How clean do you get outdoor Range Lead?

[kdiver58]

I'm just getting started in mining range lead. I've rinsed it some but it still has the Georgia clay red look to it. Do you clean it a lot of just let it come out in the melt?

[lka]

I'm just getting started in mining range lead. I've rinsed it some but it still has the Georgia clay red look to it. Do you clean it a lot of just let it come out in the melt?

I just hose it down, let it dry and throw it in the big pot, look out for FMJs a Chisel and hammer will fix them real quick, but I have had them pop before if not cracked open so be careful.

[Gtek]

I built a 2'x4' frame with 1/4 inch wire, spread out on and every couple days give it a good brass nozzle city water pressure wash. Sort as you load COLD pot removing J's for crack. Throw in pot, pot full of melt, saw dust, charcoal, stir, scrape sides and bottom, swirl, scrape sides and bottom, one more sawdust if not happy. Swirl and spoon nasty out of middle. Gtek

[btroj]

As clean as it comes from the berm. I don't wash it at all. The dirt all floats and fluxing removes it quite nicely.

I don't want to make the lead any wetter than it is when I pick it up.

[Sgtonory]

As clean as it comes from the berm. I don't wash it at all. The dirt all floats and fluxing removes it quite nicely.

I don't want to make the lead any wetter than it is when I pick it up.

Same here i dont clean it at all. Huge clumps of dirt and all.

[btroj]

I don't usually have huge clumps of dirt. I try to collect most of it when the berm is dry to avoid most dirt. I just don't see a purpose in trying wash the dirt that clings to the bullets offer them. Wet lead takes far longer to melt.

[trapper9260]

I do not worry about dirt in my also because it will float and easy to clean with the flux you use and just stir the melted lead and your dirt will surface and just skim off and just keep doing that you will get it clean.I stay away from water and lead and do not put wet lead in melted lead .

[kdiver58]

Thanks .. I had someone tell me that they had trouble with the casting from dirty range lead that was smelted ... but if many of you don't do anything at all so he must have had other issues. I've already popped the popcorn kernels :)

[TheGrimReaper]

I don't worry too much about dirt and grim. I do though try to get all the broken clay pigeon pieces out.

[shadowcaster]

I personally feel that washing lead is NOT a good thing. Lead is porous and will retain water in varying amounts. Even the lead water pipe that I have, was cut up into 3 inch chunks and sat by the wood stove for over a year. What I would do to remove the bulk of the dirt, is to make a hand crank roller/drum from 1/8 or 1/4 inch mesh, say.. 18 inches in diameter and 3 feet long. Mount it at a slight angle and as you turn the drum the lead will bounce along the drum to the end and fall in a catch bucket. The majority of the dirt should come off and fall through the screen. It's kind of like the set up when they mine for gold and they sort out the big stuff before the fines get to the sluice box. Or.. if you don't care, do like the other guys suggested and scoop the dirt off the top of the melt with the other junk.

Shad

[Sensai]

Anybody that tells you that they have trouble casting with dirty lead has just told you that they don't know how to flux and clean the melt. The only thing that can give you problems if you clean and flux the melt properly is unwanted metals like zinc getting into the alloy. They will contaminate the alloy and make it have different properties than you want for casting. You shouldn't have that problem at all with range lead. The advice about busting open fmj rounds is good advice. You should start all range lead melts from a cold pot and resist the urge to add just a little bit more to the melt to get the level up. Just a little bit more can get the level way up, like out of the pot and all over everything in sight! Not trying to be a "know-it-all", but I've been there. Feel free to learn from my mistakes.

[dbosman]

http://www.instructables.com/id/Trommel-Compost-Sifter/

[shadowcaster]

"Trommel" That's the word I was looking for!

Shad

[375RUGER]

I tried washing it the first batch I melted, Now it goes in the pot the same way it comes out of the ground.

[kdiver58]

first batch is all melted and cast into bricks .. Just wondering what size is the hole in the nozzle on a Lee 4-20 pot ?? :oops: :rolleyes:

[zidave]

If there is sticky, recently wet dirt stuck on it I'll run water over it but usually I just throw it right in the smelting pot. As everyone says it all floats on top.

[Gliden07]

I've also come accross the lead free bullets at my local range!! They don't melt and the ones that were in my melt looked like a Copper jacket with a Red clay like substance in them. Just skim them off with the jackets!


I just hose it down, let it dry and throw it in the big pot, look out for FMJs a Chisel and hammer will fix them real quick, but I have had them pop before if not cracked open so be careful.

[lka]

I've also come accross the lead free bullets at my local range!! They don't melt and the ones that were in my melt looked like a Copper jacket with a Red clay like substance in them. Just skim them off with the jackets!

Yes I have had like 4-5 of them, you hit with a chisel and they are almost brittle with a hard clay something in them

[RoGrrr]

kdiver
First, here's a link for a lengthy thread showing lots of equipment and different techniques for collecting and cleaning.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?174512-Range-diving-186lbs&highlight=186lbs

As you see here, some wash, some don't. I do since I get lots of dirt with my ore.
Shadowcaster is one of the more experienced here and while I respect his knowledge and opinions, he and I differ on washing. I wash and don't worry about boiling/popping. I put a screen over my pot which catches any explosions from water. I got a visit from devil woman (Ms. tinsel fairy) once so I started using the screen. I haven't built the (power) trommel he talks about so in the interim, I will continue to wash mine.

[mold maker]

If you're collecting range lead from damp clay, it can hide things you don't want in your pot. Notice I didn't say WET clay. The lead already has moisture in it, so washing it can't hurt.
I had the she devil visit me in the form of a live round that had been thrown onto the berm.
I started washing my range scrap in a HF cement mixer with a little dawn and running water. I have since found several more live rounds that I missed while collecting.
The danger of water in your raw range lead is nothing compared to a live round.
It's now Summer and the sun will dry your washed range lead in a day, if turned regularly. Just adding it to only a cool pot, will eliminate all the damp danger, but a live round is gonna be a dangerous surprise. In a bucket of R-lead a live round is much harder to see than you might think, especially if it is brass and aged.
I see no point in using extra fuel to heat dirt, rocks, and clay disk pieces, besides that is where most of the stink comes from..

[mold maker]

If you're collecting range lead from damp clay, it can hide things you don't want in your pot. Notice I didn't say WET clay. The lead already has moisture in it, so washing it can't hurt.
I had the she devil visit me in the form of a live round that had been thrown onto the berm.
I started washing my range scrap in a HF cement mixer with a little dawn and running water. I have since found several more live rounds that I missed while collecting.
The danger of water in your raw range lead is nothing, compared to a live round.
It's now Summer and the sun will dry your washed range lead in a day, if turned regularly. Just adding it to only a cool pot, will eliminate all the damp danger, but a live round is gonna be an extremely dangerous surprise. In a bucket of dirty range lead, a live round is much harder to see than you might think, especially if it is brass and aged.
I see no point in using extra fuel to heat dirt, rocks, and clay bird pieces, besides that is where most all of the stink comes from..

[RoGrrr]

When I wash my wet ore, I dump it into a pile near the left-hand side of the raised dump bed trailer (raised up to about 25*) and with my hand, rake some of it into a row about 36 inches long, towards the right wall of the trailer. I use a thin high speed stream from the hose sprayer. I squat down so I can get the stream close to the floor of the trailer to spray parallel to the floor into the end of the row. As I do this, it not only washes most of the dirt away, it pushes the spent boolits UP towards the front of the trailer where they settle into a pile. I'd make a vid to show how I do it but that takes a second person to run the camera....

As I'm doing this, I can see most of the boolits and if there is a shell or fairly large stone in the ore, I see and remove it. Yes, I've caught many empty and several unfired shells, too.

What I do IS labor intensive, but 2 things -
1) - I'm retired and have plenty of time,
2) - it's a HOBBY !