AJC1
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Not that I would find either particularly enjoyable but steel would brake a tooth pretty easy. Maybe you should just head shoot them with 17hmr.
Drying brass
- Thread starter KY DAN
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Fine Figure of a Man
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On a box of Federal 12 Gauge Steel
Same here.Whatever the number, I won’t stop wet tumbling, nor using a proper backstop at the range.
Fine figure of a man, yes, some of us do just wash their hands and move on. I also don't have a problem eating while reloading or cleaning brass. I wrap whatever I'm eating with a paper towel and go to town!
How many wash their hands with hot water? How many use cold water to wash their hands? I use cold to hopefully keep the pores closed so that lead doesn't leach into the skin on my hands.
How many wash their hands with hot water? How many use cold water to wash their hands? I use cold to hopefully keep the pores closed so that lead doesn't leach into the skin on my hands.
packetloss
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That is quite possible. I just remember them saying something around 65,000 (might have been 64,000) and I don't recall what the units were. Either way, there was a significant amount of lead in the water compared to his normal drinking water.
I looked up the report for my local drinking water and they measure lead content in ug/l which they equate to ppb. So more than likely it was 65,000 ppb.
packetloss
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Yes.... and then I had my lead levels tested and got my reality check. I'm much more careful now and if lead free primers are ever available again will probably test some out
packetloss
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Fine figure of a man, yes, some of us do just wash their hands and move on. I also don't have a problem eating while reloading or cleaning brass. I wrap whatever I'm eating with a paper towel and go to town!
How many wash their hands with hot water? How many use cold water to wash their hands? I use cold to hopefully keep the pores closed so that lead doesn't leach into the skin on my hands.
I use D-Lead soap and wash in cold water. I wear nitrile gloves while handling dirty brass and dirty wet tumbler water. Once it's been cleaned and while operating the press I don't wear gloves, but still wash my hands in cold water using D-Lead soap when done.
There is no true safe amount of lead. With that being said, I'd be happy to be under 5, preferably 2-3. Ignoring lead is pretty much in the same category as ignoring high blood sugar or high cholesterol.
1) I know people who work in treatment plants; every part of the system and they themselves get tested all the time. 2) The NRA recommends 200 degrees for 20 minutes. 3) Parchment paper which can be re-used works great in ovens; ask the Misses. 4) Oven doors cannot be opened on new ovens during operation. 5) It's good to be concerned about lead contamination, but I think you guys are over reaching. Working with OSHA I found: Lead contamination is mainly for pregnant women and children age 6 and under. If you have ventilation where you load and cast and do not eat or smoke while playing with your stuff; and wash hands and face after-wards; and change your clothes after casting; and clean your table with a damp paper towel when you are done loading, case trimming, and pocket cleaning, you will be on top of the situation very nicely. 6) No, high blood sugar is far worse.
Dudedog
Contributing Member
I dump the cases on and old towel, then dry the outside. In the summer I set them out in the sun to dry, done quick when it's over 100 outside,
the rest of the time I put them on another old towel and stick them in the corner of room inside, dry by the next day.
Yes gunk ends up in the water, but it would be in dry media as well, so for those who say no wet what do you do with the dry media?
It all has to end up some place. So it is either in the water (which could go in the trash) in the dry media which probably goes in the trash or still on your cases.....
With wet it isn't on your cases any longer.
the rest of the time I put them on another old towel and stick them in the corner of room inside, dry by the next day.
Yes gunk ends up in the water, but it would be in dry media as well, so for those who say no wet what do you do with the dry media?
It all has to end up some place. So it is either in the water (which could go in the trash) in the dry media which probably goes in the trash or still on your cases.....
With wet it isn't on your cases any longer.
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rfwobbly
Member
That's what I thought until a pizza, being warmed in the box, caught fire one night in my oven. Paper may burn at 451°F, but it ignites at very low temps.
You are not "golden". Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200.
Thanks for running those numbers. I started trying to figure it out and then saw your post. The only way the stated figure would be possible is if you let the water settle for some time and then discarded everything but a very concentrated drop or two at the bottom of the container.
whughett
Member
In 30 years of being exposed to lead on a daily basis, cable splicer for the telephone company. Setting up, opening lead sheath cables and splices, cleaning by carding and solder wiping large lead splice in closures was a daily routine for many years. The company routinely checked line and splice workers for lead blood levels. I never had a problem. The element of danger was in the oxidation levels of the leads surface as it could be come airborne when cleaned. One has to literally eat the stuff for it to become hazardous. Lead doesn’t vaporize when heated and toxic fumes are contaminates in the lead and it dose not enter thru the skin. Not down playing the hazards just saying it’s a boogie man that can be controlled.
IMO indoor shooting ranges carry a far greater risk then one is ever going to get hand loading lead bullets or dry or wet cleaning brass. Try sweeping up the concrete floor of any door range and see how much unburned powder there is lying there along with what ever the primer detonation spews out. We don’t allow dry sweeping to recover brass at my club using only rubber blade sweeps.
If I were as concerned about lead poisoning as some posts may indicate I think I’d avoid the whole shooting thing in the first place.
IMO indoor shooting ranges carry a far greater risk then one is ever going to get hand loading lead bullets or dry or wet cleaning brass. Try sweeping up the concrete floor of any door range and see how much unburned powder there is lying there along with what ever the primer detonation spews out. We don’t allow dry sweeping to recover brass at my club using only rubber blade sweeps.
If I were as concerned about lead poisoning as some posts may indicate I think I’d avoid the whole shooting thing in the first place.
Ramone
Member
I thought I was the only one that used this trick. Works a treat.
BreechFace
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So what do people who have lead laden corncob do with their media when finished with it?
I suppose if one is worried about contributing to lead into a septic or wastewater, one can have a large flat pan that the soiled water could be placed into to evaporate and what is left in the bottom can be collected and taken to hazmat station.
I suppose if one is worried about contributing to lead into a septic or wastewater, one can have a large flat pan that the soiled water could be placed into to evaporate and what is left in the bottom can be collected and taken to hazmat station.
Fine Figure of a Man
Member
On the interwebs many perform very elaborate disposal rituals. In reality people toss it in the trash can.
Fine Figure of a Man
Member
Between the nurse drawing the blood sample, the lab technicians testing it and the hazmat team cleaning the place up, somebody ought be able to tell if the OP's brass is dry or not.
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This is hands down the best answer in this thread!
Phantom 309
Member
It sure does! I was out in the back yard slinging water out of cases 3 at a time trying to give myself tennis elbow when Mrs. 309 came out and suggested it. I think it was under $10 and worth every penny.
I've air dried cases on a towel, stirring them once a day or so to mix up any water in the cases. It takes several days for the cases to dry. I also have one of the case dryers, either Hornady or Frankfurt Arsenal. It does a good job as well and works faster than the towel method.
I do mostly dry tumbling as wet tumbling takes more time. But, if I want really clean cases, wet tumbling is the cat's meow.
Historically, I have shot 4000-5000 rounds per year and I do not feel the lead load on the environment is meaningful. This last year, I've shot about a 1000 rounds of shot shells at skeet and not much metallic cartridges.
I do mostly dry tumbling as wet tumbling takes more time. But, if I want really clean cases, wet tumbling is the cat's meow.
Historically, I have shot 4000-5000 rounds per year and I do not feel the lead load on the environment is meaningful. This last year, I've shot about a 1000 rounds of shot shells at skeet and not much metallic cartridges.
whughett
Member
Probably wasn’t the paper but the oils from the pizza that lit. Gas or electric.
whughett
Member
Primers in pockets can trap moisture and stay wet for many days air or heat dry. No primers the water evaporates as it would from any surface exposed to air.
WeekendReloader
Member
I talked with a friend who is a civil engineer. He builds waste water treatment stations. He focuses on the transport, holding, and release aspects and is not totally sure what each municipality treats for. But, he said that waste water can certainly be treated for lead. Whether a particular municipality does or not is up to them.
tightgroup tiger
Member
It's the moleculer lead in the priming compound we have to worry about. We can absorb it by breathing the dust.
Wet tumbling with citric acid will chelate the lead , that means it causes the lead to combine with another ion to form an different compound and we can't absorb it.
The doners for chellation are all single proton doners and will combine with the lead to to form a compound we can't absorb.
If you use wet cleaning and use citric acid in your solution, that is the safest way for us and the earth.
Citric acid solution needs to be at 3ph to be the most effective. That's not hard to do. One level teaspoon of Lemi-shine will get you there in 2 liters of water.
This is why I use an ultra sonic cleaner, there is no galvanic plating goes on in there like goes on with cleaning with SS pins, if I get my solution to strong.
See links below.
Skep down to conclusions if you want.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11368-015-1350-9
According to this article, Citric acid is the only safe way we have to challate the lead from the dust or wet solutions we clean our brass with, and for disposing of it.
Here is another article on it but it is painful to read and understand.
https://juniperpublishers.com/omcij/pdf/OMCIJ.MS.ID.555694.pdf
This lead came out of the ground to start with and wet cleaning your brass with citric acid is the safest way of putting it back in the ground and is what the sewage companies prefer us to use as a disposal method.
If you want to continue dry tumbling your cases, no one is stopping you. Just do it safely, since this is where the molecular lead that can hurt us is going to be concentrated and will be the biggest risk of us inhaling it.
Wet tumbling with citric acid will chelate the lead , that means it causes the lead to combine with another ion to form an different compound and we can't absorb it.
The doners for chellation are all single proton doners and will combine with the lead to to form a compound we can't absorb.
If you use wet cleaning and use citric acid in your solution, that is the safest way for us and the earth.
Citric acid solution needs to be at 3ph to be the most effective. That's not hard to do. One level teaspoon of Lemi-shine will get you there in 2 liters of water.
This is why I use an ultra sonic cleaner, there is no galvanic plating goes on in there like goes on with cleaning with SS pins, if I get my solution to strong.
See links below.
Skep down to conclusions if you want.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11368-015-1350-9
According to this article, Citric acid is the only safe way we have to challate the lead from the dust or wet solutions we clean our brass with, and for disposing of it.
Here is another article on it but it is painful to read and understand.
https://juniperpublishers.com/omcij/pdf/OMCIJ.MS.ID.555694.pdf
This lead came out of the ground to start with and wet cleaning your brass with citric acid is the safest way of putting it back in the ground and is what the sewage companies prefer us to use as a disposal method.
If you want to continue dry tumbling your cases, no one is stopping you. Just do it safely, since this is where the molecular lead that can hurt us is going to be concentrated and will be the biggest risk of us inhaling it.
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