issue sorting range scrap

[cbkxinu]

i've been collecting and sorting range scrap for along time and am what you could call a hoarder i can usually manage one half ton to one full ton of range scrap in a day digging with my homemade trommel and i go out about once a week issue is i have 23 55 gallon drums of range scrap built up and i cannot put a dent in it. I came across a youtube video some time ago from a channel called "the ammo channel" he shows building a wood burning lead smelter and the use of it and it had a sliding lid on it. i was wondering if something like that would be possible to use to melt down my range scrap with out having to sort it by hand which is where my problem lies. hand sorting range scrap to remove the total metal jackets.now its my understanding that when the core of a total metal jacket heats up to melting point the pressure builds up and splits the case and a small stream of molten lead can shoot out in the wrong direction or possibly a small explosion which i've never had the misfortune of experiencing i'm thinking the lid on this wood burning system may be enough to contain the situation i'm referring to from melting the total metal jackets so i can finally make some progress. any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated thank you

[Magana559]

where do you live?

[cbkxinu]

SouthWest Missouri

[dikman]

Puzzled?? Why do you need the wood-burner setup? What are you using at the moment? A 1/2 propane tank pot, or large dutch oven, over a decent propane burner will work just as well (probably better), and there's no reason not to make a lid for it. A wood-burner will work, but you need to monitor the fire almost continuously to keep the heat up (and not get too cool or too hot) and it will need a forced air draught to work at its optimum. And a lot of wood if you're going to do a lot of melting.

Just because you have a lot of scrap doesn't mean it has to be melted all at once, just do what you need for a while. The scrap is hardly going to deteriorate if left in the drums.

[fastfire]

I don't sort the tmj and plated until after smelting, I figure the smelting will do a lot of the sorting.
23 55gal barrels, that makes my back HURT thinking about all that!


i've been collecting and sorting range scrap for along time and am what you could call a hoarder i can usually manage one half ton to one full ton of range scrap in a day digging with my homemade trommel and i go out about once a week issue is i have 23 55 gallon drums of range scrap built up and i cannot put a dent in it. I came across a youtube video some time ago from a channel called "the ammo channel" he shows building a wood burning lead smelter and the use of it and it had a sliding lid on it. i was wondering if something like that would be possible to use to melt down my range scrap with out having to sort it by hand which is where my problem lies. hand sorting range scrap to remove the total metal jackets.now its my understanding that when the core of a total metal jacket heats up to melting point the pressure builds up and splits the case and a small stream of molten lead can shoot out in the wrong direction or possibly a small explosion which i've never had the misfortune of experiencing i'm thinking the lid on this wood burning system may be enough to contain the situation i'm referring to from melting the total metal jackets so i can finally make some progress. any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated thank you

[Sgtonory]

I have a short video showing how i started to smelt lead and the 2nd is how i do it now and works well. I can do 1/2 ton a day. A lid is nice to have as it keeps heat in and any chance of a live round going off from causing a big old mess. I have found most FMJ rounds don't cause a issue when the lead finds a away out. Be careful with the dust from the range lead wear a respirator when ever you are dealing with it unmelted. And you have a lot of freaking lead you have a good problem.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD5NIVG0iO0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQRk-I3gM0g

[cbkxinu]

currently all im using is a 12qt cast iron pot with a turkey fryer and it gets the job done but i have to sort it before i smelt so i do not end up with any tmj's that could end up in a small lead explosion the reason for the wood burning barrel it has a large air compressor tank with legs made out of rebar welded inside i've used wood to melt alot of my lead and it's not that hard to keep temp up and would allow me to process far more lead with the possibility of not having to hand sort tjm's which is what's hindering my process i've considered keeping my scrap the way it is but i don't like keeping more than 10% of my lead in a unprocessed form because it's dirty and not as tradable or salable and it would be nice to get most my garage back lol

FastFire do you not experience issues with total metal jacketed bullets exploiding from the built up pressure?

to add to my original post my only issue with the smelting is the hand sorting of tmj's or total metal jacketed boolits so as not to cause issues like a lead explosions ect ive been at this along time but have always had to hand sort to be safe the only reason for this barrel system would be so i can skip the sorting process and just crank out ingots

[Magana559]

If you were a bit closer I could have maybe helped a bit.....well my nephew could have :bigsmyl2:

[btroj]

The fmj bullets don't explode in my experience. I don't sort, cut, or hammer them, I just put them in the pot and let them melt with the rest.
I did about 1000 pounds last year with a Dutch oven and wish I had something bigger. A pot that would hold 150 pounds or so and wood would be nice. The ability to do larger batches would speed things up, that is for sure.

Sort less, melt more. Matter of fact, don't sort at all. Just melt.

[Forrest r]

I use an old propane tank to smelt range lead, use the top for a lid.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t242/forrestr-photo/propaneleadpot.jpg (http://s162.photobucket.com/user/forrestr-photo/media/propaneleadpot.jpg.html)

It melts around #150 @ 1 time, tried wood as a heat source but it was pain & wasn't the quickest. A propane turkey cooker base is allot faster, the propane tank pot/propane turkey cooker an easily melt 1000+#'s of range lead a day. I don't sort/worry about the tmj's, they just go into a bucket along with all the other copper jackets.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t242/forrestr-photo/bucketbullets.jpg (http://s162.photobucket.com/user/forrestr-photo/media/bucketbullets.jpg.html)

A local scrp yard buys the copper jackets as #2 copper.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t242/forrestr-photo/bulletreceipt.jpg (http://s162.photobucket.com/user/forrestr-photo/media/bulletreceipt.jpg.html)

I use the $$$$ from the copper to buy propane, bullet lube, molds, dies, primers, etc.

Good luck, sounds like you have allot of work/smelting to do.

forrest r

[Ed1]

It might be a stupid question but what is TMJ? I know what FMJ is. I just started picking up range scrap from the outdoor public range and was curious for when I melt it down.

[uaskme]

I do the same as above and have smelted 3K pounds so far. Never had a FMJ explode. Sometimes the lead don't come out of the FMJs when melted. I just toss them. What you lose don't make up for the time lost sorting. If have enough that if you lose a little it is no big deal. A lead on the pot will decrease melting time especially if the wind is blowing or if it is cold.

[cbkxinu]

It might be a stupid question but what is TMJ? I know what FMJ is. I just started picking up range scrap from the outdoor public range and was curious for when I melt it down.

no question is stupid in my opinion if there is something you can learn from it
a total metal jacket bullet is completely enclosed even at the base unlike full metal jacket
bullets which have the base exposed

i believe there may be some confusion as to my issue i have none with fmj's it's tmj's
that i am having to take my time to sort as they have nowhere for the lead to flow out
thus the build up of pressure when smelting and the possibility of a accident

[cbkxinu]

I don't sort/worry about the tmj's, they just go into a bucket along with all the other copper jackets.

suppose i'll just load up a pot and see how it goes
you know standing on the other side of the house lol

was ment to quote part of you're post forrest guess it won't let me
just highlight a portion if it

[.5mv^2]

My smelting operation is tiny by comparison. I have about 50% of the TMJ rounds do nothing. I have tried using a propane torch on individual floaters. Once in a while they start squirting lead like a squirt gun. I resort to manually nicking each one with a nipper. I hate them. Maybe others have a hotter smelter.

Nice seeing the video.

[fastfire]

I have smelted about 1,000lbs of range scrap,I have never had a TMJ explode.



currently all im using is a 12qt cast iron pot with a turkey fryer and it gets the job done but i have to sort it before i smelt so i do not end up with any tmj's that could end up in a small lead explosion the reason for the wood burning barrel it has a large air compressor tank with legs made out of rebar welded inside i've used wood to melt alot of my lead and it's not that hard to keep temp up and would allow me to process far more lead with the possibility of not having to hand sort tjm's which is what's hindering my process i've considered keeping my scrap the way it is but i don't like keeping more than 10% of my lead in a unprocessed form because it's dirty and not as tradable or salable and it would be nice to get most my garage back lol

FastFire do you not experience issues with total metal jacketed bullets exploiding from the built up pressure?

to add to my original post my only issue with the smelting is the hand sorting of tmj's or total metal jacketed boolits so as not to cause issues like a lead explosions ect ive been at this along time but have always had to hand sort to be safe the only reason for this barrel system would be so i can skip the sorting process and just crank out ingots

[tengaugetx]

I don't sort anything I smelt. Haven't had a problem with wheel weights or range scrap yet. I run the heat higher on the range scrap as it seems to help the TMJ's melt out better. What don't melt out get scrapped.

[Ed1]

no question is stupid in my opinion if there is something you can learn from it
a total metal jacket bullet is completely enclosed even at the base unlike full metal jacket
bullets which have the base exposed

i believe there may be some confusion as to my issue i have none with fmj's it's tmj's
that i am having to take my time to sort as they have nowhere for the lead to flow out
thus the build up of pressure when smelting and the possibility of a accident


Thank you. I found a bunch of them today.

[tomme boy]

As has been said, they don't explode. The lead will just squirt out where ever it has a weak spot. Some do but most don't. It doesn't matter how long or hot I can get the lead, they don't open up for me. I sort out afterwards. Then nick them and throw them in the next pot. Just make sure to get rid of any of the clay pigeon parts. It makes a heck of a mess.

I seen a trommel lead smelter somewhere. The melted lead falls out the bottom and the jackets spin up out the top. That would be the best and fastest way I could see to melt that much. And if you can keep getting that much it would cut your work load by 90% or so. Start it up and sit back and have a beer.

[merlin101]

I use a cut down propane tank too, it holds so much more than a dutch oven. Most of my range lead is hand picked so i don't worry about live rounds with that and just dump them in the pot.
The SIFTED range lead gets dumped out on a heavy table and gets a quick sort for live rounds/rocks ect. at that time I will give TMJ a sqeeze with fence pliers and that pokes two neat holes in em.
After melting I scoop the jackets and resort them any that are full of lead are easy to spot and they get pinched and tossed in a wire basket thats hung over the pot and that get's heated with a weed burner and shaken, you'd be surprised at how much lead is hideing in there!

[375RUGER]

Another who doesn't sort here. The only thing that explodes in my rendering pot is live ammo. By the time you sort through 1000# you could already have it ingotized.
If I had that amount of lead to melt I'd build a double boiler/kiln of sorts out of 2 large propane tanks. Inner tank for lead and outer for the fire and I'd boost the fire with forced air from a shop vac. Let the molten lead pipe out the bottom.
tomme boy's trommel idea is great.
Maybe a 100 Cu ft kiln could work.

[mold maker]

I don't sort range scrap either, a lid collects the squirts and holds in the heat. I've done several tons and never a pop. If you've ever watched a gold panner, you will know how to collect the TMJ that didn't leak. A 20 oz framing hammer, with the waffle face makes short work of the intact slugs, and back in the pot for the next round.
Depending on the backstop, there shouldn't be that big a % of the whole slugs, and if the scrappier pays more than a buck a lb for the jackets, your money ahead. I find it best to trade the jacket material for lead without using money. That way everybody wins.

[freebullet]

I don't sort it either. I put 200 pounds in a ss pot from the thrift shop over a propane burner. As long as the melt gets hot enough all the jackets simply split. I've thought of making a 350-500 pound wood fired smelter, haven't done anything on in yet.

[tomme boy]

I have had the lead glowing red and it would not split the jackets. So I don't know how you guys are getting them to open up. I use a cast iron pot and the burner is an older one that is way hotter than two other newer types. It is also about 2/3 bigger than the newer ones. It also takes less than half the time to melt than the newer ones. I run it maxed out. The lead will glow and so does the pot. If the jackets do not have anything wrong with them, I don't see them opening up.

[freebullet]

I don't know why they split. I can guess with the best. Our berms are hard dirt just under the soft berm face that may compromise the integrity of the jackets better than softer berms, it could be because I stir and submerge them all in the melt thoroughly before removing any of the jackets, or it could be temp variance causing the jacket splits. I have seen them split and squirt the lead out during the stirring. Never had one explode. The jackets come out black.

[btroj]

I don't know why they split. I can guess with the best. Our berms are hard dirt just under the soft berm face that may compromise the integrity of the jackets better than softer berms, it could be because I stir and submerge them all in the melt thoroughly before removing any of the jackets, or it could be temp variance causing the jacket splits. I have seen them split and squirt the lead out during the stirring. Never had one explode. The jackets come out black.

Hey, dammit, get outta my berms! I keep wondering why I don't see as much scrap some days.

[freebullet]

Lol, there is plenty for us all out there. I actually hadn't picked up any since October. One at a time is slow going. I'm about to start again with the warmer weather.

[btroj]

Got 47 pounds. Wife, daughter and I shot about 500 rounds. Peeps make pretty good targets. Hard to tell when they are hit, bullets zip right thru.

[Bigslug]

I've had one TMJ perform a little squirting operation during a smelt. My scrounging consists of simply walking the range and picking up what looks good, so TMJ's just get tossed back on the ground.

In your situation, I would simply upgrade my safety equipment to a full face shield and melt away without bothering to sort. Since live rounds are also a concern with your approach, I would also get in the habit of completely emptying the pot, adding the next batch of scrap, put on a lid, and wait long enough to ensure that whatever is going to pop, HAS popped.