I'm not new to firearms but I am new to reloading so I need help understanding something.
I tumble clean my brass with crushed walnut as many do. So far I've put about a 1000 casings or so thru the media without changing it and only replenishing the cleaner once with a teaspoon full of Frankford Arsenal (Midway) cleaner.
Now here's my question:
I've read on a number of different forums that guys change it after 10 uses, wear masks, etc, ect in order to avoid breathing in lead contaminated dust from the media.
BUT - where does the lead come from? There's no lead in smokeless powder, none in primers and none in brass. That leaves the bullet. Any shavings would be vaporized and blown right out of the case when firing. If some lead gets vaporized off the base of the bullet it too gets blown out of the case.
So where the heck is the lead coming from that these guys are concerned about?
People not wanting to die from overexposure to LEAD want to know.
I tumble clean my brass with crushed walnut as many do. So far I've put about a 1000 casings or so thru the media without changing it and only replenishing the cleaner once with a teaspoon full of Frankford Arsenal (Midway) cleaner.
Now here's my question:
I've read on a number of different forums that guys change it after 10 uses, wear masks, etc, ect in order to avoid breathing in lead contaminated dust from the media.
BUT - where does the lead come from? There's no lead in smokeless powder, none in primers and none in brass. That leaves the bullet. Any shavings would be vaporized and blown right out of the case when firing. If some lead gets vaporized off the base of the bullet it too gets blown out of the case.
So where the heck is the lead coming from that these guys are concerned about?
People not wanting to die from overexposure to LEAD want to know.