Most U.S. gun owners use lead-based ammunition and primers, and nearly half don’t engage in any post-shooting hygiene behaviors such as changing their clothes or showering, a study found.
FYI, a significant amount of lead exposure from shooting isn’t really from the bullets but from the primers which contain lead compounds.
The lead in the bullet is going downrange, and is often jacketed in something like copper, you’re not gonna come in contact with a whole lot of lead from handling most ammo, and there’s absolutely some amount of fragmentation and fouling and such happening, but lead from the bullet isn’t exactly getting sprayed all around.
But the primer absolutely does vaporize a bunch of lead compounds and you can inhale those fumes and particles settle on your clothes and such. Lead free primers are out there, but they’re not very common, and a lot of people find them to be more unreliable.
Now lead exposure from the actual projectiles isn’t zero, and there’s no real safe level of lead exposure, so don’t get complacent about that either, but in the grand scheme it’s often not the biggest issue
I tried switching to nontoxic primers but holy cow they’re expensive and hard to find in the calibers I need. The industry could care if it wanted to, I just don’t think it does.
I did not know that about the primers. I’ll be more considerate about washing up after range time. I always made sure to wash my hands after the range and after cleaning the firearms. I never really thought about the particulates on the clothing. Thanks for the info.
Lead from the bullet does actually come out of the barrel in a particularly impressive plume of particulate matter that you then breathe in. It’s caused by friction with the barrel and cuts from the rifling, but it’s very effectively reduced by using jacketed bullets. Just FYI.
Yeah, I probably could have made that a little more clear on that, I did mention jacketed bullets help mitigate your lead exposure, and that it’s not necessary 0 exposure from the projectile, but probably could have given a little more details on that
In my defense though, I don’t think I’ve actually even seen unjacketed ammo in person since I was in boy scouts shooting the cheapest bulk .22 ammo known to man at the summer camp shooting range. I’d almost have to go out of my way to find unjacketed ammo around me these days, even most cheap bulk .22 I see is jacketed now.
It’s definitely out there for some rounds though, and of course reloaders.
Closest I’ve seen in some time is softpoint .45-70 my friend has for his lever gun, and now that I’m thinking about that I’m curious how that stacks up against FMJ as far as lead exposure, since presumably that exposed lead soft point probably shouldn’t really be engaging with the rifling or sides of the barrel.
Good discussion! Most ammo is jacketed these days, but if you ever shoot any non-jacketed ammo you’ll get lead coming out of the barrel for a long time afterwards. Even after pretty thorough cleaning.
The stuff on .22 bullets is plating, not jacketing, and doesn’t really cut down on the lead plume at all. It’s nowhere near as thick as the depth of the rifling. Shooting .22 is like huffing lead plume, with a side of dirty primer and powder smoke. It’s so good for plinking though.
“… but lead from the bullet isn’t exactly getting sprayed all around.”
no, just the bullets themselves get sprayed around everywhere. Regardless of what removing lead from bullets would mean for humans, it would be great for the environment either way.
FYI, a significant amount of lead exposure from shooting isn’t really from the bullets but from the primers which contain lead compounds.
The lead in the bullet is going downrange, and is often jacketed in something like copper, you’re not gonna come in contact with a whole lot of lead from handling most ammo, and there’s absolutely some amount of fragmentation and fouling and such happening, but lead from the bullet isn’t exactly getting sprayed all around.
But the primer absolutely does vaporize a bunch of lead compounds and you can inhale those fumes and particles settle on your clothes and such. Lead free primers are out there, but they’re not very common, and a lot of people find them to be more unreliable.
Now lead exposure from the actual projectiles isn’t zero, and there’s no real safe level of lead exposure, so don’t get complacent about that either, but in the grand scheme it’s often not the biggest issue
This right here is the truth.
I tried switching to nontoxic primers but holy cow they’re expensive and hard to find in the calibers I need. The industry could care if it wanted to, I just don’t think it does.
I did not know that about the primers. I’ll be more considerate about washing up after range time. I always made sure to wash my hands after the range and after cleaning the firearms. I never really thought about the particulates on the clothing. Thanks for the info.
Lead from the bullet does actually come out of the barrel in a particularly impressive plume of particulate matter that you then breathe in. It’s caused by friction with the barrel and cuts from the rifling, but it’s very effectively reduced by using jacketed bullets. Just FYI.
Yeah, I probably could have made that a little more clear on that, I did mention jacketed bullets help mitigate your lead exposure, and that it’s not necessary 0 exposure from the projectile, but probably could have given a little more details on that
In my defense though, I don’t think I’ve actually even seen unjacketed ammo in person since I was in boy scouts shooting the cheapest bulk .22 ammo known to man at the summer camp shooting range. I’d almost have to go out of my way to find unjacketed ammo around me these days, even most cheap bulk .22 I see is jacketed now.
It’s definitely out there for some rounds though, and of course reloaders.
Closest I’ve seen in some time is softpoint .45-70 my friend has for his lever gun, and now that I’m thinking about that I’m curious how that stacks up against FMJ as far as lead exposure, since presumably that exposed lead soft point probably shouldn’t really be engaging with the rifling or sides of the barrel.
Good discussion! Most ammo is jacketed these days, but if you ever shoot any non-jacketed ammo you’ll get lead coming out of the barrel for a long time afterwards. Even after pretty thorough cleaning.
The stuff on .22 bullets is plating, not jacketing, and doesn’t really cut down on the lead plume at all. It’s nowhere near as thick as the depth of the rifling. Shooting .22 is like huffing lead plume, with a side of dirty primer and powder smoke. It’s so good for plinking though.
“… but lead from the bullet isn’t exactly getting sprayed all around.”
no, just the bullets themselves get sprayed around everywhere. Regardless of what removing lead from bullets would mean for humans, it would be great for the environment either way.