Speed mining question

[pearcetopher]

Hi guys,

the other day when the range was unoccupied I took my homemade sifter and a 5 gal bucket and went to the pistol range

in 25 minutes I excavated 75 pounds of material, does this sound about right or do I need a bigger sifter?

[btroj]

I would stay with what you have.

That would equate to 150 pounds in an hour. Figure on that giving you 120 pounds of ingots. At 50 cents a pound that is 60 bucks an hour, a very nice return on investment.

You are gonna need more buckets.

[ffries61]

Sounds great to me, the berms at our range are mostly clay, if I can get 10lbs in 1/2 hour I'm doing good :lol:

[pearcetopher]

went to canadian tire today and bought 5 , 5 gallon buckets

[Colohunter]

Do you have any pictures of your setup? I've tried some metal detecting sifters and they tend to have large holes that let the bullets fall through. I've had better luck picking up range lead by hand than using the hand held metal detector sifter.

[Harter66]

I've a 24x48 screen on a ramp but I have to use a shovel and cover sand dunes 15-30 high 50 ft widths ,a couple hours yield 30-50#.

[btroj]

Guys, recovery methods and rates are very berm dependent. Obviously a heavily used berm has the best potential.
Soil type is so critical. A sieve in my clay just doesn't work. I can finger pick fast enough o not want to mess with a sieve and the clods of dirt, clays, rocks, and what not.

Find a method that works for you, your berm, and your soil type.

I personally think that anyone who comes home each trip with more lead than they fired is ahead in the game.

[Jal5]

I did finger picking today. Shotgun slugs a tall largest size coffee cup almost full😀

[cummins05]

I need to start mining for lead would be great to bring home more lead than I take

[pearcetopher]

my berm is dirt with minimal rocks,

for a sifter I use the walmart big deep fryer basket

it works so well i would almost buy the deep fryer just to use the basket plus its made of steel and very strong

[pearcetopher]

the sad part is guys I really like shooting but I seem to like mining more

last night I went to the range, set up my target, unpacked my guns, mined lead until I got tired, and THEN decided to shoot, 20 rounds of 500sw and I was done

[kbstenberg]

I have been mineing a range that doesn't see much use. If I get 40 lbs in 4 hrs I am doing good. I've been considering joining another range that gets used more.
I use the 2' by 3' wood framed sifter. Kevin

[WILCO]

in 25 minutes I excavated 75 pounds of material, does this sound about right or do I need a bigger sifter?

It's not a race. Scrap lead isn't worth getting injured over (Blown out back). Never heard of "Speed Mining". Must be some type of reality show. :groner:

[Bad Water Bill]

Remember that when you are mining with any kind of screening you will have a lot of rocks as well as the jackets that can not be smelted.

According to a friend that uses TONS of lead each year,much of which is from indoor ranges,his estimate is about 50% recovery from indoor berms.

This is nothing more than another part of our wonderful HOBBY.

Enjoy but BE CAREFUL.

[Old Caster]

I like to just pick up individual bullets so as to avoid jacketed. For one reason they are pure lead and the other is that a bunch of jackets in the melt is worse than none.

[dikman]

Pearcetopher, that sounds like a pretty good haul to me. I would say your system is working well - just take it slow, it's easy to do your back in with this stuff!

[WILCO]

I like to just pick up individual bullets.....

Me too.

[avogunner]

Oh what I wouldn't give for sand berms and a sifter.........as it is, I "finger pick" when I mine them at my range and usually get 10 - 20 lbs before my back tells be enough. I do enjoy reusing range lead though and like to brag to my liberal friends how environmentally conscious us shooters are (it drives them crazy).

[Old Caster]

avogunner, That's what I tell greens I am doing when I shoot. I am returning the lead to the ground where it came from.

[frkelly74]

the sad part is guys I really like shooting but I seem to like mining more

last night I went to the range, set up my target, unpacked my guns, mined lead until I got tired, and THEN decided to shoot, 20 rounds of 500sw and I was done

That is a distinct danger, I sometimes get distracted from my scrounging long enough to take a few shots. But Sometimes I even forget to bring a gun along..