Smelting range lead

[Schreck5]

I smelted some range lead the other day and I got more copper than lead. I took all the copper jackets to the local salvage yard. Surprize! They would not give me the copper price. They said that since the copper still had a little lead on them, they could only give me range lead price. I told them that it was the slag that comes from the smelting process and that it would be impossible for me to get it perfectly clean. So, i really doubt that I'll be smelting any more range lead.

Has anyone else faced this delima? Is it possible to get those copper jackets that clean?

[Rcmaveric]

Last time I did that, they gave me "dirty brass" prices. Made about 25 bucks, don't remember how much the jackets weighed but it was heavy. I am not trying to make money. I just want free lead. Scrap what I can just to refill my propane tanks to make it more free. I flux as I strain the jackets so normally I don't have any slag on the jackets, just carbon.

[RP]

The trick to getting the jackets clean is heat when you are smelting it try fluxing with some used motor oil and let it burn not smoke. This added heat will release the lead a little stirring is all that really needed if you want it to shine bright after you remove it from the lead hit it with the water hose.
They called it red brass at the scrap yard here and it was bringing a good price at one time.

[skeettx]

I go the cheap and easy route
I take ALL the slag and it ends up in 5 gallon buckets
Dirt, sand, brass jackets, steel jackets, ALL
I get so much per pound and no effort on my part.
They even unload my truck.
Maybe I could get much more if I spent hours refining it,
but it pays for the propane and I get more time to shoot.
Mike

[RP]

Well its already melted and hot adding some oil to flux is not a extra step if you got steel a magnet will pick that out with little effort. Price red brass scrap price and compare. For me it was well worth any extra trouble I made more money off the jackets then I would have selling all the lead at a buck of lb and it put 4 nice pistols in the safe but I am a cheap skate.

[Grmps]

+1 on what RP said, flux multiple times mix well and then---- clean jackets = $$$$ for more -----

[kens]

I smelted a barrel of range scrap awhile back. I was able to get the majority of the jackets pretty clean, I scooped of the best of the jackets first, then scooped and sifted more them still hot, got some more, and so on.
finally got to the real dross and only a small few jackets in that.
I got top dollar for clean copper.

[parkerhale1200]

Get a big cheap soup spoon, drill some small holes into it, take the jackets out of the melt, shake rattle and roll a bit above your pot, and see that all the lead is going back into your pot, incl dross.
You will end up with clean jackets, beware that there are also iron jackets, use a magnet(old television magnet, i you are lucky) to get those out.
Now you can sell them as clean brass!

If the scrapheap owner does not except your clean jackets(if they are clean!) perheaps an other scrapheap, IMO?

[lightman]

I go the cheap and easy route
I take ALL the slag and it ends up in 5 gallon buckets
Dirt, sand, brass jackets, steel jackets, ALL
I get so much per pound and no effort on my part.
They even unload my truck.
Maybe I could get much more if I spent hours refining it,
but it pays for the propane and I get more time to shoot.
Mike

I'm about a day away from finishing a major wheel weight smelt. This is probably what I'm going to do with the clips. I usually just toss them but it looks like I'm going to have 20 or 25 gallons of them.

[odfairfaxsub]

I toss everything together. When I do wheel weight clips I dump those into a metal trash can lid. When that fills up I gloved hand sift them to get all the dross that will drop to the bottom (that goes in a bucket to be rerendered) and I toss the clips w the steel and zinc weights, I toss my jackets in there too as they only give steel price for those as I don’t mess around w extra heating and fluxing or what have you and turn it all in at once. It doesn’t pay super but I took 6 - 5 gal buckets the other day and got 56 dollars. Paid for scope rings and some 45-70 brass

[D Crockett]

I have a idea that might help those that smelt range lead take a propane weed burner and hit the copper jackets with it in a empty pot that thing will turn the jackets red hot and by my way of thinking all the lead should come off if someone can try this please let us know how it worked out for you D Crockett

[nun2kute]

I've never heard of a range lead "Price" before. It' lead, and unless its clean, it's only worth about ten cents a pound. Without pictures its hard to say how much it's worth. I agree that cleaning copper jackets isn't the easiest thing to do. But for the price, I would go the extra mile. But that's just me. And I would bet my last dollar that they folded that in with something else that's clean to get top dollar out of it. We put most of our non-ferrous material in large boxes (about 4 feet square) to ship it out to our buyers. It's fairly easy to burry something like that. My personal Opinion is you got robbed.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I am hankering to do some smelting. I haven't done any for a couple years. I have 50 to 100 lbs of range scrap plus another 200+ lbs of unfired boolits and random fishin weights to melt. I'm just waiting for the mud to dry up in my smelting area...btw, they are predicting 8+" of snow friday...that ain't gonna dry up the mud very much
I also have about 300 lbs of dimensional lead to melt or cut? into ingot sized pieces...I haven't decided which route to go yet?
If all that goes well, I'd then like to smelt the buckets of COWWs that I've been stumbling over in my garage...it would be nice to re-gain that garage floor space.

[nun2kute]

"I'd then like to smelt the buckets of COWWs that I've been stumbling over in my garage..."

So just STACK them all UP !!!

[jdfoxinc]

Oh my aching back!

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

"I'd then like to smelt the buckets of COWWs that I've been stumbling over in my garage..."

So just STACK them all UP !!!

Sadly, they are stacked, about 4 high, right in front of my work bench...stumbling over them was incorrect terminology(sorry), I should have said, "in the way...and reaching over them is a pain"

[bpatterson84]

So, I have several hundred pounds of reasonably clean copper jackets. I was considering popping them in a kiln and making ingots, any advantage to this or am I crazy? Also was considering running in my concrete mixer with some rocks and dish detergent, rinse and polishing compound lol. What do yall think?

[D Crockett]

So, I have several hundred pounds of reasonably clean copper jackets. I was considering popping them in a kiln and making ingots, any advantage to this or am I crazy? Also was considering running in my concrete mixer with some rocks and dish detergent, rinse and polishing compound lol. What do yall think?

putting it in a kiln if you go over 900 deg. you are boiling the lead and the fumes off of that is DANGEROUS not something you want to be around ok that the kiln part putting your range scrap in a concrete mixer with any kind of water is also a bad idea water can get into places and hide there then you take the risk of a visit from TS which can be DANGEROUS and you do not want to meet her so much for the concrete mixer if I were doing it I would just dump it in a smelting pot and just melt it pitting the dross and copper in a bucket and make ingot out of the lead but that is just me D Crockett

[Rcmaveric]

If youre turning the empty jackets into ingots for resale, most places wont pay top dollar for uncertified ingots. Its best to leave the scraps in its original state. Polishing and cleaning could add value. However if the extra expense and effort does have a good enough pay off then i wouldnt do it. If your keeping the copper for personal hobbies then it would make storage easier and may not change what you would get for it.