Lead bullets... gone the way of the Dodo? Why????

Bulk lead ammo still seems to be around online from places like Berry's Bullets, although I haven't seen truck loads of them at the gun shows like I used to. I am in the process of switching to copper plated to lower my lead exposure from reloading and handling. Plated bullets aren't THAT much more expensive, and I don't have to buy aftermarket barrels to shoot them out of my Glock which offsets the higher price a bit.

They sell a special soap now for people who shoot with lead bullets to get the lead off your skin. Personally I figure I will die of something else before lead gets me.

Just started castingand sizing. Bought the tools for a lifetime of shooting.

I push a gas checked 165 grain as cast SWC to 1900 fps in my Rossi 92 without leading. I cast it and size it myself. Yes, I'm quite mad......BWAAAAAAA, HA, Ha, ha, ha!

I worked over 30 years in the chemical industry. You don't wanna know what my exposures have been. Lead is the least of my problems.

"My ratio of lead to jacketed runs about 99 to 1.
Mabe even higher than that."

+1 I don't handload anymore, but I get my range ammo (9mm lead 124gr. TC and .38 sp. 148gr LWC) from www.mastercast.net, an outstanding reloading service. Unfortunately, they cannot help us right now unless we send them the same type and amount of spent brass in exchange. It's a plot by those guys in the black helicopters.

Cordially, Jack

Okay. While there's a lot of tin-foilery going on here, there might be a little truth to it, especially in California...

But more seriously, the most likely culprit in the decline of bare lead ammunition is largely economic. The large ammunition houses can produce jacketed ammunition in such economies of scale that the price of jacketed bullets versus lead bullets is small compared to the premium they can ask for jacketed ammunition. It isn't worth it to produce a cheap lead ammunition when jacketed ammunition has a much higher profit margin. So, they let the smaller ammo houses deal with lead. Without the huge capacities that the big boys have, they cannot leverage the same economies of scale, and their lead ammunition costs almost as much as the mainstream jacketed ammo. When the consumer looks on the shelf, they perceive a higher value in the jacketed ammo. Unless they are going to shoot a few hundred rounds a week, they end up with jacketed ammo.

Handloaders are value minded as well, and casting your own bullets from lead weights drops the bullet to a low cost. Also, since casting bullets is typically done in their free time, they don't have to deal with labor contribution to the price. This makes the home cast lead bullet extremely cost advantageous.

Serious handloaders have an advantage. They can slug their barrels and then purchase a sizer/lubeing die to properly fit their gun. Can't do that with commercial bullets.

Years ago, I cast for my 9mm and .357mag. Great results and no leading problems either.

y might note that 22LR is a lead bullet going 1,200 - 1,400 FPS, and doesn't lead the 10/22 in the slightest.

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A couple reasons that .22 rimfire doesn't lead bores while others will.

The .22 rimfire bullets are almost dead soft, and they have a slight hollow base, which helps the bullet obturate and seal the gasses off.

They bullets are also completely coated with a waxy lube that melts and keeps the fouling from sticking...lead and powder...and within a few shots, completely coats the bore from leade to muzzle.

The .22 rimfire cleans the bore for the previous shot with each round fired.
Many of the old-timers never clean their .22 bores...and the accuracy seems to sweeten the more they shoot'em.

I started reloading this past spring. When I was figuring out how economical it would be, I was not impressed due to the cost of FMJ bullets for plinking in .38. I, sadly, was afflicted with the internet aversion to lead bullets that RC speaks of. But, I went ahead and got lead DEWC and SWC to try. Imagine my shock when I had very little fouling, and my cylinders continued to turn after 100 rounds. I was shocked, SHOCKED I say, when I found that the same Hoppes No. 9 and bronze brush I had used forever quickly removed any fouling.

Most shooter are prissy, and don't like the clean up that lead bullets sometimes demand. Most manufacturers are aware that they can charge more for jacketed bullet ammo. The environmentalists, as mentioned, probably pressure manufacturers against the use of lead, so it's a win-win-win all the way around. EXCEPT, with the current shortage and demand for ammo, there has been renewed interest in cheaper ammo, and reloading with lead bullets. If you can get lead, and cast your own, you will always have bullets.

Why jacketed for hunting and self-defense? I use lead for both. You can count on a lead bullet to do what it's supposed to do. I don't count on jacketed bullets to do much of anything except drain my wallet.

all that's been available in .38 in SE MI is remington umc 158gr lrn. So the bigger companies still make it. at $16.99 a box, its cheaper than 9mm

I ONLY use lead bullets for handgun handloading. Most of my handloads are for bullseye competition and practice. The target's already dead, I don't need to kill processed cellulose.

If you like lead bullet revolver loads for self-defense, there's Winchester Remington, Federal and Buffalo Bore, among others. For the .38 Special, I prefer the 158gr. LSWC-HP "FBI" load. I have the Federals in all of my .38 Special and .357 Magnum revolvers.

I ONLY use lead bullets for handgun handloading.

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I'm with Deanimator. If the lead bullets are gone, I want to go where they went.

I load mostly lead for my revolvers, about 50/50 for my 1911. I do load mostly jacketed for my 9mm though.

I must agree that finding lead bullet ammo is getting tougher... All I see, when shops have it these days are jacketed ammo. Time to either start handloading, or maybe I will put in an order with Georgia Arms.

Bflobill69

For GAWD SAKES, won't somebody please think of the CONDORS?!?!

BTW, Condor tastes like chicken (a big chicken that is).

Lead is about all I can afford to shoot in .45 acp, with the price of components now. It's the only caliber I shoot a lot of anyway at this point.

Merci a Dieu pour Les Wheelweights

Until the Arugula and Pecan-encrusted Salmon salad crowd gets rid of lead wheelweights, we should be o.k. I have several hundred pounds hidden away in nuclear-hardened facilities to insure my clan's survival through the next Environmentalist Winter...

I really do use WW's for general plinking and such, though the content formula has surely changed from the old days. I like to use linotype for 30 carbine and hot 357 and 44 loads (anything over about 1100 fps to be precise), and they are the equal of the jacketed ones I also use. I haven't encountered leading in years as long as the appropriate alloy is used in each weapon (haven't used factory soft lead loads since the early 70's because of the propensity to coat my forcing cones and on down the tubes). My only complaint in semi-auto rifles is the mess from lube, but I have learned to siginificantly reduce that using Dillon/Midway mold drop-out (spray-on graphitic stuff). I use it on 30-ish cal bolt guns (-06, Krag, 303 and 7.92 as well) with excellent results, well as any pistol calibers. I will probably be able to cast until Survivalist Spring... (and I admit that pecan-encrusted salmon salad ain't half bad, just not publicly

Tad is sure spot-on about the cost of components, too. My lead to jacketed ratio is probably 10 to 1...

Ultramax remanufactured ammo is usually lead rather than jacketed or plated. Dick's Sporting Goods carries it in bulk packs.

I've only been reloading since June, and never actually reloaded a jacketed bullet for my 9mm. I've got two bullet cast producers within and hour of driving. Makes training so much cheaper.

Lead bullets are still very common for reloaders. I use 230gr LRN in .45acp, 148gr WC in .38spl, and 158gr LSWC in .357mag. No problems with excessive leading.

I've never loaded a jacketed bullet into a cartridge in my life. I like lead bullets because they're cheap, accurate, come in all kinds of nifty shapes, and practically never wear out a barrel.

In fact, just about the only time I ever shoot jacketed stuff is on the rare occasions that I'm shooting something I don't load for.

~~~Mat

I like lead bullets because they're cheap, accurate, come in all kinds of nifty shapes, and practically never wear out a barrel.

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Also very true.

Now for the tech section.

The reason that lead bullets don't wear barrels isn't because they're soft or because lead is a lubricant...though that's certainly part of the equation. Flame erosion adds to it, of course...but that mostly affects the leade/throat area just ahead of the chamber.

Ever notice that barrel wear is heaviest at the beginning? I've seen rifling completely absent in the first inch or two in pistol barrels, and still lookin' good in the last inch or so. If friction was the mechanism, the wear would be pretty evenly distributed over the length of the barrel.

When powder burns, it leaves a very fine, gritty ash residue that the next bullet grinds into the barrel. Lead bullets allow that residue to imbed almost immediately. The imbedding takes longer with jacketed bullets...giving the stuff more time in contact with the bore. The harder the jacket, the longer it takes.

And now ya know...

Cue the NBC tones.

For some reason my two-inch barreled Model 10 Smith shoots Remington 130gr Metal Case Ammo with greater accuracy than the Remington 158gr LRN. The LRN shoots quite high. I was at the range today and brought along a box of the LRN and it shot terribly high at 35 or so feet. My Model 10 is going to be a Hague Convention gun following the rules of warfare and sticking to FMJ.