How to mine lead from range?

[Digger1369]

The shooting range here told me I am welcome to mine the dirt backstop for lead. The range has been open for about 5 years now and gets a good amount of traffic. How would I start this process? Ive heard when it rains the lead washes down to the bottom of the hill. Is this true? Any kind of special tools I will need?

[man.electric]

1. Shovel
2. Heavy screen inside of a frame to shake off sand, mud, ....
3. Quality buckets

Once you dig for a while will start to notice were sweet spots develop, but this is something that comes with time and hours in the field.

[grullaguy]

You can often pick the bullets right off the ground. You will get good at spotting them in a very short time.
As I am often at the range by myself, after shooting I fill a couple of small tins in a few minutes. I smelt small amounts every week and it is amazing how much lead can be accumulated with so little effort.

[clodhopper]

I do not belive rain washes bullets to the bottem of the berm.
I do belive bullets roll/tumble to the bottem of the berm.
Shooters place targets on the backer and fire several bullets into the same small area.
I have said, but have no actual proof that "you shoot one in and three come flying out". Some of these roll to the bottem of the berm.
Rain washes the dirt off of them and makes them easyer to see.
So does a nice 40 MPH breeze.
Anyway get all you can while you can.

[mold maker]

If ya can't drive very close to the berm, take a set of hand trucks. With a little forethought you can roll the screen with buckets, drinking water, and shovel to ,and from the berm. It's easy to overload a bucket with free lead. I've even got a crain on the pickup to lift them aboard.

[mongo]

The very best part is when your finished and you didnt have to fork over 20 to 40 bucks for a bucket of wheel weights. You can take the money you saved and buy more powder and primers. Tommy

[Gtek]

I have also become a hill scrounger, love it. One little thing I learned the hard way, bought me some thin leather gloves. The splayed jacket material let me see the inside of a finger tip one day.
Also have snitched the wifes little three finger hand garden rake, works great. Gtek

[sleeper78]

These are some good ideas. I've always just used a small gardening shovel and a coffee can to scrape up what I could when I was done shooting. Thanks to the OP for starting this thread.

[Digger1369]

Thanks for all the ideas guys. I have though about building a screen to sift out the dirt but here in GA we have sticky clay and I dont think if with sift well. I will give it a shot and see what I come up with. Just the pistol range has about 15 stations and the rifle has 8 so it look as though I will be out there for several weeks.

[hornady]

For years I did the mining thing, I built a screener out of hard wood boards and ¼ inch rat wire that would set on top of my wheel barrel. I could put a regular shovel full of dirt on it and just sift.
Clay can be a problem; leather gloves come in handy too bust the clumps up.
Just remember be a good guest, fill the holes back in.
Here in Pa, at one time the PGC overlooked guys digging range lead at down time on the public ranges, now they are cracking down on it pretty hard.
Like said above you will find sweet spots that produce well.
I built a clamshell bullet trap a couple years back, pretty hard to go back to digging now.
But if you don’t have the area to set up a trap, digging can produce a lot of free lead.

[leadhead]

Hey hornady, what part of western Pa. are you from?
I'm in w pa. too.
Denny

[hornady]

Murrysville

[leadhead]

Leechburg

[dnotarianni]

My range here in RI seems to produce a lot of lead after a rain. Seems to wash the top layer of dirt off to make them easier to find. Haven't bother digging as I will usually grab half a coffee can full of lead each trip. When I get half a 5 gal pail I'll smelt and it seems to come in around 10-12 hard using pencils.
dave

[bslim]

I know this is the wrong time of the year, but if you are serious about free range lead and you happen to be in an area where snow covers the ground in winter, then get to your range just after the snow melts. 90% of the bullets fired in winter get stopped by the snow and when it melts, they lay right on the surface. Easy pickings.

[btroj]

Not wrong time of year so much as wrong location. He mentioned GA, they tend to get very little snow, certainly not enough to stop a bullet. If they do have that kind of snowfall it paralyzes the area and nothing moves.

[fredj338]

No the bullets stay put & th edirt washes down. Then yo ufind bullets just sitting on top. A serious mining op would be some 1/4" screen in a frame, shovel * shake, drop in buckets you can move. You can get an amazing amount of lead in a very short time. Just put the berm back the way you found it.

[Jon]

This is what I use...1/4" screen in a bucket. It works pretty well, but might be more work than the screen on a shovel idea.

[WildmanJack]

I sometimes shoot at a local State Management area range. Seldom if ever at the handgun range as there are too many "ganstas" there. Anyway, last week I was leaving the range and stopped to speak with the RO I looked down range at the handgun range and I swear the hill was just solid grey with lead. I guess it'll be time for them to close up and have the lead recyclers come in and clean the hill. The amount of lead I could see was just amazing!!
Jack

[Wally]

Not to be critical---I tried this with sand..too heavy, as the sand would often pack and not sift through if it was the least bit damp. I made a 2' X 1' wooden frame and attached the screen to the bottom w/ "U" nails. I placed handles on the frame and would shovel sand onto it and then could scrape the dirt to help it sift better. With a shovel one can "feather" the dirt a bit and it won't compact as it will in a bucket. However I must say yours was very well constructed and you did a great job constructed it.