Tons for the taking??

[beezapilot]

I've done a search through the forum and did not get the hits I was looking for. I shoot trap at a fair sized club that has been open for just over 15 years. During that time NO ONE HAS SALVAGED THE SHOT FROM THE FALL PATTERN. So, one can assume that there is a fair amount of casting material cast out in the puckerbrush in the form of salvage shot.

I've had good luck mining berms with 3/16th wire cloth sieve & a shovel, but separating shot in the 6-7-8-9 size from dirt / sand/ plant dander may prove to be something a little different all together.

Any one built / seen / know of a "fast and easy" (continue reading when you're done laughing) machine or design for a separator??

[376Steyr]

There are commercial firms that use specialized equipment to do this. They contract with the club, run their bulldozer-sized machines over the area, and split the proceeds with the club. My club takes their cut in re-manufactured shot, which they sell to the members. Trying to do this process with a shovel and a wheelbarrow would be tough.

[TES]

yes but there would be little profit unless you could move a lot of earth. Think gold rush type equipment. You would also have to get in do the deed and get out at some rather strange hours and in the middle of winter so the club does not have any down time.

[leadbutt]

I posted this same issue a few weeks (month maybe) back. Check under threads ive started in my profile and youll see a lot of good ideas. Hope it helps.

L. Bottoms

[BubbaJon]

You can easily find plans for a dry washer - same process as getting gold works for lead.

[mtgrs737]

The Kansas Trapshooters Assoc. just had their drop zone mined and I was told when they were only half done that they expected to get 200,000 lbs. of lead shot. They pack it in 3 foot woven mesh bags and write the weight on the outside, there were more than I could count easily and all were over 2,000 lbs. I think that the company doing the mining was Gipson Ricketts but I could be wrong on that. It was a dry process they used, they scrape the first few inches and dump it in a machine that appears to shake it and separate the lead shot from the dirt. They were there for 2-3 weeks mining the drop zone and they sold it to a smelter in Missouri I believe.