How much lead residue from a pellet gun inside house?

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Ohen Cepel

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I've been putting a good number of pellets out of my pellet pistol in the basement range I have set up.

However, little concerned since I have a kid due this fall.

I think the lead left behind would be very minimal. However, would like some hard data.

Does anyone know of any research done on pellet guns? I know there's lots out there on standard firearms. However, since there is no primer/powder or lead smear on the backstop I'm curious about how much a pellet going into a cardboard box might leave behind.

Research sources or opinions?

http://www.fortunecity.com/olympia/kickbox/377/infolead.html
I found this link. If he's a baby doc and not too worried I might be OK.


Thanks,
 
Ohen - no sources to give on research - just a quick 2c.

IMO this is a very very minor risk indeed. Airborn lead is of course far from welcome but - looking at the pellet - we have a solid item - no powder. I doubt in firing either there is a measurable dissemination of particulate lead.

On impacting a target - certainly one with an energy absorbing character (as against steel or concrete) instance cardboard - I doubt pellet deformation would be too extreme. Oh and - you say pistol - well even less of a problem due to its very moderate velocity.

Even if steel in fact - if a classic pellet trap with angled plate, then particulates should I think be large as against fine. Softwood is a good stop with steel behind as a final catch-all.

So - I rather doubt the risk here is significant at all - others may of course disagree - I am only looking at the logistics as I see them. Casting bullets or shooting .22's indoors would be orders of magnitude more potentially hazardous.
 
Babies are real good at sticking small objects into their mouths. Estimate the probability of stepping on a lead pellet, getting it wedged into the tread of your shoe, then bringing it out to the rest of the house, where it falls out, onto the carpet.

I would say THAT is your greatest concern.
 
I've seen some folk recommend against using the steel type traps because they can cause splatter and some lead particle bounce-back. I have never heard any evidence to support the idea that airguns can put lead into the air like a firearm can--I've never even heard it suggested.

Other than actual pieces of lead or pellets getting out of the trap, you're safe. You do need to practice proper hygiene when handling pellets, the airgun, or the trap.
 
After shooting pellet guns all my life I would think the real hazard is from pellets left on the floor for the baby to get at, and simply handling the raw lead. I know my fingers certainly get a good coating after a session.
 
As the others said, the child picking up a pellet and eating it is your only real concern. Just clean up well after you're done shooting. Congradulations and good luck with your child.
 
Pb levels

You could go to your MD and get tested. If your blood levels are not elevated, it probably isn't an issue. On the other hand, developing fetuses are more sensitive. If you are even slightly concerned, stop.
 
i know this is not

the kind of answer you are looking for and i'm not trying to be smart but the answer is far less than most of us over 40 grew up with!
 
I can't remember the source, but I recently read that a .177 pellet loses about 3% of its mass when fired.
 
I really, really doubt that, unless the lube is slipping off. Afterall, that black coating you get on your fingers isn't lead - it's the black graphite lubricant. Mostly, anyway!
 
Without a flame there is no vaporization of the lead.
Large particles of mettalic lead are not a hazard evenif ingested. The human body is not capable of 'digesting' lead.
Organic lead is the hazard (to one and all), not metallic lead unless it is very finely divided (think powder).
 
I'll bet the guy is getting his lead from failing to exercise hygiene after or while handling the pellets.

That is the first I've ever heard of anything like that. I know people who shoot literally hundreds of pellets of weeks. Maybe even thousands--and with zero ill effect. A few get their lead levels tested occasionally and never have elevated levels.

If his numbers are right, I'd say that one or more of the following is going on.

1. Some kind of lube or coating (such as graphite, oil or wax) is being removed during shooting, handling or impact.
2. Lead is being stripped off by the rifling.
3. Lead is being lost in the impact.
4. He's measuring right at the accuracy limit of his scale and is getting misleading readings.
 
A pellet gun doesn't have many ways to generate airborne lead at all. A firearm typically uses a lead styphnate primer (source of most airborne lead when shooting a firearm), and heat from combustion and friction can add a bit of vaporized or particulate lead to the mix. Velocities at impact with a solid object are often high enough to powder the lead a bit.

A pellet gun, on the other hand, uses no primer and no combustion, so there'd be very little chance to generate airborne lead.

As far as a target, I've used a small cardboard box filled with old books turned on their edge. Shuffle the books from time to time so new pellets aren't hitting old ones embedded in the book. You can tape your targets right to the box, and you don't have to worry about lead splatter.
 
I was somewhat shocked to see the extent of pellet disintegration when I first tested the steel (Gamo) pellet trap I recently acquired. The trap seems to do a good job of containing the fragments, but I'm sure some of them either fly out, or are easily dropped if/when moving the trap around or emptying it.
 
Update:

Bought some Non-Toxic pellets from England, $12.00 for 250. Rather pricey, light and made out of I don't know what.

They shot like crap, no real pattern that I could find. Of course, I was only able to shoot about 10 before my IZH began to have issues (that has never happened in 1000+ rounds). Weapon would fire but pellet wouldn't move, I think the metal might be too hard to seat properly.

Anyway, I'm back to shooting a bit less. Won't spray with the semi-auto CO2 that I have but will shoot precision work with the IZH still.

If anyone happened to have good luck with the non-toxic pellets please let me know. Guy today had plastic sabots with a steel core for the .177's, didn't get them though after the $12 box. They may be better.
 
Guy today had plastic sabots with a steel core for the .177's
Click to expand...
Owen - not too surprised the non-toxics were not that good - somehow it just seems all but impossible to beat the results from good ol' lead pellets!

As for the steel core sabots - tried them long time ago - for me the accuracy was absolute crap!! I have a feeling the separation from sabot is just too inconsistent.
 
Shooting results with non-lead pellets seem to be uniformly poor.

Of course, I'm getting that information from the same people who said that their lead levels were normal after many years of handling and shooting lead pellets indoors (and observing reasonable hygiene precautions). Since you didn't believe that part, you probably shouldn't believe the part about non-lead pellets either.
 
This is waaay outside of my expertise, but couldn't lead pellets potentially be coated or encased in something like wax, teflon, or whatnot in order to reduce contact exposure? Obviously this would not do anything once they're shot but should be cheap and maintain most of the ballastic and expansion/fragmentation characteristics.
 
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