[pyrdek]

Yesterday I had some clean up to do an the loading bench and I ended up with a fair amount of shot mixed in with the powder. I have a tray under the loader to contain any spills so it doesn't go rolling all over the bench. This catches powder and shot from knocked over shells or when the loader drops a load but there is no shell to receive it or even when I forget to insert a wad but pull the handle anyway.

Well I figured after a year or more, it had built up to where I had to clean it out. I ended up with enough powder and shot mix to make retrieving the shot worth a try. I figure the powder was not reusable because it was a mix of a couple different powders and had too much chance to be contaminated. The shot was still good.

How to separate the two? Using compressed air made for a good size mess so it was out. What I ended up doing, and I was surprised at how well it worked, was to get a small piece of Masonite maybe 18 inches long and seven inches wide, and hot glue two wood slats on the long edges of the smooth side of the Masonite. This left a channel of maybe four inches in the middle for the shot and powder to be dumped into. I tilted the Masonite up at a 30 or 40 degree angle and had a container to catch the shot at the bottom. I then slowly trickled the shot/powder mix onto the Masonite and vibrated the board a little, both up and down and side to side. The shot would roll through the powder and when it got to the bare Masonite, it rolled down the board and into the container. The powder, being less dense and not round stayed on the board. I could then dump the powder when it built up some and continue with another load. After one or two passes, the shot was clear of all powder and could be used again.

I just thought I would pass this along in case anyone else had a similar problem.

 

[Ljutic111]

Seems like you went through a lot of time and work when all you needed was a metal half round strainer . Just pour the shot and powder in and swirl it around a few times over another container and the powder sifts out leaving the shot to be used again . Depend on the amount of powder left . I don`t have that much of different powders left so I just dump it in the tube and mix it in about 2-3 inches and I have never had a problem and couldn`t tell the difference in any shell . By the way , I`m talking about maybe 2 tablespoons of mixed (if any) and they are all around the same burn rate .

 

[grntitan]

A couple dollars at Wal Mart. Works great, shot stays in and powder sifts into pan below. Works with Green and Red Dot anyway.----Matt

 

[mx8dave]

pour mix in a 5 gallon bucket ,,, point blower into bucket ,,I use my shop vac reversed ,,,do on lawn ,powder makes good fertilizer mx8Dave

 

[RJ]

I use a piece of screen wire and either a small or medium container. I line the container and bow the wire down into the container and add my messup. Then it's just shake, shake, shake. Works every time. The wire is small enough to where the powder goes through ok but keeps the shot in the wire. Don't shoot #9's so I don't worry about the diamiter of the wire holes as long as the #7 1/2 or #8 don't go through. (Rich.inAz.orinnameonly)

 

[Model12Lady]

Had a real dumbass attack yesterday...poured powder in shot bottle. Got the old tea strainer out. Poured in a small amount at a time and shook it around, powder went into container and shot stayed in strainer. Took about half an hour but it did the job.