I just bought a hundred pounds of "range lead" from a local indoor pistol range and it seems like most of the metal is in the form of lead dust.
I bought a cast iron pot and propane turkey fryer to smelt it. The lead is in 5 gallon buckets all sealed up to ensure no dust gets loose until I'm ready to smelt it.
Has anyone else done this regularly and is it worth it? In the past, I have scrounged lead from wheel weights, sheet lead, isotope containers and most often reclaimed shot from the trap and skeet club I was a member of but have since moved.
I have done the whole fluxing, scooping and ingot making in the past, but since most of the lead was pretty clean, I simply did it in my Lee 4-20 bottom pour pot and came out none the worst for wear by doing it. I got the new equipment because this may not be as clean although the lead does not have rubber pieces embedded in it and there is no other contamination due to it being in an indoor setting.
Of course I'll be doing this in my backyard over a hard surface with all the heat and breathing protective gear (been casting over a decade) and doing everything needed to avoid the tinsel fairy and ladling the lead into ingot molds and scooping the jackets out.
Right now, the last chance I had of buying reclaimed shot was $1.40/#, new shot is over $2.40/# and this stuff was $1/#. I know I'll get less lead than 100# but so long as it's more than 50 pounds worth, it's about as good as I can get.