Non-lead bullets for .22s

[Futo Inu]

I put this in General because it applies to .22 hanguns and rifles (and other calibers for that matter).

Well, this may seem a little exteme perhaps, but in light of my (fairly extreme) concern for our environment, I do want to do my part to keep it clean. Well, we all know that lead can be dangerous to the environment. And I'm taking a little campin' trip next month with some friends and one of my friend's two boys, and want to try to introduce them to shooting with the 10/22 (pre-Ruger-gun-rights-abolition-proponent days), but don't want to pollute the soil, groundwater, whatever.

So, is anyone aware of a maker of any substitute bullet material, like steel, tungsten, etc., commercially available in .22 lr, such as is made for shotgun shells? I'm primarily concerned with shooting in and around water. I know there's not a lot of lead in little .22 bullets, but none is much better than a little - I want to be a responsbile citizen here...

Edited: DOH! I had MEANT to put this in general, but accidentally put it in legal/political. Well, I guess you'd get yourself in LEGAL hot water if you piss off the EPA.... Move if necessary, oh omniscient moderators.

 

[Master Blaster]

I think its federal that makes a lead free .22lr round, I have never seen them, but I think they are copper plated zinc. Try the federal ammunition web site.

 

[TheBluesMan]

Moving to General Discussion as requested.

 

[jjmorgan64]

I would just like to point out that lead is "all natural" The health food industry has taught us that all natural=totally safe

There is no way you could distribute enough lead in a week, or even a month to do any harm at all.

 

[Ceol Mhor]

Wouldn't steel .22 ammo be illegal for being "armor piercing pistol ammunition"? And wouldn't any metal other than lead, for that matter?

 

[bj426]

there are coloredwax bullets (supposedly for painballesk fun) available in larger calibers (9mm .40 etc) it's possible that they are available in .22?

 

[Crimper-D]

Ah~ Here We Go, "Saving" the environment ( Again!)

The first lead flap to get any serious attention was the 'Waterfowl-ingesting-lead-birdshot & expireing of lead-poisoning' issues that ultimately lead to steel shot being made manditory for migratory bird hunting. Time was that it was a non-issue till some DFG bureaucrats saw it as justification to further their careers and the anti-gunner/environmentalists saw it as a way to screw over all those bird-killing hunters in the name of 'Preserving the Environment '
Now some whiney Enviro-Activists and paper-empire building bureaucrats are making noise about "lead dust" in the atmosphere at indoor ranges and lead levels in the water tables downstream from shooting ranges... GET REAL! This is BS!

The fact that I'm reading a shooter on a shooting/2A webpage buying the Enviro-Wako's line of "Preserving the Safety of Nature" or similar bilge to the extent of advocating "lead-free" ammo for .22's shows me just how badly this type of disinformation has spread. :barf: :barf:

Go ahead and shoot & quit worrying about 'preserving' anything
Earth Abides.....

Rave over (at least for now) - I feel much better now

 

[Malone LaVeigh]

[Sigh, here we go again.]

Well, please excuse any of us who might fail to goose-step along with the politically-correct thought around here. Some of us have the temerity to think that it might be possible to enjoy our avocation and pollute the environment as little as possible. Silly us.

Futo Inu:

I have been looking in on this sporadically since it came up in a thread a few months ago and more recently due to a discussion over in Legal and Political. Here is the link to Federal's line (including rimfire):

http://www.federalcartridge.com/andex5.html

There is also encouraging stuff out there in development. Check out:
http://www.frangiblebullets.com/
http://www.ornl.gov/spm/pubs/powdbull/pbullets.html
http://www.tetragon.ca/SIM_GreenShield.pdf
http://www.cableone.net/Baydog/tungsten.html

Good luck and let us know how it works out.

 

[Selfdfenz]

Why not take them to a commercial range where there are backstops from which the lead can be reclaimed if you are concerned?

In parts of Virginia and a few other places in the early 1860s large amounts of lead were deposited about the countryside sometimes on more than one occassion. It's not beyond reason that some of these sites received in excess of one ton deposition in just days. Maybe one day in a case or two.

To my knowledge there have been no health or environmental effects over the past 140 years from those non-recreational depositions and the majority of that material is still there.

Those kids will contribute more lead to the environment during their driving careers in the form of lost tire weights than they will likely ever release via recreational shooting on this occassion.

Be safe and have fun when you go shooting and don't sweat the small stuff.

S-

 

[jjmorgan64]

as a biologist, i would have to say Crimper-D and Selfdfenz are correct, the lead scare is primarily a huge hoax, kind of like the spotted owl being in trouble,

 

[coonan357]

excuse me but isn't lead a natural occuring element??"PB" it comes from the ground so put it back in the ground , it's not like your going to open a smelting plant there are you??

 

[goosegunner]

...Enviro-Activists and paper-empire building bureaucrats are making noise about "lead dust" in the atmosphere at indoor ranges...

At poorly ventylated indoor ranges lead vapour and dust can be a serious problem. At my local range this is a problem and some shooters have been told by their doctors to stop shooting or to use a gas mask. And after using a gas mask on the range for a few weeks they got rid of the lead in their blood. The good news is that you don't need "non-toxic" bullets, a jacketed bullet is enought.

Futo inu:

If you use a sandbag, hard snow or ice (if it is snow in your neighborhood) or a few old phone books for backstop most of the bullets will be in this (maby a few will miss) and you can throw away the lead somewere it will not pollute. This will be more work, but you will reduce your polluting

 

[Raistlin]

Please allow me to add a different angle to this: I own (inherited) a Remington .22 single-shot bolt-action rifle (very old!) The rifle is in good working order, but it would be nice to shoot ammo that leaves less fouling in the barrel after each round.