Newbie question about primers and lead poisoning

[TennJed]

I am a newbie and have a question concerning lead posioning and primers. I want to start out loading with a Lee Classic loader (uses a rubber mallet instead instead of press) that I got for $8 at a pawn shop (no funds for a press and like the idea of loading a few rounds real slow and learning the process)

Anyway after reading and watching youtubes of the Lee Loaders it looks like I should expect a primer to go off here and there. As a matter of fact I have loaded 12 dummy rounds without powder and have had 2 primers go off on me.

I will be loading in a bedroom my 14 year old son stays in about every other weekend. This bedroom is next to my 6 month old son's bedroom, and the living room him and my 3 year old girl play in every day.

I will not load while they are in the adjacent rooms, but I am concerned that the primers going off and the depriming (messy) will lead to lead poisoning risk. The dummy round I loaded while setting on the floor because it was more comfortable.

As a matter of fact I am worried that the 2 primers that went off already and the 500 or so round I have deprimed on the floor could already have caused a problem. My little girl like to play in this room.

And to top it off I plan on loading lead cast bullets

Am I being too paranoid? I am not so much worried about me (I am a little) as I am for my children.

Any thoughts.

 

[snuffy]

Your concerns are well founded. The lead you're dealing with is lead styphonate, an easily absorbed lead salt. It's contained in the spent primer and inside the fired brass case. You should be able to clean up most of the contamination with a good vacuum. If it's possible to get that area wet, that would get the rest of it. If it's carpeted, a carpet cleaner would get all of it.

In the future you should de-prime and re-prime somewhere else than a living area.

As for setting primers off in the priming stage, a lot of light taps instead of a couple heavy hits is better to prevent the primer from popping. The ultimate solution is to get a hand priming tool. The new lee auto prime would solve the priming problem.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/default.aspx?productNumber=413473

You are right about keeping lead away from children or nursing women. The lead bullets are not a big concern as long as you are careful about hygiene. Make sure to clean up the loading area and wash your hands thoroughly when you're finished. Metallic lead is not easily absorbed through the skin, less than 1/10 of a percent can go through unbroken skin.

 

[Grumulkin]

Back in the days I used a Lee Loader, I don't think I had any primers go off but, in any case, a Lee Autoprime would set you back about $20 and you wouldn't set any more primers off.

As for the lead risk from spent primers, I would say don't lick them and don't eat them. For decades, our parents breathed exhaust from cars run on leaded gasoline, leaded paint was used in homes, etc. Lead didn't suddenly become more toxic just in the last few years. Also keep in mind that military and law enforcement personnel shoot in various enclosed areas with bunches of primers going off. While I would never suggest you eat lead or breath lead dust or fumes when you don't have to but, in the big scheme of things, a couple of primers going off in a room is inconsequential.

I remember the day when thermometers were made with mercury. In fact, one time I had a bottle of mercury I played with. In more recent history, there were a couple of schools in which there was a minor mercury spill in a chemistry lab or something like that. The schools were evacuated and the local ER was visited by streams of "victims" wanting to know if they were going to die from mercury poisoning. What is this world coming to?

 

[06]

Ditto on getting a hand primer. I have primer tubes for two presses but never use them. That hand primer is easier, faster, and you get to inspect the rounds one more time. Congrats on your loading. I have moved my loaders to "Moma's" kitchen table while we are remodeling the "room". I know she will be more than happy to get her table back.

 

[ranger335v]

There is precious little lead in a primer, little of it remains in either the spent primer or cases. The quanities you will be loading with that little kit are small. So, don't let the kids lick the floors and all will be well!

Solid lead - a bullet - is not harmful but the slight gray smears they can leave on your hands is, but even that cannot be absorbed through skin. (Many healthy people are walking around with old bullets buried in places the docs don't want to cut on.) Just wash the gray off your hands before eating or smoking and all will be well!