Recovering Lead from Range Lead

[William Yanda]

Friends
I am inquiring, not complaining. I purchased a couple of MFR boxes of range lead some time ago. It looked like a good deal, can't remember the price. I figured I could sell the Cu to recover some of the expense.
Yesterday, I smelted the first one, using a hot plate, fluxing w/ diesel. I recovered only 30#+ or - of ingots. I plan to resmelt the dross over a wood fire, with a blower, but anticipate only another 3# of lead, if that much.
My question is, how does that compare with your experience. I am not upset with the seller-I got what he advertised. I know now that I could have waited for a better deal, seems like someone is now posting the same weight of ingots for about $1/#.
Regards
Bill

[runfiverun]

range scrap is what it is.
sometimes it's got a ton of oxidized small chunks in it, sometimes a lot of jackets, sometimes a lot of it is commercial cast bullets.

when I deal with it I take what I can get and if some is left behind I don't think it's worth the bother to try to get a second time.
if your going to sell the jackets then they do need to be clean and free of lead so your gonna have to put in some more work.
I'd just toss them and move along to the next batch.

[lobogunleather]

Started casting bullets over 40 years ago. My main source for lead was my police department's indoor range. Used a GI entrenching tool and 1/4" screen material, dig it up and run it through the screen. All the metal went into a cast iron pot on a camping stove in the back yard. Melt, stir, flux repeatedly, then pour into ingot molds. All the dross and scrap (bullet jackets and other debris) went into the trash.

Found a couple of sources for wheel weights soon after that. Those became my primary supply, using the same preparation. Hooked up a printing shop's used linotype and used the same prep methods.

Learned how to do comparative hardness testing using steel ball bearings and a bench vise (two ingots in the vise with a ball bearing in between; when pressure is equal a small indentation means harder metal and a larger indentation means softer metal, process repeated with all ingots to be used compared against all others, measuring with a caliper). Mixed my ingots accordingly to gain some consistency in my bullets. Weight testing after casting each batch provides a pretty good indication of how you have blended your metal.

For handgun bullets up to 1000FPS or so just about any lead alloy will suffice. For accurate shooting in rifles at higher velocities the harder alloys are usually required.

In the quantities the home caster can process I doubt there would be any economy in attempting to salvage copper or other metals, especially after energy costs are considered, and the time expended would be considerable. There would have to be a lot of high dollar scrap for me to commit the time and effort.

[Bigslug]

range scrap is what it is.

THIS. And therefore not something I'd be inclined to pay very much for. I scrounge my own and segregate it as best I can before smelting. I've been finding that jacketed tests out to act like antimony-free 25-1 / 30-1 lead/tin, and shotgun slugs 40-1 lead/tin. Other People's Cast is different every time, so if you aren't separating it out, your range scrap melts will be different every time. Whether that matters to you or not will depend on what you're doing with it. Since doing your own separating of purchased range scrap is the only way to get that kind of Q.C. (if you need it), and you've got to ditch the unknown weight of jackets and dirt, you'll want to factor your time and energy into what it costs vs. buying a "legit" pile of bars from Rotometals or other.

[lightman]

Its been a long time since I messed with range scrap. Back then a lot of the bullseye shooters cast their own bullets and it made for a decent alloy. It was mostly 45's and 38's. I don't remember the % of yield but I'm pretty sure it was better than the op's. I will say that after messing with range scrap made wheelwrights look less dirty!

[Mitch]

remelt dross?in my book that is trash can material.evein if there is a small amont of lead left in all the dirt and **** it is not worth the propain or wood to try and get it.your time will be better spent looking for more lead

[twc1964]

Well, I smelted 200lbs of range scrap a few weeks ago and got about 135lbs of ingots. Lots of jackets and garbage in this batch.

[Kraschenbirn]

Been recycling range scrap from our outdoor club range for the last couple of years. Rake off the loose stuff from the face of the berm, shovel it onto my home-made sifter (1/4" hardware cloth in a wood frame), melt, flux and stir, skim off the trash, flux and skim again, pour into ingots. On the average I get about 60% recovery...60 lbs ingots from 100 lbs raw scrap.

Bill

[tazman]

I normally get about 75% recovery by weight from collected range scrap. If you are paying $1 per lb of range scrap, your usable lead is costing $1.33 per lb plus the cost of your fuel and time.

[DerekP Houston]

Erm, I had the same experience buying a box of "range scrap" off ebay starting out. I ended up tossing the majority and just bought proper lead ingots the next time. Mine was a 20lb box but I doubt I got 2lbs of ingots worth.

[fatelk]

Range scrap is all I get anymore. I collect it myself; sure wouldn't pay much for it unless it was as clean as what I collect. Even then it's a lot of work.

I think I get at least 80% or better when I melt it down, but it's very clean before I start. I never dig or sift, just hand pick off the berm for ten to thirty minutes after shooting. Over time I accumulate quite a bit. I rinse the bucket in water and pull the lead out handful at a time for a quick rinse then toss into another bucket. When I'm done there is no dirt or rocks or garbage at all. It's no big deal since I only do 20 - 30 lbs at a time, but would probably be labor intensive in large quantities. Also, my scrap isn't shredded or dusty. I've decided to only pick lead off the berms in winter now when it's damp, to avoid lead dust.

I think I'm done with wheel weights forever now. They're just not available any more in my area. I mix the range lead with some old ww lead and a little linotype and it works well.

Range scrap is only worth my time because I can't justify buying lead otherwise. I could buy an awful lot of lead with the OT from one off-hour call-out at work, but that money needs to go into the household budget nowadays. Some people buy ingots from a foundry because it's not worth their time to mess around. I've got to mess around if I want lead. I also have a 5-gallon bucket of jackets in the garage that I took the time to clean up. I need to take it in to the scrap yard some day, though I'm much less convinced that that was worth my time.

[GhostHawk]

I buy my range scrap in ingots, it is worth it to me to get a clean product and not have to sweat over a hot fire, pay for fuel, to get whatever portion is recoverable.

I seem to be averaging around 10 lbs a month, so twice a year I shell out 70$ for 65 lbs of clean, well fluxed, ready to use ingots.

But it is each users choice really.

[triggerhappy243]

I bought into 750 lbs of indoor range scrap and my net yield does differ. 96.68 PB, 1.47 SB. and .89 CU. no tin whatsoever. last batch I did was 67 lbs raw and netted 51 pounds lead.

I saw somewhere here on this site, someone modified a flat blade long handled shovel to screen outdoor range scrap. it was a sweet looking tool.

[richhodg66]

I can basically get all the range scrap I can carry away from the pistol range I go to, just not out there very often. I plan on getting a lot more this summer. Free is free, but more importantly, available is available and lead isn't getting anu easier to find.

I live out in the sticks, can't see neighbors and recently smelted more than 100 pounds of it over wood fires (basically I have unlimited wood, always a down tree or two to be had) and a big cast iron pot. I probably won't want to do it when it get's hot. My plan was to cast all of it into .38 bullets and not have to cast any of them for a long time. Gonna do the same for .45 Colt bullets next.

Range salvage is some work, but I have access to a lot of it and I know I'm getting a better yield on it than that. I have been saving the copper jackets, eventually I'll try to figure out how to turn them into more lead, there's a fairly agreeable scrap man in town.

[imashooter2]

I've done about 2 tons of indoor range scrap from 3 different ranges. It all looked pretty much like the picture below. My recovery rate was about 70%. Before you put any work into cleaning up the jackets, call around and make sure someone will buy them. The yards around here won't touch them.
http://www.imashooter2.com/pictures/scrap600.jpg

[Sasquatch-1]

The last time I took jackets to the recycler I got $.97 a pound. Had about three buckets and walked away with about $170.00 in my pocket. These were dirty jackets with no steel in the mix. Steel is removed with a 250# magnet from Harbor Freight.

I use one of these when recovering range scrap. It leaves a lot less dirt since it only catches the bigger bullets. I can recover a 1/3 to a 1/2 five gallon bucket in less then a half hour.

164716

[flyingrhino]

I bought several hundred pounds of range scrap on here for what I thought was a good price. My recovery rate was 60-70%. It turned out to be more expensive than buying fluxed range scrap ingots that are sold on here....not to mention the time and effort I put into smelting it. Not complaining, just figured out that there is a lot more non-lead **** in range scrap than I thought. I've got 2 more boxes to smelt then I'm done with buying range scrap. There are some pretty good deals on here where the work has been done for you.

[fatelk]

164716

I tried something similar once. It probably works great in sand or dirt, but our berms are gravel. There were just too many chunks of gravel and hard dirt for it to work well for me. The only practical way I found to gather lead where I shoot is to go out there after a good rain and just pick it up off the surface. On a good day I can get 20 pounds in maybe 15 minutes. It adds up good, 20 pounds at a time.

I have two very full 5-gallon buckets in the garage right now, but I'm wondering about the safety of smelting it down. I know this probably sounds paranoid, but I have a house full of young kids, and worry a little about any dust or residue in my back yard or driveway. I wish I had a good place out of town to do it.

[Sasquatch-1]

The range I recover from is a mix of dirt, gravel and stone dust. The impact area is covered by a roof so the berm doesn't get that wet. At the present there is probably 200 to 300 lbs of scrap visible on the surface. The basket does catch some of the bigger gravel and clumps.

See if you can find a place at the range to set up and smelt at.


I tried something similar once. It probably works great in sand or dirt, but our berms are gravel. There were just too many chunks of gravel and hard dirt for it to work well for me. The only practical way I found to gather lead where I shoot is to go out there after a good rain and just pick it up off the surface. On a good day I can get 20 pounds in maybe 15 minutes. It adds up good, 20 pounds at a time.

I have two very full 5-gallon buckets in the garage right now, but I'm wondering about the safety of smelting it down. I know this probably sounds paranoid, but I have a house full of young kids, and worry a little about any dust or residue in my back yard or driveway. I wish I had a good place out of town to do it.

[DerekP Houston]

I bought several hundred pounds of range scrap on here for what I thought was a good price. My recovery rate was 60-70%. It turned out to be more expensive than buying fluxed range scrap ingots that are sold on here....not to mention the time and effort I put into smelting it. Not complaining, just figured out that there is a lot more non-lead **** in range scrap than I thought. I've got 2 more boxes to smelt then I'm done with buying range scrap. There are some pretty good deals on here where the work has been done for you.

Indeed, it is all in the amount of time/effort you want to put in to it. I'm sure once I get older and the kiddo is less intensive about being watched I'll have a bit more free time to putter around in the back and save some money. After adding shipping/handling costs......I usually get ingoted lead for around a dollar a lb. Even buying the lead still comes out ahead reloading your own, so I don't feel *too* bad. And like someones tag line says "$30 a box is too much for carry ammo! so I spent $1000+ on molds, brass, powders to roll my own!"

[mold maker]

Just for those that claim not to have the time or inclination to reclaim range lead. I thank you each and everyone for leaving it for me. The 6 tons of ingots I have will outlast my family.
I could have spent my time for lots of other hobbies and only wound up with numbers on a scorecard, or sweaty gym clothes.

[sw282]

The 22RF round l posted about awhile back came from a 67 lb partial bucket of range scrap from an indoor pistol range...58 lb lead ingots and 7 lb jackets. Rest trash.. Another 20 buckets to go thru l got for around 12 cents a pound...Time consuming to process, but more productive than watching TV.. Plus l have FUN doing it

[funnyjim014]

Just got done mining out the clubs indoor range. We took the top 6in off fine grave mix out. My half was 20gal wourth. Going to let the buckets sit outside for a wile and let the rain wash em. I made a screen 5ft by 3ft in a wood frame and legs set it at a 45* angle. Sheet of plywood with 2x4 sides to catch the chunks.