Mining a rifle range

Stickboy

New Member
Hello I think you might like to see my range lead machines. My story I am old and lead no pun intended a fun life I can not do much anymore I ride in an electric wheel chair most of the time. There is a rifle range within sight of my place. The wood frame that holds the dirt failed so it was shut down for repairs. I got permission to stake a claim and the Jackpot Joe lead mine went into operation! I will save as much type as I can with pics! The skinny I made a screener to start used a trans from a rascal scooter and what ever I had laying around. I can put the duct work back no one will know. LOL Then it started to rain and the screener was no good. I got a mixer and shoveled the range dirt into the mixer and dumped the water until I had a clean batch of lead. The screener morfed into a screener shaker water table. I have only recovered a small amount of the lead down there. But I have brought home close to 200 sand bags and have about 650 lbs of muffins and loaf pans poured. I made a fire and explosion proof fume hood. With a 3 burner stove out of a popup camper in it. I run the scrap wet right off the water table I have a skillet it goes in first when there is liquid lead in the bottom of the pan it is ok to go to the pot. I sort it I have found 2 live rounds that I kept out of the pot so far. That is the short story I will be happy to answer any questions and more than that any tips or suggestions would be great! I don't know what I am going to do with the brass and copper jackets I am thinking I have the mixer dump them in with some abrasive run thru the screener sort I have nothing better to do and smelt into ingots of brass and copper?
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Wow.
I have often thought a small cement mixer and a good water supply would work wonders.

i actually prefer a dry method. The mixer by itself with a small wonder covered with 1/4” mesh hardware cloth would do quite well. Get the dirt out and leave bullets, rocks, and clays behind. Clays wouldn’t be bad as the tumbling of the mixer would tend to break them up fine enough to sift out.

Make a large, well insulated furnace with a big pot and melt a few hundred pounds at a go. Great time to make A blower and burner for used motor oil.
 

Stickboy

New Member
How I wish I had a bigger system for melting it is the choke point. It has been so wet a screen won't work I have been shoveling soupy dirt right in the mixer! The mixer works very well to get rid of the clays and fines lots of heavy sand and gravel in with the lead but it works well. I tried a to screen it after the mixer by hand but I just don't have it in me. But a guy in good shape with a mixer a screen box and a lot of water could go to town and get nice clean lead very fast.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
What you need is Ian’s summer to lay the lead out and let it dry.
Wet berms suck for picking lead. Give me dry and dusty any day.

Get a better melting setup and you are set for a few lifetimes.

Love the creativeness to build that setup. Rube Goldberg would be proud!
 
F

freebullet

Guest
Holy gyrosifter Batman!!!

That's quite a deal there. Thanks for sharing. Round here we just melt the scrap. No need to preclean far as I can tell.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Holy gyrosifter Batman!!!

That's quite a deal there. Thanks for sharing. Round here we just melt the scrap. No need to preclean far as I can tell.
Think of what we could get Bruce. My foundation couldn’t handle the weight
 

Tomme boy

Well-Known Member
I don't remember where i seen it but, look up a reverse helix trommel. I guy had made one with a bunch of torches on the bottom. The lead flowed out the bottom to pans under it. All the jackets went out the top into a large pan.
 

popper

Well-Known Member
Only problem with the wet system is you can't re-cycle the H2O! Unless you boil it off! Used to be several gold dredges the had the riffle system motorized.