back up…I'm OCD about things like this…heck I even wash the scrap a week before in a large colander to clean out as much junk as possible. That's where you get benefit in the safety of knowing exactly what is in the scrap…we don't do boom around here, at least not in the pot.

[Dpmsman]

I used to get brass from a local indoor range and found quite a few bullet fragments in the mix. I thought I would melt down all these little bits and pieces I had about 15lbs of it. Put about 5lbs in a cast iron frying pan over a Coleman stove not realizing what I thought was just dirt and lead was really unburnt pistol powder and lead!!!:oops: The torch like flame went up 20 feet. Dumb!!!

Jon

[Walter Laich]

I used to get brass from a local indoor range and found quite a few bullet fragments in the mix. I thought I would melt down all these little bits and pieces I had about 15lbs of it. Put about 5lbs in a cast iron frying pan over a Coleman stove not realizing what I thought was just dirt and lead was really unburnt pistol powder and lead!!!:oops: The torch like flame went up 20 feet. Dumb!!!

Jon

but spectacular I bet. Nothing like that to get the old heart rate up a bit

[HB0708]

Glad you caught that before it went in. Hoping to one day smelt some scrap down instead of buying my lead, I'll incorporate a lot of these safety tips.

[mdi]

I'm with OS OK on this. My range scrap gets inspected (or a bit more than casual look see) so I can "clip" any FMJs and take out most of the dirt and pebbles...

[sw282]

l didn't salvage this scrap myself. lt came to me already in buckets and tis the reason why l take extra time sorting it. l got the scrap and ''sweepings'' during the Great Ammo Shortage of 2008-2012..

[Landshark9025]

I've started processing outdoor range scrap. The way I do it might be considered tedious by some, but it should reduce the chances of an errant round and increase the yield.

Range scrap collected in 5 gal buckets. Generally no more than 2/3 to 3/4 full.
Pour from big bucket into a 3 gal white bucket.
Put a screen made of hardware cloth with the edges turned up over another 5 gal bucket.
Pour a bunch on to the screen so it is not very deep.
Sort through it with a pair of lineman pliers. Any bullets that are not beat up get snipped. This helps me get that bit of lead out of TMJs and sort out the lead free ones as they don't give at all when you try to cut them. (I actually have more lead free than cast.)
Pour screened scrap into another bucket ready to go into the COLD smelting("re-melting" for the purists :-P) pot.
Cover the pot with a cookie sheet and hit fire it up.

As I pour the ingots I reduce the heat until it is off. Let the remainder cool until it is about like peanut butter, then fill the pot again and fire up the burner.

Yes, it's tedious, but like I said, it reduces the chance of an errant round, increases my yield by me snipping all the TMJs, and it also gets most of the sand pre-sifted out. With a couple of buckets I can sift while the pot is heating up so there's no lost time and it takes me about 20-30 min to process 50-75 lbs.