range lead question

[delmar]

I have been picking up lead under the plate targets every time I go to the range. There is a lot there I haven't picket up but it sort of takes a lot of time picking it up a chunk at a time. There is also a lot of lead dust and small fragments on the steel tables that the plate targets are mounted between. That stuff can be swept up really quickly but it has a lot of junk and dirt in it. I'm guessing it i half junk by volume. Is that stuff worth messing with?

[docone31]

Heck yeah,
Keep at it. You will have a bunch in no time.
Keep collecting.

[clodhopper]

Scoop some up. melt it and make your own decision.
I read here much about how others mine range lead. Useing a screen or shovel.
After trying diffrent methods, I just pick up nuggets.
There is lots of gravel and chips of clay birds on the berms at my range.
I end up picking through the screens because I do not want to burn the clay birds or haul the gravel.
I keep a bucket in my car and each time I check my target bring back a drink cup of bullets.
Sometimes I back the car up to the berm turn the raido on to Beck or Limbaugh and get serious about picking nuggets.
This works well at my range because the wind blows dirt away from the bullets.
You just have to find out what works at your lead mine.

[delmar]

Heck yeah,
Keep at it. You will have a bunch in no time.
Keep collecting.

I can have a bunch as soon as I take the time to pick it all up. I have never seen anyone but me picking up lead there. It's just sort of time consuming picking it out of the dirt. I'm sort of fat and out of shape so bending over for real long is not that much fun. I was thinking of just laying on the ground tonight but I won't do it that way in front of people.

[thenaaks]

free lead is worth it! i just picked up 8 lbs of range scrap this morning. took about 5 minutes at the base of the berm...just picked up what was on top of the ground. several 12ga slugs...woohoo

[squirrellnuttz]

Do you guys pick up whole or parts of jacketed bullets? or is that worthwhile, i.e. do you get much quality lead from the cores? enough to justify the jacket mess when melting down?

I'm just thinking with the amount of milsurp euro stuff (steel jacket/copper wash, lead core) that i see laying around,. Or do you primarily pick up lead fragments/ cast bullets?

[lwknight]

Where I go , times when no one else is at the range is rare so I just scoop up all of it and go.
I do get a lot of jackets and crud but, its worth it not to spend time sorting. The molten lead sorts it out just fine.

[delmar]

I think next time I go I'm going to take a small rake and a shovel and see how quickly I can get a bucket full. Then I can sit in the shade at home and pick out the pieces.

[reddhawkk]

I carry an empty plastic instant coffee container in my truck at all times just for picking up range lead. If no one is at the range it takes no time at all to fill it, but that does not happen often. Oh, I only pick up lead, no jacketed bullets, no real reason why though.

[DukeInFlorida]

Make yourself a small frame (wood), and cover it with Hardware Cloth (1/4" squares). Makes an excellent sifter for getting the sand out. You'll have to pick the rocks out later, but this will speed up lead recovery. Make the frame small enough so that it's easy to transport, and sift with.

I envy you guys with the ability to mine the range lead. My club, with it's bulldozed berms, won't allow mining the berms (causes damage to the berm, they say).

Lots of ideas here:
http://mcrocks.com/ftr07/BrantleySifterPage.html

http://mcrocks.com/ftr07/BrantleyScreen-1.jpg

[imashooter2]

I think next time I go I'm going to take a small rake and a shovel and see how quickly I can get a bucket full. Then I can sit in the shade at home and pick out the pieces.

Speaking as a fellow fat man, turn the buckets out into a wheelbarrow for convenience. Personally, I use the skimmer in my smelting pot to do the picking.

[WHITETAIL]

I just put the range scrap on my black top driveway.
Then use the hose on it.
Then let it dry in the sun.
When it is dry, just shovel it in to a bucket
and leave the lid off.:lovebooli

[willk]

Don't forget match grade bullets as well. They won't distruct when they hit the berm. With the small hollow point, the lead will not come out. However, when I am smelting, I grab em, put em in a vice and wack with a hammer. They break in half with plenty of lead exposed. Place them in the smelting pot and the lead melts right out.

[gunsablazin]

I've smelted almost 70 lbs. of range trash in the past two weeks, free lead is hard to beat! I mix in about 10% lino type metal and hope to start casting boolits with it in a week or so.

[fredj338]

Do you guys pick up whole or parts of jacketed bullets? or is that worthwhile, i.e. do you get much quality lead from the cores? enough to justify the jacket mess when melting down?

I'm just thinking with the amount of milsurp euro stuff (steel jacket/copper wash, lead core) that i see laying around,. Or do you primarily pick up lead fragments/ cast bullets?

It depends. A 230grFMJ/45 core weighs about 200gr. Those I pick up, the smaller jacketed I leave for the other scroungers.:lol: Sometimes I cherry pick & sometimes I use a sifter. Just shovel the dirt back into the berm & it shouldn't any damage to it.

[hoosierlogger]

Do you guys pick up whole or parts of jacketed bullets? or is that worthwhile, i.e. do you get much quality lead from the cores? enough to justify the jacket mess when melting down?

I'm just thinking with the amount of milsurp euro stuff (steel jacket/copper wash, lead core) that i see laying around,. Or do you primarily pick up lead fragments/ cast bullets?

If you dont have to pay for it it is worth picking up.

[clodhopper]

Do you guys pick up whole or parts of jacketed bullets? or is that worthwhile, i.e. do you get much quality lead from the cores? enough to justify the jacket mess when melting down?

I'm just thinking with the amount of milsurp euro stuff (steel jacket/copper wash, lead core) that i see laying around,. Or do you primarily pick up lead fragments/ cast bullets?

With the smaller jacketed bullets I wonder if it's worth the trouble. for the lead,
it's sure not worth it for the jackets.
I screen the jackets as they come out of the pot, then drag a magnet through them and sell them to the scrap yard.
Once I got copper price for them, 2 1/2 bucks a pound but usually only get dirty brass price 37 cents# last trip. Those the magnet leave behind are mostly gilding metal (brass)
I still get copper price for solid copper bullets like barnes and some big copper shotgun slugs.

[Nose Dive]

Go for it! Free lead is, well, a small investment.

Go slow on the smelt...fill the pot cold...slowly come to temperature to cook off the water.

Don't add 'cold range lead' to the hot pot. You could be adding water to the molten lead and
this is a VERY BAD thang to have happen. The water turns to steam and KABOOM...the pot blows up. Not good. Go slow and you'll have your self several pounds of good materail.

Once all is safely melted, don't get lazy... be carefull when you sir the pot... the first couple of strokes can still provide you with a very entertaining fire ball.... Go slow on heat up. Don't add cold stuff to the hot pot and where appropriate safety gear..you should be fine.

Free lead. Where did you say this was?

[zuke]

I just got a call from a friend. He told me he's got permission to mine an indoor range.
It's a rimfire and pistol range and as far as I know, no one else has ever done it.
I need to make up a sifter,bring a lotta bucket's, a shovel and a rake and a dolly to move the loaded bucket's.
Did I miss anything?

[obssd1958]

zuke,
You'll both need some sort of respirator, or at least VERY well fitted particle masks. I've done indoor ranges before, and you will be dealing with a lot of dust!
The first time, I just used a particle mask. After seeing how black my face was when I was done, I went out and bought a respirator from harbor freight. It fits better (blocking all around my mouth and nose), and it stops finer particles. I figured $50 was cheap insurance for my health!!

Don

[Ziptar]

I just got a call from a friend. He told me he's got permission to mine an indoor range.
It's a rimfire and pistol range and as far as I know, no one else has ever done it.
I need to make up a sifter,bring a lotta bucket's, a shovel and a rake and a dolly to move the loaded bucket's.
Did I miss anything?


Yesterday I was part of a group that volunteered to help clean up an indoor range. In exchange we got to keep the lead, mostly .22 rim fire. It was a first time for me.

The Facility provided everything we needed, based on that I would say at a minimum you need:

Tools:
5 Gallon Plastic Buckets with Lids (Lots of them)
Rubber Mallet (for putting lids on buckets)
Small Flat Nosed Shovel
Push Broom & Dust Pan
Small Rake
Even smaller Garden / Hand Rake
Hand Truck and a rubber bungie cord (with three buckets on a hand truck a bungie on the top bucket was a big help.)
Box of trash bags (~20 or so, depending on the number of traps and how they are setup)

Safety Gear:
Respirator
Safety Glasses
Disposable Cover-alls (We were given Tyvek Cover-alls)
Heavy Rubber Gloves
Shoe Covers

All the safety gear might seem like overkill but, after having done it this time, I would never do it again without it. Even with the ventilation on full, ~8 guys cleaning 15 traps that had a couple of years worth of lead along with target shreds, backing board, sand, etc kicked up quite a bit of dust.

The trash bags were needed for the "fluff" all of the stuff that wasn't lead that had also built up mostly from the backing board behind the traps. There were quite a few, it was all swept up and set aside for disposal. Being that the lead content was probably high, it was going to be disposed by the facility with the requisite haz-mat type disposal. Keep that in mind as you plan. The "fluff separated from the lead for the most part as the traps were raked.

I wouldn't recommend you sift indoors. I'd save it for after the fact and do it outside and wear a respirator, if you don't have one then wet it down a bit first.

The work went really fast because the gentleman that set it all up made up wooden chutes that hung on the base of the traps so all we had to do was rake into the chutes and it was all funneled into the buckets. We had planned on 2-3 hours and it was all over and everyone was done and cars / pickups loaded with buckets in ~1.5 hours. The chutes were a big time / labor savor. If you can get a chance to look at the traps and take some measurements before hand, see if you can build a chute or two, it will be worth the time. If not, add a small garden shovel / trowel to your list.


I am not exactly sure when the last time the traps were cleaned out, maybe ~2-3 years. In the end the 15 traps yielded ~40 1/2 to 3/4 filled 5 gallon pails. I brought home 6 pails for a total of ~450 lbs of range scrap myself. Not sure how many traps you are cleaning out or how long they've been filling up but if as you say they've never been cleaned out, and there are 6 or more of them, be ready to need allot of buckets.

The attached picture will give you an idea on the chutes and if you look below the traps there are several piles of "fluff".

Hope that helps.

[WILCO]

Oh, I only pick up lead, no jacketed bullets....

Me too! I pass on the jacketed stuff to avoid locked in moisture. Very nasty if it gets into the smelting process.

[Jon]

Me too! I pass on the jacketed stuff to avoid locked in moisture. Very nasty if it gets into the smelting process.

I just make sure I put it in a cold pot, and put a cover on it.

[The10mmKid]

I just got a call from a friend. He told me he's got permission to mine an indoor range.
It's a rimfire and pistol range and as far as I know, no one else has ever done it.
I need to make up a sifter,bring a lotta bucket's, a shovel and a rake and a dolly to move the loaded bucket's.
Did I miss anything?

I'd probably skip the sifter.
Bring a prybar and a heavy hammer. If it's sat as long as you've suggested, the bottom will be heavily compacted . . . . . darn gravity. You'll want to break up the compacted lead and get under it.

We use an air hammer with a 2' chisel.

A gardeners square point shovel works best.

There should be forced ventilation(exhaust) behind the trap, make sure it stays on while your working.

Fill your buckets no more than 1/2-3/4 full. Range lead is way heavier than WW's. The buckets will stack 3-4 high w/o issues.

Prepare to hurt by taking the NSAID of your choice before beginning!

'da Range Cleaning Kid