Should meat hunters stop using lead ammunition?

[spinmove_]

You guys are making me want to go get my lead levels checked. I shoot primarily at indoor ranges, however, they seem to be rather well ventilated (at least the ones that I go to seem to be). I'm trying to get into hunting, but I've eaten my fair share of game taken by leaded .270win and .243win bullets and I seem healthy enough. Ever since joining here I've instituted gun cleaning based on round count cycles, wearing nitrile gloves while I do it, wash my hands after handling any firearms or ammunition for any reason, and washing my forearms and face as well as my hands after shooting. Honestly, if I have the option to harvest any game that I might be ingesting with a lead free projectile, then I'd make an honest effort to go that route. If that option isn't available, then I'll probably just not eat around the wound track and drive on. There's plenty of meat to go around if you don't include the wound track, and furthermore (and this is going to sound un-American) we generally eat way more meat in this country than we probably should, so I'll just eat more veggies and taters with my venison if we run out.

This isn't a political thread guys, so let's not devolve into a discussion on why Kalifornia sucks. We already know why Kalifornia sucks. Unobtanium isn't moving there and neither should you. Let's stay on topic and help the dude out.

[GJM]

How did you manage it?

[YVK]

How did you manage it?

Talked to Tom Jones who had to deal with the same in the past. Shoot in a respirator and dedicated clothes, cap included, and shoes that I don't even wear in my car on the way home, or put something over it. Those clothes get washed with a D-lead detergent regularly. At the beginning of each session I clean my stall with D-lead wipes, the deck and the switchboard. When I get off the line, clean my hands and face/neck with them wipes. On the way out, wash hands and face with a D-lead soap. Try to get a shower with a D-lead shampoo as soon as I get home. Try not to eat or drink anything until I take that shower. Never eat anything during matches. Have sex 4-5 times a week, using erectile function as a surrogate measurement.

[GJM]

Talked to Tom Jones who had to deal with the same in the past. Shoot in a respirator and dedicated clothes, cap included, and shoes that I don't even wear in my car on the way home, or put something over it. Those clothes get washed with a D-lead detergent regularly. At the beginning of each session I clean my stall with D-lead wipes, the deck and the switchboard. When I get off the line, clean my hands and face/neck with them wipes. On the way out, wash hands and face with a D-lead soap. Try to get a shower with a D-lead shampoo as soon as I get home. Try not to eat or drink anything until I take that shower. Never eat anything during matches. Have sex 4-5 times a week, using erectile function as a surrogate measurement.

Liar.

[Unobtanium]

Talked to Tom Jones who had to deal with the same in the past. Shoot in a respirator and dedicated clothes, cap included, and shoes that I don't even wear in my car on the way home, or put something over it. Those clothes get washed with a D-lead detergent regularly. At the beginning of each session I clean my stall with D-lead wipes, the deck and the switchboard. When I get off the line, clean my hands and face/neck with them wipes. On the way out, wash hands and face with a D-lead soap. Try to get a shower with a D-lead shampoo as soon as I get home. Try not to eat or drink anything until I take that shower. Never eat anything during matches. Have sex 4-5 times a week, using erectile function as a surrogate measurement.

Not to sound ignorant/stupid, but is that actually any kind of sensible barometer at all?

That said, I meant...how did it occur?

[YVK]

Using sex as a barometer was my attempt on humor. I was just trying to get a rise out of GJM and I obviously succeeded. Erectile dysfunction has been weakly linked to chronic lead toxicity but much less definitively than other lead poisoning syndromes.

It occurred because I shoot about 8-9K rounds annually indoors and simply washing my hands after a session turned out to be insufficient.

[JR1572]

I am new to hunting (killed my first deer last year), and simply chose my ammo based on what works well on people. It worked well on my deer (RA556B), too. However, then I got into looking at lead contamination, as I know a bunch of environmentalists are trying to push lead out of hunting. Normally I am not a huge fan of listening to those types, but lead IS a cumulative toxin, and I was curious, so I did a bit of digging and looked for sources that weren't all concerned with Condor's and Gun Control, only. What I found was kindof concerning, actually. Here are the videos.

What is your take on this? Do you feel that TSX/GMX/E-Tip type ammo is THE way to go? Or do you feel that lead is just fine? Why?

Video 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZJXderphCM

Video 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4Wbj41j67A

Video 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdKlubTRkk8

If you're that worried about it, you should go 100% lead free. Even with your training ammo.

JR1572

[Unobtanium]

If you're that worried about it, you should go 100% lead free. Even with your training ammo.

JR1572

Do you honestly think just shooting is worse than eating meat shot with lead ammo?

My "personal barometer of wellbeing" is aligned that I shoot only outdoors, but do not use lead-free ammo. If this is just as/more harmful, then I also feel no need to not use lead on animals. Just my personal standards. That was the reason for this thread...actual quantification of threat.

[JR1572]

Do you honestly think just shooting is worse than eating meat shot with lead ammo?

My "personal barometer of wellbeing" is aligned that I shoot only outdoors, but do not use lead-free ammo. If this is just as/more harmful, then I also feel no need to not use lead on animals. Just my personal standards. That was the reason for this thread...actual quantification of threat.

I'm saying add that to your routine. If you're going to go lead free, go all in lead free.

JR1572

[Hambo]

Do you honestly think just shooting is worse than eating meat shot with lead ammo?

In my case, absolutely. I do not hunt enough to supply all the meat I eat, but I shoot 1-2x/week and over the summer it's all been indoors. My opinion, and it's worth every cent you paid for it, is that you're worried about something that's almost nothing. On the list of shit that will kill me, ingesting lead from dead animals is somewhere around #72 on the list.