I recently cleaned an indoor shooting range of spent bullets. I ended up collecting 3-1/2 55 gallon drums and not to mention almost 4- 55 gallon drums brass from 22-44's and oodles of 45's - around half of those brass are 22's which I intend to sell depending on the scrap metal market price. The indoor shooting range uses a hard rubber backing and a majority of the spent bullets are mixed with bits and pieces of rubber and rubber smeared on the bullets. I soaked a batch and a majority of the rubber floated to the top and skimmed most of the rubber, the ones that did not float, I seived it out and hand picked them out; some of the rubber just wouldn't float. My question is, how do you get the rubber off the copper bullets that's smeared and stuck on them? I smelted a small batch, however it smoked as h#%l. The next incident happened, the police came by about a complaint of smelling burned rubber and smoke. It would be just a shame to just let the spend lead go to waste. Any suggestions and ideas?

Help!!

I get valve stems and other crap with wheel weights and just let it burn off. You have already ruled out that idea.
Perhaps a cement mixer with some sand as a tumble media would work. Then dump them on a screen to seperate?

Cheezywan

If you want to seperate the lead your going to have to find a place you can melt the lead out. Most folks use a turkey frier and a large cast iron pot like a dutch oven. I got one at a thrift store for 8 bucks. The turkey frier was on sale at Wally world for 29 bucks. It's propane powered.

With a turkey frier run on propane you can usually find a place out of town that won't mind the smoke. Once you've got everything melting you should be able to skim off the melting rubber dross.

This does not sound like a fun job, but you've got a bunch and it would be a shame to waste it.

I spent a year over there in Hawaii when I was in the service at Schofield barracks, lets see that was in 1965. Bet it's changed a little since then.

You could probably dissolve the rubber in liquid paint stripper and pour it off into a can, along with a lot of grease and oil that is contributing to your smoke. This has its own fume an smell issues, though, not to mention expense. I would be tempted to see if the newer water-citrus-based strippers would melt the rubber? They will certainly de-grease it. Cost again, though.

What if you put a hose in the bottom of a 5 gallon paint pail and run water full-on while you sift the lead into the pail? Will the rubber and target paper get caught in the up-and-overflow and be carried off with it?

Nick

Just about the time the rubber starts to want to smoke, throw in a pea sized chunk of wax and set it alight.

It combusts the rubber as opposed to volatizing it, you get a lot less smoke and fumes from it that way.
Same as when you set your flux fumes alight to reduce smoke.

i do this with the plastic caps and valve stems, it works wonderfully.

Sam