Low-Toxicity Reloading Practices

[TicTacticalTimmy]

The lead and hunting thread in the Ammunition got me thinking: what can we as reloaders do to minimize our risk of lead exposure?

I found these "zero pollition" primers from Fiocchi, has anyone used them? https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/92

Currently I dry tumble and single-stage load about 400 rounds per month, at this low volume I haven't felt that lead exposure is too much of an issue, but perhaps I am wrong.

I wear nitrile gloves whenever sorting tumbled brass and most of the time when reloading, what other tips do you guys have for minimizing lead exposure when reloading?

[Flintsky]

The Fiocchi primers might be okay for training ammo, as long as you store them in a humidity controlled environment and don't keep them long term. They are hydroscopic, and absorb water from the atmosphere resulting in a reduced shelf life and reliability. I've been training with ammo with lead free primers for years, and they don't always go "bang".

The big culprit is handling dirty brass, and the air borne lead dust you get from brass cleaning. Dry tumbling grinds off the lead residue on the brass, but now that fine lead is in your media, and also gets kicked up into the air. So, if you insist on drying tumbling your brass, have very good ventilation during the process. The next problem is that dry tumbled brass still has all the lead dust all over it, so even if you wear gloves during the reloading process the lead is still there when you load up your magazines for the gun range. Several years ago I had high blood lead levels, and I attributed that to my dry tumbling exposure and bullet casting.

The best method for cleaning brass to prevent lead exposure is to use a water based system to prevent lead dust and aerosol. A wet tumbler with steel pins will be the most thorough, and then you can rinse and drain off your cleaning fluid in a more controlled environment. I used a Frankford Arsenal rotary tumbler with steel pins and ultra sonic cleaning solution to clean my brass inside and out, and then I rinse the brass in a hot wash/wax solution to coat the brass in a protective layer before it goes to the hot brass dryer. My lead levels are normal since I went to this system, and it yields better results:
http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/p637/scottomega76/DSC01909_zpsnykylpdk.jpg (http://s1159.photobucket.com/user/scottomega76/media/DSC01909_zpsnykylpdk.jpg.html)

Other things you can do is to use copper platted bullets like Rainier or Berry's, or TMJ bullets like Speer. Coated bullets also hold a lot of promised for reducing lead exposure.

[jeep45238]

The best method for cleaning brass to prevent lead exposure is to use a water based system to prevent lead dust and aerosol. A wet tumbler with steel pins will be the most thorough, and then you can rinse and drain off your cleaning fluid in a more controlled environment. I used a Frankford Arsenal rotary tumbler with steel pins and ultra sonic cleaning solution to clean my brass inside and out, and then I rinse the brass in a hot wash/wax solution to coat the brass in a protective layer before it goes to the hot brass dryer. My lead levels are normal since I went to this system, and it yields better results:
http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/p637/scottomega76/DSC01909_zpsnykylpdk.jpg (http://s1159.photobucket.com/user/scottomega76/media/DSC01909_zpsnykylpdk.jpg.html)


I hadn't heard of a wash/wax solution before - does it function like a case lube?

[Mike C]

Flintsky, what are you using for wax and how are you applying it?


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[GuanoLoco]

I used to use wet clean brass using a rotary tumbler with SS pins, but now I've moved to a cement mixer without pins.

Brass + water + citric acid/lemi-shine + armor all wash-and-wax. A little goes a long way. I'll run it for 10 mins with no chems and drain, maybe another 20 with chems and drain, maybe another with very little chems and drain. Comes out not quite as nice as with SS media but more than good enough for reloading. Plus this is my 'heavy' process and I could be done in well less than an hour.

The trick is that you need to dry the brass afterwards. Cases and primer pockets will hold water and wet brass tarnishes and corrodes. Primers will weld themselves into primer pockets. After I drain and maybe towel off I use a food dehydrator to get all the moisture out ASAP. I used to use a marginal 300 watt dehydrator but recently upgraded to a pair of 1000 watts dehydrators that I haven't even tested yet.

[Flintsky]

Flintsky, what are you using for wax and how are you applying it?


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Just your commonly found Armor All Wash/Wax car wash. I tumble the brass in a Hornaday ultrasonic cleaner solution with some Lemishine. Drain off the cleaning solution, and then tumble the brass in the wash/wax solution with hot water in a media separator. Then one tumble in cold water in the separator, a good air tumble to drain off as much water as possible and ensure that all the steel pins are out, and then off the the hot dryer. After lots of trial and error I found that this method creates the cleanest results, no water spots, and it stays shiny longer.

At first I tried using the wash/wax as my cleaner, but it didn't clean as aggressively as the ultra sonic cleaner. Then I tried combining the ultra sonic cleaner with the wash/wax........but I think that the ultra sonic cleaner broke down the wax. It is definitely a meticulous process of trial and error depending on your water supply and humidity which you have to cater to.

[Flintsky]

I hadn't heard of a wash/wax solution before - does it function like a case lube?

No, the wax just keeps the brass from tarnishing and it stays looking new much longer(even after handling). It "might" help with making resizing brass a tad easier, but I haven't noticed.

[Mike C]

Damn, that's a long process. I've just been using STM with dawn and Lemshine. Then just rinsing with a little lemshine and cold water. Final step is drying in a food dehydrator.

In your photo the brass looks really awesome, though I think I'm too lazy to add another step in there. With the cost of ammo dropping I don't know if it's cost effective for me run the tumbler and then have to sift through media multiple times.

How long does it take you to get through a batch from start to finish minus drying time?

Thanks for sharing the process. I'm going to have to write that down. If anything it will be a great process for my rifle brass.


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[Flintsky]

Damn, that's a long process. I've just been using STM with dawn and Lemshine. Then just rinsing with a little lemshine and cold water. Final step is drying in a food dehydrator.

In your photo the brass looks really awesome, though I think I'm too lazy to add another step in there. With the cost of ammo dropping I don't know if it's cost effective for me run the tumbler and then have to sift through media multiple times.

How long does it take you to get through a batch from start to finish minus drying time?

Thanks for sharing the process. I'm going to have to write that down. If anything it will be a great process for my rifle brass.


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I guess I am a perfectionist. The Frankford tumbler has a timer for 1,2,3 hours. Usually 1hr is good enough for handgun brass that is relatively fresh off the range and no tarnishing, and 2hrs for rifle brass in the same condition. If the brass has a lot of long term tarnishing, then 2hrs for handgun brass and 3hrs for rifle brass. Once I get it off the tumbler, it takes me about 15min to go through the rinsing process and separate the steel pins before it goes to the dryer. Getting the brass dry as quickly as possible is important to prevent spotting. Usually 30min in the dryer, then I rotate the trays and do another 30min.
http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/p637/scottomega76/DSC01908_zpsldu6p8c8.jpg (http://s1159.photobucket.com/user/scottomega76/media/DSC01908_zpsldu6p8c8.jpg.html)

[Clusterfrack]

My lead was on the high side, but has come down since I started using nitrile gloves for all reloading, brass processing, and brass pickup tasks. I don't bother with wet processing of brass--too time consuming given the volume I shoot, and I don't care how it looks. I just use a good dust mask and dump the polishing media outdoors.

[Flintsky]

My lead was on the high side, but has come down since I started using nitrile gloves for all reloading, brass processing, and brass pickup tasks. I don't bother with wet processing of brass--too time consuming given the volume I shoot, and I don't care how it looks. I just use a good dust mask and dump the polishing media outdoors.

My tumbler is relatively small, but it will process 2000 9mm cases with the steel media per batch. Larger units will process much more than that at a time, along with more streamline methods of separating the media and drying the brass. The nice thing about this method is that I never have to wear gloves, there is no lead dust left on loaded cartridges for other people to get on their hands when they handle the ammo, and there isn't dust left over in my loading area or my dumping area.