lead bullets

[C1027]

I'm thinking of joining a local gun club that has an indoor pistol range, but you can only use lead bullets(unjacketed). Is this good or bad for the gun barrel ?( some people will not join because of this ,why?)

[RUDY850]

Nothing wrong with shooting lead.(GLOCK dosent recomend it in there guns) Just have to use more elbo greese when cleaning it.

As per the club. Most would like to be able to shoot there defence round fmj or jhp

[Lycanthrope]

Some people won't join because shooting lead indoors is usually smokey and long term exposure to lead vapors can be harmful.

Other than that, it certainly won't hurt your barrel, but some guns like the Glock will lead up severely and cause pressure problems.

[chalmitch]

If lead bullets are required they might also limit speeds to below 900 FPS. Smoke from lead bullets is more from the bullet lube than the lead alone. The next contributor to the smoke screen is the powder.

Best regards,
CM

[Xringshooter]

It may also be what the club is using as bullet stops. Unless you are using some serious armor plate (or very thick steel plate) FMJ and jacketed at higher speeds will tear up the stop material.

As to the lead/smoke in the air, if there is a lot of it I would be hesitant to shoot there as that would tell me that they don't have adequate ventilation to clear the air of the undesirables. IIRC any indoor range is supposed to meet certain air quality standards (State and Federal) and typically have ventilators that keep the bad air away from the shooters.

As to shooting straight lead, as stated prior it won't hurt the firearm, you just have a little more work to clean it out. A Lewis Lead Remover or the true 100% copper ChoreBoy scrub pads will make short work of the lead in the barrel and forcing cone. even at low speeds the softer lead will build up. Shooting PPC my load chrono'd just barely over 700 fps (the minimum you could shoot). It was a .357 dia 148 gr HBWC over 2.5 grains of Solo 1000 (or Red Dot) with Federal small pistol primers in a .38 case. Was very accurate but still leaded. Most of us would run a bore brush down the barrel and chambers between stages to help keep the leading down.

[PA Rifleman]

It sounds like either they have a weak backstop, or they plan to make extra revenue selling scrap lead, or both.

As far the effects of lead bullet in guns, lead fouling can be partially offset by using gas checks, but you'll need ask for ammunition made with them, or roll your own ammunition with gas checks. Gas checks are a partial bullet jacket, just enough jacket to stop lead fouling and produce all the benefits of jacketed ammunition as far as interior ballistics are concerned.

If you cast your own bullets (it's very easy, I do it for both handgun & traditional black powder), you can also make your own gas checks as an alternative to buying them (details). It might be more cost-effective to buy pre-made gas checks.

I have read accounts of people swapping their Glock barrels for conventional-rifled barrels specifically for shooting lead bullets.

If you're casting for a modern firearm, harder leads like those found in automotive wheel weights work well at reducing fouling too. Just avoid pure zinc, they'll be marked "Zn" somewhere.

[Mity2]

for sometime, I've shot 357 laded with unjacketed lead. Probrem i've eencounter was that because of it, if you raise the velocity, it tends to foul up barrel real bad fast.

I can only shoot around 30~40rds before soo much fouling in barrel that projectile starts to wonder all over the place.

Other then needs good scrubbin of barrel, I see no ill effect.

I don't know about shooting alot of it indoor tho. I'm nurse, and I have seen lead poisning patient, and it ain't pretty.

Do they let you shoot frangible?

[Suburban]

Some stuff that I've gathered on lead bullets, FWIW:

Lead bullets:
- should be kept under about 1000 fps, which is fine for .45s, but makes for some weak 9mm, .357SIG, .38Super loads
- will foul a compensator or ported barrel pretty quick
- sometimes foul polygonal rifled barrels (i.e. Glock and HK) pretty quick
- leave a lot of mess in the pistol from the bullet lube

When the hardness of the lead alloy is tuned to the velocity, some of the barrel leading can be reduced, or so I'm told. Too hard, and the bullet doesn't seal in the barrel, gas blows by, and you get a coating of lead in the barrel. Too soft, and the lead leaves deposits as it goes down the barrel. No matter what, the lead bullets shouldn't hurt your barrels any more than jacketed. If anything, lead is softer, and won't wear your barrels as fast as jacketed bullets.

Sound complicated? I thought so too. I've got Glocks and a compensated pistol, mostly 9mm, so I've never bothered.

Polymer/moly coated lead isn't as bad. I dunno if you can use those, but I would check into it. Check the web for Precision, Bear Creek, and Masterblaster (?, not sure about that last one) bullets.

[jburke1987]

i have heard of master cast in enon valley, pa but have not ever bought any of their ammo http://www.mastercast.net they have a wide variety of cast ammo and jacketed ammo all remanufactured to specs and have the velocity on the site as well. give them a shot

[Lycanthrope]

Originally Posted by jburke1987

i have heard of master cast in enon valley, pa but have not ever bought any of their ammo http://www.mastercast.net they have a wide variety of cast ammo and jacketed ammo all remanufactured to specs and have the velocity on the site as well. give them a shot

I've shot thousands of Mike's bullets. Hard to beat for the price.