Lead mining on Hot days

[KHornet]

I shot yesterday. 20 rds of 308 and 100 rds of K Hornet. Was about 92 +/- a degree, no clouds, little wind after two hours of shooting Decided to mine lead from the pistol pits. Wore Africa Shorts and sneakers. After shooting, and in shorts in the direct sun, settled for about 8-10 lbs of range scrap. ( I sweat at about 65 degrees).

Not all together bad, as I got more back in weight than I shot. If I do that at minimum each time I shoot, I will always be somewhat lead ahead. However, shorts on days above 90 are not so pretty good to mine lead.

 

[Brad]

8-10 pounds? Piker.
I get that in a single trip down range.
Some advice. Leave the shorts at home. Kneeling on the berm is far easier and bare knees on gravel or bullets on the berm is a bad thing. Wear boots. Might be a bit warmer but it keeps crap out of your shoes when sweeping loose dirt across the berm. A swipe with a foot reveals a fair bit of lead.
Ignore the rifle ranges. Pistol bays are where the lead is. A 44 special or 45 Colt makes a hell of a shovel. Look for lead around the impact areas. Think of ejecta after a meteor impact. Bullet impact is the same but on a smaller scale.

I am approaching 200 pounds for the year. With dry weather it should pick up. Dry, dusty berms are best in my opinion.

 

[KHornet]

yep!

 

[JWFilips]

I always try to get more then I shoot. Most times I get it...If I'm lucky

 

[Brad]

I have learned that some days the berms just aren't going to give up lead easily. Wet berms are that way. Those are the days a heavy load in a 44 mag are good. They bring lots of old bullets to the surface to be gathered the following weeks.
I have run a surplus for the past 4 years. I may not do so each range trip but do for the year.

 

[yodogsandman]

Be aware of lead oxides from any dust that you're kicking up and maybe breathing.

 

[Brad]

That is true. Dusty days are a reality when the berms dry out.
I don't worry too mch about the dust but do fear the shredded jackets that slice fingers. A few cuts have occurred over the years.

 

[JWFilips]

Too old to worry about Lead contamination.....I fear most the little "tick" Critters! 2 major bouts of Lyme since 2006 Did more damage then any bit of lead has ever done. Joint issues, Brain issues, heart issues, all because of two little "literal" suckers in my past! Let me tell you they make you "old" before your time!

 

[JWFilips]

Just to make a point : Lead oxides are not easily absorbed ...Now lead acetates or sulfates/ sulfides; you younger guy need to worry about if you are under 30 Year old. They get in to the blood faster! I think Brad could chime in here
Jim

 

[fiver]

most lead is ingested,,,, by far more than any other method.
digging up lead doesn't really throw a ton of lead dust in the air unless all you dig up is oxidized white lead.

 

[Brad]

Lead oxide will dissolve in stomach acid but how much is swallowed if basic hygiene is followed?
I doubt much is absorbed via inhalation. Our nose has hairs and mucous for a reason. Most of that dust is held in the mucous and expelled. It would take a very fine dust to reach the lungs. Even in the lungs it is more likely an irritant than a toxin.

People extrapolate lead poisoning in water fowl to humans. We have no gizzard grinding the pellets against each other then passing the finely ground material to our gut.

The main fear of lead injury I have is from velocity........

 

[fiver]

you have to have quite a bit in the air to inhale it.
ingestion comes from your hands mainly.

I worked with lead oxide daily for a few years and was doing small time commercial casting at the same time.
my blood levels were slightly higher [1 maybe 2 points] than the others that worked there also.
but I was working directly with the oxides themselves dumping out barrels of the stuff and moving it around the plant, they were mostly working with it after it was a solid.
if I actually wore my respirator when I was supposed to, my levels would go back down by the time our next blood test rolled around.
the main thing was just washing my hands before eating.

 

[yodogsandman]

My blood levels went up a couple of ticks after using a home made screen box to separate the bullets from the dirt. Shaking the box stirred up the dust and there was no wind to keep it away from my face and from breathing it in. This was on about a 95*F day and the dust was stuck all over me from the sweat. No facilities to wash up at the range, either.

I get regular, 6 mo. lead blood tests at work. This was the only thing I could think of that was "out of the ordinary" that would raise my levels. Levels have doubled since last year. I've got to find the cause. I've been pulled from doing any lead work at my job. Until the last year my levels were only 4 or 5. Now, I'm up over 20. My doc wants blood tests every month, now and was talking about sending the state into my home.

Now, it might be from the lead styphenate from the primers or from tumbling brass. My amount of reloading has quadrupled since starting to shoot pistols last fall. Time to stop and clean everything down.

 

[Brad]

Lead residue in a tumbler could be an issue. That or shootng lots of handgun indoors with poor circulation.

I need to get my lead level checked again.

 

[yodogsandman]

I shoot from a covered, 3 sided range house with 8 stations surrounded by 15 ft berms to 25 yards long. Not a lot of air circulates but, seems OK.

My Frankford Arsenal tumbler is just 6 months old, replacing a dead Midway 1292. I use corn cob media, with Midway brass polishing compound. I sometimes use an older Midway 1292 with dry walnut media to quickly clean off soot and discoloration. Not often but, I do notice how much dustier it is when separating the walnut media from the shells.

I've been lax about cleaning out the primer catch tray and have been reloading rounds with as many as 1000+ old primers sitting there in that tray. They get jiggled with each stroke of the ram. Pulling the handle 4 times for each round reloaded, including depriming. Could I be working in a lead dust cloud? Maybe switch to Federal primers, at least for pistols?

 

[RBHarter]

While I was layed off my casting and loading increased by 2 maybe 3x and my lead mining went way up...... my lead levels dropped 7 points . I can only figure it was the lack of daily contact with all the oxidized lead based OD green paint that raised mine . Crazy ........or maybe I'm just more cautious about it at home .

 

[KHornet]

If you keep your mouth closed when mining lead, and blow your nose after mining lead, ingestion is not a serious potential. Of course keeping one's mouth closed, and blowing ones nose is not bad advice for every day life as well.

 

[fiver]

I have got in the habit of cleaning my tumbling media better.
some strips of used dryer sheets will pull out a ton of small stuff [dust] and using a liquid in there will help too.
I have been using a polymer car wash to give the cases a coat while I scrub the lube off them.
same stuff in the wet tumbler.
if nothing else a couple tsp of mineral spirits will keep the dust at bay.

 

[KHornet]

Have used tumbler sheets and a little bit of Brasso. Works well!

 

[Ian]

Indoor range shooting or just breathing a lot of gun smoke, as well as tumbler dust are probably the top hazards we face. After purchasing a wet tumbler I will never go back to media and dealing with all that airborne primer dust.