I can pull a lot of lead out of the berms at our local range. It's right on the surface, or just an inch or two into the soft dirt. Tens of thousands of rounds.
Goal is to cast 200-gr .45 RNFP and 125-gr .38 RNFP for Cowboy Action SA revolvers and 1873 Winchesters, then powder coat.
For powder-coated bullets moving at 450 FPS, over light Trail Boss loads, does the lead really need to be that hard?
Would simple range scrap be okay?
Admittedly, a goodly amount of lead in them thar hills is jacketed, but just looking at what I pull out by hand, quite a bit is cast, meaning it was probably harder to start with.
How hard were original 1873 bullets for a Colt or Winchester? How hard do slow, coated bullets need to be?