recovering boolits.

[jdsingleshot]

I've tried shooting my .257 dia WW bullets into sand but have only found a few flakes of lead. Is the boolit disintegrating, or am I not digging deep enough?

[fredj338]

ITs likely coming apart. Sand is a pretty tough obstacle, hence why its used in sandbags in combat zones. If you want to recover an expanding bullet, try 1gal water jugs or soaked newspaper/phone books, called wetpack.

[405grain]

Finding your spent bullets really depends: are you shooting a 25-20 or a 25-06? At pistol velocities the bullets might just mushroom, but at rifle velocities and close range those projectiles might be coming apart.

[HWooldridge]

I have a big pile of soil as a target backstop, but there are enough pieces of rock and gravel present that finding whole bullets rarely happens. Regardless of whether it’s rifle or pistol, there’s never much left except fragments.

[Brassmonkey]

I cleaned a .22 rim fire only range that was just a steel plate angled at 45° above a sandpit. After a while, you couldn't see the Sand. Pulled out the big chunks and sifted the rest through a screen.

all the pistol only steel plate ranges I've seen turn the lead into spatter.

[jdsingleshot]

As a matter of fact, I'm shooting a .25-20.

[Misery-Whip]

5 gallon bucket with a disk of 3/4 plywood in the bottom. Followed by 1 bag of rubber mulch from your local box store. Then another disk, this time of foam workout mat, anti fatigue mat under the lid. Lay it on its side and shoot thru the lid. When it starts leaking rubber change the foam. And lid.


After 300 rounds or so pop the lid, and sift thru for the treasures. Most will be 6 or 7 inches down.

Tacks are your friend for hanging targets. Push hard.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

snow is a great medium to use to recover boolits.

[charlie b]

The range I shoot at has mostly sand backstops. Over time it gets compacted really well. Sand really stops the bullets quickly unless you hit near the edge of the backstop where the sand is still loose.

These are both at 200yd. Both were about 10" deep, right about where the sand is really hard to dig. The PC bullet is Lyman #2 alloy and started out at 210gn and 1800fps. What was left was only about 100gn. The other bullet was from my muzzle loader. .50 cal, 450gn RN, almost pure lead, paper patched, 80gn FFg. Have no idea what the vel was. Didn't weigh what was left.

There isn't much left of the ones I shoot at 100yd, if I ever find anything. With colored PC bullets I can verify which gas checked remains are from mine, but, not much more is left. Hard to even find anything that can be identified as a bullet unless it was an FMJ.