"mining" lead for reuse? safe to keep lead around?

[yhtomit]

Another dose of naive questions

Do people scavenge the lead from outdoor ranges' backstops for re-use? At well-used ranges, this seems like a (practically, for one person, not forever and everyone!) hard resource to exhaust. (If it's allowed in the first place.)

Are airgun pellets of the "same kind" of lead as that used in bullets, suitable for melting and casting?

What about jacketed bullets? Can a hobbyist lower the mangled bullet into a pot of melted lead and strain out the copper?

Once in a while I'll pick up a bullet or a mangled slug at the range, etc, but I surely don't have more than a few ounces of lead at this point. If indeed melting old bullets is a practical source of lead (or even impractical, but ... well, perhaps "viable" is a better word), is it safe to keep lead around the house / garage? If it's not in dust form, or mixing with the local groundwater, is there anything I should be frightened of to discourage me from keeping a "bucket o' lead" next to the "bucket o' stray unreloadable brass for eventual recycling"?

I've purchased some bullets for my first foray into reloading (jacketed hollow point .45 ACP bullets, 250 grain), and they weren't too awfully expensive (compared to factory ammo at least! ), but I am intrigued by the idea of one day casting my own lead bullets.

Please forgive my current level of ignorance -- it tends to grow rather than shrink, unfortunately.

timothy

 

[Walkalong]

Many, many, "mined" bullets have been recycled to make new ones.

Airgun bullets are pure lead as far as I know. Soft, but usable if you need a very soft bullet or mix it with wheelweights, 95/5 solder, tin, etc. etc.

Sure, you can melt the lead out of a jacket with an exposed end and sift out the copper.

Casting is fun. I don't do it anymore, but still have all my stuff and plenty of ingots if I feel the need.

 

[scrat]

Most important thing to remeber when handeling lead. Wash your hands when you are done. Lead is safe if handeled properly. Collect all the lead you want. Its best to put it in an old coffee container wher you can put a lid on it.. If you ever get the materials to melt lead you can easily. In collecting various types of lead you can melt it down to one. You will need some things though. If you are planning on getting into casting its best to get a lead melting pot. You will also need a laddle and some molds. The molds you will need to make blocks for later on in casting. Once you melt down the lead you will need to flux it. Fluxing the lead is easy to do. You can take a pea size amount of candle wax and place it in the mold. Then stir it around it will be smokey. A quick throw of a lit match will get rid of all the smoke. it will make a quick big flame. Now it should be about right. I take an old soup can for the next part. Now skim off the top of the lead. This is where all the junk will be at the top. This is the toxic part too. dont let it sit there. Skim off this stuf and put it in the soup can. keep doing it until the lead is clean and pure. Now you can pour the lead into the molds. As soon as it cools down if you want to make it safe. Well thats easy too. after you make the ingonts (blocks) take some ordinary wax and coat the ingonts with them. Then put them away. I would not worry about the kids getting into them.

Do you worry about the kids getting into your bleach or other house hold chemicals.

 

[cdrt]

Also, if you're going to mine lead from an indoor range, make sure the fans are on and that you wear some kind of mask with a filter.

 

[yhtomit]

Hey, this is good info! (It's what I had hoped to hear, too.) I think I'll have to start expanding the scavenged-lead collection. With cast bullets and re-used brass, reloading looks even smarter.

When I design my own house, I'll have to make allowances for the small-run ammo-factory aspect of reloading -- reinforced floors, for instance

timothy

 

[Steve C]

Ranges are usually mined by recyclers with a portion or % of the proceeds going to the range owners or club. Years ago I was on the board of my Trap Club and we'd mine the range every 7 to 10 years with 1/2 the shot going to the club. It was sold to the members at a good discount.

 

[ranger335v]

Mine the lead and use it, if possible. After all, it IS a naturally occuring element and it has taken several thousands of years for anyone to notice, not to mention document, any risk. Unless getting shot amounts to lead poisioning, that part got noticed long ago!

The current lead scare, both as a solid and in paint, ranks right along side the gloom and doom crowd's vast array of other hobby fears; guns, asbestos, radon gas, formaldahyd insulation, global warming, silicon breast implants, second-hand cigarette smoke, kids playing dodge-ball, geneticly modified foods, floride in water, DDT, etc. Meaning, in some cases there may be a "real" but very slight potential for risk to intelligent users.

 

[ReloaderFred]

ranger335v,

You forgot the one about "swallowing small amounts of saliva over a long period of time causing throat cancer".........

Seriously, our range has a Best Management Practices Plan, that has been approved by the EPA, National Association of Shooting Ranges and the Oregon Association of Shooting Ranges. Part of that plan is the recycling of lead, both bullets and shot, off the ranges. We have recycled many tons of lead over the years. It is perfectly safe to do so. As mentioned, wash your hands after handling any type of lead, no matter the source. That is the best thing you can do.

I've been recycling bullets and casting lead since about 1968, and have had no problems whatsoever. A little common sense goes a long way. Ignore the hype of the alarmists and use good management practices and you'll do just fine.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Sport45]

It costs money to build and maintain the berms at outdoor ranges. Please don't take your shovel and sifter and start digging without range management approval. Like someone said, there's often a plan in place for mining this lead and proceeds often go to range maintenance. If everyone went on the off-hours and started digging, the berms would be gone in no time.

 

[TEDDY]

mining lead

if you live in pennsy there must be indoor clubs around my club took 13 tons of lead out.I ran the reloading rm for 10yrs and mined it.
look up USRA.org the headquarters in Scotrun pa/email [email protected](joe miller)
do not smoke or eat/drink while handling the lead.
Agra the farm machiery company has furnace and 12 qt cast iron kettle for $59.get iron mufffin pan for ingots and Lee 20lb furnace.

 

[yhtomit]

Sport45 -- don't worry, no diggging into the berm

There's often (and I can't say why this is true, only that it is) pretty big pieces of lead right near the targets at my most-frequented outdoor range, including sometimes nearly perfect looking (but fired) jacketed bullets. I picked up a few today, in fact -- .45 ACP bullets, FMJ, haven't weighed 'em yet.

So at this phase, while I was indeed asking about "mining" as in digging in with a shovel, no worries -- none of that quite yet for me.

timothy

 

[ReloaderFred]

When we mine our back stops, the dirt, or in our case, sand, is put back into the berm. It's also a good opportunity to dress up the face of the berms. We cover them with wood grindings, which helps hold the sand in place.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Gunfixr]

You can certainly mine the lead but it will tend to have a lot of trash in it that gets imbedded when the bullet strikes the berm. This doesn't happen to jacketed bullets nearly so much. The lead inside the jackets tends to be softer, so using it with wheelweights is good. The only forseeable problem is the bullet being loosened from its jacket from impact and water getting inside when it rains. If this water is present when it is put into the pot, you are going to get a rather unpleasant surprise. You would not want to be standing too close. When the water vaporizes, lead can splatter everywhere.

 

[Odnar]

If this water is present when it is put into the pot, you are going to get a rather unpleasant surprise. You would not want to be standing too close. When the water vaporizes, lead can splatter everywhere.

This will only be a problem if adding wet lead to a pot of hot, liquid lead. If the lead is all heated from room temperature together, any water present will evaporate long before the lead melts. The moral of the story is to avoid adding cool lead to a pot full of molten lead (including badly poured bullets, sprue trimmings, etc), and always wear safety equipment, no matter how dumb it looks.