How to mine lead from range?

[Digger1369]

The shooting range here told me I am welcome to mine the dirt backstop for lead. The range has been open for about 5 years now and gets a good amount of traffic. How would I start this process? Ive heard when it rains the lead washes down to the bottom of the hill. Is this true? Any kind of special tools I will need?

[man.electric]

1. Shovel
2. Heavy screen inside of a frame to shake off sand, mud, ....
3. Quality buckets

Once you dig for a while will start to notice were sweet spots develop, but this is something that comes with time and hours in the field.

[grullaguy]

You can often pick the bullets right off the ground. You will get good at spotting them in a very short time.
As I am often at the range by myself, after shooting I fill a couple of small tins in a few minutes. I smelt small amounts every week and it is amazing how much lead can be accumulated with so little effort.

[clodhopper]

I do not belive rain washes bullets to the bottem of the berm.
I do belive bullets roll/tumble to the bottem of the berm.
Shooters place targets on the backer and fire several bullets into the same small area.
I have said, but have no actual proof that "you shoot one in and three come flying out". Some of these roll to the bottem of the berm.
Rain washes the dirt off of them and makes them easyer to see.
So does a nice 40 MPH breeze.
Anyway get all you can while you can.

[mold maker]

If ya can't drive very close to the berm, take a set of hand trucks. With a little forethought you can roll the screen with buckets, drinking water, and shovel to ,and from the berm. It's easy to overload a bucket with free lead. I've even got a crain on the pickup to lift them aboard.

[mongo]

The very best part is when your finished and you didnt have to fork over 20 to 40 bucks for a bucket of wheel weights. You can take the money you saved and buy more powder and primers. Tommy

[Gtek]

I have also become a hill scrounger, love it. One little thing I learned the hard way, bought me some thin leather gloves. The splayed jacket material let me see the inside of a finger tip one day.
Also have snitched the wifes little three finger hand garden rake, works great. Gtek

[sleeper78]

These are some good ideas. I've always just used a small gardening shovel and a coffee can to scrape up what I could when I was done shooting. Thanks to the OP for starting this thread.

[Digger1369]

Thanks for all the ideas guys. I have though about building a screen to sift out the dirt but here in GA we have sticky clay and I dont think if with sift well. I will give it a shot and see what I come up with. Just the pistol range has about 15 stations and the rifle has 8 so it look as though I will be out there for several weeks.

[hornady]

For years I did the mining thing, I built a screener out of hard wood boards and ¼ inch rat wire that would set on top of my wheel barrel. I could put a regular shovel full of dirt on it and just sift.
Clay can be a problem; leather gloves come in handy too bust the clumps up.
Just remember be a good guest, fill the holes back in.
Here in Pa, at one time the PGC overlooked guys digging range lead at down time on the public ranges, now they are cracking down on it pretty hard.
Like said above you will find sweet spots that produce well.
I built a clamshell bullet trap a couple years back, pretty hard to go back to digging now.
But if you don’t have the area to set up a trap, digging can produce a lot of free lead.

[leadhead]

Hey hornady, what part of western Pa. are you from?
I'm in w pa. too.
Denny

[hornady]

Murrysville

[leadhead]

Leechburg

[dnotarianni]

My range here in RI seems to produce a lot of lead after a rain. Seems to wash the top layer of dirt off to make them easier to find. Haven't bother digging as I will usually grab half a coffee can full of lead each trip. When I get half a 5 gal pail I'll smelt and it seems to come in around 10-12 hard using pencils.
dave

[bslim]

I know this is the wrong time of the year, but if you are serious about free range lead and you happen to be in an area where snow covers the ground in winter, then get to your range just after the snow melts. 90% of the bullets fired in winter get stopped by the snow and when it melts, they lay right on the surface. Easy pickings.

[btroj]

Not wrong time of year so much as wrong location. He mentioned GA, they tend to get very little snow, certainly not enough to stop a bullet. If they do have that kind of snowfall it paralyzes the area and nothing moves.

[fredj338]

No the bullets stay put & th edirt washes down. Then yo ufind bullets just sitting on top. A serious mining op would be some 1/4" screen in a frame, shovel * shake, drop in buckets you can move. You can get an amazing amount of lead in a very short time. Just put the berm back the way you found it.

[Jon]

This is what I use...1/4" screen in a bucket. It works pretty well, but might be more work than the screen on a shovel idea.

http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt332/somephotoguy/bucketbottom.jpg

http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt332/somephotoguy/bucketinside.jpg

[WildmanJack]

I sometimes shoot at a local State Management area range. Seldom if ever at the handgun range as there are too many "ganstas" there. Anyway, last week I was leaving the range and stopped to speak with the RO I looked down range at the handgun range and I swear the hill was just solid grey with lead. I guess it'll be time for them to close up and have the lead recyclers come in and clean the hill. The amount of lead I could see was just amazing!!
Jack

[Wally]

Not to be critical---I tried this with sand..too heavy, as the sand would often pack and not sift through if it was the least bit damp. I made a 2' X 1' wooden frame and attached the screen to the bottom w/ "U" nails. I placed handles on the frame and would shovel sand onto it and then could scrape the dirt to help it sift better. With a shovel one can "feather" the dirt a bit and it won't compact as it will in a bucket. However I must say yours was very well constructed and you did a great job constructed it.

[mongo]

It never hurts to ask, Maybe you could save the state some money by removing a couple of tons, free of charge of course, just doing your part to save the state some money in these hard times..lol

[Gtek]

I made mine to sit on top of wheel barrel. 2ea 6' 2"x4", 2ea 2' 2"x4", 1/4" mesh nailed on top and belly made in center. Made square about a foot from front. Set on top of cart, fill a little and stand behind cart and grab (handles) and wiggle, jiggle and bang on top of cart. Flat shovel reclaimed into bucket, cart getting heavy, back to hill. Gtek

[jmsj]

I mine a small private range and the one behind my house.
I use a frame with 1/4 hardware cloth mounted to the frame.
I also use this flat shovel that I modified to mine range scrap. It had a fiberglass handle that snapped in two. It laid around till I came up with the idea for using it for mining range scrap. I added another handle and it has made it a lot quicker to gather spent bullets
http://i961.photobucket.com/albums/ae97/jmsj515/detonicsframecomanderslide002-1.jpg

[Southern Son]

jmsj, that is just genius. I have an old shovel here that I got free with our house that has a busted handle...............

[DukeInFlorida]

Jeff_Holt and I cleaned out 2600 pounds of range lead in five hours using a Dirt Buddy. Was trying to get a group buy going for you guys:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=120437

http://www.soilscreener.com/images/screener.jpg

[WHITETAIL]

I have ben range mining for awhile now.
I use a 16X10 wooden box with 1/4 inch
screen on the bottom.
Get a small garden shovel, and a 1gal.
can.
Then I just go before the range opens
and try to fill the can.
Then take it back to the truck.
Get my gun out and put a little
lead back in the berm.
You know give a little take a little.:lovebooli

[tomme boy]

Duke, does that run off 110V?

[mac1911]

I modified a clam rake with some screen to catch the boolits, beats bending over and the club does not mind as im not digging holes. I find the top 3" of soil around the bottom edge of the burm to have the most. Also you can find the pistol boolits skattered from the 50-100 yard area as the drop off rapidly after hitting the paper targets set at 25yards and just bounce around and settle on top of the dirt.

[jpatm2]

mac1911, pictures please?

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Remember a 1 gallon paint can will hold 20 pounds of scrap boolits !

BvT

[TinCan Assassin]

I will say I think it's scary how many bullets I found around the TOP of the berm when I went mining today. I wonder how many go over it....

[clodhopper]

I will say I think it's scary how many bullets I found around the TOP of the berm when I went mining today. I wonder how many go over it....

Damm..you are on to another of my hot spots!

[testhop]

i like a leaf rake for dry soil
when the soil drys after a good long rain .
the rain washes the soil off the lead . the rake dont mess up the burm .

[Jon]

Not to be critical---I tried this with sand..too heavy, as the sand would often pack and not sift through if it was the least bit damp. I made a 2' X 1' wooden frame and attached the screen to the bottom w/ "U" nails. I placed handles on the frame and would shovel sand onto it and then could scrape the dirt to help it sift better. With a shovel one can "feather" the dirt a bit and it won't compact as it will in a bucket. However I must say yours was very well constructed and you did a great job constructed it.

Thanks for the compliments on the bucket. :smile: I do have to be very careful about how much I put in it, and it's probably more work than a different style. If the sand is reasonably dry, and I only put in about half a shovel full, it'll sift pretty quickly. It was one of those first pass things that worked well enough to not need to build something else.

I am able to sift out about 100 lbs in 20-30 min though. That's usually enough to last me awhile.

Do you have some pictures of your setup? I'd like something a little easier to use.

[Wally]

Thanks for the compliments on the bucket. :smile: I do have to be very careful about how much I put in it, and it's probably more work than a different style. If the sand is reasonably dry, and I only put in about half a shovel full, it'll sift pretty quickly. It was one of those first pass things that worked well enough to not need to build something else.

I am able to sift out about 100 lbs in 20-30 min though. That's usually enough to last me awhile.

Do you have some pictures of your setup? I'd like something a little easier to use.


Sorry, no camera..I guess if I could afford one I'd not have to worry about scrounging lead....

Take some boards 1" x 3" cut two at 2' long and then make two to make a rectangle, at the right width to fit 1/2" hardward cloth that you "U" nail to the bottom on the frame. I then attach two handles. Much easier than the 5 gallon bucket---that I tried first. You lay the contraption on the ground and shovel in the sand... then lift & shake...then collect the lead... much easier to do then dig out of the bottom of that 5 gal bucket. The drier the and the better.

BTW I only bought the u-nails..found a piece of scape hardware cloth and the wood was from the bottom of a carton that a new refrigerator came in...

Do you have your own range? I have some more ideas that you'll like.

[Jon]

Thanks for the directions. I don't have my own range, but the club I belong to doesn't mind me mining as long as I don't leave big holes everywhere. :lol:

[GRUMPA]

Well just read the entire thing here and got me going. Planning to mine some myself soon it's just the distance I need to drive to get there. Hope I have as much luck as some of you did, but I guess I'll find out when I try it.

[evan price]

Here in Ohio the soil is thick heavy clay and screening won't work at all.

What I do is plan my trip so that it is a day or two after a heavy rain. The rain washes away the top layer of loose, dusty soil and leaves the bullets exposed. I thought our berm was gravelled until I discovered it was all bullets. I take a couple of 2.5 gallon buckets and just walk across the berm picking up what's laying on top. I don't mine or dig anything. It's very easy to get the buckets too heavy to haul out so be ready for that. Lots of small loads is better than one big load. The best areas to look are the edges and top and bottom of the berm. I often find bullets just laying there on the dirt and hardly ever have to do more than pick them up. Sometimes they shatter but mostly you can find nearly intact bullets.

I also hit the rifle range after deer season, people sighting in their slug guns on the rifle range leave a lot of 1-oz slugs and copper sabot rounds.

[mac1911]

jpatm2-- sorry no pics right now.
Basically took a clam shovel/rake the one with the basket. lined basket with 1/8 screen.
tac welded some scrap sheet metal across the digging prongs leaving about 1 1/2 in exposed to break up the soil a bit....We can not "dig" at our range but lightly rakeing is OK