Range Lead - Uses

[SoonerEd]

I'm about to come into 3,000 lbs of range lead from a friend. My test batch yielded 69% recovery from 109 lbs. I cast some 40 cal bullets to test castability. Which it looks like it will cast bullets if I use a really hot mold. That seemed to be more important than the temperature of the lead, even though the lead needed to be at least 750. The ingots i poured from the range scrap tested 7.4-7.8 48 hours after pouring. I'm know I can mix it with COWW. So that is not my question. My question is what bullets, velocity, pressure would this be good for lead around 7.5 BHN. I load for many calibers in pistol and rifle (over 30). I can either lube or PC the bullets if that might impact an answer. I've PC 200+ 165 grain 40 calibers i would like to test in my 40 S&W pistols. But, can't get a .401 sizing die as everyone is OOS. So I can't try them. In pistol, my low pressure high volume shooting is in 9mm Luger and 45 ACP. To a lesser extent i shoot 38 special and 44 special. Then next is 380 ACP, 9X18. In rifle would 7.5 BHN lead be usable in low velocity rifle such as 45-70 and maybe 30-30 and 35 Remington. If so, what is the velocity or pressure i would try to keep the bullets under? I assume PC might increase the upper velocity or pressure limit? I'm very new at this as I just started casting last November. But, I've got some great mentors in Mississippi and I've read a ton off this sight. Any guidance on what this alloy my be useful for not mixed with other alloy is much appreciated.

[Wilderness]

If your lead is still in the form of recovered bullets you may be able to separate by sight into into what is probably soft and hard or perhaps soft and not so soft. This will increase the range of uses for your acquisition.

"Probably soft" would include .22 RF, round balls, most jacketed bullets or their cores, swaged bullets, and anything with a hollow base including shotgun slugs and minie balls.

Good bets for "hard" are obvious auto pistol designs, gas check bullets, and anything that looks "commercial" including coated bullets. FMJ military bullets may also have high antimony cores (hard) e.g. 10%. You might need to do some research on the types you find.

The third category is "don't know", or "haven't got time to agonise over it", which will usually be intermediate.

At the very least you can get two or more grades of lead out of your mix just by identifying and taking off certain types of bullet, e.g. .22 RF.

[SoonerEd]

It is mostly cores from jacketed bullets. Appears to be very little 22RF. I think that is why there is such a high trash content of 31% with that being copper jackets and lots of dirt/sand. Given the volume and my time separating is not going to be practical.

[Wilderness]

Agree.

You might be surprised at what those jackets are worth.

On a much smaller scale, I use a collander type arrangement to take off the jackets so I don't have to skim them. The jackets go to the scrap dealer along with the accumulated skimmings/dross from my bullet making. Specifically I use a tin with perforated bottom that fits inside the lead pot. When all is melted, I raise and shake the tin, now containing more or less clean jackets, and clean the dirt and dross off the melt as a separate operation.

[Hodagtrapper]

If your lead is still in the form of recovered bullets you may be able to separate by sight into into what is probably soft and hard or perhaps soft and not so soft. This will increase the range of uses for your acquisition.

"Probably soft" would include .22 RF, round balls, most jacketed bullets or their cores, swaged bullets, and anything with a hollow base including shotgun slugs and minie balls.

Good bets for "hard" are obvious auto pistol designs, gas check bullets, and anything that looks "commercial" including coated bullets. FMJ military bullets may also have high antimony cores (hard) e.g. 10%. You might need to do some research on the types you find.

The third category is "don't know", or "haven't got time to agonise over it", which will usually be intermediate.

At the very least you can get two or more grades of lead out of your mix just by identifying and taking off certain types of bullet, e.g. .22 RF.

Thanks for the tutorial on separation of various bullets first before melting.

Chris

[farmbif]

if it were me I'd take the copper jackets sell them to scrap yard, prices are up right now, use the $$ to buy foundry type to mix with your range scrap and then use it in 30-30 and 35 rem. ive never tried using real soft alloy in either of those two but 375win ive shot with soft alloy at about 1200fps

[Wilderness]

Chris - you are very welcome.

I should have added that when the "hard" pile is completing its melt there will be a few diehards floating around on the top still unmelted. These will be the near pure lead ones that should have been in the other pile. Now is the time to fish them out. Pure lead melts at a higher temperature than antimonial lead.

Bill

[ioon44]

I just sold my copper jackets from range scrap for $3.05 per lb, so don't be to quick to call it waste.

[Huskerguy]

I use a lot of indoor range lead. It is pretty broken apart by the time I get it so sorting would not work. Your recovery percentages are on par with what I obtain.

I too attempt to retrieve my jackets where possible. It can take forever and my scrapper doesn't want yellow and copper together or the price goes down to the cheapest material. I just lump it all together and if I get enough for a tank of propane, I am happy. The easiest way to sort them is dump them in a wheel barrow.

I am a little surprised that your lead is that soft. I haven't tested mine but it appears harder than that, maybe not.

If your test is reliable then I would be in the camp of finding some hardball to mix in when it is casting time. That said, I do not make bullets for any rifles and do not push my bullets hard. I do PC everything and never had a leading issue. My barrels are always very clean. Good luck with this, it is a lot of work as you will find out.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

SNIP>>>
I've PC 200+ 165 grain 40 calibers i would like to test in my 40 S&W pistols. But, can't get a .401 sizing die as everyone is OOS. So I can't try them.
Midsouth has the Lee 401 in stock today.


As to your question, 9mm and 40 are high pressure calibers, so I'd want a harder alloy, but 7 Bhn is fine for 38spl, 44spl, and 45acp. Also, slow loads in 45-70, 30-30, and 35 Rem will be fine as well, I'd keep the speed below 1300fps.

AND, since this range scrap is mostly jacketed bullet cores, there might be enough antimony in there to heat treat your boolits, it's worth a try anyway.

[robertbank]

Personally, if you have a good source of WW's I would take your cores from jacketed bullets and mix them 1- 2 with WW alloy and water quench the bullets. They would certainly do well in your 9MM if you size your bullets .357. I shoot about 10K lead alloy bullets per year. Any and all lead bullets I pick up at the range go straight into my casting pot. That would include cores from jacketed bullets. Any plated bullets I pick up I just put aside and take them to the recycler for cash. WW's are getting harder to get now. Canadian Tire locally here switched to zinc WW's. CT was my source of WW's for the past 10 years. I have enough alloy to last me for at least five years which will take to age 81. Mught be a lifetime supply. LOL

Take Care

Bob

[toallmy]

I'd melt it all down & clean it up , getting it in ingot form , then sell the jackets and scrap - purchase some tin for the mix . Then I'd shoot it in everything I shoot cast out of adjusting velocity accordingly .
When you say it really fast it doesn't sound like it's a lot of work:kidding:

[Larry Gibson]

It is mostly cores from jacketed bullets. Appears to be very little 22RF. I think that is why there is such a high trash content of 31% with that being copper jackets and lots of dirt/sand. Given the volume and my time separating is not going to be practical.


That would indicate it is 2-3% antimony and little or no tin. That was what I found with similar content batch of RL before.

I suggest you forgo adding COWWs as that will only exacerbate the antimony content. I would simply add 2% tin to the RL alloy. That should balance the antimony out much better with the tin and will form a submetal SnSb which will stay in solution in the lead, cast much better bullets and increase the BHN on AC'd bullets (after 10 days) to 11-12. If WQ or HT'ed the BHN can increase to 16 - 18 +/-. All in all with the addition of 2% tin it will make an excellent alloy for a large % of cast bullet shooting needs.

[SoonerEd]

I rechecked the lead harness after they had seven days to age harden. The BHN tested between 11.0-11.8. So, that should be good for most target pistol loads.

[Huskerguy]

I rechecked the lead harness after they had seven days to age harden. The BHN tested between 11.0-11.8. So, that should be good for most target pistol loads.

This sounds better and what most people state range lead runs. I thought the first number seemed low. This hardness changing with quenching, air dry, quench after PC and all the options is confusing. Well, at least for this old brain.

[Wilderness]

Folks - a few years back I took my lead dross to the scrap dealer, mainly to avoid contaminating the garbage. I had hoped they would take it and deal with it responsibly. To my surprise they actually bought it, and have continued to do so. Last time they gave me "battery" price.

When my dross has cooled I accumulate it in a large plastic jar. I am mindful of the dangers of dross derived from low maintenance batteries, and have no sure way of knowing if some of my range pickups and "sinker lead" might be battery contaminated. Hence keeping the dross sealed against moisture.

An acquaintance built his own yacht, and bought a lot of lead scrap to cast the keel. When it was all over he took the dross to the scrap yard and got more for it that he had paid for all the lead.

[robertbank]

That would indicate it is 2-3% antimony and little or no tin. That was what I found with similar content batch of RL before.

I suggest you forgo adding COWWs as that will only exacerbate the antimony content. I would simply add 2% tin to the RL alloy. That should balance the antimony out much better with the tin and will form a submetal SnSb which will stay in solution in the lead, cast much better bullets and increase the BHN on AC'd bullets (after 10 days) to 11-12. If WQ or HT'ed the BHN can increase to 16 - 18 +/-. All in all with the addition of 2% tin it will make an excellent alloy for a large % of cast bullet shooting needs.

Or you can just throw WW alloy ingots into a mix of one lb of RL to 2 lbs if WW alloy and water quench them. Note: I just use similar sized mini block of WW& RL. The resulting allow works in 30.06, .303Br, 30-30, 7.62x39 with GC's and a host of pistols calibers from 9MM to 44mag. I would use your suggestion if I was sure i managed the correct amount of tin to come up with exactly 2% tin and it made a real world difference in shooting. From what I can see you are suggesting a more complex method based upon a number assumptions some of which may or may not be true.

None of this has to be approached like you might if you were building a rocket ship.

Take Care

Bob

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I rechecked the lead harness after they had seven days to age harden. The BHN tested between 11.0-11.8. So, that should be good for most target pistol loads.

I have found that boolit alloys where SN and SB are way out of balance, that it does take a couple weeks for hardness to stabilize for consistent measurements. Which does point the where Larry suggests, a alloy with little or no SN and 2 or 3% SB. It will be fine to shoot as is, but adding 2% SN will balance the alloy and make for a better "tougher" alloy.
that's my 2¢

[richhodg66]

Range scrap is all you need for most revolver bullets. With gas checks it'll work in other things as long as you don't get crazy with velocity. I don't do it, but I'm sure the powder coaters will come on here and tell you that you can do anything with it as long as it's colored pretty, they seem to think it's teh solution to every problem since original sin.

I sure wouldn't turn down 3000 lbs of lead regardless of what it was. I have been saving jackets from range salvage, had no idea it was worth that much, but I'll take it to teh scrap yard eventually.

[Bigslug]

SoonerEd, skip to the bottom of the first post in my old thread here: https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?269789-Careful-Analysis-of-Segregated-Range-Scrap-Smelt&highlight=segregated+range+scrap

You've got some good breakdown of what your raw materials will consist of, and can tweak your alchemy from there. My testing of jacket cores came out to 0.3% antimony, and I was getting 8.5 BHN with it. Basically, a low-pressure pistol alloy if used as-is.

Somebody check my math, but if you treat that as pure, and mix it at 8 to 1 with Rotometals Foundry Type, you'll get something pretty close to wheelweights.

[LenH]

The range scrap I get has been testing in the 10+ range for hardness. but there was a quite a bit of cast mixed in with the jacketed stuff. This scrap was from an outdoor range.

[Soundguy]

low bhn, low pressure, low fps

38's.... 45acp... shotgun pellets, buck or slugs.. etc

[Larry Gibson]

Or you can just throw WW alloy ingots into a mix of one lb of RL to 2 lbs if WW alloy and water quench them. Note: I just use similar sized mini block of WW& RL. The resulting allow works in 30.06, .303Br, 30-30, 7.62x39 with GC's and a host of pistols calibers from 9MM to 44mag. I would use your suggestion if I was sure i managed the correct amount of tin to come up with exactly 2% tin and it made a real world difference in shooting. From what I can see you are suggesting a more complex method based upon a number assumptions some of which may or may not be true.

None of this has to be approached like you might if you were building a rocket ship.

Take Care

Bob

That's a pretty good assumption in and of itself. Adding COWW to such RL only adds lead and additional antimony with next to no tin. That only exacerbates the level of antimony. Back in the day when COWWs actually had some tin in them adding COWWs many times worked. Not so much these days though. Adding the 2% tin will make the alloy very similar to COWWs of those days gone by.

How "complex" can adding 2% tin be? Using 10 lbs of range alloy and adding 2% tin is simply adding 3.2 ounces of tin....... Based on my experience of using a lot of range lead from jacketed bullets adding the 2% tin works out extremely well giving bullets that cast quite well at 700 - 725 degrees and have a close to 95/2.5/2.5 content (yes I have had such alloy tested). Such bullets cast of the RL + the 2% tin will perform quite well in all calibers the OP mentions.

[GregLaROCHE]

The hardness of range scrap can vary a lot. With 3000#, be sure you test the ingots before you start casting. Don’t assume they are all going to be the same hardness. Do a test with a small amount, adding some tin to see if their’s any improvement in how they cast. If there are pieces of targets or wood chips mixed in, I don’t worry about trying to remove it. When heated it turns into flux.

[Conditor22]

https://www.rmrbullets.com/shop/rmr-in-house/casting-lead-from-rmr-jacketed-bullet-cores-approximately-12-brinnel-hardness/

Casting Lead from RMR Jacketed Bullet Cores (approximately 10 Brinnel hardness) This lead is 2.5-3% antimony.


**scrapyards pay more for shiny cores what's the best way to clean the cores after "smelting" the lead out???

I found that using BOTH pine sawdust AND wax get more lead out of the jackets.

[Soundguy]

That's a pretty good assumption in and of itself. Adding COWW to such RL only adds lead and additional antimony with next to no tin. That only exacerbates the level of antimony. Back in the day when COWWs actually had some tin in them adding COWWs many times worked. Not so much these days though. Adding the 2% tin will make the alloy very similar to COWWs of those days gone by.

How "complex" can adding 2% tin be? Using 10 lbs of range alloy and adding 2% tin is simply adding 3.2 ounces of tin....... Based on my experience of using a lot of range lead from jacketed bullets adding the 2% tin works out extremely well giving bullets that cast quite well at 700 - 725 degrees and have a close to 95/2.5/2.5 content (yes I have had such alloy tested). Such bullets cast of the RL + the 2% tin will perform quite well in all calibers the OP mentions.

Agreed. Melt & mold temp and some tin have always made more difference to me when casting with ww or range lead.

[GregLaROCHE]

https://www.rmrbullets.com/shop/rmr-in-house/casting-lead-from-rmr-jacketed-bullet-cores-approximately-12-brinnel-hardness/

Casting Lead from RMR Jacketed Bullet Cores (approximately 10 Brinnel hardness) This lead is 2.5-3% antimony.


**scrapyards pay more for shiny cores what's the best way to clean the cores after "smelting" the lead out???

I found that using BOTH pine sawdust AND wax get more lead out of the jackets.

To clean up the cores, I would try putting them in a cement mixer with some water and gravel.

[SoonerEd]

Thanks BigSlug...that was a useful read.

[SoonerEd]

There are lots of clay target fragments from them being shot in the berm as targets. I pick most out as they turn to black goo. Hopefully I can get started in three weeks.

[SoonerEd]

This is the setup my friend has but he burnt up his mixer on 15,000 lbs. I'm going to see if I buy him a new one if we can clean it up at his place with him helping me. He's got some baskets attached to the mixer that help with the cleaning. Not sure how they work as they were on the ground. Maybe I'll get to see them in action.

[Walstr]

Agree.

You might be surprised at what those jackets are worth.

On a much smaller scale, I use a collander type arrangement to take off the jackets so I don't have to skim them. The jackets go to the scrap dealer along with the accumulated skimmings/dross from my bullet making. Specifically I use a tin with perforated bottom that fits inside the lead pot. When all is melted, I raise and shake the tin, now containing more or less clean jackets, and clean the dirt and dross off the melt as a separate operation.

Nice idear, I'll keep that in mind next smelting...

[Walstr]

https://www.rmrbullets.com/shop/rmr-in-house/casting-lead-from-rmr-jacketed-bullet-cores-approximately-12-brinnel-hardness/

Casting Lead from RMR Jacketed Bullet Cores (approximately 10 Brinnel hardness) This lead is 2.5-3% antimony.


**scrapyards pay more for shiny cores what's the best way to clean the cores after "smelting" the lead out???

I found that using BOTH pine sawdust AND wax get more lead out of the jackets.

Very much agree w/pine sawdust; most excellant and cheap flux, + great for smoking the mold on occasion!

[SoonerEd]

To clean up the cores, I would try putting them in a cement mixer with some water and gravel.

The friend that’s giving it to me said if I’d buy a cement mixer he would help me clean it at his property and he keeps the mixer. Also he has 2 five gallon buckets 90% full of reclaimed shot that is mostly 7 1/2 and 8 he said just needs to washed. So depending on how deformed might get 200-250 lbs of shot for close range shooting.

Another friend is building me a 200 lb bottom pour smelter with double jet burners along with 10 angle iron 3 gang molds at 1 1/2 lbs per ingot. So, once I get the lead cleaned I’ll be able to process 200 lbs per batch while running 3 other setups with harbor freight Dutch ovens at 50-70 lbs per batch. So might be able to get it all poured into ingots in one very long day. That will be after summer when it cools down.

[SoonerEd]

I appreciate everyone's input.

[WRideout]

You will have yourself an industrial-size operation when all that equipment gets going. Range Scrap is about all I have been using for the past two or three years. My tire dealer provides free wheel weights, but I am hoarding my COWW, since I have an unlimited supply of free lead from the backstop at my club's pistol range.

I use range lead plus tin for everything I shoot (completely agree with Larry G.). My calibers include 25 auto, 32-20, 38 spl, 357, 9mm Para, 45 ACP and 7.62 Tok. I never had a problem with any of them, and don't know what the hardness of the alloy is. I keep my loads on the mild side. I have had more trouble with alloy being too hard, rather than too soft.

Congrats on a good score of lead.

Wayne

[Garyshome]

Sinkers

[robertbank]

That's a pretty good assumption in and of itself. Adding COWW to such RL only adds lead and additional antimony with next to no tin. That only exacerbates the level of antimony. Back in the day when COWWs actually had some tin in them adding COWWs many times worked. Not so much these days though. Adding the 2% tin will make the alloy very similar to COWWs of those days gone by.

How "complex" can adding 2% tin be? Using 10 lbs of range alloy and adding 2% tin is simply adding 3.2 ounces of tin....... Based on my experience of using a lot of range lead from jacketed bullets adding the 2% tin works out extremely well giving bullets that cast quite well at 700 - 725 degrees and have a close to 95/2.5/2.5 content (yes I have had such alloy tested). Such bullets cast of the RL + the 2% tin will perform quite well in all calibers the OP mentions.

Larry forgive me for asking but what are we trying to achieve here? My WW alloy I assume is the same is what you get in the South. Air cooled it works great in my 38spl, 45acp and 45 Colt. Water quenched they work in my 9MM, .357mag, 44mag and several rifle cartridges with and without GC's depending in caliber. I toss in all my RL bullets and still have some lead from Plated Casings. The lead from FMJ/Plated bullets is to hard for my Remington Percussion balls and bullets so I assume the cores are harder than pure lead. I don't know what WW alloy was like 50 years ago but in the last 30 the weights I get don't seem to have changed noticeably. The bullets that have had my 1-3 mix shoot just as well so in my mind no harm no fall. Leading is not an issue nor is performance. I now get enough pure lead WW from WW stick on to satisfy my Percussion revolver needs and have a lifetime supply of WW alloy. I will note your input and toss a half pound of 50 - 50 solder into the mix. If nothing else the added tin will help with mold fill out.

Take Care

Bob

[fredj338]

I rechecked the lead harness after they had seven days to age harden. The BHN tested between 11.0-11.8. So, that should be good for most target pistol loads.
How are you checking bhn? If you are PC the bullets, even 8bhn will be gtg in 9 or 40 minor, certainly 45acp & 38/44sp. My range scrap,come out about 10bhn. I use it as is for most of my 9 & 40 minor & 45acp, yes i PC.

[Larry Gibson]

Larry forgive me for asking but what are we trying to achieve here? My WW alloy I assume is the same is what you get in the South. Air cooled it works great in my 38spl, 45acp and 45 Colt. Water quenched they work in my 9MM, .357mag, 44mag and several rifle cartridges with and without GC's depending in caliber. I toss in all my RL bullets and still have some lead from Plated Casings. The lead from FMJ/Plated bullets is to hard for my Remington Percussion balls and bullets so I assume the cores are harder than pure lead. I don't know what WW alloy was like 50 years ago but in the last 30 the weights I get don't seem to have changed noticeably. The bullets that have had my 1-3 mix shoot just as well so in my mind no harm no fall. Leading is not an issue nor is performance. I now get enough pure lead WW from WW stick on to satisfy my Percussion revolver needs and have a lifetime supply of WW alloy. I will note your input and toss a half pound of 50 - 50 solder into the mix. If nothing else the added tin will help with mold fill out.

Take Care

Bob

Bob

In his first post SoonerEd basically asked. "I know I can mix it with COWW. So that is not my question. My question is what bullets, velocity, pressure would this be good for lead around 7.5 BHN. I load for many calibers in pistol and rifle (over 30). …………. Any guidance on what this alloy my be useful for not mixed with other alloy is much appreciated."

Then in a subsequent post SoonerEd replied; “It is mostly cores from jacketed bullets.”

Thus I responded with what I would do to answer the question. Yes, I did counter your suggestion but so did SoonerEd in his first post as he seemingly did not wanted another option to adding COWWs when he stated "I know I can mix it with COWW. So that is not my question". That is what I what trying to "achieve".....just tell him what I would do to get an excellent alloy with little effort other than adding COWWs. That's all, no sense getting a wedgie over it. I never said adding COWWs would not give a suitable alloy for the pistol bullets you mention. However notice the OP also referenced "rifle (over 30)" bullets. I simply believe an alloy (95/2.5/2.5), similar to old original COWWs, would do better in that application.

[facetious]

282575

Last year I melted some RS that I had collected over a few years and wile I had use of a friends cooker I mixed in 2% of pewter to get a 160 lb's all the same . I plan to use it in .38/.357 mostly. For fun I cast some LBT 150-OWC's . Half I AC'ed and half I WW'ed . After ageing for a few months I put nose to nose in a big vice and pressed the WW'ed in to the AC'ed . So I know I can harden them .

282577

For fun I had some of the same boolit cast in the late 90's that are from a mix of 5lb's lino a lb. of tin and the rest WW's to make about a 100 lbs. I had WW'ed them so I put one in the vice with a WD'ed RS and pressed it in to the RS. I'm thinking that WW'ed RS mite be close to AC'ed WW's.

The last pic is RS to RS the middle one is the old WW'ed in to the RS WW'ed . didn't come out in the right order.

[AndyC]

**scrapyards pay more for shiny cores what's the best way to clean the cores after "smelting" the lead out???
I found your question interesting so I grabbed some handfuls of my dirty copper jackets and ran them through my inexpensive HF rock-tumbler with hot water, Dawn and a little Lemi-Shine (no steel pins - I don't need that headache) for a half-hour, just as if I was cleaning my brass cases:

Before:
https://i.imgur.com/Opo95lD.jpg

After:
https://i.imgur.com/hzzfzkL.jpg

I'm not sure if the juice is worth the squeeze but I did find that it was now easier to spot any lead, rocks, etc.

[SoonerEd]

You will have yourself an industrial-size operation when all that equipment gets going. Range Scrap is about all I have been using for the past two or three years. My tire dealer provides free wheel weights, but I am hoarding my COWW, since I have an unlimited supply of free lead from the backstop at my club's pistol range.

I use range lead plus tin for everything I shoot (completely agree with Larry G.). My calibers include 25 auto, 32-20, 38 spl, 357, 9mm Para, 45 ACP and 7.62 Tok. I never had a problem with any of them, and don't know what the hardness of the alloy is. I keep my loads on the mild side. I have had more trouble with alloy being too hard, rather than too soft.

Congrats on a good score of lead.

Wayne

What velocities are you running the 357 and 7.62x25 and are you lubing or PC?

Thanks

[SoonerEd]

How are you checking bhn? If you are PC the bullets, even 8bhn will be gtg in 9 or 40 minor, certainly 45acp & 38/44sp. My range scrap,come out about 10bhn. I use it as is for most of my 9 & 40 minor & 45acp, yes i PC.

I'm using a Lee hardness tester and testing an ingot not a bullet.

[SoonerEd]

Got the cement mixer from HF today and took it to my friends house that has the lead. Going to clean as much as I can Saturday. Then it will sit all summer in a hot storage building to drive out moisture.

[Plate plinker]

I just sold my copper jackets from range scrap for $3.05 per lb, so don't be to quick to call it waste.

Wow the OP could have a nice little fund started from the copper i thinks.

[The Dar]

Got the cement mixer from HF today and took it to my friends house that has the lead. Going to clean as much as I can Saturday. Then it will sit all summer in a hot storage building to drive out moisture.

Why bother cleaning it. Dirt will float to the top and it can be skimmed off which you will have to do anyway no matter how well you clean it. I can't see doing the extra work.

[SoonerEd]

Should reduce the weight by around 300-400 lbs. I'll have to move the lead twice, once from where it is to storage and then from storage to where we'll smelt it latter. That's a lot of extra dross to dispose of also and 4-6 fewer smelting batches to process. Plus, I can also look for live rounds while cleaning the lead to minimize how many go off when smelting. I've also got a scraper that will buy the jackets if reasonably clean.

[SoonerEd]

Got about 900 lbs cleaned today. It’s going in the storage building to sit all summer with 100+ temps in the storage building to dry out until I smelt it next February after deer season. Going back tomorrow to hopefully clean another 500-800 lbs.

Steps were
1) scoop into mixer
2) run water and turn on mixer
3) dump muddy water, sand, sticks
4) repeat steps 2&3 one to two more times
5) dump into stainless tray for final rinse and inspection
6) shovel and dump 60-70 lbs in a 5 gallon bucket
7) lay bucket on its side to allow water to drain while repeating the process

Took about 5 hours to do 14 buckets and clean up. Will go faster tomorrow as I have the process worked out. Also the lead is already in 5 gallon buckets. What i did today was just dumped on the ground and had to be shoveled.

282957
282958
282959
282960

[SoonerEd]

Weighed today what was washed yesterday. Under estimated the weight. It was 1,200+. Did another 500 lbs today. Got about 750 lbs left to wash plus about 450 lbs of reclaimed shot to figure out how to clean. So, 1,700 down and 1,200 left. If we don’t go to the French Quarter in New Orleans next weekend I’ll finish it then. Then it sits till the fall / winter to smelt.

I’m tired!

Here is what it looks like after being washed.

283033

[SoonerEd]

Finished up this past weekend. Have a total of about 2,500 lbs of washed range lead to melt down. It will sit until next winter to dry and then it will be melted down, cleaned and poured into ingots.

[robertbank]

Finished up this past weekend. Have a total of about 2,500 lbs of washed range lead to melt down. It will sit until next winter to dry and then it will be melted down, cleaned and poured into ingots.

Well done. You now have enough lead to cast 140,000 125 gr 9MM bullets.

Take Care

Bob

[Soundguy]

now that's alot of bullets!

[SoonerEd]

I already had about 1,500 lbs ow COWW, SOWW, Lino, mono and pure lead I found at a local recycler that I smelted into ingots. So, I should be set for retirement on lead. BTW, washing and moving the range lead to storage was LOTS OF WORK. I'm glad that's over, just got to smelt it now sometime this winter.

[Soundguy]

Can't wait to hear how much you get after smelting.