Range Lead

[snuffy]

Well, yesterday was a banner day for the recycling of scrap lead! I belong to a private gun club that has a 50 foot indoor range. The bullet trap is a simple angled steel plate with sand to stop the bullets. The steel plate has been resurfaced several times in the past 50 years, but is now beyond repair. The trap hadn't been "mined" for at least 15 years! The lead tends to concentrate in the bottom corner, with shards in front of that. The resulting "logs" in that corner get wedged in there real tight.

A crew of 4 kids,(anybody younger than 30 Y.O. gets called a kid by this oldefarte), and 3 elders, went up to take that lead. The back bumper of a ½ ton pickumup truck was a foot lower than when it arrived at the clubhouse. The back of my Saturn vue had 8 5 gallon pails as full as could be lifted into it. We left approx 500 # of it up there! It certainly drove heavy coming home. I estimate we got 1500# home with at least 1000# left to be mined.

The majority of this lead is very soft, being jacketed bullet cores and .22 rimfire bullets. So I plan on alloying this with linotype to be used for my handgun boolits.

The smelting will take place in about a month, or whenever this WI. winter ceases.

[Ole]

Nice score. :drinks:

[R.M.]

The stuff I get from our indoor range (mostly Bullseye) averages around 12 bhn
I actually cut it with pure to get it down to 10 for bullseye pistol bullets.

[snuffy]

This is from a private indoor range at my gunclub. It hadn't been mined for at least 15 years.

http://photos.imageevent.com/jptowns/arrow/websize/P4110001.JPG

This is the result of about 30 hours of (S)melting the range lead. We did another 8 hours today.

http://photos.imageevent.com/jptowns/arrow/websize/P4110004.JPG

This is some of it, screened from the sand trap under the deflection plate.

http://photos.imageevent.com/jptowns/arrow/websize/P4110005.JPG

Some more, the stick or log is from the bottom, furthest back of the deflector plate where it meets the sand. Some of the bullets slide down the plate, get jammed into the corner.

http://photos.imageevent.com/jptowns/arrow/websize/P4110006.JPG

Using a skill saw to cut some of the logs so we could get them in the pot.

http://photos.imageevent.com/jptowns/arrow/websize/P4110009.JPG

Here they're getting warmed up.

http://photos.imageevent.com/jptowns/arrow/websize/P4110007.JPG

Final skimming after final fluxing. We were using big no-drip candles for flux. It's ready to start pouring.

[snuffy]

http://photos.imageevent.com/jptowns/arrow/websize/P4110013.JPG

Pouring some muffin tin ingots. We're using a Rowell #3 bottom pour ladle here. It's the biggest you can handle with one hand. Capacity is 5#, working capacity 4.5 lbs.

http://photos.imageevent.com/jptowns/arrow/websize/P4110020.JPG

Here, my partner is using a Rowell #4 ladle. As can be seen, it takes two hands. Capacity is 6.5 lbs, working capacity is 6#.


http://photos.imageevent.com/jptowns/arrow/websize/P4110010.JPG


Saturn loaded up ready to go home, destination "casting pot"!

The majority of the lead in the first pic in the post above is right around 12 BHN. Today we were melting some lead from the range where ONLY 22 rimfire is fired. That lead is softer, I don't have a BHN reading for it. I'm expecting from 8-10 BHN.

The 12 BHN lead will be fine by itself for 45, 40, 9mm, and 38's. I'll try to water drop some to see if it'll harden without the need to add antimony/tin.

We have well over 1,000 pounds melted, with half the range lead left to do. I'm considering a second turkey fryer and pot, keeping both going should cut the time. BTW, that fryer will melt a full pot like that in about 25 minutes. I leave about 1" of lead in the bottom before putting more cold stuff in there. First melt of the day takes about 35 minutes, it has to warm the whole shebang up.

[Dennis Eugene]

Nice, Score and some very nice pics. I love that first one of the muffins and ingots. i have a pretty good stash and I'm still jealous. Dennis

[Tristan]

That is some serious effort, well rewarded!

[warriorsociologist]

Hey Snuffy,
If you ever need to unload some of that (or need an extra hand in helping to remove/smelt it), give me a call! Heck, if you're ever over in my parts, give me a call anyway and we'll head out to our range & perhaps a sit a spell afterwards.
- Chris (in Sheboygan)