Lead alternative

R

Richard93

Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2025
Messages
55
Reaction score
55
Location
Italy
all over the world they are trying to limit lead ammunition. Europe, America (in some states they are already banning them) and soon the others will follow. In my opinion it is madness and an ideological and not scientific issue. Because not only for hunting but also for sport shooting they are banning them. How can I pollute if when I shoot at the shooting range all the bullets are stopped by a wall that collects them underneath? In the shooting ranges in Europe almost all the lead is recycled and I think that in the United States its the same. Why then do they want to do this?
My question is if in your opinion there is a valid alternative that is not too expensive.
It seems like we live in a World governed by madmen. :(
 
Register to hide this ad
Unfortunately there really isn't any good alternative. The ridiculous part is the lead came from the environment and it is just being put back into the environment but just in a different location!

I am not convinced that the major reason for "demonizing" lead isn't more intended to affect the use of firearms than to protect a very few scavengers and "bottom feeders" that might ingest the small percentage of lead that ends up on the bottom of waterways and in the small numbers of "lost game" that is un-recovered and ends up decomposing on the ground. These are the usual reasons claimed for the lead bans! :mad::mad:
 
Last edited:
Alk8944 said:
Unfortunately there really isn't an alternative, The ridiculous part is the lead came from the environment and it is just being put back into the environment but just in a different location!

I am not convinced that the major reason for "demonizing" lead is more intended to affect the use of firearms than to protect a very few scavengers and "bottom feeders" that might ingest the small percentage of lead that ends up on the bottom of waterways and in the small numbers of "lost game" that is un-recovered and ends up decomposing on the ground. These are the usual reasons claimed for the lead bans! :mad::mad:
Click to expand...
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Exactly.
 
The short-term goals appear to be:

1. political gains by pandering to environmental protective groups;

2. discouraging the private possession and use of firearms by imposing higher costs.

The long-term goal is elimination of privately owned firearms.

During World War II millions of rounds of ammunition were produced with mild steel cores, either in copper-alloy jackets or with mild steel jackets (with or without copper-based washes or plating for reduced friction and corrosion protection). That practice has been followed in several other nations during the post-war decades, notably the former Soviet Union, and the results are generally acceptable for military applications. Such ammunition would not meet the requirements of most US state laws for hunting use, and would be largely rejected for today's defense ammunition. Of course, the production methods require greater expense for equipment and labor than typical North American sporting ammunition.

Several decades ago, following a NRA publication, I experimented with cast bullets of Zamak (a zinc-alloy intended for die-casting of machine parts). A relatively small quantity was not terribly expensive and could be used in typical melting and casting equipment. Results were very hard bullets of about 2/3 the weight of a similar cast bullet of lead. "Very hard" could be demonstrated by shooting into wooden targets, then removing the bullets in a condition that would allow them to be reloaded again and again. Thus significantly higher velocities were easily obtainable (due to the lighter weight), but reduced kinetic energy (impact energy) results.

There may be other metals or alloys that might be of some use, but I suspect most would require greater expense in materials and probably additional equipment for production.
 
When lead is banned other metals will be used ... the cost will be higher .
But ... Such is Life (C'est La Vie )

I expectedto see more casting of zinc bullets by now because of the number of zinc wheel weights you get in every bucket and they melt rather easily ... I'm sure the day will come ...
Thanks to those (post #4) working on this project !
Gary
 
Sometime back our DOD went to "green ammo", but don't know the details. Primer compound almost certainly, don't know what they may have done to bullet cores.

Monolithic copper bullets are available, I picked some up in 7mm. Load development turned out to be a cinch. First load attempt worked great, but I'm not using "green" primers.
 
Gold will work and is not harmful to the environment. It might cost more. Lead was originally banned for waterfowl hunting years ago because ducks and geese were ingesting it. Elmer Keith felt it was because shot size was too small. He felt the larger shot would sink further down into the bottoms of the waterways.
 
Silver bullets, good for werewolves :D

Seriously, I’m not a hunter but isn’t bismuth used in waterfowl loads?
Possibly an alloy of bismuth, antimony and tin over a steel core or just the alloy itself might work. I can’t imagine this being a difficult problem for a metallurgist.
 
Last edited:
The good thing about lead is you know right were to go and get more.......your local outdoor gun range. I talked to a local range and asked if I could do a little lead mining on a day when no one was on the range. The didn't see a problem with it.

That is the nice thing about casting your own. Fortunately I have probably about 100 lbs of reserve.
 
As with so much in our erection-to-resurection modern, so-called "progressive" society it is REALLY only about CONTROL...!

Because without CONTROL there is really no way (now!) for the hypocrapts to regain and retain power?

P.S. Welcome back lightbulbs, gas stoves, lawn mowers, plastic straws, etc! And SANITY! Goodbye masks and all the other dempanic bovine excretion!:eek:
 
Last edited:
Zinc is a bad choice for bullets. It does not melt well (when mixed with lead) and does not fill out the mold well.

When zinc wheel weights started to hit the market I bought a ton (literally) of old style lead ones and melted them into ingots. It was easy to tell if I had a zinc one mixed in. Still have 700 lbs left.

Using Lead for bullets is actually bad for your health. IT'S TRUE. If you get shot with one you could get lead poisoning. Ohhhhhhh.....never mind.
 
Last edited:
As a traditional muzzle loader I can say without a doubt that there is not substitute for pure lead. Lead is the only metal soft enough that when wrapped with a patch and swagged into the barrel will allow to be gripped by the patch enough to work with the rifling. I knew an old timer that always put a scotsche of tin in his mix in order to fill out the mold better when casting but if you get your lead and mold hot enough it all works great with pure lead, I cast in the 750 degree range.
For black powder cast bullets in rifles like 45/70, etc. 20:1 is a common alloy 20 parts lead to 1 part tin.
We have all tried the non lead balls and bullets and none of them perform like lead, hell even pellet guns shoot lead alloy. They will eventually legislate us out of our game and I know lead ain't healthy for the environment. My lead levels were recently elevated to as high as 10.5 ppm, it was due to my contact and being in the area where the dust from the pistol backstop was blowing my way and contaminating the pistol target frames I was working on. I have it down below 5.0 and will go back to casting bullets this year with a quality mask. I have friends that cast in their basement with poor ventilation and they have no significant lead level.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
Lead vapor???
2
Replies
32
Views
2K
smoothshooter
S
R
38 SPL COLT/DOUBLETAP 110gr Lead Free JHP Review
Replies
4
Views
653
stansdds
S
W
Lead VS FMJ for gun cleaning.
2
Replies
34
Views
2K
bobsguns
bobsguns
D
Ever try lead free 22 LR?
Replies
13
Views
2K
rwsmith
rwsmith
Echo40
  • Poll Poll
What's the best alternative to 5.56 for an AR-15?
4 5 6
Replies
110
Views
9K
STORMINORMAN
S

Latest posts

Back
Top