Range Lead

[tscopeland]

Hi, processed some range lead today (first time ) and there was a lot of dirt/dust in it.
What is this ?
And what are the best parts to take when shoveling this out ?
Thanks

[Feral American]

What is it? It's dirt, and dust.

A sifter, or colander, is your friend, while you're shoveling it out.

If you want it cleaner than that, wash it. Just let it dry in the sun REALLY good before you try to melt it.

In all reality it is one of the dirtiest and labor intensive ways to get lead. There are easier sources, but if that's all you have, you have to deal with the work.

[fredj338]

So for berm lead, i use a wire mesh sieve. Toss all the rocks & crud back into the berm, just take the bullets. I throw away the small jacketed stuff & keep all lead or large caliber jacketed. Toss it all in the melting pot & the crud floats up, skim off. If the berm lead is really dirty, dont be afraid to wash it but just make sure its 100% dry before melting.
I havent berm mined in years. I occasionally pick up splashed lead where the range sets up plate racks, but have gotten most of my lead from a contractor buddy that finds sheet lead in older buildings under remodel. He literally has a ton of it.

[Winger Ed.]

Sift the dirt out, then when it's molten, flux and stir it like the pot owes you money.
It takes a little while, but the dirt & trash wants to float up from being stirred.

Don't bring the temp. up too fast.
Zinc boolits are showing up more and more and can/will contaminate you batch.
They melt at a higher temp, and will float up if the pot isn't too hot.

[SiliconeSword]

I take everything, I use a minnow trap to dry sift and then I use buckets of water at the range to wash the trap full of scrap, saves on propane significantly.

I use a wire mesh fry scoop to shake out the jackets once melted, and then in a different container I scoop out the dirt. Don't throw away the jackets, at my local scrap yard I get paid #2 copper which is like $2.5. I brought in a 44 pound bucket recently, you do the math!!!

[tscopeland]

What is it? It's dirt, and dust.

A sifter, or colander, is your friend, while you're shoveling it out.

If you want it cleaner than that, wash it. Just let it dry in the sun REALLY good before you try to melt it.

In all reality it is one of the dirtiest and labor intensive ways to get lead. There are easier sources, but if that's all you have, you have to deal with the work.

It was 100% indoor range lead. It looked like lead dust but wasn’t melting and floated on top.

[Feral American]

It was 100% indoor range lead. It looked like lead dust but wasn’t melting and floated on top.

Maybe mentioning that in the original post would have been appropriate?

Oxides and small copper bits is my new answer, unless no jacketed ammo is allowed, then just a lot of oxides. What's in the bottom of the trap? Too much guessing going on here.

[GregLaROCHE]

I’m luckily because I get mine from an indoor range with a cement floor and a steel backstop. I learned that sifting it helped a lot. You don’t want the small stuff, even if it’s lead. It takes too much energy to melt it and it mostly gets oxidised and scrapped off the top of your melt. I’d use a 1/4” or larger screen, especially if there’s dirt mixed in with it.

[lightman]

I don't use much range lead but what I did use got dumped out in the drivewat and hosed off. I didn't worry about drying it. I just put in in the smelting pot before I lite the burner. The water cooks off before the head gets molten.

The best range lead I ever had came off of the 50 yard pistol berm. Back when Bullseye was still a popular form of competition wheelweights and type metal was still available and those 45 bullets were great!

[lightman]

I don't use much range lead but what I did use got dumped out in the driveway and hosed off. I didn't worry about drying it I just let it sit in the Sun for a few hours. I would put in in the smelting pot before I lit the burner. Any water cooks off before the head gets molten.

The best range lead I ever had came off of the 50 yard pistol berm. Back when Bullseye was still a popular form of competiion wheelweights and type metal was still available and those 45 bullets were great!

[jsizemore]

I got 3500 lbs of indoor range lead. Brought the temp up slow. When the jackets looked "wet" then I scooped them out and gave it a shake to recover any lead still clinging. Set them on a piece of metal roofing to cool and take to the metal recycler for #2 brass price. XRF test said the ingots were 99% lead. Like Ed said flux and stir and scrape like it owed you money. Before testing I figured there would be some copper in the mix. Not so. No tin. All you can do is render some alloy and get it tested. I was very cautious to check for live ammo since it was an indoor range. The retired marine had eagle eyes that did the clean up every night was right when he said he checked for live ammo and disposed of it. I never found any but still checked every bit that went in the smelting pot. That other 1% was antimony. I add 1% tin when casting with it. Shoots about the same as dental foils.