We don't have lights either, but I have been there at midnight in the summer, and I have never been there when it is totally empty of shooters. lol
I have even been there at 20 below thinking I would have the place to myself, nope.
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We don't have lights either, but I have been there at midnight in the summer, and I have never been there when it is totally empty of shooters. lol
I have even been there at 20 below thinking I would have the place to myself, nope.
You need to go at 0500. Durring the height of the salmon run.. You will have it to yourself.... On a sunday or monday morning....
I have plans to get out and burn some powder Sunday to test your jacket-removal theory.I need to free up some more cases for future reloading. Let's hope the weather holds (expecting mixed rain/snow here Sunday -- but then again that is the weatherman talking, so it'll be clear as a bell). Didn't shoot outdoors at all last winter (went to the Mat-Su indoor range on the Glen Hwy).
Trochilids, Living in The Great Land
"And that the said Constitution be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press, or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms." -- Samuel Adams, February 6, 1788.
"Are we at last brought to such humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our defense?" -- Patrick Henry, 1836.
Usually at work an hour or two before that. lol Work sure screws things up. lolOriginally Posted by AlaskanGuy
I used to go to that range also tro... Just up from the fairgrounds near springer... Nice range, but i dont think that they allow rifle stuff in there... Especially the larger stuff... Taught my wife to shoot there with her 9mm sig years ago...
They revamped / opened an outdoor range section just outside the side door of the indoor range there -- I know they do (did) some rifles outdoors. I think that might be seasonal, though. Freezing rain and (now) snow kept me close to home today so guess I'll have to try to burn some powder another day
My wife and I learned to shoot there with her 22 cal sig.
"And that the said Constitution be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press, or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms." -- Samuel Adams, February 6, 1788.
"Are we at last brought to such humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our defense?" -- Patrick Henry, 1836.
I went to the range today, fired off a few round balls and made lots of smoke (). One other member dropped by for a bit of practice. He liked the look of the Remmie (1858) and I asked if he had ever shot one, he said no so I offered him the gun (of course). He was stoked, he loved the sound and said the recoil was "softer", but had more kick than his auto. After he went it was time to start digging! Ended up with 330 lbs, should come out at around 300 by the time I wash the dirt off. But it's getting harder on my back, digging, sifting and carrying the stuff! I found that about 40 lbs. in a bucket is enough (the plastic starts complaining after that!).
Oh, and it was around 18*C (about 68*F), bit of sun, bit of cloud. Just thought I'd mention that.
Lol..?. Bragger..... We got snow last night, but thinking i might get one more mining session in as it is suppose to get above freezing for several days i hope.
Very nice work though... Care to post a pic of your sifting gear???
Not much to it, really. An old sieve that belonged to my wife's father (I shouldn't really use it as it's so old), a spade, a pair of gloves, lots of buckets and my dodgy back!!
I washed it all off today, having soaked the lot last night, and ran it through a finer sieve that I made from some scrap wood and plastic gutter guard. It lets me sort out the worst of the stones and bits of target plastic that I missed yesterday. Not a lot of crud came off, so I should get at least 300 lb. when melted down. I shovel it into a wheelbarrow to float off a lot of the scraps and sieve it over the barrow, with a hose to rinse off the sand.
Ok, I just took a couple of pics. The two sieves (old one on the left has a slightly bigger mesh) and the cleaned off pile of bullets. I decided to just heap them up outside to let the water drain off and with some warmish weather coming up they should dry off fairly quick.
Should be a good test of my portable forge and "new" melting pot. (I've also built a burner so that I can use gas if the weather gets too hot/dry for the forge. We used to have an LP gas hot water system, and when I had to replace it - twice - I saved the burners. They put out a lot of heat, and probably chew through the gas!).
Lots of fun ahead.
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Last edited by dikman; 11-12-2013 at 08:34 PM. Reason: Forgot the pics!
Very nice DKM.... Thank you for posting pics... Trying to get some interest in folks mining berms...
When WWs are no longer to be had, everyone will be looking at range lead as a main source. Ya better get all ya can while it's there.
If surface mining is all that's allowed, use an extra long set of needle nose pliers, and dont miss going after every rain.
If digging is allowed there is always a rich pay streak where the water washes a valley in the berm.
Pistol ranges can be screened with 1/4" hardware mesh, which keeps everything larger than 22 cal.
Several years ago I mined well over 2 tons using the above methods. It is a lot of work, but it's also a lot of usable lead, without spending much money.
I forgot to mention that I'd only dug about 1/2 of the two ranges (50 and 25 metre). The extreme ends have a fair bit of lead, but there's too much gravel mixed in. I found there is a "sweet" spot if I can line up where the shooters stand, it's pretty fine stuff with a concentration of lead and very little gravel. One thing I discovered, after sifting off the fine top layer, is that underneath there appears to be a lot of "old" lead buried in the sand. Unfortunately, it's hard packed and will need a pick to loosen it. Maybe later....
It seems that the members periodically just shovel the stuff back up as it works it's way down, and because no-one else is taking the lead over time it just gets buried and packed in.
And yes, mold maker, virtually no cost but a LOT of work! (Hmmm, maybe that's why I'm losing a bit of weight?).
Thought I'd just tack this on the end. Someone in another thread mentioned using a "kitty litter scoop" for picking up the scrap, so I borrowed the one my wife keeps in the laundry to give it a try.
It really works quite well! I picked up around 46 lbs using it, and while it was slower than the shovel/sieve method (and obviously the quantity recovered was much smaller), it resulted in very little waste stuff (stones etc) mixed in with the lead. I reckon this is what I'll do from now on. If I can collect 40-odd lbs. or so every time I visit, without too much effort, then I'm happy. Only problem I can see is that it's plastic so probably won't stand up to scratching around in lead/sand for very long, so I'm in the process of making a metal version to try.
It seems like in this game there's always something new to make.....
Gee, I was going to ask if I was on the road to having problems? I was at a pin shoot and picked up 8-10 former projectiles that fell out when the pins hit the floor. lol. I have a looong way to go to catch up with the load you brought home. Great mining.
Roy
Do you have a problem?Depends who you talk to, but I would say no
This is my scoop-thingy. Pretty rough, but I'm sure the lead won't mind. The first slots were cut too wide, so I then drilled 1/4" holes at each end of the slot and cut between them then smoothed it a little with a file. It works, although I loose a bit through the bigger slots. I'm thinking that it might have been better to just drill a series of holes in the plate, rather than slots (may give that a try).
Pickings were a bit slim, it looked like someone else had gone over the 50 metre range, judging by the heaps of fine sand there. The 25 metre was a little better. I haven't weighed it yet but I'm guessing around 30 lbs.
That's a neat digging tool you have come up with Dman, looks like it 'd work well.
I have tried the plastic litter scoops and yeah they dont cut it when you get into the compacted stuff.
I loosen it up with a screwdriver and a garden trowel and then sieve it through a couple of kitchen collanders.
My shooting partner and I picked up 54 pounds of lead from one berm last Sunday. It probably took an hour. She used a kitty litter scooper, which I had mentioned trying before, and I mostly just picked off the top. Our range sits in a creek area. It is actually on the San Andreas fault line in SoCal. There is as much rock as there is dirt. It rained a few days before we went out, so the water helped wash away the dirt and exposed the bullets. Maybe I will try a screen next time. I found a lot of bullets sitting at the 160 yard berm on our rifle range as well.
I am curious to see how much good lead I get. It will be my first time smelting scrap, when I get around to processing it. I have 120-150 pounds collected right now. Friday should bring my new NOE 30 cal mold, and I have the weekend off. Hopefully my back will cooperate and I will feel like casting and maybe smelting.
Be sure to smelt it with a lid on your pot.... Till it gets good and hot leave it completely covered....
Safer that way...
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I sure will. I have the harbor freight dutch oven with a lid and a bass pro fish fryer. I will also avoid banging on the side of the pot, as I hear it can cause them to crack. Thanks for the heads up.
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