Recovering range lead

Boolit Mold Join DateJan 2013Posts7

So I dug in the backstops today and picked up a bunch of lead, from jacketed pistol bullets to shotgun slugs. Some of it has clay caked right into it, esp the bigger cals and shotgun slugs. I left it all to soak in a bucket of water, gonna most of the dirt out in the morning, then leave it all in the sun for a few days to get the moisture out. Is this normal procedure? How dirty will you throw your lead in the pot? Do you wash your range scrap, or even WW's?

The range I mine is mostly sand. I try to dig during a dry spell so the big dirt clods don't hold together. I don't wash my lead at all. I just pick out the big rocks and the rest goes into the smelting pot. The dirt, jackets, and rocks will float to the top. Skim them off then flux and stir well, reskim, repeat as desired.

I just let them sit in a bucket for a while. When I decide to smelt i dig em out and melt em down. No washing. I don't want to add moisture, I want dry lead. Much of mine sits in a 5 gallon bucket for months. I store it in a dry garage. Much of the dirt settles to the bottom.

The dirt in the pot easily fluxes out. Skim it off, flux again, and pour away. My ingots are nice and clean.

Don't over think this.

Boolit Mold Join DateJan 2013Posts7

Thanks guys, that's kinda what I was hoping for. I won't get time to melt them for at least a couple of weeks, so this batch will be well dried out. In future I will just let them bump around on the back of the truck for a few days, and the pour them out of the bucket on a windy day.
I already made some ingots that looked pretty clean and grit free, without washing the lead first.

Thanks guys, that's kinda what I was hoping for. I won't get time to melt them for at least a couple of weeks, so this batch will be well dried out.A couple weeks might not be enough to be completely dry. I'd start them all in a cold pot and not add any once the lead melts to be safe. I've "found" water in what I thought were dry bullets. It doesn't take much steam to blow lead out of the pot.

I use a 1/4" hardware cloth trough set at an angle and run the raw scrap down that into a bucket. It reduces the load in the smelter.

Boolit Master Join DateJan 2010LocationSpace Coast, FLPosts554

One little thing I tried a while ago made a big difference on my 50 lb. iron pot. Make yourself some kind of cover, steel plate 1/8" to 1/4" or piece of aluminum and cover top of pot only allowing a little gap. This seems to serve two purposes, 1- increases heat to top inside getting things dropping out or softer quicker. 2- Are you familiar with a visit from the Tinsel Fairy? I did just shy of 100 lbs. this week. With seven trips on here do not know where you are at. Are you on board with the sawdust and magic spoons? And you can START of pot full of dripping wet AS LONG AS YOU NEVER ADD until cooled down and hardened up in bottom of pot. Always leave yourself a 1/2" to 1" pancake in bottom at shutdown, really speeds up next run. Be Safe. Gtek

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Abbreviations used in Reloading
Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt"

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