so how do you protect yourself from lead poisoning?

Forgive me mattd, but I just can't resist....shoot 'em, don't eat 'em.

Actually, your danger from exposure to lead poisioning from handling .22 ammo is very small. To be on the safe side, wash your hands really good after a range session and before handling anything to eat.

Have fun with your new rifle!

Gary

 

When I was groing up my dad had a small business making hard cast lead bullets. On Some days, we would cast, size, lube and package up over 10,000 bullets in a day. Nearly every bullet we packaged and sold went through our hands at least once. There were times when my finger tips were literally black from handling bullets so much.

The lead poisoning concern is something we were worried about. Along with making sure we washed our hands very good before we ate, we had regular blood tests done to check for any increase of metal in our blood. During the 11 years I helped him, there was never any increase at all.

So, as long as you wash your hands before you eat, you will be fine.

-Cody

 

Babys turn out fine? any weird health problems?

 

No kids yet.. and no health problems. Like I said, I had a blood test done once every six months for 11 years.. just had another one a year ago.. no elevated levels of anything.

 

Don't INGEST lead!

The prize for the worst cases of lead poisoning would have to go to the Romans = the famous public fountains of Rome were fed from the aqueducts through lead pipes - the population drank the water and guess what showed up in toxic levels when archeologists dug up dead Romans and ran quatative analysis on their bones Drinking beer and ale from pewter tankards in Europe
wasn't too good an idea either as lead was part of the alloy that made pewter.
I've seen guys who wore disposable gloves to reload their magazines = a bit of junkscience overkill here I think (as long as they wern't licking the lube off the bullets)

 

mattd,

Lead Poisoning is real...! !

Lead may enter the body through ingestion [eating], inhalation[breathing], or absorption [touching], the latter being the least common method. We all handle lead and lead bearing compounds and articles every day without any measureable effect. Note that lead is a "heavy metal" and accumulates in the body tissues over time.

However, it is the ingestion and inhalation forms that cause the most number and severe cases of lead poisoning. We all read about children suffering from lead poisoning from chewing on wood trim painted with lead based paint from years ago. Shooters are most often effected by the inhalation form of lead poisoning from two sources: lead vapors from bullet casting without proper ventilation, and lead dust from shooting at indoor ranges that are not properly ventilated [air flowing from the firing line towards targets and out].

I had a pistol shooting buddy who suffered from lead poisoning: he casted and shot over 50,000 rounds of .45 ACP in competition per year....! !

I used to shoot in NRA smallbore competition, and would fire over 50,000 rounds of .22LR yearly. I never had any problems.

Addressing your questions:
0 Copperplated .22LR bullets are still LEAD.
0 No, there is NO jacketed .22LR bullet.
0 Wash your hands after shooting and before eating.
0 Do NOT drink or eat while shooting.
0 It is recommended that you shoot ~ two bricks of .22lR Hi Vel ammo through your new 10/22 to 'break-it-in'....! !

Hope this helps...! !

 

http://www.earthvision.net/ColdFusion/News_Page1.cfm?NewsID=8512

After reading a few things I'm really only worried about the dust from the barrel.

How good do those 22lr magazine autoloaders work?

 

Lead Dust

mattd,

After reading a few things I'm really only worried about the dust from the barrel.

What dust from the barrel...? ?

The "lead dust" is the result of the soft lead alloyed bullet fragmenting when it hits the steel plate of the backstop behind the targets. There is no "lead dust" in the barrel; although, there maybe some 'smeared lead', if the barrel has been allowed to "lead up".

Your concern should be focused on the ventilation system of the range you intend to fire at...! !

It should draw fresh air from behind the firing positions and exhaust it out through filters behind the targets...! !

How good do those 22lr magazine autoloaders work?

How well "they" work depends upon which one you are referring to...? ?

I understand, but do not own, that the "Ultimate ClipLoader" for the "Ruger" MKII pistol magazines works very well...! !

"ULTIMATE CLIPLOADER"®

"ULTIMATE CLIPLOADER"® < < Link

Hope this helps...! !

 

The ramline and butler creek autoloaders for the 10/22.

 

Matt,
as Big mike said Lead poisoning IS a real danger, but some of the risks have been overblown in todays litigous(sp?) society.
Having been a reloader, bullet caster and shooter for 25 years and a paramedic for 17, I also have my lead level checked every couple fo years. So far so good
Also... I know a guy who's been shot and the doctors decided that doing surgery to remove the bullet would be worse for him than just leaving it in the body. (He was shot in the knee) So ONE 40gr bullet apparently isn't enough lead to cause it. I KNOW his daughter (born 8 years afterwards) is 2 or 3 now and is completely normal (Or at least as normal as her dad )
Paul

 

10/22 Magazine Loaders

mattd,

May I suggest that you start a new thread with your question on the 10/22 Magazine Loaders, and state which magazine(s) you want to load: "Ruger" 10/22 rotary magazine, "Butler Creek" Hi-Caps, or "Ram Line" Hi-Caps.

Those who can help with an answer may not look at this thread based on its title: "Lead Poisoning" .....! !

Good Luck....! !

 

"and the amount of waste lead contained in a single .45-caliber bullet is enough to contaminate the daily drinking water supply of a city the size of San Francisco to a level deemed unsafe by the U.S. EPA. "

http://www.ewg.org/reports/poisonouspastime/capr.html
Ban lead because terrorists could contaminate our drinking water. My city gets its drinking water from the river and people shoot guns off by the river all the time, Anyone know if they can clean lead out of water?

Note the link to the vpc.

And about the mag loaders, I have a.d.d. and dyslexia so the magazine loader popped into my head because It would exposed me to less lead. I'll start another thread tho.

 

Speaking from personal experince, lead poisoning is a very real possibility ... for the yound and/or stupid anyway !

Back when I was yound AND stupid I used to hunt with a .177 air-rifle. One summer I buddied up with an equally yound & stupid guy who had access to acres & acres of farm land - we spent most evenings and all weekends walking & hunting, hunting & walking. :t
Of course, trying to find those pesky little pellets and then turn them the right way round so they could be loaded properly was not only a hassle but slow as well ... by carrying the pellets in my mouth, I could turn them round with my tongue and just about spit them into the barrel !
My rate-of-fire was nearly three times that of my buddy who (wuss that he was) insisted on using the little plastic box that the pellets came in.

Guess what ? By the end of that summer I was SERIOUSLY unwell, and it took MONTHS for me to get over it.
That was one lesson learned the hard way !

 

"and the amount of waste lead contained in a single .45-caliber bullet is enough to contaminate the daily drinking water supply of a city the size of San Francisco to a level deemed unsafe by the U.S. EPA. "

http://www.ewg.org/reports/poisonouspastime/capr.html
Ban lead because terrorists could contaminate our drinking water. My city gets its drinking water from the river and people shoot guns off by the river all the time, Anyone know if they can clean lead out of water?

That statement is technically accurate, but misleading. It assumes that the lead is fully dissolved and dispersed evenly throughout that volume of water. In actuality, the rate of solution for lead is low and the volume of water is constantly replenished so the level of concentration deemed unsafe (technically it is unsafe "with an adequate margin of safety") by the EPA. Furthermore, the water is tested frequently (for most areas) and the lead, if in high concentrations, can be precipitated out chemically - I believe by playing with the pH. Just as you are feeling safe, I just want to say a bio-contamination would be easier and more deadly.

By the way, the lower limit of soluability in water is defined by the soluabilty of lead in water. Anything that is less soluable than lead in considered "insoluable". (I am such a GEEK!)

A man having a lead bullet is a lot different than a mother having a lead bullet. How much lead do you think a sperm carries?

 

Watch Your Sources

mattd,

While I admire your research into the subject, I would suggest that you 'temper' your conclusions based upon the source of both articles/statements...! !

The "ewg" and "vpc" are both anti-gun organizations, among being anti-other-things....! !

The "vpc" [Violence Policy Center] is closely associated with the Sarah Brady group. These are the people who say "13 children are killed by guns every day".....

The 'kicker' in that statement is the definition of "children": birth to 25....! !

So, who are these 13 children: gang bangers, drug lords, drug pushers, thugs, and other street scum....! !

IIRC, the 'real' number of "children" killed by guns is closer to 1.....! !

Going back to your question about the lead bullets in water; they soon develop an oxide [PbO2], which is not soluble* in water, and does nothing...! ! Being heavier than the other materials in the river bed, they rapidly sink into the muck at the bottom of the river...! ! Note that lead used to be used for water pipes before we became so health conscious....! !
[ * Nitric acid will dissolve lead oxide, not drinking water....! ! ]

Most of these organizations use "pseudo science" and fear to accomplish their ends...! !

Again, watch your sources.....! !

Everybody 'out there' has an agenda.....! !

 

Well when 1000 lead bullets are all disolving at the same time, i'm sure that could put alot of lead into the water but you're right , the higher the ph the faster the lead "goes away".

http://www.epa.gov/region02/waste/leadshot/epa_bmp.pdf

 

Bull ****

mattd,

.......when 1000 lead bullets are all disolving at the same time......

What are you drinking...? ?

From the "Handbook of Physics and Chemistry", 63rd Edition:
Lead: solubility in water - insoluble
Solvents: HNO3 [nitric acid] and H2SO4 [sulfuric acid]

 

Pretty sure there is nitric acid in soil.

 

The real problem with lead poisoning is that once it gets into your system, your body doesn't know how to get rid of it--it thinks it's a mineral:calcium. And then it puts it in your bones where it can stay for many years.

Most shooters just need to practice good hygiene and shoot where the ventilation is sufficient. Most 22 shooters have little to worry about, but don't take anything for granted.

 

This argument of lead poisoning (i.e. "one .45 ACP" slug) is ridiculous. This thing is totally, purely politically motivated toward the anti-gun agenda (of course, we of the shooting crowd know this). Here is the proof of my statement.....are we going to march on washington of outlaw fishing? How many lead sinkers are left in small ponds/lakes each and every summer by those who pursue panfish with crawlers/lead sinkers? I'll bet there are more than a few particles of lead on the bottom of all or most of our lakes . I get so irritated with the political hypocrisy that says "it's for our health and well being" when all they really want is our guns and souls.

Done Preaching for now,

The Perferator (has spoken)

 

Being an ex river rat, and having watched bankloads of fishermen cast thousands of times with huge, current busting lead sinkers half the size of your thumb, and loosing a high percentage of them....

...and watching that happen hour in hour out, day in, day out, etc, etc for over the last half of a century, If there was any truth to this in the PRACTICAL aspect, the people down there in Loozyanna would be in DEEP trouble.

just another agenda driven scare tactic. Common sense or a plastic bubble are your only options. But then, some people thrive on hysteria...

"The Sky is Falling"..... Chicken Little.

Ron

 

Perf, you beat me to it. I do a LOT of fishing below hydro-electric dams and have seen LITERRALY hundreds of pounds of lead lost in the current and rocks. I've seen weights and jigs as heavy as 2oz used and lost. 2oz=875gr or over 3.8 230gr 45 slugs.
Paul

 

Lead poisoning FROM BULLETS is a very real REMOTE possibility.

If you shoot outdoors or at a properly ventilated range the chances are remote. If you reload make sure you room is properly ventilated, wear a respirator when casting, clean up after yourself, and wash your hands.

You are in far, far, far more danger of lead poisoning from being around old paint than any amount of bullets.

Copper washed bullets are still lead but they will also not let as much lead rub off on your hands. But if you wash your hands it does not matter either way

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the store-bought ammo (as apposed to reloads) generally lubed/coated/washed. That is generally the case for .22 rimfires (only type of guns I have - ammo is cheeeaaaappp ). If so, lead poisoning from contact with the unfired round is not even worth considering. Of course, once it is fired, it is a different story.

 

If so, lead poisoning from contact with the unfired round is not even worth considering.

Yes, but still wash your hands.