"Green Bullets"

Lead has been eliminated from gasoline, paint, plastics, waterfowl ammo and fishing weights for the same reason there is a push for "green" ammo, altho many claim the push is only another liberal way of gun control. The concern is for the health of our children and wildlife more so than the pocketbooks of hunters and fishermen. Back when lead was banned for waterfowl hunting, folks screamed that the cost of non-lead shotgun shells would force them to quit hunting ducks and geese. 25 years later and the relative cost of a box of goose loads is no more than it was when they were lead. Price of gas to get to the marsh tho has quadrupled. Hasn't stopped those with 12 MPG, 4 wheel drive club cabs from driving those miles to the blind. I believe that as concerned parents and sportsmen, we need to advocate striving to find affordable alternatives to lead before it is forced on us and we will be at the mercy of those that make "green" ammo and components.
 
buck460XVR wrote:
Lead has been eliminated from gasoline, paint, plastics, waterfowl ammo and fishing weights for the same reason there is a push for "green" ammo, altho many claim the push is only another liberal way of gun control.
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And this is the problem. Lead in gasoline, paints, and plastics are in the form of lead salts, which are highly toxic in most mammals. Bullets, fishing weights, and waterfowl shot consist of elemental lead, which is largely inert under most conditions.

The dangers of elemental lead, as most people understand it, fall into the same category of "science" as anthropogenic global warming, string theory, and neo-Keynesian economics.

Lead compounds, such as galena, cerrusite, and anglesite, are very common in the earth's crust. Yet, death by lead poisoning is relatively rare, even by people who handle it on a regular basis, especially elemental lead. There is no question that lead poisoning can occur if elemental lead is ingested, since it reacts quite nicely with digestive acids. Worldwide, you have a greater chance of dying from hepatitis B than from lead poisoning, and in the US, you have a greater chance of dying from benign prostatic hyperplasia. Interestingly, because of the commonality of lead in the environment, every human, if tested, will show some contamination, even infants.
 
There is no question that lead poisoning can occur if elemental lead is ingested, since it reacts quite nicely with digestive acids.
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...and this is why folks seek to rid the world of lead shot, lead bullets and lead fishing weights. Because they believe waterfowl eat them for grit and carrion eaters will eat them when feeding on game that has not been retrieved. Their concern, in these cases, as I said in my first post, is for the wildlife. Lead has also been found in meat from game shot with bullets containing lead, but IMHO, this has more to do with how the meat was processed than the bullet used. Whether or not you feel these are legitimate concerns means little if the majority of other folks feel strongly they are. The deal with wheel weights is a good indication of this. As for the chances of what folks will die from, the odds that one will die from a lightning strike or a bee sting are much greater than dieing from a bear attack. Even so, gun forums are full of "what gun for bear" threads and not a single thread about protection from bees or lightning.
 
http://www.infomine.com/investment/metal-prices/lead/

This link shows lead prices over the course of several years and/or months.

A lot of bullet manufacturers are not worried about the shut down

Doe Run has actually been closed for about the last six months if I remember correctly. The cost of bring the factory in to EPA compliance was considered extensive and a spokes person from the plant said they are looking a new processes that could eventually be used to refine lead ore.
 
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