Minky Posted August 23, 2023 Report Share Posted August 23, 2023 The sand in the butt's at my rifle club is heavily overloaded with lead. And I mean heavily. I've sort of lumbered myself with doing something about it and I am experimenting with different things. Last week I took a few heavy rubble sacks in and filled three about a third up. That is about as much as is comfortable to carry. I have a small sieve and tried to separate the lead from the sand. This was semi successful but the problem is that at some stage a load of sharp sand has been added so the lead and the stonechips are a similar size. I got a plastic bucket filled with water and poured a load in. I got a border spade and stirred it around so that the lead bullets would migrate to the bottom. I removed most of the water and today I turned the bucket upside-down (sand castle) yes there was a thick layer of bullets that I can shovel off. But this is only a small scale operation. Anyone done this and got ideas. Ps I am aware of the lead aspect of this and have taken sensible precautions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wisdom Posted August 23, 2023 Report Share Posted August 23, 2023 That's how I used to do ours.But ours were only in sand so it was easy.There were a lot and they weighed in nicely.As did the .22 rf brass All went back into the club Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minky Posted August 23, 2023 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2023 The bloke who used to do some of this passed away and the last I heard about the brass was that the scrappers wouldn't take it for fear of there being live rounds in amongst the brass... but who knows what went down. If I do it then it WILL ALL go back to the club. And if there is a loose round or two they can go in a box for the boys to shoot. 1 hour ago, wisdom said: That's how I used to do ours.But ours were only in sand so it was easy. What did you do? DrySift the tips or wash them out.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wisdom Posted August 23, 2023 Report Share Posted August 23, 2023 Drysift as the butt's were under cover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minky Posted August 23, 2023 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2023 2 hours ago, wisdom said: Thanks for that. I'm not sure the best ...most efficient way to deal with this. There is a LOT of it. It's in an indoor range so it's dry and dusty and there is about 75 yards to get it to a vehicle. Then move it again. We'll have to do something with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DUNKS Posted August 23, 2023 Report Share Posted August 23, 2023 I was talking to a guy a while back who used an old electric cement mixer with a washing machine drum jammed in the opening. Operation is obvious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enfieldspares Posted August 23, 2023 Report Share Posted August 23, 2023 (edited) Sieve in situ using a quarter inch mesh that way you'll have sand, small gravel fall through and intact bullets be retained by the sieve. Remember there's enough lead in those intact bullets and the small bits are not worth the extra effort. 2 hours ago, Minky said: And if there is a loose round or two they can go in a box for the boys to shoot. No! Destroy them as soon as you find them. There and then. My brother "put them in a box" to keep "for the boys" to shoot that had firearms in that calibre and and was then prosecuted for having ammunition in calibres he was not authorised to possess when they were found in his cabinet on a random inspection. Edited August 23, 2023 by enfieldspares Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minky Posted August 23, 2023 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2023 1 hour ago, DUNKS said: I was talking to a guy a while back who used an old electric cement mixer with a washing machine drum jammed in the opening. Operation is obvious. Yep i follow. The problem with that is the dust that would be generated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minky Posted August 23, 2023 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2023 57 minutes ago, enfieldspares said: Sieve in situ using a quarter inch mesh that way you'll have sand, small gravel fall through and intact bullets be retained by the sieve. Remember there's enough lead in those intact bullets and the small bits are not worth the extra effort. No! Destroy them as soon as you find them. There and then. My brother "put them in a box" to keep "for the boys" to shoot that had firearms in that calibre and and was then prosecuted for having ammunition in calibres he was not authorised to possess when they were found in his cabinet on a random inspection. I didn't mean that I would be randomly issuing liverounds to boys who would be going off of the range with them. But IF I were to find the odd dropped round the boys could shoot them on the range. Not to dissappear with liverounds, This is indoor target shooting at 25 metres Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enfieldspares Posted August 24, 2023 Report Share Posted August 24, 2023 How about this? https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-crs400-rotary-soil-sieve/?source=criteo&TC=CR-030711400&cto_pld=QpXmBblZAAD47W6fzNebxA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imperfection Posted August 25, 2023 Report Share Posted August 25, 2023 I've done it and just used a normal garden sieve and builders buckets (stronger). Its a dusty job but since i cast bullets it gave me a whole lot of lead for nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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