Cleaning and Melting Reclaimed "Range Lead" into Ingots 

so, i skim off the jackets and debris. Later, when I feel like it, i sift the jackets and debris to get rid of the sand, etc. Then I spread out the jackets and go over them with a magnet to get all the steel out. then I take a bucket or two to the scrap yard and they pay me the price of 'Yellow brass" which has been in the neighborhood of $1.13. I'll usually leave the scrap yard with about $125. Makes me feel good, too, that all that copper isn't going to the landfill.

Now, i see the point of quenching to make them easier to handle faster, but the hardness issue is debated as having and viable benefit and doing it at the ingot stage seems pointless as you're just going to have to melt it back down again to actually cast the bullets later on. 🤷🏻‍♂️

This is the ULTIMATE prepper video. Great job guys.

Nice return on your effort! and thank you for warning folks about the inherint dangers of breathing lead at any stage of reclamation and smelting and to shower and wash clothes afterward's...you really have to appreciate how dangerous this stuff really is, for many year's I was doing this and paid the price. I still do, but am much more careful while doing so!.......it can be very rewarding and safe as long as we practice safety at all stage's....... to cast and reclaim lead for our hobby as long as we know the reality of the danger!........Thank You for the great video........ and KEEP ON ROCKING IT!.......DKH TACTICAL.......

Whats up with those toe socks..Haha Good vid

nice video. I get about 120lbs of lead wheel weights from my tire shop guys every couple of months and smelt them down, yet I never get sick of watching other guys do the same thing! Scrap them jackets, then your powder and primers will be free too :)

Wow! Great haul! You did more in that one haul than I've done in three! I would love to see your sifting method. I haven't had much luck sifting at my range.

Looks so cool when it has that mirror clean look. I may have to do this one day.

Who says that shooters don't do their part to help the environment? Not only do you say a bunch of money, you recycle. And you help to prevent all of that lead from getting into the water table, stopping the range from eventually being a toxic waste site. Well done!

First, Thank You for serving brother. I did 10 years Army Aviation. Thanks for your vid. Just getting into shotguns and have decided to reload. Doing a lot of reading and watching on the handling, smelting and molding of lead. A lot to consider, specially when it comes to safety. Thanks again.

The only important thing I would change is re-enforcing those wood tables with cross braces! Maybe replace them with wrought iron patio tables. Your source of lead was sweet!

You've got some fine reserves of lead - beautiful ingots - Congratulations to you !! Stay well, and good shootin' to ya....

Wow! Great operation!

To any new or inexperienced melters. Do NOT introduce any reclaimed lead or scrape pieces into your molten lead pot that are not completely dry!! A drop of water on a bullet or old wheel weight and your molten lead WILL explode in your face. Be advised and have fun.

Fascinating, very nice video👍

CBP sent me. Will be watching and thanks for sharing your knowledge.

Am I weird to say your voice is very soothing with the echo in the backround

love it keep up the videos!!

Great vid.........thank you so much.

I learned a lot from your video

No matter how many times I do it, it's always magical to watch someone else do it. Nice video.

Nice video. Do you go through the bullets and look for the FMJ ones that didn’t split open? Or do you not care and claim the lead you can get?

Great video 👍 I see that you quench the ingots in water do you quench again when you’re casting bullets

awsome video that lead stash is a treasure trove as good as gold!!

a little trick for drying it would be to take 2x4s and small chicken wire and make basically shaker screens. Then just stack them up with 1 inch spacers (can be cut from 2x4s) to set between the racks for airflow. That way you get air going from all sides (pretty much) instead of just from above. You also take up less room stacking it vertically instead of all over the patio. Also leave the last 1/8 to 1/4 inch of lead in your pot when you are done melting. It will melt quicker after already having been melted and you should find that it will allow you to melt your scrap quicker having a puddle already in the pot.

This video is Awesome! First time i saw flux? I need to learn more, also, if there is no range, where else could I get scrap lead? Thank you :)

Awesome Don! Lead is getting harder to find... Most of my contacts have already dried up. Get it while you can!

Do you do anything with the full metal jacket bullets that are not scored enough for the lead to melt out? I usually sort through mine before melting and cut jackets. Any advise would be helpful!

What do you do of the fully jacketed ? I know that some people split them in half so that lead can flow out, but heh, I'm not sure I want to examinate each bullet one by one. Or do you examinate the jackets you retrieved from the dross bucket ?

very nice!

Hey mate, great vid.! I'm totally new to this, so I have to ask--Does the 'Range' allow you to just scavenge this up, or is it your own range? Also, that's a great respirator that lets us hear you so clear that we'd almost think you didn't have it on---Har! Gb bg

Country Boy Prepper, sent me over. Nice vid can't wait to see the rest

Is the resulting alloy from melting copper jackets into the lead still useful for bullets? What is this alloy called and what're it's properties?

Great video can you use range scrap for slugs or is it to hard or is it softer than wheel weight thanks

what is the gold colored layer on the lead you can see, I recently had this appear on my first attempt making up some ingots not sure if i should be trying to get rid of that or flux it and mix into my lead again any help would be great

Literally the only thing your process has that’s better than mine (see ‘Copper And Lead Recovery From Old Bullets’ video, which is about to be revised with an even better melter) is the way you mold the ingots. I currently use muffin and pie pans. 😄 Every time I see one of the many videos showing bullets being melted in skillets and pots just open to the environment with NO insulation to save energy cost and decrease melting time, and no containment against the occasional and sudden eruption from trapped gas or trapped moisture, I just want to jump right out of my skin! 😬😄! But what do I know, having recovered only around 5,000 pounds of bullets so far (all from “open range” and BLM areas)? 🤓

great job. those Ingot molds are not cheap

For the future you don't need to weigh each bucket to find out the total weight. Since you have 128 half pound ingots you have 64 pounds of lead in half-pound ingots, and you have 286 pounds of lead in whole pound ingots. Add 64 and 286 and you get 350. The extra pound you had might have been from the buckets, might have been an extra ingot that didn't get counted - I know I'd tire of it after about 50.

All those lead ingots lead me to believe you have a primer guy you know those things that have become ultra rare😅😂🤣💯

where did you get your things to pour the melted lead into from that forms the ingots? can those same molds or ingot casting things be used for copper or aluminum or brass?

What do you do with the water that you wash them with? I have a well so I don’t want to dump it on the ground?

Why not cut the jackets for the lead? Also been watching a lot of some of the others have not seen a finished product quite as CLEAN. The better wax for Flux? Pre Wash? Well I have been kicking around What molds I`ll end probably one Lee one Lyman . Lees got 2 half pound which will be good for small batch pistol ammo.

FASCINATING :-)

DKH.. Welcome to the lead smelting and casting addiction! I always like to see a fellow caster in action. I found your channel through CBP and am now subbed! Some pointers for you from a long time lead hound & caster: 1) Your safety gear looks good except for your son wearing shorts and tennis shoes. Heavy cotton jeans and boots work well. I have done the spilled hot lead dance and was so glad I was all safey-ed up. I even wear a welders apron. 2) You don't need to wash your lead. It can leave water trapped in the lead (ask me how I know) even after sitting for a long time. Also.. any dirt, grime, coating, grease, or debris, will burn off with the melt and can be scooped off the top. 3) Fluxing.. It looked like candle wax that you used to flux the melt. Wax is not a flux. It can only reduce the tin & antimnoy back into the melt that may be lost through oxidation. It also creates surface tension & prevents surface oxidation. Use sawdust instead.. go to Walmart and buy a bag of pine pet bedding. Saw dust reduces, prevents oxidation, and cleans your lead. Wax will Not clean your lead. Fill your pot with the scrap, add in a tennis ball size pinch of the sawdust to the pile and put the heat to it. You will also find that when you are scooping the junk that the lead doesn't stick to the debris. You can flux multiple times with sawdust if you like, and every time you add new scrap. One last thing.. make sure that you scrape the bottom and sides of your pot. Dirt can actually become trapped under the lead and you don't want that in you bullets. 4) Water dropping your ingots will only add a small amount of surface hardening to them, which will be lost when you remelt the ingots to make bullets. WD does cool them faster though. If you want harder bullets.. WD them. I find that most of the range scrap that I deal with comes in at about 12 bhn which is similar to wheel weights. If you have any questions I am always happy to help. In all.. I enjoyed watching your video.. Thanks Shad

Nice! But why to waterquench when you anyway will melt the ingots to make bullets later?

How many 1lb ingots can you get from a full propane tank?

Why wash it first? Won't the smelting separate the dirt from lead?

Yoga socks for the win. Also nice yield.

How do you get the range to let you collect the range lead?

How do you know when the lead is set enough to turn them out of the moulds?

How do you come about getting the spent ammo? Every place I have spoken to has either a cleaning crew that gets them. Or the metal company buys them.Is

What process do you use to reclaim the rounds from the berm?

What is the substance poured in? What's the role? Thank!

Can roofing lead be used for the same purpose?

cool video, I really like the molds. Where did you order them from

Thanks

Did you tare the bucket for an actual weight ... also what pots are you using to melt in...?

What were you using for Flux?

Quick question, what purpose does the flux serve?

It must have been a labor of love going from the towels to the skillet. Or do you have a secret ?

How much work goes into taking it from ingots to bullets/shot

How long did it take u at the range to collect this amount of lead?

Is it normal for lead to turn a gold-ish yellow on top that slowly turns dark? I've been melting wheel weights and the lead started to get a yellow skin that won't stop coming out, no matter how much I remove.

Why do you clean the scrap when you can just skim the dirt off the molten lead during melting?

Now what? Do you sell those ingots?

You reclaim the copper as well?

what is the thing you put your blue color on?

Why does nobody put a LID on the pans to keep the heat inside making the melting process a LOT faster?

Those little DIY tables are a great idea.

+DKH TACTICAL, do you ever sell the lead ingots to others? if so, what do you charge? I'd be interested in purchasing

So how much did you end up making off of this run? I know it was a while ago now, but still curious. Thinking about getting into this and would like to know if it's worth it all.

Even if your estimate was above the yield that's still a lot of lead to work with, congrats on your haul from the range.

I know lead in Petrol and lead pipes are bad for water, so is it a good idea to be around lead fumes? No expert on this, but i'm guessing its not great for you? Apart from that, a very interesting and satisfying video to watch.

just checking the gas mask your son uses is rated for lead fumes, right? I knew someone who cast their own bullets wearing a respirator rated for paint vapors and dust. He had to go to the hospital for lead poisoning

How do yall know the hardness of your ingets

350lbs = 158kg...the current uk rate for scrap July 2016 here in UK is 50p per kg so this yield is worth approx £80 sterling scrap...@July 2016 prices. So I guess when you have purchased all the gear to smelt it...and have some free time over a weekend you can start to make a small profit after the 2nd / 3rd batch... You should be looking to claim 1000lb of scrap before smelting to make a clear £150 profit after.

Why do you add flux?. Is it to make impurities rise to the top?.

Which flux you are adding to purify lead

What did you use to flux the lead? Candle wax or saw dust?

Not bad. That's only 15,550 rounds of 158grain .38cal bullets.

Clumsy people don't watch this video. DKH; Thanks for the video.

(i know you said this isnt an instructional, and its your own person way of doing it but im suggesting something anyway) 2 simple suggestion. GLOVES when handling the lead. and safty glasses. if you get that dust into a open wound, or in to your eyes,.. man... could be a bad bad day for ya. :) be safe my friend :D And i mean during the cleaning of the lead in the bucket.. not the actual melting part. ;)

can you please tell more on how you flux in

I work with lead. I do this every day.

3 things to save yourself a LOT of effort. #1 you gain nothing by rinsing off the dirt but dirty water and a wait to dry #2 Use significantly deeper containers to melt in. Reduction of the surface area reduces oxidation and higher pressure from depth makes floating off the gangue much more effective. 2-3x depth vs diameter is best. #3 stirring with a pine stick will flux your material much better, esp with a deeper container. If you must flux with wax like you are doing, set it on fire to eliminate about 95% of the smoke.

How do you separate the bullets from the stones and rocks?

You are Shooting the Ingots? Or for what is the water quinching?

7:50 I love making pizzas too!😃

What is the peace of blue clour

What do you do with the copper jackets?

What do you do with these ingots? Sell them? If so, for how much a pound?

Cool video lots of info! Oh and it's not a gas mask, it's a half face respirator 😉

Save yourself the trouble! Stop drying out your range scrap. I just ran 200+ lbs today. I've never dried out anything. Start with a fresh batch every time. Two reasons. Firstly, adding to a partially filled pot doesn't speed things much. Second, no matter how long you dry your scrap, pockets of moisture can still be trapped in deformed bullets. I've had two kabooms working that method. No more.

why dry it before melting it, wouldn't the heat from the melting proc. also dry it?

What was that blue stuff and what did it do to the lead?

not pure leads its white in color pure lead is nice and shinny nice video good job pure lead is hard to find with out tin in it

What is the flux you putting in there?? Looks like wax..

Nice video. The one thing I didn't like was seeing bare legs with zero protection. Lead burns are terrible.

Where did you purchase those burners at?

What are you guys using as flux?