Gentlemen,
I have always been of the opinion that dirt/trash and so on would normally float on the melt to be skimmed off and disposed of. Such is not the case, or at least in my experience.
True, a large amount of junk/trash/dirt/etc does float after fluxing and is skimmed off. What is confounding me and my bullet making is that with a bottom pour pot, such as I use, the melt accumulates a large (relatively) amount of crud/dirt on the bottom that quickly clogs the spout. This residue can also solidify to the point where a pick or wire will not clean it. Even once cleaned, it quickly clogs again.
My question is simple, even with fluxing well using a copious amount of sawdust, where does this "dirt" come from and how can one remove it from the melt? Skimming is not a completely viable option since it seems to be in the form of a fine black dust. The source of the range scrap is a local police indoor range and often contains shotgun wads as well as what appears to be slugs deformed against the steel backstop. Could this "dust" be from shotgun pellets? If so, can it be reclaimed as melted lead? (wads and paper/trash and so on are removed before melting)
I might add, the range is "supposed" to be used for pistol practice only but we all know how that goes, specially on unsupervised ranges. I am specially vigilant for loaded rounds that "find their way downrange".
Jerry
Carolina Cast Bullets