I'm as giddy as a schoolgirl...

[rickomatic]

Well, guys...for the past couple months I've been soaking up all the knowledge I could here, and gathering together tools and supplies in order to dive into this sick addiction. Today I finally did my first smelt.
It wasn't big by any standard, but it was the coolest thing I've ever done with hot metal! :mrgreen:
Last week, after a short shooting session all by my lonesome, I decided to try and mine some range lead from the casual country range I shoot at near my vacation place. It's a sandy bank and lot's of people shoot there apparently, judging from the variety of spent shell casings.
Anyway, I spent half an hour with a hardware cloth screen sieve I had earlier made up for my wife's gardening, and came up with 6# of jacketed bullets. I just now got done smelting out 5# of purty Lee ingot mold beauties. I did the best I could for the first time, I think. Still a little sketchy with the fluxing part, but I think it went ok. I'm sure I'll get cleaner results the more I try. It was so much fun, that I had to go get about a pound and a half of fishing sinkers out of an old tackle box just to try some more....LOL :eek:
I think I'll be spending a little more time gathering used bullets next time I'm over at that range shooting again. I can't wait to turn those dirty old spent bullets into bright and shiny "boolits"!!

Yep.....I'm hooked....hehe:mrgreen:

[beagle]

I know what you mean. The fist time I turned some grungy lead, lead soldiers and old fishing weights into shiny Lyman 311291s for the old Springfield, I said to myself, "There's got to be something illegal about this".

That was about 1957 or so and I haven't quit since./beagle

[Glen]

Enjoy! It just gets better!

[mike in co]

we hooked another one!

[Buckshot]

..............It only gets better as you progress. Just don't get the bighead or snobby around your shooting chums who haven't yet seen the light :-)

..................Buckshot

[garandsrus]

Rick,

Smelting old boolits and casting seems almost seems like a license to print money...

John

[jswaff]

I know what it feels like. I just cast my first ones and can't wait to make some more.

[runfiverun]

reeling .....reeling......keep that tip up...

[targetshootr]

I said to myself, "There's got to be something illegal about this".
:drinks:

[armoredman]

I love it - gonna cast some more today or tomorrow....

[ktw]

I said to myself, "There's got to be something illegal about this".

My office is in a rural, remote facility owned by a state university. I work for a private company that rents space there. We have a lot of garage space and our range facilities are close by, so we tend to do a lot of our personal casting/smelting activities there, too.

Two of us were out smelting a couple of years ago in the spring. There happened to be a large group of school kids attending some function in the conference facilities up the road (upwind) that day. A DNR truck went by, headed in that direction, evidently they were to give some sort of presentation to the school kids. After driving by they stopped, turned around and came back to ask us what we were doing. They didn't know what those two hillbillys in coveralls were cooking up out there but it looked suspicious enough to them to stop and check out. :-D

-ktw

[leftiye]

That's what the government has them for, to harass us.

[targetshootr]

So what's a DNR?

[ktw]

So what's a DNR?

Department of Natural Resources

Conservation Officers, natural resources law enforcement types.

-ktw

[scrapcan]

KTW,

Did they sit down to help? I would have asked If I could come back on my own time, I work for a state government agency and I have walked miles form my motel/hotel to see a gunshop or visit with a range. We are limited on what we can do for personal time and we definitely cannot possess firearms in the state vehicles, But I can walk there and enjoy the conversation and sights.

[Bigjohn]

Rickomatic; This is what happens when you take the bait. It's worse than just about every illness known to Humankind and better than most other activities.

Don't go throwing those jackets away in the trash. Give them the magnet test for steel jackets then stash them for recycling, copper and brass. I do the same thing at my range but I have some competition moving in.

Don't worry as there is no cure except shufflin' off to the 'final detail' for the affliction we have.

John.