Smelting range scrap today, live round went off

[zomby woof]

My bucket of indoor range scrap had it's usual **** mixed in, brass, sweepings jackets and.....must have been a 22 that got dropped on the floor. POP, as soon as I dumped additional scrap into the melt. quite a bit of molten lead was splashed out of my pot. Wear your safety equipment!!!!

This bucket had 23% waste, the best one so far.

[deltaenterprizes]

That is why you always start with a cold pot, I hope you learned your lesson and don't do it again.

[lwknight]

Just put on goggles and stand back, let er blow, git er done.

[GP100man]

Glad no 1 was burned !!!

[Springfield]

I've had primers go off in my casting pot, now I never put sweepings into a hot pot without looking at it REAL well. Plus I moved my pot further from my reloading area.

[mpmarty]

All my reloading is done up at my house in an attached three car garage, heated and well lit.

All my smelting and casting is done at my shop a quarter of a mile down the mountain from my house. I won't smelt or cast in the garage up at the house and don't reload down at the shop.

The shop has a covered "carport" 60' x 14' built on one side and wired for 110 / 220 and the carport area is where all smelting and casting is done. It gets a bit cool in winter but there is plenty of air circulation as it is open on the two ends. I closed in the side away from the shop with large windows and plywood paneling and even have a firing port in the wall so I can shoot down my 50 yard range in bad weather.

Beware the tinsel fairy!

[mold maker]

I had that happen to me once. Since then I tumble the range scrap in a cement mixer to get it reasonably clean, than I really sort through it. (lots less dross and dirt)
That was one heck of a surprise. I later found the .40 Lawman round with a very lite primer dent.
Starting with a cold pot will protect you from a steam explosion, but it won't stop a live round from popping.
I always melt with a heavy lid in place, until its time to flux.

[Shiloh]

You need to look them over.

I check my screen before I dump into a 2.5 gal galvanized bucket. I have found four live rounds in a bit over three years. All 9mm.

My only explanation is that some folks think it would be cool to shoot a primer.
They miss, it gets buried, or thrown a distance and lost.

Shiloh

[jack19512]

Hate to admit it but same thing happened to me. I do all of my smelting outdoors but still had a heck of a lot of lead to clean up off my front porch. I don't know how I didn't get hit with any lead as I was standing close by. Mine was a 9mm round, somehow the case was still in the pot. This happened to me when I first started casting. I am much more careful now.

[monadnock#5]

When I first started rendering range scrap, I'd melt some, add some, etc. I found that it wasn't an efficient method. No KB's though thankfully. I found that what gets it done the quickest and the cleanest is to toss 4 or 5 WW's in the bottom of the pot, dump in range scrap until half full, and then cover it with an aluminum mess kit dish to hold the heat. After reading this thread, I'll find a weighty piece of something to hold the cover down. My concern up to now has been .22's. A 9mm or a .40 hadn't been considered. Thanks for the heads up!

[JIMinPHX]

That is why you always start with a cold pot, I hope you learned your lesson and don't do it again.

How would that help protect against a live round in the mix? Starting with a cold pot protects against water in the mix, but that's it, as far as I know.

[20nickels]

My bucket of indoor range scrap had it's usual **** mixed in, brass, sweepings jackets and.....must have been a 22 that got dropped on the floor. POP, as soon as I dumped additional scrap into the melt. quite a bit of molten lead was splashed out of my pot. Wear your safety equipment!!!!

This bucket had 23% waste, the best one so far.

What do you do with the copper rich waste?

[zomby woof]

What do you do with the copper rich waste?

I've been tossing it. I'll be giving this batch, along with 50lbs of clips, to a friend to scrap.

[Shiloh]

How would that help protect against a live round in the mix? Starting with a cold pot protects against water in the mix, but that's it, as far as I know.

Beats me.

When a round of live ammo get up to temp it'll cook-off. If you start with a cold pot, it'll just take longer. The possible advantage is if it cooks off at the beginning, there'll be a lot less molten metal to be violently displaced.

Shiloh

[imashooter2]

I always turn my buckets out into a wheelbarrow and load the pot with that garden shovel. It gives me one last chance to look over the scrap for dud .22s and if I should miss one, at least I'm not standing right over the pot.

http://home.comcast.net/~imashooter2/pictures/scrap600.jpg

[ghh3rd]

I used to mine lead at a Police range I frequented to make fish sinkers. I worried that a live round could get into the mix and always checked the 'mess' as best I could. I did find one once, and wondered how it got all of the way out there. Then I found out a couple of years later when I saw someone toss a couple of "duds" out toward the berm!

Randy