Newbie question: Lead-free reloading?

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115-124-147

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Hi all,

I'm a relatively new shooter (just the past year) and I would like to shoot a lot more than I do, but there are two things stopping me: money, and being worried about over exposure to lead (particularly because my wife and I are going to have a baby in the near future).

I am wondering whether it is possible to kill two birds, and reload my own ammo in a way that is both lead free and economical.

I know you can get lead-free primers. I am not sure whether you can reload jacketed or even TMJ bullets (and if you can, whether doing so is still economical over shooting factory rounds). I am also not sure if primer and vaporized lead from the rear face of the round are the only two sources of lead in shooting - are there also heavy metals present in the powder charge itself, typically?

I would love to be able to reload in a totally lead-free way and either save money or spend no more than factory ammo prices. Is that possible? If so, how do I get started doing it?

Thanks!
 
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You are probably looking far more into this than is necessary, but you can do as you wish. Many people have and continue to load ammo using traditional lead components around babies and children with no risks to them (assuming some fairly simple and easy measures are taken). Don't leave bullets laying around loose for the baby to grab/eat whatever. Wash your hands when you are done.

And yes, you can reload jacketed or TMJ bullets, but generally, why bother? There are cheaper alternatives that maximize your reloading savings such as plated, coated and bare lead (OMG I know right!):D It all depends on what you are comfortable with, but lead is pretty hard to harm someone with unless it manages to pick up lots of speed quick!:evil:
 
To reduce lead I have a stainless steel tumbler, soap, water and lemishine gets my brass clean and clear of any residue and carbon. My fired brass goes through this step before it enters the reloading room.

Pistol rounds are plated bullets.

I have nitrile gloves when sorting and cleaning or depriming fired brass, gloves are thrown out in a garage trash can.

Kids dont get to touch reloading stuff unless i allow it, and we wear eye pro and wash hands before and after a loading session.

I try to keep everything very clean, from what i understand solid lead in bullets is difficult to ingest, but fumes (casting) and residue and lead from primers is a lead poison hazard





Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
The only indoor range near here does not admit pregnant women.

For lead free shooting:
Primers made with Dinol priming compound instead of lead styphnate.
Bullets with the lead cores covered by encapsulating jackets, plating, or coating.
There are no heavy metals in the gunpowder.

Copper bullets and tin core bullets are expensive.

For utmost protection, you should only reload your own brass or other that you know was lead free so as to avoid styphnate primer residue and lingering bullet base fume.

Z Clean is selling ammo with non lead primers and zinc bullets, inherently lead free. I don't think they are selling loose bullets yet. But the ammo is not real expensive, $13.50/50... if the distributor had any to sell.
 
Thanks for the replies so far. Being totally clueless about reloading, I will probably take a bit to digest some of the replies/links.

blue32 said:
Just a hunch, but I'm guessing you want to reload 9mm?
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A reasonable hunch, but I wouldn't say I'm exclusively interested in 9mm. It is what I currently shoot, but I've definitely got the hots for a .357 revolver. Browsing online, I have not been able to find any lead free .357 at less than $1/round.

For 9mm, I have certainly seen stuff that is relatively cheap, such as this stuff for 43 cents/round, but (1) if it's possible to do even better on the price, I'd like to, and (2) I live in CA, which recently passed a bill requiring background checks for ammo purchases, and I've been told it will effectively outlaw online ammo purchases - so, whatever prices I see now, even for a relatively cheap round like 9mm, may be moot in the near future.



blue32 said:
Just so you know, I had slightly elevated lead levels reloading jacketed and cast while using an indoor range. When I moved to an outdoor range those problems went away.
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It's about an hour drive to an outdoor range for me, but I'm going to try to do as much of my shooting there as possible. It's a lot more fun than the nearby indoor range anyway (steel targets and such), but the hour drive of course means I won't be able to make time for it as often.

Another issue that's caused me to think more seriously about lead exposure is my desire to get into revolver shooting. Based on my thoroughly unscientific study of the matter (i.e., browsing internet discussion forums) I've come under the impression, however accurate or inaccurate, that extensive shooting with a wheelgun does expose you to more airborne lead than extensive shooting with a semiauto. I suppose that, if this is true, it would be because of the gases exiting the gun sideways through the cylinder gap. For the same reason, I'd guess that a muzzle brake - and really, any device or design that directs the gases in any direction besides directly away from the shooter - would raise your lead exposure just a little bit.
 
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Don’t over think the lead exposure problem. Is it a potential concern, yes. The first step is to get a blood test to determine your lead level then at your annual check-ups. If your level increases, then worry about it. If I recall correctly, anything below 10 is considered normal and is not for concern unless it exceeds 14. I’ve been casting my own bullets and reloading for over 40 years and at my last checkup my lead level was 7.

In the meantime, reloading with plated bullets and lead free primers as said above and washing your hands will probably eliminate 99% of any potential contamination.
 
1. Use plated or coated bullets
2. buy pre-tumbled, once-fired brass
3. just leave the brass at the range; once-fired isn't all that expensive

You'll still come out ahead
 
I am wondering whether it is possible to kill two birds, and reload my own ammo in a way that is both lead free and economical.
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Those 2 things generally do not go together. You can do either without a problem. But for the most part, lead free bullets are substantially more expensive.

Like others have said, if you shoot plated bullets, the lead is completely encased in a thin layer of copper and there is no reason for you to be exposed to it.
 
Absolutely possible to go completely lead free.

I'm doing it right now.

It's not cost effective vs lead, it is mighty cost effective vs buying no-lead factory ammo at $1.50-$2 Rd.

The new Ruger ARX is a great cost effective completely lead free 9mm round you can use until you get warmed up in non-tox reloading.

Kudos to you for looking out for your family. Nicely done.

PM me if you need any help, I don't want to inflame the lead cheerio trolls any further by discussing it further here:)

Depending on your shooting location, plated may not be sufficient. If you're doing it on your own land, I'd go "no lead" vs "low lead".

"Do" over think your lead exposure. Your kid (s) will appreciate it.
 
Welcome to the forum. It is much more difficult than most shooters think to contaminate your blood with lead. The main way is to injest the lead. Wash your hands,after,shooting, don't eat with your hands before washing and don't smoke while shooting will eliminate most if the sources if lead. Tyecothercis to breath in the fumes and if shooting outdoors your exposure is minimal.

Coated lead bullets are a good and economically way to load "lead free" ammo.

Good luck but remember, there is a small chance of contamination if you take a little care when shooting.
 
Twiki357 said:
Don’t over think the lead exposure problem. Is it a potential concern, yes. The first step is to get a blood test to determine your lead level then at your annual check-ups. If your level increases, then worry about it. If I recall correctly, anything below 10 is considered normal and is not for concern unless it exceeds 14. I’ve been casting my own bullets and reloading for over 40 years and at my last checkup my lead level was 7.

In the meantime, reloading with plated bullets and lead free primers as said above and washing your hands will probably eliminate 99% of any potential contamination.
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^^^THIS^^^

I was raised by a Handloader and have been reloading since I was about 12 or 13 (Am 53 now) and have raised 4 kids while loading and casting bullets. Heck, my oldest granddaughter, now 6, has been pilfering around my reloading room, picking up primers, handling cast bullets, "helping" me reload and just generally Papaw-ing me to death since she was 3 or so. As a precaution, I make her wash her hands when we leave the shop.

Lead is not the booger-bear everyone likes to lead us to believe.

35W
 
A friend came back to the monthly indoor (mostly) police league last night.
His lead level was down from 8 to 4 so he felt he could make the occasional event. He said 10 was the action level for treatment.
 
Jes my opinion. You are overthinking the "Lead Poisoning Scare". My shooting has slowed down in the last 8 years but at one time I was shooting 200+ rounds weekly, about 50% being cast lead. I was shooting indoors at an older range which was usually pretty full of shooters. I also cast my own bullets and my favorite shooting was done with my .44 magnums and lead bullets with plain old primers. I guess if anyone would get "poisoned" by casting/shooting it would have been me. My employer offered annual check-ups for hearing, sight, and heavy metal exposure. My blood tests were always in the normal range for lead content (even though I worked downtown Los Angeles; smog!). I've retired and increased my bullet casting and have been tested once, about 2 years ago and still, blood/lead levels normal. I know of no shooter/reloader/caster that has been poisoned by lead.

Normal common sense is all that's needed (don't chew on any freshly cast bullets, don't stand directly over the casting pot doing deep breathing exercises, don't tumble brass in an unventilated room and inhale dust directly above the tumbler.). Lead isn't the evil monster lurking around looking for a hapless shooter/reloader/caster to pounce on and poison...
 
Nowadays when people say "lead free" bullets they usually mean solid copper. Back in the old days a lot of people shot zinc bullets. Zinc is less dense than lead so bullets drop out light, but it's kind to rifling, can be driven to higher velocities without leaving deposits in the barrel, and a some people shot it without bothering to lubricate it, as is required by lead.
 
I agree with many above that all this hype about lead poisoning is just that-hype. Like someone said-don't be stupid enough to eat it. That's how all this got started in the first place. Some stupid ghetto parents in Chicago let their kids eat the old flaking paint chips and they got sick. Imagine that!. One thing led to another and the govt. got involved and there you go...
I'm a painter. My dad was a painter. He was a painter back in the day when painters bought lead in chunks and mixed it with linseed oil and made their paints. That was even before paint companies started pre-mixing it into the paints. Hell, he only lived to be 94. Just think how long he could have lived if he hadn't been a painter.
Rant over now.
I will admit that some people are probably more susceptible than others to lead, but those are very few and far between.
 
It's really as simple as washing your hands after handling dirty brass, lead bullets, or shooting. Clean off you guns after shooting them and you'll clean off any primer residue.

With that said there are jacketed bullets, plated bullets, or coated bullets you can use. There are bullets made of other various metals but their weights are going to be completely different and finding load data is going to be difficult.
 
115-124-147 said:
It's about an hour drive to an outdoor range for me, but I'm going to try to do as much of my shooting there as possible. It's a lot more fun than the nearby indoor range anyway
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I think you are way over thinking and putting the cart before the horse.

Shooting indoors will likely overshadow all the steps you are taking to minimize lead exposure because you cannot control variables such as amount of lead vapor/dust present inside the indoor range.

Unless you wear a respirator while you shoot and pick up brass from the floor to reload, you are going to inhale certain amount of lead vapor/dust from other shooters. ;)

Get your blood lead level tested to establish a baseline (normal is 2 - 4 and your doctor/lab are required to report above 10 to Department of Public Health for California) and see if the blood lead level rises as you shoot. If it does, make necessary adjustments to your shooting practice to reduce lead level (like decreasing the frequency of indoor range sessions and/or wearing respirator, etc.). If your lead level does not increase, shoot away.

My blood lead level went from 8 to 12 even though I took all the necessary precautions because I shot frequently at an indoor range. Once I stopped shooting at indoor range, my lead level dropped and I now do all of my shooting outdoors with much less precautions and my lead level is not rising - http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=9616073#post9616073

I switched from shooting lead bullets to plated while trying to lower my blood lead level and plan on shooting lead bullets again now that I am shooting outdoors.

Be safe but be reasonable. ;)
 
To assuage your fears you could shoot solid copper bullets, try to find lead-free primers, reload wearing nitrile gloves in a fully ventilated, climate controlled room, never handle fired brass, never deprime cases, shoot only when wearing a respirator, in an indoors range with EPA approved ventilation, making sure to scrub your hands, arms, face, and any exposed skin, and change clothes before leaving the range. Or you could realize that some things, like lead poisoning, is tremendously overblown, especially in online forums where very little information is more than "my uncle's brother in law's son overheard a conversation at his cousin's range where some guy in a "Range Master" hat said...".

Common sense is all that's needed...
 
Lead oxide absorbed by breathing or ingestion (basically poor hygiene around heavy metals) is the worst culprit, as mentioned several times above.

One thing though, I wouldn't bring my wife to the range while pregnant. I'm not sure at what point the baby can hear sounds and voices, but I sure wouldn't want to expose it to that much loud noise during development.
 
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