Harvesting range lead

S

south.texas.dead.I

New member
How do y'all harvest y'all range lead? I'm looking to start doing this soon and am curious as to the best way? I was thinking a sifting screen of some sort and a shovel? Or maybe just a rake and hand picking them?


Living another day
To bust another clay
 
well back in my day we used a rake and made a sifter as well..If your talking big,big bullets you can usually pick them up easy...Range lead can vary a lot though,so keep that in mind..Good luck and have fun with your mineing efforts..
 
I bought about a dozen sacks of play sand and stacked them on my pond dam, behind my target stand. At some point I plan to rake them, then use my front end loader to reposition the loose sand.
 
Assuming you are talking of your range or one you have permission to dig up, Before I built my bullet trap I made a rat wire screen that fit over my wheel barrel. I would just throw a shove full on the screen and sift. I made a metal clam shell type trap, but I have seen you tube videos of plywood boxes filled with rubber mulch that seem to work pretty good. Your area will determine how well the sifter works, my area has a lot of gray clay. Thus the metal trap. Clay can be a pain to sift.
 
Goto the pistol range

I used to pick up about 15 pounds or so every time I went to the range at odd times so I'm the only one there. Took just a couple of minutes to scrape it up with a trowel from under the metal falling plate targets and scoop into a gallon Ziplock freezer bag.

Now I just get lead from the indoor range where I'm a member. They are glad for me to take it. Just shovel it out of the pit into a bucket (it's a nasty job though) I got about 800 pounds last year, and I only stopped cuz I ran out of buckets.

I need to do that trowel and *small* bucket thing at the indoor range about once or twice a month. Get 40 or 50 pounds on a regular basis instead of trying to do half a ton all at once and hurting myself
 
zxcvbob said:
I used to pick up about 15 pounds or so every time I went to the range at odd times so I'm the only one there. Took just a couple of minutes to scrape it up with a trowel from under the metal falling plate targets and scoop into a gallon Ziplock freezer bag.

Now I just get lead from the indoor range where I'm a member. They are glad for me to take it. Just shovel it out of the pit into a bucket (it's a nasty job though) I got about 800 pounds last year, and I only stopped cuz I ran out of buckets.

I need to do that trowel and *small* bucket thing at the indoor range about once or twice a month. Get 40 or 50 pounds on a regular basis instead of trying to do half a ton all at once and hurting myself
Click to expand...

Where do you live? Id be happy to attempt a half ton at one trip, of course if you don't mind


Living another day
To bust another clay
 
if you talking indoor range lead mining I hope your smart enough to wear a mask.them thar fumes will kill your sorry ass..and what good will the lead do when your dead...
 
I just pick em up off the berm and carry them out in a plastic coffee can. Usually can get at least a partial can full if I go early before the range opens for shooting. I probably have about 4-5 coffee cans full in the garage now waiting till the weather improves for outside smelting. Joe
 
if you talking indoor range lead mining I hope your smart enough to wear a mask.them thar fumes will kill your sorry ass..and what good will the lead do when your dead...
Click to expand...

I'm taking it with me! :cool:

If I'm just scooping a coffee can full of lead out of the pit, I hold my breath. If I'm climbing into the pit to clean it, I wear a N95 or better mask and goggles. I got me blood tested for lead recently and it's on the high side of normal (15) and lower than it was a year ago (17.something)

I think my main source of exposure is the air from shooting indoors every Tuesday night in a league, not from mining or melting lead.
 
I think my main source of exposure is the air from shooting indoors every Tuesday night in a league, not from mining or melting lead.

You mean your indoor range has now exhaust fan....Now that is really smart..
I cast bullets for almost 40 years and my lead blood count was way low...forgot the number..I have aways run a fan of some type..but I told them the test had to be wrong as I know at this age and time I got lead in my ass....
 
so today i went to the range after reading some threads about harvesting the backstop and decided to give it a try

here is what i made. total cost was 17 bucks at home depot
i sandwiched the mesh between 2 2x4's for strength.
2012-02-12_10-26-36_43.jpg


i added handles to the sides before using it so i could shake it.

in 2 minutes and 5 shovels of dirt this is what it produced

2012-02-13_09-34-16_79.jpg


in one hour i havested about 140 pounds of lead. i will be cleaning it and removing rocks later today. i only cleaned half of one shooting lane. there are 3 ranges and about 60 more shooting lanes to go
 
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