Lead bullets dying out?

[Jamesconn]

When I move out I am going to build a motorized sifter and try to clean up ranges.
I have to wait cause I am restricted of what I can do and my ability and storage space for lead. I can start stockpiling now but I doubt my parents will let be get far so I have to wait for going full force into lead and I was wondering will ranges still have lead bullets by then all the tree huggers are doing the bestthey can on getting rid of lead and guns.

I'm already seeing Eco-friendly bullets the brass ones and shot which is steel and therefor they charge twice as much as lead even though it was cheaper I didn't think anybody that has guns would really try that hard to be Eco friendly.

[MtGun44]

They are trying, but dozens of times they have lost on the science of lead being bad for
the environment, because it does not migrate from range berms.

The only route to harm is to eat it, which bottom feeding water birds do when lead shot
is left on the bottom of shallow water by hunting, a credible event. So non-lead shot for
waterfowl is a real benefit.

The other - non-credible, IMO - route is to harm rare California condors by them eating
carcasses with lead in them. First, I think that the condor has outlived it's ecological niche,
and will go extinct regardless of anything we do, like millions of species have over
the millenia. Second, I doubt that any significant harm would come to them from
hunting with lead bullets, little or no lead left in most carcasses.

The hysteria about lead is just that, hysteria - not fact based. If we can keep to the
facts, we win. Might not work that way.

Bill

[geargnasher]

Well said, Bill.

James, who knows exactly what the future holds, the EPA doesn't have the power to ban owndership or possession of lead, nor do they have any desire to, according to their own statements. I don't know of any agency that would or could impose a federal ban except the BATFE, and even their powers are limited. Legislation would have to be passed within the ammunition manufacturing restrictions, in other words the only way they could put a crunch on our casting and loading our own boolits is to make handloading (or at least boolit casting for personal use) illegal, and then they'd have to ban commercial .22 ammo because I don't know any cost effective way to make that stuff without lead. If that were to happen, I know of about a dozen states that would start a revolt. The more real problem we're seeing is the continually reduced industry use of lead, which will serve to drive the price up and make scrap more scarce. Not unavailable, just scarce and expensive.

I found something interesting one time while trolling the web for X-ray shielding suppliers, it seems someone has invented a group of polymers (basic petroleum plastics, if memory serves) that are more dense than lead by a fair margin, and more effective than lead at absorbing X-ray radiation. Harder than hammered cat poo no doubt, but my first thought was that might be the next step in bullet technology, or at least bullet cores, not sure if it would be practical to injection-mould at home though. I've looked since and can't seem to find such a thing. Anyone else know what I had found?

Gear

[frkelly74]

What is the brinell number for " hammered cat poo " ?