Coated bullets indoors - any health concerns?

[adamge]

More and more of our local shooters have been going to coated bullets.  We shoot indoors 6 months of the year due to winter.  They are definitely cheaper, but they smoke like an old coal train engine, or like a lead bullet.

 

Does anyone have any good information about what is in this smoke, or if we should be concerned about breathing it?

[bowenbuilt]

There should be a good ventalation unit installed in your indoor range to get this out of the air fairly quickly. I switched to Sport Pistol powder for this reason. It smokes the least of anything i have tried with coated bullets. Way less than TG or many of the other popular brands. As to breathing the smoke, it is not good for you. There are all kinds of health hazzards that prolonged exposure would cause. Increasing your lead level would be the most dangerous.

[IDescribe]

I wouldn't worry about the smoke from the coating, not because it's safe, but because it's not as unhealthy as the lead styphnate in the primers.  Lead styphnate in the primers is where most of your lead exposure comes from when shooting, and if the indoor ventilation systems are so poor that you end up with problems from coating exposure, you're already screwed on lead styphnate anyway. 

All that said, smoke from coated bullets can be mitigated by using bullets from a company that cures the coating sufficiently.  ACME is probably the best.

[Max It]

IDescribe got it right[emoji419]
Lead stryphanate (sp?)




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[Max It]

IDescribe got it right[emoji419]
Lead styphnate




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[johnbu]

On 9/6/2018 at 7:13 PM, IDescribe said:

All that said, smoke from coated bullets can be mitigated by using bullets from a company that cures the coating sufficiently.  ACME is probably the best.

 

And code "54730" will save 10% on acme bullets!

[TonytheTiger]

Health concerns? 

 

Absolutely.

 

If one of them coated bullets hits you it's gonna hurt like hell.

[MikeyScuba]

Primers are a perfect delivery vehicle for atomizing lead so it’s easily inhaled and coats everything.

[jschweg]

The problem is that while you can take every possible precaution for your own ammunition, and even go as far as using non-toxic primers, it doesn't help you with all the other shooters shooting around you in an indoor range.

I shoot a lot of indoor matches. In the winter I shoot in 2 indoor PPC leagues every week and an indoor USPSA match once a month.

It doesn't matter how good the ventilation is, when you have 8 people shooting rapid fire strings in all the ports at the same time, you are going to get some exposure. Indoor USPSA is probably even worse because after each shooter does their run, everyone is walking down to where the backstop is to paste targets.

Dont get me wrong, I love my indoor leagues, but it seriously looks like I'm going to have to make some changes as my blood lead level went from 0 to 12 in basically 6 months.

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[12glocks]

I think we know the long term effects of lead and what acceptable level (mine is like 12) etc.  I do not know anything about the inhalation of aerosolized bullet coatings.  Perhaps it's benign, perhaps one day we will learn its a carcinogen.  I used to shoot indoors a lot and my lead level was very high.  I don't do it much anymore.

 

I personally like jacketed bullets, but not for the reason this thread is discussing.

[SlvrDragon50]

21 hours ago, johnbu said:

 

And code "54730" will save 10% on acme bullets!

Woah thanks! Previous code I had was not as big of a discount as that.

[fbzero]

If you shoot indoors frequently, you probably have bigger things to worry about than the coated projectiles.  Most lead exposure is going to come from the primers.  There's lead-free options, but so far, I haven't found them to be as reliable or readily available.  Good ventilation is a must, and even so, you're going to get more exposure indoors than outdoors.  As for the heavy smoke, this isn't a guaranteed thing with coated bullets...it's usually caused by poor powder choice and/or over-crimping and breaking the coating.  One thing I've learned from talking to reloaders locally is that about 90% of them have no idea what their crimp measurement is on their pistol loads...bad loading habits are all too common =/

Edited September 12, 2018 by fbzero

[Grandpoobah]

Hi:

 

Shooting at length indoors is bad for your health regardless of what you or the people around you are shooting.

 

No matter how good the ventilation is it will not lower your lead exposure - especially when people "broom" up their brass.

 

Shoot outdoors if at all possible.

 

Good luck,

 

Grandpoobah

[Kenstone]

wear a respirator ...

and use your best Darth Vader voice

 

 

 

[lgh]

18 hours ago, Grandpoobah said:

No matter how good the ventilation is it will not lower your lead exposure - especially when people "broom" up their brass.

Why do you say this?IIRC, NRA has ventilation standards for indoor ranges. Have those been found to be ineffective? (I agree that brooming brass should be done with some care. It's stirring the pot so to speak.)

[IronicTwitch]

Wow, thread drift.

 

FWIW, I fall asleep dreaming I can actually call my shots...it helps to imagine/remember running a stage in slow motion too. 

Edited September 28, 2018 by IronicTwitch

[kimmie]

2 things.  Lol, thread drift.  I did a lot of research on CBD oil and decided to give it a try for sleep issues.  One week in and it seems to help.  Research what and who you buy from.  They are not all created equal.

 

As for indoor lead exposure, my home club, which doesn't hold indoor matches anymore, is going to lead free ammo.  Totally lead free, frangible bullet, lead free primer.  Once they go lead free the 1st of the year, they plan to start a total clean up of the range and other areas.  Most of the members are occasional, 50 rounds on a target every couple of weeks, shooters.  The majority don't reload and probably don't even know what that means, lol.  The ventilation system is a joke which is why I stopped holding matches there but they don't have the budget to upgrade it.   It's a privately owned club so they can make any rules that they want.  Members will have to buy the ammo from the club or prove that what they're shooting is 100% lead free.  It is more expensive but most of the members only shoot a box or 2 per session.   If I want to do any practice there,  I'll have to use their ammo, (I get it for cost) which I found to be similar in feel to my reloads but a power factor a little less than what I need for minor in 38sp.   Haven't checked the accuracy though.  I belong to other clubs so if I want to practice with my reloads, I'll just go elsewhere.  Being in New England, outdoors isn't always an option though. They also rent out the range to various federal and state agencies and private security companies.  Surprisingly, they were all on board.  One state agency has actually purchased about 20 cases already.  I'm actually happy about it because I limit my time on the range there.  I teach there also and had started limiting my classes because of my lead concerns.  Standing on someones shoulder while they're shoot guarantees a healthy blast of lead to the face and it's not really comforting to students if I have a respirator on.   I can now increase my teaching schedule.  The other plus is that lead free ammo is incredibly clean!  50 rounds through my gun and a patch run through the barrel comes out still white!  And no more concerns about ricochets.