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Shot trap to recover lead?


Warden Callaway

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I've been told the area I can best reduce my stage time is by improving my shotgun skills. In watching my videos, it's obvious. To this end, I've set up the MEC and to reload a bunch of ammo using reclamed shot with the plan to practice.

 

My upbringing by Great Depression era parents makes me want to recover the lead shot away. A box of 3/4 oz load uses more than a pound of lead. I don't intend to reuse the shot - just melt it back into ingots to make bullets.

 

I have traps made to recover lead from rifle and pistol practice and it works well enough. But they don't work well for shotgun practice.

 

I have a sheet of steel some 4'x5' that is thick enough to withstand shotgun blast - especially cowboy loads. I'm thinking of making a frame to lean it at some angle but not sure what would work best. Too little and shot would bounce back, too much and the shot would ricochet with great force down. Ideally, the shot would strike and majority fall down. I think a large trough or pan with bottom filled with a couple of inches of sawdust to absorb the shot.

 

Has anyone built any kind to trap to recover lead from practice shooting cowboy loads?

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45 degree angle is plenty.

 

Shotgun loads will leave you with a disappointingly small lead recovery, as a much larger fraction of the lead turns into lead dust. You might even be able to use a water pan, much easier to get the lead out of water than sawdust, but then, the sawdust you can leave in the lead as you melt it and it just helps flux the melt.

 

Pick your target for setting in front of your recovery plate carefully. If you shoot standard knockdowns with their vertical target, even a small knockdown will intercept 80% of the shotgun pattern at cowboy distances and vaporize that part of the shot string. If you use frangible targets (clay birds) then you have the fragments to sift out or to "live with" the smoke they create and extra dross produced upon smelting the lead down to make ingots.

 

I've seen lots of clay target ranges recover shot that was fired over their range, most of it not badly deformed. But never heard of anyone intentionally trying to "trap" lead shot at the target. Possibly because of the difficulties mentioned above.

 

Good luck, GJ

Edited by Garrison Joe, SASS #60708
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I buy reclamed shot. I just hate to see pounds of it just blast away in the dirt bank.

 

I use empty heavy plastic jugs - laundry detergent and 2.5 gallon oil jugs - for targets. They are strong enough that the pellets hardly go through. Some get caught inside.

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I wonder if a heavy blanket or tarp behind the target would work?

Edited by Hoss
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Lead dust leads to a lot of unwanted problems. Your med co-pays will wipe out any trap building and savings.

 

Go to a local range and buy their used shot and lead bullets. Since you are melting it,used bullets will wok as well.

 

Personally. I use dummy shells since my loading and unloading speeds suck!!!

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Personally, I think your goal of getting better with the shotgun can be accomplished with dummy shells. I believe you are wanting to improve loading and shucking. You can get a lot of good practice dry firing.

Yep++

 

 

Don't need to fire rounds to get in good SG practice. Lots of pards know how to make up dummy shells for shotgun. If you are using a 97, you probably want light weight dummies (no shot) - this saves the extractors/ejector from the extra work of kicking out heavy rounds. If using SxS, then usually heavy weight dummies are better to practice with.

 

Good luck, GJ

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I made up dummies when I was trying to get problems resolved with a PW87. But they were not really snap caps.

 

I have a 97 but I don't shoot it at matches.

 

Good advice. I'll make up some snap cap hulls and practice with them when it's to nasty to be out.

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Why live fire when you can dry fire unless your not hitting your targets. You want to develope a muscle memory that's what's going to increase y,our time the most if your hitting the targets. Be sure to use a time and have set goals for practice sessions.

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My shotgun practice is all done with live loads at a cowboy range, so that I practice exactly what I will have to do. Even if that costs $$ for the ammo, I find that it's worth it.

 

I don't use (waste) my time with dry fire/dummy fire on shotgun.

 

Good luck, GJ

?

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?

Long reach back to just show that my needs and your needs may be at variance.

 

When I was in my first 5 years of shooting SASS, I used dry fire a lot to speed up my load and shuck. Now that I have that timing built in, I practice more with transitions and accuracy at speed. Dry fire doesn't show me the accuracy part. So, I now mostly live fire shotgun.

 

Good luck, GJ

Edited by Garrison Joe, SASS #60708
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I made up dummies when I was trying to get problems resolved with a PW87. But they were not really snap caps.

 

I have a 97 but I don't shoot it at matches.

 

Good advice. I'll make up some snap cap hulls and practice with them when it's to nasty to be out.

PitBull Tex makes excellent dummy rounds for practice. Very light weight and his method for a dummy primer will protect your firing pin a lot better than silicone or a spent primer.

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Long reach back to just show that my needs and your needs may be at variance.

 

When I was in my first 5 years of shooting SASS, I used dry fire a lot to speed up my load and shuck. Now that I have that timing built in, I practice more with transitions and accuracy at speed. Dry fire doesn't show me the accuracy part. So, I now mostly live fire shotgun.

 

Good luck, GJ

Good explanation. Thanks,

 

I've been shooting literally a dozen different doubles in 16, 12 and 10 gauge. Brass hulls, plastic hulls, roll crimp, star crimp, black, smokeless. Obviously, all are different and some not even practical for CAS. But I'd get yet another shotgun, likely do some repairs and then test fire it with appropriate loads. I'd work at figuring out the best way to run it and then get to the stage and fumble around and not run it like I planned. But I did it for fun and it was.

 

Got the MEC 600 set up. Freezing rain in forecast for next 4 days.

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