Range Lead

[slk]

Hey guys has anyone ever reclaimed range lead from the berms? I was wondering just how far do the bullets actually go into a dirt berm. I do not want to make holes in the berms by digging and making things unsightly for the club. I am assuming I would have to make some sort of cat litter scooper but out of metal to withstand the dirt.

Steve

[Bashby]

267019

The berm at the pistol range I go to is crushed stone and easy to mine in. Bullets are laying on top of the stone because there is so much in there. I put my screen above the low spots that are there from shooting so what falls through the screen fills them in. I got about 150 lbs in a half hour or so last time. I fill 5 gal buckets about 1/3 full and carry them to the truck 2 at a time. Next time I will take my dolly.

ETA: I used 1/4” metal screen I had lying around and some 5/4 trim board for the frame. Attached screen with my staple gun.

[Ozark mike]

Alot of guys mine the range here i dont because the town range started charging for admission.

[Kraschenbirn]

Mostly depends much upon how long a berm has been in use. The face of the old 25-yard pistol berm at our club was, essentially, graveled with bullets/boolits that could simply be raked off onto a hardware cloth screen, shaken to separate out the dirt, and dumped into 5-gallon buckets. Last time I 'mined' it, two of us recovered over 700# in just a couple hours. Unfortunately, that source no longer exists: 4 years ago, the club upgraded our range facilities which included moving/expanding all of those 35 year-old berms so that 'mining' is no longer feasible. (Maybe, in another 20-25 years...?)

So far as depth of penetration; 6"-8" max. for pistol into dirt. Rifle...dunno; never seemed worth my time to try mining our old high-power berms when I could get all I wanted/needed off the pistol line. (I do know, though, that a ten-round group from one of my .45-70s leaves a 4" diameter cavity, maybe a foot deep, in the compacted clay behind our 200-yard target stands.)

Bill

[tazman]

Our club mines the range and sells the lead to help with expenses. The lead gets sold to the reclaiming company. We members are not allowed to mine it.

[FLINTNFIRE]

I mine the range I belong to , sift out rocks and sand and clay , then melt and skim all the jackets and dirt out , but it is a source to supplement the old stash of wheel weights , most find range scrap to be soft , I find scrap at range to be harder as in with all the jacketed stuff is a lot of lead bullets , most members here are reloaders and you find a lot of hard cast bullets in the berm , most of the bullets easiest to get are in surface layer .

[barnabus]

Our club mines the range and sells the lead to help with expenses. The lead gets sold to the reclaiming company. We members are not allowed to mine it.

our sorry club is the same way but the club elite still get it for themselves.themselves.

[Jack Stanley]

I think I'd be almost obstinate to recover "my lead" just so I'm not littering .

Jack

[fredj338]

Its about the only reliable source anymore,. If your range allows it, go for it. You only have to dig, if at all, about 10-12" to find all the bullets you need. After the rain, they can just be plucked off the dirt on the face of the berm.

[kevin c]

Lots of threads here about berm mining. A few highlights:

Quarter inch hardware cloth on a sturdy wood frame, a shovel and five gallon buckets are common equipment for large amounts, though some are good with just hand picking slugs on the surface; going home with a half a coffee can full, or at least as much as you shot, still means you'll never run out of lead.

Finer, sandier material is easier to sift than coarse gravel or clay. Yield is highest where the heaviest slugs are shot, and in volume. That means pistol rather than rifle berms. Unless new facing material is added, like at my range, most slugs seem within 12" to 18" of the impact surface.

Be a good range citizen and repair the berm you sift. Start by sifting over a low spot until it fills in, then shift the screen to the depression you just dug out. Continuing this way keeps the berm face smooth, with just one hole at the end to fill in when you're done.

It's hard work, dirty, and out of doors usually with no cover. Expect heavy lead contamination from oxidized lead on the dust kicked up and dress and use PPE accordingly. Unless you're built like Charles Atlas, don't overfill the buckets. As mentioned above, a third full is a reasonable limit, saving both the bucket handles and your back.

Typical yield is 60-70% usable alloy with variable hardness between soft and hardball. Some recyclers will buy the jackets if they're clean, offsetting some of the processing cost.

Oh, and don't melt the scrap in your casting pot.

[WRideout]

I started out hand-picking projectiles that were laying on top of the dirt. Then I used a big scoop with holes in it (the round spoon that looks like a colander), to get more at a time. After a while I fabricated a screen out of hardware cloth with a wood frame. I was still getting a lot of dirt with the projos, so I started washing them off using a 5 gal bucket with holes in the bottom. Success! After a rain, the bullets pop up like Indian arrowheads in a field, but they have a lot of mud on them. I usually collect a coffee can full at a time, since I smelt in small batches. I don't dig so much as scrape the top layer of the berm, since I can collect all I need easily that way.

I did once try to mine the rifle range, but found that the bullets buried too deeply for efficient collection. The pistol range gets more volume, and they stay close to the surface. Nowadays, my pistol boolits are almost all range scrap with a little tin added. And I do take the discarded jackets to the scrap yard.

Wayne

[slk]

All great info. Makes sense to do the pistol range....

[Tazza]

I mined my range a few times, i used a rake to drag down the loose stuff then sift out the dust, throw in a pot and skim the dross off. It was a lot of work, but the lead was free. I got about 50% recovery rate, i ended up with about 400kg of ingots on the last run, it was a LOT of work though.

[Bashby]

I need to up my game on compiling range scrap while I have a good source. I’ve got 500 lbs or so now and about 75lbs that I’ve made into muffin ingots. One of my goals for this fall and winter.

[frkelly74]

One philosophy on all that lead laying around is that I am borrowing it and will bring it back sooner or later. Or the bank exists for me to make deposits and withdrawals , into and out of. I keep the copper as interest. Once in a while I see one I recognize.

[Anschutz]

Guess I need to get to work before the ranges here are covered in feet of snow. I only have a few muffin ingots left from the last lead I bought.

[Tazza]

This is my setup melting range scrap, i get it burning to burn off the oil and any plastics from shotgun wads. Each ingot is around 4kg, made from angle iron.

267062

The dross is scraped off and dropped into steel buckets to cool before disposal.

One day i need to weigh what i have, it will be a large number.

[P Flados]

I get to do a little mining when visiting a local private range for a match. I scrape a dirt / bullet mix from the base of the berm, sift the dirt out and toss it back up higher on the berm. This way, I am "leaving it better than I found it". Something I learned as a boy scout.

[Tazza]

I get to do a little mining when visiting a local private range for a match. I scrape a dirt / bullet mix from the base of the berm, sift the dirt out and toss it back up higher on the berm. This way, I am "leaving it better than I found it". Something I learned as a boy scout.

Exactly how i did it at my range, i was told i'm free to mine it, but not to damage it. I scraped down the top layer, sifted and threw the dirt back up the berm to make it look as good, if not better than how i found it.

[bob208]

best time to mine a range is right after a heavy rain

[Hanzy4200]

Like mentioned, you want to wait till the berm is pretty laden. I wait until we have had a good dry spell. The dirt, from being shot so much, is basically like talcum powder. I then use a $.98 colander with widened holes to remove most dirt. Put them in buckets that have holes drilled in the bottoms. Spray them down good with the hose, and Im done. I can usually pull about 300 lbs by myself in maybe 1.5 hours. Usual clean up ratio, for me, is about 75%.

[Wild Bill 7]

Our range has been remodeled and almost ready for members to use. Before this happened the berms were nothing but a sheet of lead. Before we had a company come in and mine the lead. I made a concerted effort to mine the berms and was able to mine 13 five gallon buckets of scrap plus. And I always left the berms better than I found them. At my age I have plenty and don’t have to worry about running out. HaHa.

[Rich/WIS]

When I lived in WI our range had sand berms and were easy to mine. A wood frame with 1/4 in hardware cloth, a small shovel, and a lot of 5 gal pails and you were in business. Seemed like most lead was 6-8 inches deep and, since the berms had been in use for years, was in a layer about 4 inches thick. Probably mined far in excess of a ton AFTER smelting. Rate of return was about 70% and since it was a mix ran 10-11 Bhn. Moved a few years ago but, even after a lot of shooting and giving several hundred pounds away, still have over 400# left. Given my age and how much shooting I do now that, plus about 500# of WW, Lino etc, will see me through.