What do you do with the copper jackets?

[Agarbers]

I have picked up a lot of range lead and melted away the lead. Now I have 20 pounds of copper jackets. What do you do with them? Will a scrap yard buy them as low-grade copper?

[Winger Ed.]

Some will take 'em, some won't. You just have to ask.

There was a scrap yard here that would or wouldn't take certain things depending on who was working there that day.

[frkelly74]

Here i have taken them to The Rifkin Scrap yard and gotten yellow brass price for them. It paid for the fuel it took to render out the lead. I left some of the yellow colored brass jackets in the scrap and the guy saw them and said " hmmm, brass " . I didn't argue but will separate out the brass looking ones next time.

[Chad5005]

ive always sold them in with my scrap brass

[Forrest r]

They pay #2 copper for them in my neck of the woods.

[Czech_too]

I have always taken them to the local recycler. Last time, as I recall, it was put under #3 copper(?) @ $1.30 lb.

[Agarbers]

Thanks all!

[Huskerguy]

I collect and sell mine as well. I don't recall the price for it as I just take in lots of various wire and scrap I collect from remodeling rental properties. Like others though, when they see the yellow brass they knock the price down and were upfront about it. I am not about to separate it out because I know I would miss one and mess it up anyway. For fun I started collecting the jackets both at the indoor range and when I smelted lead from there. I now a big old jar full of jackets on a shelf over one of my benches, it looks pretty interesting to say the least.

[ioon44]

I have always been able to sell them as #2 Copper.

[Loudy13]

I have 5 or 6 5 gallon pails full of jackets im just dreading what the local scrap yard is gonna pay....but in the end anything will a plus and I will have more room in the garage.

[Chad5005]

here right now they would bring 1.16 a pound,probably better at big yards but to far to drive around here for a few bucks

[mac1911]

When i was doing range scrap local yard gave me the lowest copper price IIRC it wax around $1.25/lb. I have 2 yards with in a worthwhile drive for small lots of scrap.
One told me next time clean up the jackets a little with vinagar. Its another task and material (vinagar) so its not all that needed. When I did a batch and teturned to that scrap yard he smiled and said, you did it and said it does not add to the price much but makes it easier to ID. He gave me .10/lb
Than what was listed on their white board.
I scrapped 35#.
On my last batch i was about to swap out my tumbler media and ran 40# or so through it just for fun. I could get more for my scrap but the drive is a bit to far. Most of my scrap hauls are convenience trips. Example: i drive by one yard when I go see my mother, my scrap hauls are small and usually a way to get rid of junk that town dump would charge you for.
Its more like coffee/lunch money

[farmbif]

if you put them in tumbler for a few minutes to shine em up when you take them to scrap yard the may just be higher value than if they are dingy and dull.
if you can still see some lead coating on them you can probably argue that they are the same as #2 copper or used copper pipe and fittings that had been soldered.

[jorg0370]

At the moment, my range scrap copper jackets are in a bucket in the corner, holding down the floor. Longer term plans include melting them down into ingots. Building a new furnace is in the scheduled plans.

[TyGuy]

Many scrap yards won’t buy home cast ingots because they say you can cut the alloy with cheaper metal to add weight. That said I am saving my jackets for casting little artsy projects.

I’ve poured copper once on accident when I added a mysterious non-ferrous metal (small silver colored connectors) into the crucible. Turned out it was tin coated copper contacts and boy was that crucible HEAVY! I also learned the hard way that it will fuse to steel so either use graphite or mould up some green sand when you are ready to pour.

[bigjake]

What about cleaning the jackets up with some weak acid of some sort. those scrap yards love to see the shiny or clean copper

[jorg0370]

Many scrap yards won’t buy home cast ingots because they say you can cut the alloy with cheaper metal to add weight. That said I am saving my jackets for casting little artsy projects.

I’ve poured copper once on accident when I added a mysterious non-ferrous metal (small silver colored connectors) into the crucible. Turned out it was tin coated copper contacts and boy was that crucible HEAVY! I also learned the hard way that it will fuse to steel so either use graphite or mould up some green sand when you are ready to pour.

Great tips, thanks. I wouldn't waste all the heat to make an ingot just to sell it for scrap.

[samari46]

Unfortunately my favorite scrap yard is now for sale. Buildings all closed up and according to them the yard is stabilized. Now how does one stabilize a junk yard where they stored all sorts of scrap steel,engines and other stuff?. The brass,copper and lead they kept in those 4'x4' huge cardboard containers and that was inside their main building. Maybe closed down to avoid any problems with the EPA?. Frank

[triggerhappy243]

bigjake, i am going to try a diluted mix of ammonia and water in my cement mixer.

[Winger Ed.]

Maybe closed down to avoid any problems with the EPA?.

Good guess.

Depending on what all they took in, and if something leaked out into the ground, they may have been deemed a HAZMAT site.
If the EPA was going to make them pay off the national debt for the clean up, they may have run off into the night.