I have permission to mine a berm

[292]

Several hunter safety teams practice there, should be almost all .22 rimfire. I'm thinking to staple some hardware cloth to a 2X6 frame and just shovel the dirt in. Going to make the frame so it sits on my wheel barrow so I can just dump the soil back. Any suggestions?

[btroj]

What is the berm made from? Clay doesn't sieve so well, sand does.

22 rimfire slugs are pretty small, gonna need a fine mesh.

[Frank46]

When I used to mine the local pistol berm at our old range I used 1/4" square hardware cloth and made up a frame from 2x4's and raked then shoveled it into the frame. Shook it and dumped it into a 5 gallon bucket. Most of the guys used store bought hard cast bullets so I keep this separate from my regular wheel weight ingots. That range was shot on for close to 50 years. All of a sudden the railroad decided that they needed someone with deep pockets as the property was used as an unlicensed haz mat dump. They broke the lease as the club wasn't going for it. Their must be tons of range lead shot over the 50 years it was in use. They used to goof on me for mining the berm. Sad to say the property is overgrown with trees now and we have our own relocated range. Frank

[dbosman]

Box screens work, but they are a lot of work for you. Adding a set of legs, or two, makes the work stand up and simpler.
Check out this site for pictures. http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/product_pages/View_Catalog_Page.asp?mi=8074

[John in WI]

I've actually not had any luck with screening. My club has a berm that's gravel/clay. (it's really just a hill a glacier left when it melted). I haven't found an efficient way to do it. It comes down to using a metal collander, and going after the low-hanging fruit. The big stuff on top, the 1oz shotgun slugs, some round ball, and all the jacketed I can get my hands on. Slow going, but it's a success if I can harvest more than I put down range. Fire 200, but bring home enough lead for 500.

[Sgtonory]

I mine the berm at my range what works best for me is to use a garden rake to make the clay backstop into smaller pieces then i shove into a metal screen pan that i picked up. Hope this helps.

[Andrew Mason]

Box screens work, but they are a lot of work for you. Adding a set of legs, or two, makes the work stand up and simpler.
Check out this site for pictures. http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/product_pages/View_Catalog_Page.asp?mi=8074

X2 if you can get get your sifter up on a set of legs

kneeling down is a pain.

[Andrew Mason]

Box screens work, but they are a lot of work for you. Adding a set of legs, or two, makes the work stand up and simpler.
Check out this site for pictures. http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/product_pages/View_Catalog_Page.asp?mi=8074

X2 if you can get get your sifter up on a set of legs

kneeling down is a pain.

[Dark Helmet]

Go out there after it rains and pick up everything that looks plumbous.

[btroj]

Rain is bad for my berm. Clay plus rain means lots of thick, viscous mud. I want hot, dry weather. It allows bullet impacts to break up the clay wads and the bullets sit there all by themselves.

How to mine a berm has far more to do with the make upon the berm than anything else. Sand behaves far differently than clay type soils. Loam would be somewhere in between.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

How to mine a berm has far more to do with the make upon the berm than anything else. Sand behaves far differently than clay type soils. Loam would be somewhere in between.

well, one of the ranges I shoot at and could get permission to mine is made of Heavy black soil with 6 foot tall weeds and small trees. The Loam in Mcleod County is about the best on the planet for growing plants...but not for harvesting boolits :(

Luckily the other range I shoot at, looks just like a gravel pit and is busy with shooters all the time, and even though I'm a member, I doubt I could get permission to mine it.
Jon

[ranger1962]

I have a big 2 wheel, wheelbarrow I put an eye bolt on either side pointing up then I built a 1x4 frame and used 1/4" hail screen for a sieve.
The sieve works as a rocker box dirt goes into wheel barrow and you can take it where ever you need to. I have a piece of water pipe that goes from side to side and the rocker swings from the pipe.

[RoGrrr]

292
It's always good when we have people willing to dirty their hands and blue jeans to mine the berms. My hat's off to you.
Maybe I can save you some work and time in learning what I found out the hard way. Here are a couple links on this board that have info. I posted pics here and there showing what I've done. Maybe you could improve on my equipment. If so, please post your thoughts. And if you have questions, by all means, ax them and we'll scratch our heads together.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?174512-Range-diving-186lbs&highlight=186lbs

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?195618-My-Smelting-Furnace&highlight=ore

By the way, I don't sort my ore, as to jacketed boolits in this batch and pure lead in that other bucket. I melt it all together and don't worry about it. I figger the gun and boolits will shoot better than I'll ever be able to. I just don't care what the hardness is. Pull the trigger, hear the BANG and SMILE !

[292]

Thanks for the suggestions. I've got turkey season behind me and the garden is planted. If everything goes well I'll do some mining 1 afternoon next week. I'll be sure to post my results.