Lead recycling back stop

[Appalachiannative]

The title says it all. I'm looking to upgrade my home handgun range to make it possible for me to recycle the lead to cast balls for my black powder guns particularly my revolver since wheel weights from the side of the road are aren't pure lead if lead at all anymore. What kind of backstop could I put in that would be easier to dig the lead out of than the natural embankment I currently use? Any thoughts or especially personal experience appreciated

 

[Bwana John]

Snail style steel bullet trap.



Lots of different smaller units on yuotube

 

[Demi-human]

^There you have it.^

It doesn’t have to be super cool hard steel if made correctly and used with the proper calibers. This and a moveable fire pit are on this years welding list.

Ha! I should learn how to weld!

 

[Bazoo]

Sand in a short stack of old tires is the direction I’m looking at. Though I ain’t done it yet.

 

[Appalachiannative]

^There you have it.^

It doesn’t have to be super cool hard steel if made correctly and used with the proper calibers. This and a moveable fire pit are on this years welding list.

Ha! I should learn how to weld!

My thoughts exactly but in the meantime I'd like something simpler to build as I don't know how to weld and all that steel would be expensive

 

[Appalachiannative]

Sand in a short stack of old tires is the direction I’m looking at. Though I ain’t done it yet.

That is a thought I've had too. Sadly I learned that sam's club won't let you keep your old tires when you get a new set or at least that's what they told my wife...

 

[theotherwaldo]

Just about any small tire shop will let you have junk tires that won't hold air.
After all, they have to pay to get rid of them, normally.
These places are also where I go to buy wheel weight lead.

 

[Demi-human]

A pure, massive, and sift-able material is needed.

If only for a small amount of shooting, and if kept perfectly dry, play sand is as good as anything. A replaceable plywood front to keep the sand inside, and staple a target to, and a good long box to catch what may fly into it.
With DRY sand, a five gallon bucket will catch a .308. Just make one sideways.
And bigger.
Did I emphasize “dry” enough? Water is a lubricant, it will let bullets slip through easier and hold cavities open in the sand. It must be dry.

A Brichwood Casey AR-500 plate from WallyWhirled seems like cheap, weldless insurance at the back. To catch everything for recycling.
The snail method will result in much less dross, and thus waste, in recovery. The sand is economic of skill, but not labor.
Both a wise investment.

 

[Appalachiannative]

A pure, massive, and sift-able material is needed.

If only for a small amount of shooting, and if kept perfectly dry, play sand is as good as anything. A replaceable plywood front to keep the sand inside, and staple a target to, and a good long box to catch what may fly into it.
With DRY sand, a five gallon bucket will catch a .308. Just make one sideways.
And bigger.
Did I emphasize “dry” enough? Water is a lubricant, it will let bullets slip through easier and hold cavities open in the sand. It must be dry.

A Brichwood Casey AR-500 plate from WallyWhirled seems like cheap, weldless insurance at the back. To catch everything for recycling.
The snail method will result in much less dross, and thus waste, in recovery. The sand is economic of skill, but not labor.
Both a wise investment.

Well heck I'll just get me a bunch of buckets and some sand! Only thing I shoot at the house is handguns and black powder since I don't really have enough distance to do high power rifle shooting. If a bucket o sand will stop a .308 then it should easily catch lead from my .357 magnum, .45 acp, 1851 Colt .44 and I'd assume it could catch a ball from my .50 muzzleloader

 

[whisler]

Big old pile of sand held in by railroad ties is what I use.

 

[wally]

This pretty much the state of the art for commercial ranges or if you've got the budget.
https://www.savagerangesystems.com/

 

[Demi-human]

This pretty much the state of the art for commercial ranges or if you've got the budget.
https://www.savagerangesystems.com/

Having rooted through the treasure trove at the shop, I’ll be rendering my own version of this. I’ve found an eight inch diameter pipe and several plates two by three feet. All a quarter inch thick, so handguns only I suppose. I like that I can incorporate a water trap to catch the lead dust.

It certainly was nice of savage to put up those great ideas for me!

 

[theotherwaldo]

My old college had the ultimate backstop - a chunk of five inch armor repurposed back in the 1920s when they were converting the battlecruiser Lexington into an aircraft carrier.
It was tilted forward at 45 degrees and braced at that angle by two additional pieces of armor that also covered the side walls for about twenty feet.
The armor filled the entire end of the indoor range.
The area under the armor was a three foot deep trough filled with sand.

The whole range has since been bulldozed and replaced by student housing.

I wonder what they did with the armor plates... .

 

[Bob Willman]

Well heck I'll just get me a bunch of buckets and some sand! Only thing I shoot at the house is handguns and black powder since I don't really have enough distance to do high power rifle shooting. If a bucket o sand will stop a .308 then it should easily catch lead from my .357 magnum, .45 acp, 1851 Colt .44 and I'd assume it could catch a ball from my .50 muzzleloader

I built a backstop of 2 dump truck loads of yellow sand against a wall of railroad ties in the mid 1970s. On numerous occasions I would dig out individual bullets from the sand to find out how deep they went and check the expansion. I was amazed to discover that lead bullets - not round balls - from my .45 caliber Hawken muzzle loader were elbow deep in the sand. Jacketed 30 caliber bullets were anywhere from 6 to 10 inches deep. My point being that a bucket of sand may not be enough.

NRA Benefactor Golden Eagle

 

[Appalachiannative]

I built a backstop of 2 dump truck loads of yellow sand against a wall of railroad ties in the mid 1970s. On numerous occasions I would dig out individual bullets from the sand to find out how deep they went and check the expansion. I was amazed to discover that lead bullets - not round balls - from my .45 caliber Hawken muzzle loader were elbow deep in the sand. Jacketed 30 caliber bullets were anywhere from 6 to 10 inches deep. My point being that a bucket of sand may not be enough.

NRA Benefactor Golden Eagle

Crap. Suppose I'll just need to get the ol wheel barrow out and start piling up dirt and gravel

 

[Cypress]

I built a 4 foot cube out of 12” square cants I cut on the sawmill. In the center is a 2x2 cube missing which I place a squared off chunk of post oak. Targets are placed on the post oak piece. When it is shot out pretty bad I burn it in a steel pan and the lead is left in the bottom. Last time I recovered about 40 pounds of lead. Works for me!!!

 

[JTHunter]

It is also possible that the steel belts in those tires may shred the bullets and make them unusable.

 

[hso]

Ground rubber allows scoop sorting for bullets

 

[jmorris]

No welding allowed, what other variables can we narrow down?

How large does it have to be (inches/feet)?

Is there a weight limit?

What is the largest and most powerful rounds it will have to contain and at what distance?

 

[Appalachiannative]

No welding allowed, what other variables can we narrow down?

How large does it have to be (inches/feet)?

Is there a weight limit?

What is the largest and most powerful rounds it will have to contain and at what distance?

this range is used almost exclusively for handguns since I don't really have a lot of space. I suppose the hottest thing it will have to stop is my muzzleloader rifle that I'll only be shooting from time to time. Mostly I'll be shooting .357 magnum, .38 special .45 acp and my cap and ball .44. The longest distance shot I got room to take is about 40 yards. Maybe once in a blue moon might shoot some 7.62x39 or .30-30 Winchester

 

[Appalachiannative]

It is also possible that the steel belts in those tires may shred the bullets and make them unusable.

I have shot a radial tire with .357 magnum 125gr jacketed hollow points before and found pieces of copper jacket inside the tire while the lead was basically dust

 

[Appalachiannative]

No welding allowed, what other variables can we narrow down?

How large does it have to be (inches/feet)?

Is there a weight limit?

What is the largest and most powerful rounds it will have to contain and at what distance?

No weight limit on fact it doesn't have to be portable I can build on sight as its my own property. I forgot to mention most shots will be about 10 to 25 yards... I guess I've never measured the distance out there and I'm bad at estimating

 

[Appalachiannative]

I built a 4 foot cube out of 12” square cants I cut on the sawmill. In the center is a 2x2 cube missing which I place a squared off chunk of post oak. Targets are placed on the post oak piece. When it is shot out pretty bad I burn it in a steel pan and the lead is left in the bottom. Last time I recovered about 40 pounds of lead. Works for me!!!

Now that is an idea. There are a bunch of big oak stumps laying around the woods here from previous home owners have them cut down