Handling lead bullets question

[4t5]

A friend of mine thought I was crazy not wearing gloves , I always wash up when done.
Question is : gloves or no gloves what do you do ?

[AmBraCol]

Gloves give thermal protection, prevent more serious burns in case of a lead spill. Any gloves that would protect you from lead oxide are not the type you'd want due to their lack of thermal resistance. I've cast thousands of bullets sans gloves, but recognize the added degree of safety they give when messing with molten lead. Washing your hands after messing with lead is a good idea whether you use gloves or not.

[JimT]

I have been casting lead bullets for more than 65 years. I often wear gloves to protect from lead splashes and burns. I have never worried about anything else. Dad taught me to have good ventilation and not to pick my nose or put stuff into my mouth without washing my hands well after casting.

[4t5]

Sorry I was vague , these are bullets purchased , not cast by me .

[JimT]

Never have used gloves when loading commercial bullets.

[stretch]

No need. Wash your hands when done reloading
and follow JimT's lead in NOT putting your hands
in your mouth, eating, or picking your nose while reloading.

This modern obsession with wearing protective gloves for every little thing is
ridiculous. Mostly just makes the petro-chemical shareholders richer and fills the
landfills faster.

OFR off.......

-Stretch

[Bill in Oregon]

Thinking of all those split shot I clenched with my teeth onto my fishing line -- ALL OF MY LIFE ...
But then I am old enough to remember when my dentist would give me a small blob of mercury to play with. It was fun til you dropped it and it split into a billion No. 10 shot.

[LeverGunner]

I don't wear gloves when reloading or handling lead bullets. I just wash my hands well when done.

At one time my lead levels were up to around 8. I narrowed it down to my flashlight that I'd put into my mouth as the issue. I stopped that, and my levels started dropping and are back to 3 the last time they were checked.

[gcs]

As long as you're not eating them, and wash your hands, I'd say your good...

[4t5]

Thanks for the replies.
Bill , I did the same thing with split shot sinkers .

[GunnyMack]

If you are paranoid about it I see gloves as a hindrance as you lose feeling. However gloves when casting are a good idea.

Yes, split shot. But how about if your house is older and plumbed with copper? Lots of homes with soldiered pipes with pure lead or 50/50 . Every time you turn the tap you are getting lead.
My uncle worked for Alpine County CA road department, back in the 80s the painted lines in the whole state had to be removed due to the lead based paint. Dunno but I'm not sure if you really needed to worry about your kids laying on the highway licking the double yellow...

[JimT]

I find it amazing that the generations who grew up breathing leaded gasoline exhaust fumes, licking leaded paint on their cribs and drinking water through pipes leaded together fought and won in 2 world wars, invented the computer and space flight, put people on the moon while the modern lead-free generation can't decide which bathroom to use and if there are 2 genders or 304!

[Walt]

I have read or been told numerous times that lead is hazardous only when ingested. I do wear gloves for burn protection when casting, I do not wear them when handling lead bullets but I do wash my hands afterwards. When I cast, I do so in a well-ventilated area like at my garage door opening, frequently with a fan behind me blowing the fumes out the door.

[earlmck]

Well hey, it turns out it isn't lead that harmed their health and dropped their little IQ's, it was the excessive sugar in absolutely everything and the fluoride "they" convinced us we should add to our water. So Bill, I think you can go back to crimping the split shot with your teeth if you want.

[GunnyMack]

There used to be a product called Invisible Glove, found in auto parts stores. Just smear this cream all over your hands and let dry. The painters loved it for oil paints as they just needed water to get it off their hands. Or they always ate pepperoni pizza at lunch- pepperoni grease will soften oil paint and allow it to wash off easily.

[Ysabel Kid]

I find it amazing that the generations who grew up breathing leaded gasoline exhaust fumes, licking leaded paint on their cribs and drinking water through pipes leaded together fought and won in 2 world wars, invented the computer and space flight, put people on the moon while the modern lead-free generation can't decide which bathroom to use and if there are 2 genders or 304!

Well put!

[Ysabel Kid]

Oh, and I guess I'm in the majority here. I don't wear gloves when handling lead bullets. Even the best would drive me nuts when making paper cartridges! I do wear gloves when casting though, just because burns are no fun!

[JMick]

That's classic Jim!

[Scott Tschirhart]

I don’t wear gloves when handling store bought bullets. But I wash my hands when I finish a loading session. Probably more than I need to.

I’ve had a couple of friends that got really sick one was working an indoor range and the other had a commercial casting operation.

Lead poisoning is no joke.

[AmBraCol]

Thinking of all those split shot I clenched with my teeth onto my fishing line -- ALL OF MY LIFE ...
But then I am old enough to remember when my dentist would give me a small blob of mercury to play with. It was fun til you dropped it and it split into a billion No. 10 shot.

Crimping split shot sinkers "the natural way" since back in the 20th Century. Also, the easiest way to carry a backup shot for a pellet rifle is, you guessed it, between your lips. To this day I freak out folk who see me shooting Field Target. At the firing point when it's my turn I'll open the nice, fresh tin of pellets, pick out two, put the lid back on and the pellets between my lips. Get into position, load and fire the first shot, then the second. I WILL NOT do so with oxidized pellets, only with fresh from a fresh tin. The die release oil on them is probably a greater hazard than the lead. Any lead with oxide on it (that white powder that one finds on old bullets, sinkers, pellets, etc) should be handled with GREAT care and cleanliness. For loading ammo, no gloves. They make it hard to handle things and I'm fumble fingered enough as is. In loading ammo you've got the lead, the lube, the brass and a lot of other things that can get on you. It'll all wash off. If you're exposed to a LOT of lead (as Scott's examples above) then more care needs taken, but for the relatively low levels of exposure most of us have, not to worry.

I'm amazed at how isolated from the environment folks want to be today. My mom was a germ freak and washed everything that came into the house, even the bananas. Granted, we were in the Amazon Basin and there's all kinds of things that can cause illness, but so does excessive "cleanliness" as it keeps you from building natural immunity. When we were back in Colorado at my grandfather's farm one of my uncles dropped an apple and mom said "You'd better wash that." He just picked it up, scrubbed it against his shirt and ate it. She wasn't as amused as the rest of us were!

Back to your topic, handling non-oxidized commercial bullets in a normal reloading setup isn't going to expose you to dangerous amounts of lead. Look out for oxidized lead and handle it with care as THAT is where you could get greater exposure.

[AJMD429]

.
I believe the biggest danger is either aerosolized lead (indoor ranges), or lead SALTS (like old bullets with 'corrosion' on them. Metallic fresh lead is not easily absorbed (again, don't eat it), but dissolved lead or fumes (maybe from the primers too not just the bullets) are an issue. 'Organic' lead (lead in an organic, fat-soluble carrier) would be very treacherous.

Biggest danger may be containers and cloths used to wipe countertops or hands - NEVER use those things for food or beverage.

[jeepnik]

I was waiting for Doc to chime in. It's actually a lead oxide that causes problems. If you're seriously worried about lead, a respirator would be more important that gloves (for lead protecting) while casting. When you heat lead you create some lead oxide, but at the temperatures casters use not much. And lead while dangerous isn't quite as bad as folks tend to think. Again I think too much TV.

As an example, most of us are old enough to remember leaded gasoline. The specific lead compound was tetraethyllead. Now this stuff was pretty toxic in concentrated form. We rarely went into the "lead house" where it was stored. And folks did wear protective clothing around it. But consider this. Literally billions of pounds (if not tons) of this stuff were put into gasoline since it's introduction in the 1920's. Where did it all go. Well, the air, the land and the water. The reason lead went away wasn't based on science. Like a lot of thing uninformed folks convince less informed government officials something is bad and get the substance banned.

All it takes these days is one lawyer to convince one jury that something like talcum powder is dangerous. There needs to be no conclusive scientific evidence (talcum powder again). But once a single jury makes a judgment against a single manufacturer of products with talcum powder in it the flood gates are open. Every other lawyer points to that case and says "see it was proven right here in this case".

As was pointed out to me by a professor with his head screwed on straight. Where did the lead from gasoline go?

[Bill in Oregon]

Paul, I admire your field target technique.

[GunnyMack]

I've a 5 gallon bucket ¹/³ full of oxidadized shot, mixed 7.5,6s & 4s that I'm trying to use up. It won't melt in the pot- it actually insulates it. So I did a little research and found that white vinegar is acidic enough to dissolve the oxidation. Still playing with how long to soak it. I'll then add a bit of powdered graphite to the shot bottle and shake it up in hopes of better flow through the press.
If you listen to commiefornia EVERYTHING you touch is bad.

[AmBraCol]

Paul, I admire your field target technique.

I don't know if it's admirable. It may just be that the old custom has left me brain damaged enough to keep it up.

[Griff]

Casting yes, loading, no. I tried it loading once... it was rather warm... and I started sweating inside the glove to the point that I had sweat running out of the glove... that seemed to me to more of a problem that whatever lead exposure I'd get. Wash hands when done, don't eat anything while loading... sorry, when it's 102ºF in my workshop, I gotta have a cold soda... But, I don't stick my fingers in it!

[FLINT]

when I was a kid me and my cousin used to roam the country side hunting squirrels, rabbits, quail, etc. with our pellet guns. we usually carried our pellets in our cheeks. not one or two, but a dozen or so, for hours or however long we were out. probably not the best thing ever. but I'm still alive 40 years later.

[LeverGunner]

I will drink liquids while casting or loading. Generally, I'll have a bottle of water when casting, open the cap without touching the rim, take a drink and re-cap. When loading, it may be water, tea, coke, or coffee, I make sure not to touch the rim. I also make sure that I'm not doing something that puts lead in the are like decapping.

I tumble in my shed where I cast. I do all the sifting outside, and make sure not to breath that dust.

I'm change my clothes and shower after casting, reloading, or shooting. I don't always shower after reloading, depending on what I've done. Got to be careful about lead transfer with little ones around.