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I know your supposed to break the jacket on the totally incased bullets but what happens if I miss one? Will it pop & splatter lead all over or just be trapped in the jacket? Don't want any safety hazards but i also dont wana spend hours upon hours looking at every single bullet.
I never broke open a jacketed bullet when i was smelting i never had in issues
Just melt them down. There will be a ton of dross on range scrap, scoop it off. You will never get 100% separation of lead from copper jackets and bits of rock and sand. Melt it all down, scoop off the bulk junk like jackets and pebbles. Flux it, drain off the lead. Stay well downwind of the smoke as it will be high in lead content. Cast into ingots.
Sometimes they just don't melt other times they pop. I'd cover them I've had both happen. My pot was covered but from the sound I'm sure it made a splash.
Make sure you give that range scrap loads of time to dry out. JHP take a bit of time to dry. I know your asking about braking the jackets but just figured this might help you out. I dry my stuff for a week on a wire rack. Had a pot turn into a volcano once just from some moisture built up in my range scrap.
And I sell all the dross to the salvage yard in 5 gallon buckets.
I do NOT spend the time to clean or separate
Mike
I for small batches i will cut the jackets. For large, i dont bother. You will find the fmjs, you can yell by he weight of that jacket, and just set them on the side. The lead would have to vaporize and raise pressures inside the jacket till it pops, and your not heating it that high. I dont even worry about drying them or cleaning them. Just fill the pot empty and they will dry as they melt.
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I wear heavy clothes in a face shield. I use a plumber pot and use a weed burner to speed up the process The full metal jacket melt open but be careful before they melt where the rifle cut in to the jacket is sometimes a little stream of lead will squirt out about 8 feet
It would be a good idea to cover range scrap when smelting. I found a live round in the last batch that I melted. I caught it while loading the pot. Don't really know how, it just caught my eye. I guess when people have a misfire some of then toss it down range. Since I caught it, I don't know what it would have done.
Thanks for all the input. Looks like i need a lid for my pot just in case. Im new to range scrap, I've been a wheel weight guy till now.
I use a piece of galvanized sheet metal that overlaps a few inches.....something I scrounged. A piece of tin from an old washer or dryer would probably be ok. Just stay up wind if the paint starts to burn off. afish4570Quote:
Originally Posted by sgms18
about 7 years ago I got my hands on 10 - 5gal buckets of range scrap what I did was put the scrap in my smelting pot and hit the top of it with a weed burner it did not take long to evaporate all the moisture out of the range scrap I did not have one problem with that melt and some of the buckets had some water in them I also had the burner on the bottom going to and I did not put more than 1/4 of a pot in at one time the weed burner has come in handy many times when melting lead D Crockett
Smelt with a heavy lid. Problem solved.Quote:
Originally Posted by sgms18
I can tell you what it would have done - it would have popped and sent lead flying! The pot I use is a cast iron dutch oven with a lid and have heard several go off.Quote:
Originally Posted by lightman
I use a dutch over w heavy lid. Last batch about half way thru the melt heard the lid rattle and found a 223 round in the top of the pot. Always use the lid!Quote:
Originally Posted by sgms18
https://i.imgur.com/lkd0UN0.jpg
think that one might not be reloadable any more . . . just my 2¢Quote:
Originally Posted by 2011redrider
Maybe just a short Kake Cutter for lubed bullets!Quote:
Originally Posted by Walter Laich
You don't need a cover. Put a piece of window screen over the pot so you can see what's happening. Granted, a cover will keep more heat in and might shorten the time it takes to melt it all....
I smash em with a 8# sledge. I also smelt with a lid set loose on the pot just in case.