Indoor range scrap lead

[Venti30]

Soon, I’ll be able to get a load of a few, up to 5 buckets of indoor range lead scrap. This will be my first batch of lead recovery/ingot making.

Are there any special considerations relating to range recovery lead?

Seems from my research, there are fewer and fewer sources of lead available. This is my home range, owned by some great folks. It won’t be free, but it won’t be retail either.

My motivation for getting into casting is:

I’m a generally curious person
I like tinkering hobbies
I think I’d be able to make really good projectiles
I’d like to have a personal stockpile of lead, just in case
Ingot making will be phase 1, casting bullets later once I have a decent supply.

So, really for now just curious if indoor range scrap for melting lead presents any unique challenges?

Thanks in advance

[Jack Stanley]

No real problems you can't fix , though if the lead is mixed with shredded tires it's going to stink a bit . The lead tends to be on the soft side normally but it will work for just about anything up to fifteen hundred feet per second or so . Flux it several times and keep the heat low just in case someone shot a bit of zinc into the traps .

I got several buckets a few years ago and it's worked out real well . My pal that got the lead for me gets supplied with bullets and I have all I can use .

Jack

[skeettx]

FIRST WELCOME on your first posting

Yes and no!
If it is jacketed range scrap, it will be slow to melt, so I usually put
some ingots or lead sheets in the bottom of the pot to help in the melt.
You will need a strainer to remove all the slag and jackets.
Insure you do not have a live 22 in the buckets of scrap.

What will you be using for ingot molds?

Again, WELCOME

Mike

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Venti30,
Welcome to the forum.

First and foremost, Be sure to practice all the safety procedures when handling Lead, especially if there is some content that is powdery dust, which I suspect there would be, with Indoor Range lead. I would avoid breathing in any of that powdery dust, if it becomes airborne (ie, when dumping out your buckets).

As to smelting:
If there is other junk in the mix, like rubber or dirt/rocks/concrete, I would try to separate the non-metal content, as it takes a lot of fuel to melt the metal if it's full of non-metal junk.

Other than those two issues, I can't think of any other "special considerations" beyond the typical smelting any scrap lead of other sources.
Good Luck.

[Venti30]

Hi, thanks for the welcome.

I’m not sure yet on what molds I’d use. I’d like them to be rectangular though I think, as opposed to muffins, for easy storage and for easy entry to the bullet casting pot when that time comes.

I see this being the kind of thing that I spend a day at a time doing, drag all of what I’ve got out, and melt as much as I can in one session. I have to admit that I like some of the pictures I’ve seen of people stacking all their one pound bricks up like the lead Fort Knox, but I’d probably rather do something like 3 to 5 pound ingots, just to speed the process up on scrap melt days. Something like mini loaf pans perhaps?

[kevin c]

Welcome!

Just a reminder that the basic equipment for melting lead scrap includes the right PPE. I'd strongly recommend head to toe full body coverage to protect against spatters, heavily insulated gloves like welder's, a face shield and/or a respirator (it's true that clean lead doesn't vaporize significantly at the temperatures we use, but the smoke from the many contaminants in the scrap and in the wax and sawdust used to clean the metal can carry enough lead out of the melt to be a problem - this I learned from a professional in lead toxicity and abatement). There are plenty more things to consider when working with pots of 700+ degree molten metal, and I'm sure others will add to my suggestions or you can find the information on this site. The right equipment plus healthy doses of caution and common sense will get you started more safely.

Have fun and be safe!

[kevin c]

Hah, I type too slowly.

Mini loaf pans work well for bulk storage, and have the advantage of being fairly cheap. I personally have used sizes that make ingots of three and nine pounds. They stack well if you take a little care to cast them all close to the same weight, and that the pans are as close to level as possible. If stacked snug and alternating up and down, they can interlock to a degree to make a compact and stable pile.

But it's worth noting that the bigger ones won't fit in most casting pots and the smaller ones at a bit over three pounds might fit but will tend to cool the melt a lot, sometimes to the point of freezing the pot for a while. For me the mini loaf pans are mainly for bulk storage of raw alloy that I'll remelt, reformulate and recast into smaller ingots later.

Oh, if you use a loaf or muffin tin, make sure it isn't tin plated. The plating will weld your ingot right to the pan. If it has a nonstick coating, the ingots will have a bubbled surface until the coating burns off completely (the alloy is still fine). If you burn off the Teflon with a torch, the ingots will be smooth from the first pour, but don't breathe the fumes as you do the burn off.

[40-82 hiker]

Insure you do not have a live 22 in the buckets of scrap.

Mike

^^^^ THIS ^^^^

I found quite a few live rounds with primer strikes when smelting OUTDOOR range scrap. Be careful, but have fun!

[Hossfly]

Amen to the ppe, winter time you prolly pretty much covered, but summer diff set of clothes. I use light pair of tig gloves but have old thick welder gloves close by, in case have to move something really hot. That lead that splatters on skin, instantly sticks and burns till it cools.

[Dusty Bannister]

Smelting range scrap is a very common topic. Here is the URL for a search on this topic:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/goog...3550j940126j20

You do not need to read them all, but you would be better informed to at least scan through many of them to see what kinds of equipment and molds they use, the PPE and of course safety issues. And you would do well to search and review methods and materials to flux and reduce the alloy after you remove the jacket material and other scrap. Some jacketed bullets will squirt hot alloy when heated in a melter. Better to read about how to avoid that before it happens.

Word of caution. Use a burner heavy enough to be considered over engineered. Quit when you are getting tired and before you make a mistake. Do not push beyond a point when you think you should stop. Accidents happen, and no sense putting yourself in that position. Thin ingots melt quicker than thick ones, and they cool quicker too. Both stack just as well, if they are all evenly poured. You will have a big job ahead of you. Take your time and do it safely. Dusty

[LenH]

I was able to get a bucket of indoor range lead several years ago. The range setup was a steel backer plate and bullet stop at the top. Any jacketed bullets were flattened and the jacket
pealed and easy to separate. As others have said be on the look out for a live .22 round, I don't know how that made it's way behind the backer plate but I found at least 2.
Any bullet that hit the backer was flat and melted pretty quick. It was fairly soft lead and I treated it as nearly pure.

[murf205]

Welcome brother. If you like tinkering hobbies, you have struck it rich! As far as ingot molds, I have used cast iron corn stick molds that I bought at an Old Time Pottery store. Flea markets are full of them too. I use a pair of vise grips to handle them when hot and the sticks fit in a casting furnace very easily. Drop them straight in and they don't make a "plop" that usually results in a splash from the tinsel fairy. Don't forget the gloves and glasses and above all don't hesitate to ask questions. There are some really great people on this site who are willing to share what they know.

[lightman]

Welcome Aboard! I can't add much to what has already been said. Do watch for loaded ammo, it just has a way of getting to the backstop! Smelting goes faster and easier if you have a shooting buddy to help. Invest in a set of steel stamps to permanently mark your ingots before you get so many that you can't do it! Read the stickies, ask questions, be safe and have fun!

[Venti30]

Welcome Aboard! I can't add much to what has already been said. Do watch for loaded ammo, it just has a way of getting to the backstop! Smelting goes faster and easier if you have a shooting buddy to help. Invest in a set of steel stamps to permanently mark your ingots before you get so many that you can't do it! Read the stickies, ask questions, be safe and have fun!

Would you stamp dates, hardness, source?

[Wis Tom]

Welcome to a wealth of great info. All I can say is never rush anything, and check your lead casing well,. I have found 22's in mine, and I'm the one that screened them in the first place. Protect everything you don't want burnt, as you have not seen anything that you could imagine, until that first tinsel fairy visit. Stay safe, read as many as these posts, as you can, and have fun shooting.

[William Yanda]

"Would you stamp dates, hardness, source?" If you read far enough back you will come on the question: "I bought this stuff marked such and such, what does it mean?"
Dates are specific but don't convey info about source and resulting inferences about alloy. Hardness is obvious, well semi-obvious. Source, not using obscure abbreviations is probably best, i.e., RANGE is better than RL.
I think it was here that I saw a holder for 1/4 inch stamps that would work, and the stamps are available at Harbor Freight or online.
Good luck, be careful and you may or may not be successful in scrapping the jackets for copper price.

[redhawk0]

Would you stamp dates, hardness, source?

I've done 400 lbs of indoor range lead. I have a pot that I can melt 200lbs at a time...so I melted two pots worth poured into ingots...and each pot got its own number stamped on it. When I am ready to alloy for casting, I mix equal weights from each of those 200# melts. This way all my alloy is consistent.

Anyway...you can stamp as much or as little as you like. I use PB for pure lead, RL for Range Lead, WW for Wheel Weights, L for Linotype...etc.

When I mix for an alloy it then gets stamped with a Lot number that matches the alloy calculator sheet that I made up the batch from. Its really all about record keeping at that point.

Get a set of letter/number stamps at Harbor Freight...they work great. Never use marker...it just rubs off over time.

redhawk

[Idz]

If this is going to be an ongoing smelting operation I advise you to make a dedicated setup. We use a cutoff propane tank surrounded by an insulated furnace wall. A weed burner fires underneath the pot which is set up on some bricks. Start the melt with a cold load and moisture and missed live rounds won't be a problem. Cover the pot and the target debris will pyrolyze and form a nice reducing atmosphere over the melting lead. When its melted scoop off the floating debris with a ladle strainer. We use 4 sets of Lee molds. Fill two molds and transfer them to a wet towel for cooling while filling the other set. Dump the ingots as soon as they solidify. Cooling is needed to maintain a reasonable production rate and keep the mold handles from burning. Be very careful not to let water drops get into the inside of the molds or you'll have a dramatic steam explosion (only happened once in 3000 ingots due to a careless operator). We wear P100 dust filter masks, safety glasses, leather shoes and gloves, cotton long sleeves and trousers and haven't had any injuries yet. Good Luck

[dwtim]

Don't forget to crush the "total metal jacket" bullets so the core is exposed before smelting.

It's probably good to have a scrap pot just for dirty range lead. The seasoned clerics of the silver stream tend to use large pots with burners, heavy-duty ingot molds, and get it all done at once. Unfortunately, I learned empirically, and I had to replace the crucible on my pot before it sunk in.

[GONRA]

GONRA experience suggests - be as careful as possible to keep SAND and other abrasive stuff out.
(Experts on this site will tell ya'll how to doit...)

LOVE to shoot homemade cast bullets - but only shoot JACKETED in my Ultra Shiny Bore Hammer Forged barrel auto pistols in my Reference Collection...