Bought my first range scrap lead today

[mlarkin_09]

I drove a couple hours to the closest indoor range in my area. And picked up 500# of range lead that was shoveled out of the traps. The lead was very ground up with no pieces any bigger than a pea and lots of copper jackets.
This is the first time I have ever tried melting down INDOOR range lead. I have mined local out door ranges for lead a few times.

As I melted down the first bucket of 100lb I noticed a lot of what appeared to be dirt. It was dark brown to black in color. Since this is an indoor range I can’t imagine it being dirt so what could it be? Lead oxide?

The 100 lb bucket ended up having about 10 lbs of this fine powder.

Also a couple times during fluxing I noticed a yellow smoke mixed in with the regular white smoke from the paraffin wax I use for flux. It also left a yellow dust on my dipper.
Needless to say I stepped away from my pot when this happened, as I had no idea what it could have been.

[clodhopper]

I get a lot of black (dirt) when melting indoor range scrap. I do not know what it is but wondered if us shooters really track in that much.
When the floor gets swept they sweep from the ready area to the back stop.
The range management has been sellin it on a yeild basis. If I take home 100 lbs @ 20 cents per and get 72 lbs of ingots the next bucket ful cost less.
It is an honor system and I do not know how long it will last.

[44fanatic]

I just finished smelting 590lbs of "clean" indoor range scrap from the Sheriff's department. All jacketed bullets, mostly American made. I had allot of the brown/black dirt. I assum it was part of the jackets. Was heavier than an equivalent amount of dirt.

[fryboy]

umm i'm going to guess frangible bullet material ( but as i said thaz just a guess but a plausible guess -ie;sintered iron or something)

[seetrout]

Powder residue?

[sagacious]

Since this is an indoor range I can’t imagine it being dirt so what could it be? Lead oxide?
Lots of powder residue and unburned powder, and dust, paint chips and/or grase from greased steel backstops, moly/graphite residue from 22's, tiny flakes of copper/brass jacket material from 22's and other plated jackets, pulverized lead with a surface oxide coating that makes it hard to reclaim, lead and other metal oxides. It all adds up indoors. "Dirt" pretty well covers it. There's often a lot of it in indoor range scrap.


Also a couple times during fluxing I noticed a yellow smoke mixed in with the regular white smoke from the paraffin wax I use for flux. It also left a yellow dust on my dipper.
Where are all the chemistry gurus? I have seen that yellow smoke when melting range scrap. The yellow residue is an antimony compound, likely SbSO4 and/or similar compounds. You usually only see it on indoor range scrap as indoor scrap contains a lot of pulverized lead. The increase in surface area on the lead dust results in much more pulverized metallic oxides, sulfates, carbonates, ect, and it's dust form increases it's reactivity. Some antimony compounds are very volatile, so you see them as yellow smoke or a powdery yellow residue. So, now ya know!

Good luck, and good shooting.

[Whistler]

Same here, but the range I got mine from was strictly .22LR and air pellets.
If you skim the dust away and put it in a cooking pot, and then turn the pot upside down in a waste bin the whole thing will burst into flames. Scared the big Jesus out of me the first time, now I just enjoy the colours. :)

It cloggs my bottom pour pretty bad, but it was free lead... Or at least it was; when they realized I didn't just take one bucket, but one bucket every time I came there they thought they could profit on it. They labeled the large bin "$1/lb" and now no one has taken (or bought) any lead for the rest of the season.

[gerrycan]

The range-scrap I pick up at a pistol club is mostly commercial cast and seems to contain a lot of tin and is great for casting boolits.Gerry.

[zomby woof]

I get the same stuff from our indoor range. I figured it was old lube. I skim and move on.