may have stumbled onto a good source of lead

[hickfu]

I went by a local indoor shooting range / gun shop yesterday and was just talking to one of the guys there before I left, I asked what they did with all of the scrap bullets that they had to mine from the berm. He said twice a year they mine it and pay some company to come by to dispose of it... I said I would dispose of it for free if they wanted me to, A couple other guys working there stepped over and said "you know, we take out about 3 tons each time we clean it out" I almost had a freaking heart attack.

They gave me the number for the owner and said to call him on Monday so I am hoping that Calif doesnt have some stupid law saying that it can only go to a licensed recycler... I could use the lead, Im down to my last 1100 lbs and feeling a little low.


Doc

[ssnow]

I hope it works out for you. You never know unless you try. Often they will use a company or take it to the salvage yard, so that they have documentation. The truth is, that there are so many regulations, the owner never really knows if he is in compliance or not, so they are sometimes unwilling to release the lead to the general public.

[WILCO]

They gave me the number for the owner and said to call him on Monday....

Doc,

Don't be surprised if the owner is getting paid for the waste he produces.
Maybe he'd be willing to sell you some. Good luck and keep us posted.

[Sgtonory]

That would be a great score. I get my lead from a indoor range weekly and get around 500-1500lbs a week. I can not image how much i would have to pick up if i did it twice a year.

[Janoosh]

Good score. Always have an alternate plan. Just give him a cut.
If he is paying to have it removed, it doesnt sound like he's recouping any funds. Usually, it's " here's our cost to remove the lead and anything over a certain percent is yours".

[Bzcraig]

Don't know about your local laws but there are no such laws in Fresno County, great find!

[RogerDat]

Don't discount the value of the copper jackets after you melt the lead out. One option is to contact scrap yard and find out what they pay per lb. for that grade of copper. Then offer to split that money with the club. Half for you to pay for your propane, half for them as a "bonus" for club activities.

The scrap yard will give you a receipt so you have something to show them as the basis for their cut.

I'm guessing that with the lead melted out those jackets will be considered a fairly "clean" copper and generate a good price from the scrap yard.

[beagle]

Modify that to "you never know what you can get away with until you try" and "If you ain't cheatin", you ain't tryin'". Hope it works out for you./beagle


I hope it works out for you. You never know unless you try. Often they will use a company or take it to the salvage yard, so that they have documentation. The truth is, that there are so many regulations, the owner never really knows if he is in compliance or not, so they are sometimes unwilling to release the lead to the general public.

[imashooter2]

I've lived off indoor range scrap almost exclusively for the last 11 years and it makes up the vast majority of my future stores as well. Good stuff, but depending on the backstop, it can be more time and propane consuming than WW or other scrap sources. In particular, one armor plate backstop was sprayed with waste motor oil which rolled down into the collection troughs. When you smelted, there was 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch of oil on top of the melt to burn off before you could pour.

The yards around here wouldn't touch the jackets, but asking is free. Just find out before you put a lot of work into them.

[fredj338]

They gave me the number for the owner and said to call him on Monday so I am hoping that Calif doesnt have some stupid law saying that it can only go to a licensed recycler... I could use the lead, Im down to my last 1100 lbs and feeling a little low.


Doc
It's NOT a kommiforna law. The law only states it can not be thrown away, says nothing about who can remove it. It's what they tell all the tire shops too. Good luck, if you need help, I'm in SOC, pm me.

[bigjake]

why wont scrap yards take copper jackets? what, do they think they'll explod? dumb *** junk yards..

[dragon813gt]

why wont scrap yards take copper jackets? what, do they think they'll explod? dumb *** junk yards..

It's an unknown metal to them. They are not 100% copper. Add in the fact that there might be residual lead on them. The yards make money by selling it to a larger company. Those companies usually have a purpose for the metal. If it's an unknown composition they don't want it. Plus jackets are an extremely low volume. Anything sitting in the yard takes up space and isn't making any money. Every yard by me, there are twenty w/in half an hour, is packed to the gills and the lanes are just big enough to get the forklifts through. I can't blame them for not wanting to take a small volume unknown metal.