Buying Range Scrap

[justindad]

If I buy 50lb of range scrap from one of the sellers here, should I expect inclusions in my boolits from the dirt berms? Any other draw backs to typical range scrap?

[G W Wade]

Dirt should be removed during smelting when fluxing GW

[Huskerguy]

There are many variables in working with "range scrap." It sounds like it is from an outside range? Then it depends on how much dirt comes with the bullets.

I have salvaged hundreds of pounds of range scrap from an indoor range. The bullets are rarely whole, often the jackets are gone as well. However, I do occasionally recover jacketed bullets intact. Also in an indoor range, I find all sorts of particulates and other garbage to the tune of recovering about 65% +/- of the total lead.

What few times I have claimed lead from a berm, I liked the bullets being in tact whereas the indoor range tends to pulverize the bullet.

All that to say, it depends on how well they clean it up. If they scoop it up and hose it off, that would be great but I would be surprised.

[Winger Ed.]

As you melt it, stir and flux, the dirt and everything else wants to float up almost as quickly as a styrofoam cup does in water.

With the unknowns of range scrap- bring the temp up slowly.
If there are any Zinc boolits in there, they'll float up without melting also.
If you get the pot hot enough that the Zinc melts in, you'll probably ruin the batch.

I've already run into a few with the range scrap I scrounge.
As Lead dries up, you'll be seeing more and more of them as people switch over to casting with Zinc wheel weights.

[bangerjim]

Range lead is good stuff...........as long as you clean & flux 3X VERY WELL during your re-melting sessions. You should NEVER have inclusions of ANYTHING in your castings!

Watch the temps as said. You do not know what could be in there. Up to 5% Zn will not harm your re-melt. I have done extensive testing and proved it. Boolits are a teeny bit lighter is all.

[kevin c]

When I mined the berms, the lead went through three meltings. The first time to get rid of jackets, rock, dirt, etc. Lots of stuff got taken off the top of the melt, with repeated scraping of the sides of the pot and repeated wax and sawdust fluxing and reducing getting most foreign material out of the storage ingots. The second time was combining various ingots into casting alloys, again with scraping, sawdust and wax (but fewer times). The last melt was in the casting pot, where I’d scrape again and occasionally might add beeswax to reduce the top of the melt.

I very rarely see inclusions unless I get lazy and skip the cleaning steps.

[Sasquatch-1]

If this is actually scrap in the form of shot bullets, do as mentioned previously. If it is in ingot form, I would flux one more time while getting ready to cast.

I have used range scrap from an outside berm for years and have about 1200 lbs. stashed away. As long as it is cleaned well there shouldn't be a problem.

[BJung]

Expect to discard slag and jacket material when you cast ingots. I cast my lead into ingots first using my lead furnace and then let those ingots sit in my garage for few months so the lead hardness stabilizes. I then separate my ingots by hardness. The hardest ingots are used for my 40 S&W, the middle range is for my 9mm, and the softest lead is used for my .38 and .45 loads.

[NyFirefighter357]

If I buy 50lb of range scrap from one of the sellers here, should I expect inclusions in my boolits from the dirt berms? Any other draw backs to typical range scrap?

Is this already melted into ingots?

[justindad]

Is this already melted into ingots?

Yes.

[triggerhappy243]

If I buy 50lb of range scrap from one of the sellers here, should I expect inclusions in my boolits from the dirt berms? Any other draw backs to typical range scrap?

I have not offered my lead for sale in a few years, because i am remodeling my house. But the range scrap I do process for sale, is triple fluxed using sawdust, wax, and transmission fluid. My clean alloy is guaranteed to be crud free. any and all dirt floats to the surface and is skimmed off.

[bangerjim]

Most seasoned re-melters and casters on here know very well how to treat range scrap. Before ever purchasing, ask them how they melted and ingotized it....have them list ALL the steps!

Look at their number posts. If only a few, I would be leery, as they could be unexperienced in treating range scrap.

And look back on their other sales and read the feedback from purchasers.

There are a bunch of good honest people on here. The few that are not, generally are gone in a VERY short time!

[justindad]

I have not offered my lead for sale in a few years, because i am remodeling my house. But the range scrap I do process for sale, is triple fluxed using sawdust, wax, and transmission fluid. My clean alloy is guaranteed to be crud free. any and all dirt floats to the surface and is skimmed off.

What does the transmission fluid do?

[triggerhappy243]

What does the transmission fluid do?

it is just another carbon based product to use as a flux.

[bangerjim]

What does the transmission fluid do?

You do realize most anything that is carbon-based will act as a flux. Nothing magical about it at all.

[Charlie Horse]

Good thing those are already ingots. Raw range scrap is full of dust; I do not want to breathe lead dust.

[Hanzy4200]

I typically get around 75% return from "straight from the berm" bullets. Cleaned up I would say it's closer to 80%. Dirt, jackets, rocks, and oxidized lead take a good chunk out.

[fredj338]

I typically get around 75% return from "straight from the berm" bullets. Cleaned up I would say it's closer to 80%. Dirt, jackets, rocks, and oxidized lead take a good chunk out.

Pretty hard to get 80% from range scrap. The big bullets will give you close to that but if there are a lot of small dia bullets, well below 75% if jacketed. When I berm mine I toss the small caliber jacketed stuff out, just stick to all lead for those. If you only collect lead bullets, your return can be as high as 90%.

[GregLaROCHE]

Are you talking about range scrap that has already been processed into ingots or range scrap that’s right out of the berm ? If you have to turn it into ingots yourself, you will loose a lot of weight and have the cost of whatever you use as a heat source.

[Sasquatch-1]

Are you talking about range scrap that has already been processed into ingots or range scrap that’s right out of the berm ? If you have to turn it into ingots yourself, you will loose a lot of weight and have the cost of whatever you use as a heat source.

I agree you will have a lot of "non-lead" that you pull out of the pot, but a lot of that will be brass or copper and is worth good money. More than enough to pay for propane.