Unleaded Gasoline

[tabascoz28]

I'm too young to know what life was like before unleaded gas and freon but potentially the air we breath is better now despite even more people. I wonder if going unleaded will push the industry to develop better bullets and/or barrels and later, lower cost. Bullet makers just have to stamp one metal now instead of enveloping lead with copper. They can even use aluminum/steel/recyclable polymer for cases to drop prices. Steel can even be picked up easier at the range, indoor and outdoors. Decades from now we'll be wondering to ourselves how we could have let our lands go to crap with lead, when people use to litter the hillsides and BLM land with toxic lead. After all, this could actually be a function of population and pollution than with control over gun rights. Did the muscle car enthusiasts of old have the same thought about the government trying to take their cars and freedom when we switched over. Aren't cars even faster and economical now than ever before? Are Prius drivers suffering from heat exhaustion from using R-134? Tell me America can't figure this one out and lead the way in bullet innovation.

[Hinnerk]

I had a look at some of the new lead free .22lr. Guess what? It is made of copper polymer composite. Plastic! Yikes! Like in straws? Probably makes microplastics on impact, too!

Trouble is, the environment is full of lead from leaded gasoline. It won't go away unless urban areas are razed, scraped clean and remediated. Shooting ranges deposit lead in a small, confined space. Much easier to manage and MUCH less of a problem.

[norcalAF]

I had a look at some of the new lead free .22lr. Guess what? It is made of copper polymer composite. Plastic! Yikes! Like in straws? Probably makes microplastics on impact, too!

Probably terrible for the animal it impacts as well.

[200Apples]

Two different kinds of lead fallout. There will forever remain in the environment more motor fuel lead than there will ever be firearms lead. I wouldn't be so concerned about it. Go worry on something else.

FWIW, those polymer composite .22s shoot like crap. They're horrible.

And if there's one thing we don't need any more of it's PVC/poly vinyl choride. That's vinyl siding, fencing, windows, etc, and it is everywhere. Those things are in a continual state of decomposition, yet the key component PVC will always remain hazardous to one's health. Look for the documentary, "Blue Vinyl".

[n8vrmind]

Even if the projectile is lead free, the primer is still made with lead*styphnate.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[tabascoz28]

It does make more sense to concentrate the lead at ranges. I think the concern is also for the workers of ranges and instructors who are around it all the time. It would make more sense that they wear respirators instead.

[Pofoo]

Well, somebody drank the kool aid.
Yes, lead in gas was bad and with modern technology it isn't needed. But, the same people that banned it gave us mtbe, which was worse.
New cars get 300%-400% better milage and run much cleaner, which accounts for a lot of the smog reduction.
Also, we've closed down 50%?? of the factories in LA which helps the smog, but not so much the job market.
I remember the gov't saying that we should use plastic bags to save trees. Now we should use paper and not plastic. We can still get plastic, we just have to pay for them.
Smoking tobacco is bad but it's ok to smoke pot.
As a 70 year old native Californian, I've heard and seen many scams from "experts".
Use your brain and try to figure out which ones are actually true, fiscally responsible, actually needed, etc.

[GeeBee49]

The bill is still new but knowing California's legislators they may try to fast track it. I'm going to Turner's Monday to DROS a Glock and a Henry lever action so I'll be asking the guys there what they'll be carrying if this thing passes.
I went to my local indoor range Sunday and signed up for an annual membership so I'll continue shooting regardless of what happens.

[Jeepergeo]

Have you ever been to a vagrant camp? There you will see more "land going to crap" in a few days than shooting does on a similar size parcel in 50 years. Think about it.

And the lead in gasoline was at the micro level and not really comparable to the lead in projectiles, not even close.

[Garv]

I am waiting for them to ban lead solder from defense/aerospace electronics.

Raytheon, Northrop-Grumman, Boeing will pack up along with many of their in-state suppliers.

Others:
Fishing weights
Car batteries
Lead crystal
Ceramics/Art paints

[Hinnerk]

Garv,

You know, you can still buy uranium glass products ... even in the bead shops in Berkeley, of all places.

[onelonehorseman]

I had a look at some of the new lead free .22lr. Guess what? It is made of copper polymer composite. Plastic! Yikes! Like in straws? Probably makes microplastics on impact, too!

Trouble is, the environment is full of lead from leaded gasoline. It won't go away unless urban areas are razed, scraped clean and remediated. Shooting ranges deposit lead in a small, confined space. Much easier to manage and MUCH less of a problem.

Some indoor ranges won't allow bullets with a partial polymer tip. I know the Firing Line does not allow the blue tip FN 5.7 x 28 for that reason.

[Robotron2k84]

The nice thing about solid lead is that as long as it’s contained, and lead deforms and doesn’t shatter, it is damn near 100% recyclable, and has a nice low melting point.

Solid copper projectiles are either sintered metal that disintegrates and can sublimate into vapor on impact, or has a harder time deforming, with a melting point 3x that of lead.

Copper uses more energy to mine (and it’s pretty rare), more to make, more to use, more to recover and not at all less contamination, once you factor-in the energy used in its production.

That’s even more true for something like car batteries. While Li-ion vehicle batteries are nice, they are made from conflict minerals and are very touchy about temperature and longevity, not to mention charging delicately. Their weight reduction is beneficial for something like a motorcycle, but for a gas car or truck makes no difference, practically.

The science behind this type of lead ban is missing in action.

Real science would tell you that people currently have the highest amount of lead exposure due to indoor dust, as Radon gas decays into lead, depositing it everywhere in your home. By comparison, exposure from projectiles is non-existent.

[walterSOBCHAK]

From what I'm gathering, someone in the legislature has a stake in copper. Thats usually how these things work. Everything from the low flow toilet scams to windmills. Many in the government buy in for benefit, and it's basically legal.

[Flintlock Tom]

I don't see a "Lead Problem" so much as a "Kool-Aid" problem...