doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com ?Question for shot harvesters/recyclers?

Recent mention here of recycled shot. I checked our trap range this afternoon. I didn't find "shoals" of it under trees although we have a treeline at about 110 yds out. Further in, 101 paces from the house on a straitaway line to station 3, there was a good accumulation. This area has been scraped in the past five years but this small accumulation might be worth it to me for skeet reloads IF I can figure out a method of separation. Soil is sand so the particle size is probably nearly the same as #8 shot. Anyone have ideas how to approach the "panning of lead" on a small scale basis. The kid's plastic bucket and beach shovel I can figure out but the screen box we use to get expended bullet lead out of the pistol range berm won't work here. Down to my last two bags of 8s so I'm 800 rnds from being out of business for skeet and trap reloading as I'm not going to buy at 42$ a bag.

jack

There are many methods of reclaiming your own shot. Most of the time, I find the "whatever works best for you" method to work best. Some people try and say it is a waste of time, but if you set up to make a business or hobby out of it, you can do quite well. I know some people who put quite a bit of time and effort into reclaiming shot, "panning", sorting, cleaning. The little information I can offer is, be sure to clean it as good as you can. The left over "junk" really eats up a reloading press. Small rocks, sands, dirt, etc, are better left on the field and not in your reloads. I know one guy who washes the shot in soapy water, draines it, spreads it to dry, puts the shot in a tumbler (cement mixer), adds powdered graphite, and resells it. He does quite a good job, and although not ever pellet is perfectly uniform and of the same size, it is much cheaper then current prices. If nobody near you sells reclaimed shot, you might think about putting a little bit of time and money into it. Otherwise, it may be to your benefit to look for a re seller and save your back and pocket book

Whatever you do to wash it, remember that Pb is toxic and can be absorbed through the skin.

To me, it's not worth messing with. Lead has doubled... this is not good news and does increase the price of shooting. But... I only shoot 10,000 targets a year. That's 25 bags of shot, and the increase in price over the last year stands to cost me about $500/year.

Significant, but not to the point that I'm going to give up my primary method of escape from the nutty modern world. Many things cost much more than shooting, even if you do it in moderate volume.

I'd actually get less enjoyment out of shooting if I had to spend what little free time I have reclaiming shot.

A bigger problem by far is the cost of travel to go shooting.

The one(s) I've seen basically operated by having the shot and other junk, fall off the end of a conveyor belt with air blowing through it. As the dirt is much lighter than the lead, most if not all of the dirt is blown away, leaving only the shot to make it to the bottom. Wouldn't be too difficult to make a smaller version of this, using a home made belt and a fan with adjustable speeds, picking the speed that worked best. I have better things to do with my time. Using a .410 and or 28 load, makes it go farther.

Well if you figure your free time is worth $10.00 per hour how many hours are you willing to invest in reclaiming this free shot? Then how much to build your reclaimer? Gas to and from the club? You end up working and spending more for the free shot than it would cost to buy a few bags to tide you over to better times.

12 AA's and Remington Target shells just $8.00 a box here. The promo loads are still less but not for long. 28 and .410 are $10.00 a box. For the first time in several years it is getting cost effective to reload all gauges again.

Here is a suggestion. Call a few of your old friends that no longer shoot and offer to buy any unused shot and powder that they have. Every club has a few old time or inactive members who have a few bags of old shot that they no longer need. Offer them $25-30.00 a bag and they will gladly sell you all they have. I did this years ago when shot went up to $20.00 a bag and was able to buy shot for about two thirds the then current price and everyone was happy to sell all they had.

Huck and Jim had plenty of free time as they had neither obligation nor opportunity for much else. That in itself is enuf to make free time priceless. If you put a price on your time, you can't squander it without a sense of regret. My free time is both priceless and worthless and does not always have to be redeemed in the cost-effectiveness balance. On the other hand, if next Sunday I skim off say one 25lb. bag and it takes me a couple of days of scavenging and cobbling to come up with some version of Jim's lead thresher and I get 99% of the silica sand (hardness 7 on the Moh's scale and that will sure as hell score steel) out of it, I'll have some fun and the time invested will be rewarded at the rate of let's say $.42 per hr. I might take some Tues afternoon off from work just to shoot it up for a net loss of . . . .?

jack

Wonder if a relatively slow centrifuge with a light grease on the merrygoround would work?

jack

Use air. Blow all the sand out first. Wash, tumble and add a little graphite. No need to build a centrifuge. Lead is ten times as heavy as silica so it is very easy to blow out the lighter sand. Tumble in a five gallon bucket by hand to coat with graphite.

OK, I'll give artificial wind a try. Thanks guys. I typically shoot a mere 5000 rnds per yr. skeet, trap (mostly 12 ga. 1 oz. sometimes some low pressure 7/8 oz.) and an occasional SC excursion, so maybe Shotgun's attitude to lead pricing is the one I should adopt.

jack

I'm thinking maybe a flared tip on a compressor blowgun and a narrow shute above a bucket or box. I'm not figuring on huge quantities of sand as intend to skim the exposed stuff on the surface.

jack