Recovering Lead from a tree

[wtfooptimax200]

On my family's range, we have a 24" oak that has been our official target holder for the last 10+ years. It holds an untold amount of 22 LR and 9mm bullets inside of it. I was think of chopping the 5' of it that has absorbed the most lead into large pieces with an axe (I can't imagine that bullets and a chainsaw would mix too well) and burning the pieces. After that I would add the leftovers to my pot and smelt away. Are there any issues with this? Any alternate suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Branden

[Hardcast416taylor]

Being that it is an oak and is that thick I doubt there is peneteration of bullets beyond 12" at most, if that. The .22`s will be stopped in the first several inches, the 9 mm`s will be a few inches farther in if they are jacketed. My advice is to use a log splitter and split the cut out chunk in half then break it down further till you start finding bullets then hand split and burn/melt things out.Robert

[clodhopper]

As a former sawer then saw filer at a small mill in Montana here's some advice, copper and lead do not do much damage to hardened steel saw blades.
At least when you are dealing with one bullet..
A big jumble of bullets in the same area with out solid wood to support them. Well your thinking is pretty sound. you could run into trouble sawing that tree.
Some inexpensive ammo has steel jackets that will be trouble.
While swinging the axe keep in mind,
How much does lead cost?
How much does a new chain for your saw cost?
How much does a trip to the emergency room cost after being nibbled on by a chainsaw?
4 dollar a lb is cheap in comparision.

If you can get the wood to burning size just fish the "modern art" ingots from the cooled ashes later.
No flux needed

[a.squibload]

Not to mention the possibility of a few bullets flying at you, propelled by your chainsaw...

[Baron von Trollwhack]

You will likely find the work not to be worth the results.

BvT

[Sonnypie]

If you can get the wood to burning size just fish the "modern art" ingots from the cooled ashes later.
No flux needed

:lol: Yep, they've been "High speed fluxed" already. :lol: :kidding:

The bright side is, none of them are FTF boolits.
FTF = Failure To Fire :Fire:

[Alchemist]

I once used a section of oak log as a target for my .45 Colt. Penetration was about 6" into the end grain. I then chainsawed the log into a section about 8" thick and then split it with an axe and got the boolits back. A tree shot from the side would be tougher to reclaim the lead from. If the tree is still alive, I'd wait till it was dead to cut it for the lead.

[yobohadi]

I use long chunks of firewood to staple targets to, when I shoot up the top portion I flip it over and continue on. when the they have had enough I use a chainsaw to cut them in half then split them with an axe, dig out any bullets I see then burn them in the shop's wood stove to reclaim any that were left in the wood. The chainsaw hits a few but it cuts through them just fine.

[a.squibload]

...The chainsaw hits a few but it cuts through them just fine.

I was only guessin', they're probably wedged in the wood tight as a vise.

[BossHoss]

The local sawmill operator here in Northwoods used to groan when I brought him logs to rough cut into lumber for me.....always asked:

"Were these trees in your shooting lanes? , I always get "Zingers " on your stuff!!"

I bet Hank had a lot of lead in saw dust bin ....lol.

[yobohadi]

I was only guessin', they're probably wedged in the wood tight as a vise.

The loose ones seem to fall out in the back of the truck on the ride home, on the range as the wood gets pulverized, splintered and chips off, or as I throw them out of the truck back into the woodpile. Whenever I get to the bottom of the woodpile there should be quite a few pounds to pick up. I haven't noticed any fly out while cutting yet, but I don't stand right behind the saw to catch one in the leg or boot. I also don't shoot jacketed bullets for the blade to get caught up on, the lead shaves just as easy as the wood it seems.

[shotman]

a band mill dont like the bullets the rest you can put in a log splitter and squeeze out LOL
just burn it the lead will be in bottom of ash pan or on bottom of ash pile

[beagle]

Cut that sucker and place it on a couple of pieces of old metal roofing and torch it. When the burning's over, melted lead will be puddled on the tin.

I use to use this method when I was hard up for lead and salvaging batteries.

I've seen pine trees on military posts that were hit by a brush fire. Solid .45 bullets up to about 12 feet. The sap burned and it was hot enough to melt the bullets and as the rest of the tree was live, it dripped down and formed icicle looking formations which could be knocked off with an axe.

Good luck on the project. I got an old osage orange here on the place that I've been shooting into for several years. I been thinking about torching that thing this winter and see what runs out./beagle