Less Toxic or Non Toxic Ammunition

[PH/CIB]

I have been shooting all of my life and shoot at indoor and outdoor ranges, but mostly at outdoor ranges. I have shot most of the major brands of ammo from the least expensive to the most expensive but for range shooting generally shoot Remington UMC or Winchester white box. I have always noticed a lot of smoke coming out of my different handguns and wanting to switch to less toxic or non toxic ammo did an internet search. I really recommend the article by Tony L. Jones titled "Frangible and Nontoxic Ammunition." My question, what do you recommend for non toxic ammo, cleaner primers and powders and completely jacketed bullets, for pistols mostly but also for rifles and shotguns, that is reasonably priced? THANKS!

 

[EricTheBarbarian]

i know some of the surplus i shoot in my mosin has a steel core with a copper jacket. dont see how youd have a problem with lead shooting that. cheap too

 

[Dorryn]

Too many people worried about silly things like a slightly higher-than-normal lead count. They were using lead paint for decades in schools and kindergartens... not anymore... but some people still worry about silly things. I figure ill die unexpectedly in a car accident or of a heart attack long before I have to worry about something like lead poisoning.

Im not casting my own bullets, either, though... If you were actuall WORKING with lead then i would worry. Shooting, no.

 

[Taurus 66]

I don't recommend non-toxic ammo. This scare about toxic lead dust is getting to be almost as rediculous as the propaganda behind second hand smoke being the big bad evil killer. The scare tactics are simply to move the direction of your money from the current companies you do business with to the non-toxic ammunitions manufacturer.

What's your age? The reason I ask PH/CIB is because you said, "I have been shooting all of my life ..." You must have lived a pretty good life thus far without the harmful side effects of lead dust, right? So ask yourself, "Why the switch?"

 

[Double Naught Spy]

i know some of the surplus i shoot in my mosin has a steel core with a copper jacket. dont see how youd have a problem with lead shooting that. cheap too

Simple. The steel core is surrounded by lead and the base of the bullet is exposed to the heat. Upon ignition, some of the lead at the exposed base is vaporized.

Too many people worried about silly things like a slightly higher-than-normal lead count. They were using lead paint for decades in schools and kindergartens... not anymore... but some people still worry about silly things. I figure ill die unexpectedly in a car accident or of a heart attack long before I have to worry about something like lead poisoning.

Yes, and arsenic used to be a common medicne to treat all sorts of ailments. Lead used to be used to seal food tins. Just because something was used for long periods of time doesn't mean it was okay.

The effects of lead poisoning can be subtle, but are also accumulative. For most long time shooters, the symptoms would appear similar to those with getting older, sore back, memory problems, kidney problems, muscle aches, and the like. Given that it takes approximately 40 years for lead to naturally be culled from the human body, most of us will die with ingested lead.

I can think of a few folks who have had to go through chelation therapy. It isn't pleasant.

 

[hso]

I provide industrial hygiene and safety support to indoor ranges. That includes overseeing the air sampling to check their air handling systems and the blood lead levels for the employees. I've also provided some interpretation help for some of their competetive shooters. Most of the employees and dedicated shooters have higher than normal blood lead levels. Some of them had BLLs very much higher than the levels that should be of concern. All of them were able to reduce those BLLs with simple hygiene and shooting practices like wearing a shooting cap and long sleeve shirt that they change when they're through shooting and simply washing up with soap and water. Some of the recreational shooters switched to lead-free primer ammo with fully jacketed bullets (including the base of the bullet).

Lead exposure is just another hazard we need to control like eye and hearing hazards in the sport. It's not difficult to address and it's just as as real. People used to scoff at hearing protection and eye protection on the range. Smart shooters wear hearing and eye protection now because we pretty much universally recognize their importance. Lead is just about as easy to deal with.