Sorry if this has been posted before. When ranges state that only Lead-free ammunition can be shot there, how do I know which ones are lead-free? I've always just bought what I find at wal-mart and never had a problem, but I am curious..... thanks!

Most ranges specifying "lead free ammo" really mean FMJ (full metal jacket) or TMJ (total metal jacket). It's a health/ventilation issue.

When swaged or cast bullets strike the backstop plate, tiny particles of lead are thrown into the air. If there is not a strong ventilation draft to force them to the air filters they can be inhaled by the shooter(s). Lead is a cumulative toxin meaning it can build up in the system with repeated exposure and lead posioning is a nasty illness. These problems are sharply reduced with FMJ or TMJ bullets.

A range that allows cast or swaged bullets requires more ventilation capacity and more stringent maintenance of the filters.

OSHA and range explanations to me have had to do with hot burning gasses scrubbing lead off the back of the bullet as it goes down the barrel producing the tiny particles. TMJ and JHP are Ok, FMJ is not because the back of the bullets are not cased.

The term for lead cast bullets that have something at the base for limiting the buring
powder effect, is a "Gas CHeck" a metal usually copper base pressed onto the bullet.

besides FMJ bullets, some manufactueres are now marketing "lead free" ammo. I have a spendy box of Federal 165 gr. .45 ACP that sez on the outside "lead free" I was just wanting some practice ammo and was also buying some Gold Dots at the same time so I thought the GD made the total as high as it was - I was talking with somebody else.. Looking at the receipt I went bug eyed as the Fed. 165 gr. .45 ACP lead free was $32.95 cents. OMG Later I looked it up velocity wise, and compared the 165 gr. bullet with heavier weight bullets FMJ. They seem as long as 230 gr. altho I don't know how far the shank of the bullet is deep inside the case, but since it's lead free
it would be a bit less dense and thus longer,
so Federal loaded em to just over 1,000 fps I think it said at their site so the recoil would be closer to heaavier FMJ bullets, as well as shooting a bit flatter I am guessing all this as I'm not in a hurry to shoot it
nor buy another box of the stuff.

Luckily my indoor range is very well vented.

Randall

I've been firing MagTech CleanRange .38 Special for a couple of years now with outstanding results. It comes as a 15i gr semi-wadcutter and works great in my 686 and 686SSR revolvers. I've also fired Winchester WinClean with equally good results. There's a difference, btw, between rounds that use fully plated bullets and those that are truly "lead free." Standard primers contain a compound that emits a lead-containing gas when ignited whereas truly lead free rounds, such as the MagTech bullets, or WinClean, do not. Thus, the CleanRange and WinFree rounds use fully plated bullets AND leadless primer. I find that another advantage of the CleanRange and WinClean rounds is that they burn MUCH more cleanly than standard rounds. Cleanup is a snap with either of these rounds!