Dont want to breathe in lead

[lucas]

This case cleaning and then separating sounds dangerous because of all this dust talk.will those cheap dust masks make it safe if you dont use rice since i'm confused if you use long med or short and who to get it from after reading the posts.

[EricW]

Hi Lucas,

Happy Valley used to be one of my checkpoints when I was flying down there.

No media will make you safe from dust - the rice is just *less* dusty. . Try to do your loading / unloading in the great outdoors and consider wearing a full on respirator. Disposable latex gloves help as well.

I use medium or short grain rice from Costco.

[ChrisStock]

I use medium or short grain rice from Costco.

I never thought of that...wow. THAT will be a definte money saver. Thanks for the tip!

[IronEqualizer]

I use an RCBS separater that is totally enclosed. I assume they still make em. Got it from midway years ago. No dust problems. I also tend to add enough Nu Finish or other cleaning polish to my walnut media that makes it a little damp. Just my 2 cents.

+1 on the latex gloves also. I use them for all aspects of the reloading process.

Edited June 20, 2007 by IronEqualizer

[lucas]

The info on the rice and gloves are helpfull,but what about the dust masks.Does anyone use them or are they useless?Thanks.

[EricW]

The info on the rice and gloves are helpfull,but what about the dust masks.Does anyone use them or are they useless?Thanks.

I would expect very little from a dust mask. Think respirator. I don't wear either. I just handle the stuff outside and stay upwind.

[lucas]

I understand.Thankyou.

[Carlos]

I use an RCBS separater that is totally enclosed. I assume they still make em. Got it from midway years ago. No dust problems. I also tend to add enough Nu Finish or other cleaning polish to my walnut media that makes it a little damp. Just my 2 cents.

+1 on the latex gloves also. I use them for all aspects of the reloading process.

Use the same RCBS enclosed separator. We live in a 2nd floor condo so separating outdoors is not possible around here. Just put the separator in the shower, dump tumbler, close cover, close curtain & walk away for 10 min. The shower gets washed down 2x per day. Another trick is to put a used dryer sheet or similar sized rag that has been soaked in water in with the media & brass. Change w/ each use.

[Canuck-IL]

A lot of guys use this 3M mask for indoor shooting...it's well rated and reasonably affordable when bought in bulk. Not recommended with a beard.

http://filtera.stores.yahoo.net/3mmod82n1par.html

/Bryan

[Jim Norman]

I have a dual cartridge mine safety respirator mask I use when dumping brass from the tumbler. I buy latex gloves in bulk from Costco. I wear them about 95% of the time when loading. Probably should wear 100%, but Heck I am human.

I have to try the dryer sheet thing to see if that helps.

Jim

[TCK]

Your best bet is a half face respirator with a P100 (HEPA) filter. You should be able to find one at your local Lowes.

I use latex or Nitril gloves when reloading.

[SA Friday]

Man, I must of spent way too much time on a farm as a kid; no resperator or gloves. I'm just very careful about washing my hands a lot while reloading. The majority of lead exposure comes from mucous membrane exposure as I understand it, but who knows. I use an RCBS separator though, and the dryer sheet trick works. It will add life to your media too. I really like the idea of using rice as a media. That one is definately going to be tried out very soon.

Being in the Military, it's easy for me to ask for a "heavy metals" blood panel done, so I check my levels once a year. So far, all in the norm. The panel checks for lead, chromium, barium, and I think mecury too. Basically all the bad stuff one is exposed to shooting a lot. The do this test annually for our firearms instructors in the AF, and that's how I found out about the test. I have no earthly idea if or how much it would cost for this test in the civilian health care system, but I do know they can do one easily (if you don't mind the needle)