Went lead mining today...

[dunkel]

So me and my dad went out today to shoot his black powder rifles. Very fun stuff. One is a Thompson Center .50 cal and the other is a London Armory .58 cal musket. I just bought balls and minie balls, but he does have the molds, so I'll try casting some of them when I get a chance.

Anyway, it was a public, outdoor range with a big berm at the end. After it closed up, I thought maybe I'd go poking around the berm and see what I could come up with. I think I made out ok, but I'm not really sure what to do with my haul.

See, most of what I found was jacketed bullets. I did score a bunch of what appeared to be just cast boolits, and those should be easy enough to work with, but just not sure what to do with the jacketed ones. If I try melting them, will the jackets just come off?

Thanks for any tips.

[jmsj]

dunkel,
If the jacketed bullets are totally encased it is good to break or cut the jacket to allow the lead to leak out. If they are open on the bottom they'll be ok.
On my smelting set up I use a heavy lid just in case I miss one to protect me from "squirters".
The jackets can be skimmed off just like the clips from wheel weights. Some people save them and take the old jackets to the scrapyard.
Good luck, jmsj

[dunkel]

That's what I was looking for, thanks. Was hoping I didn't waste my time picking them all up.

Most of them appear to be open on the bottom, or at least deformed enough that the lead core is exposed.

[leadchunker]

Yeah the heavy lid is a good idea.

[lwknight]

Most FMJs are open based. The few TMJs were not even worth separating and smacking with a hammer. Just toss them in the jacket pile for extra $$ in copper scrap.

[JIMinPHX]

If I'm smelting TMJ bullets, I first dump them on a concrete floor & have at them with a lump hammer to split the cases. You don't need a big split, but you do need to break the case open somewhere so that the lead can run out when it melts. the brass will float on top.