EPA To Wipe Out Lead Bullets

MastuhWaffles · Dec 21, 2013

This December one of the last lead smelting plants will close down, causing the US to not produce lead bullets in favor of this new "green ammo". California has already banned the use of lead bullets, what a surprise. These new green bullets are full copper rounds and apparently causing non toxic fatalities and not pollute the environment. And now the military will have these new green bullets by 2018. And why are they doing this? They want to jack up the prices of ammo so you can't afford any. It will cost almost 20 million to replace lead with copper. And here's the other thing the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, the IRS and Homeland Security all bought tons of lead ammo, so since when was it a concern. I'm sorry but this is just stupid, if lead really had such a problem we would have been screwed a long time ago during the civil war. But Dec 31st is when it will close so you can expect a price increase on usa brands, not so sure about the other imported stuff like the russian tula.

Dune Runner · Dec 21, 2013

Big government at work. Nothing but a SNAFU. They bought up all the ammo because they don't want US to have any. Another way around the 2nd amendment. Sure you can buy guns, Just no ammo.

ab_slack · Dec 21, 2013

Well lead is harmful you know. wouldn't want anyone getting shot suffer from lead poisoning.

I suspect they can make the ammo even safer by changing the material to nerf...wait that is foam...takes CFCs right?

and speaking of CFCs, I recall back when they were banning that the US decommissioned a whole bunch of nuclear missiles because the cost of upgrading their coolant systems to non-CFC refrigerant was going to cost to much. You know cause when the nuclear warhead goes off all those CFCs get released into the environment.

brokemechanic3000 · Dec 21, 2013

We have the same issues with lead wheel weights, the Govt. says they are harmful to the environment and are to be replaced with non toxic weights. Where the h#ll do they think the lead comes from?

RedneckWorkBeaterRanger · Dec 21, 2013

So no more lead? That means no more lead fishing weights. No more lead-acid car batteries, I guess we will all have to switch to metal hydride or lithium batteries at 2-3x the price of lead acid. No more leaded racing fuel, so I guess all off road racing venues such as drag racing will have to use water injection or switch to alcohol to control detonation in racing engines. All this is just stupid.

RedneckWorkBeaterRanger · Dec 21, 2013

Also shielding aprons used in hospital Xray rooms. We will all be irradiated that much more. Also lead is used extensively in nuclear power plants as a shielding material. So everybody will be glowing green but we will all be much safer from that much less lead in the environment?

adsm08 · Dec 21, 2013

This is all the work of "environ-MENTAL" nut jobs. These are the same people that are screaming "the sky is falling" because humanity is producing so much extra carbon dioxide "pollution" (our actual extra contribution from industry and such is less than .25% of what is produced naturally every day BTW).

News flash, if your body makes it naturally is isn't a pollutant. If you can go out and find it in nature it isn't pollution. If you eat it it might not be good for you, but it's not pollution just because a person takes something he found lying on the ground and makes it into a different shape.

If I take a rock that I find in my back yard, carve it into a little statue, and then throw it out in the woods, that is not polluting. It's still not a good idea to go eat it, but it's not polluting.

I swear people are getting dumber every minute.

Also, why does the IRS need to go buying ammo? Do the auditors really get shot at that often that the need protective gear and guns? If they are, maybe we need to start looking into completely dismantling not only our government, but our society and starting over.

Jim Oaks · Dec 21, 2013

When I was a State Trooper, we transitioned from a .357 revolver to a .40 semi-automatic. During the transition, every Trooper in the state had to go through the range in groups to get trained and qualified with the new gun. Afterwards, the ranger officers developed health problems as a result of being exposed to the lead.

As a result, the state ended up replacing that range that was in the basement, with a huge above ground range in a large addition added to the academy.

I wonder how many current or former range officers out there have lead related health issues.

BabyBronco89 · Dec 21, 2013

I was casting bullets with my dad since I was an infant, exposed to a lot of lead, I'm not retarted yet

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

MastuhWaffles · Dec 21, 2013

It's not that were going to be out of lead, we will not produce it for ourselves anymore, which means we will have to import it, and that will drive up the price of everything lead related, it has more of an affect than just bullets, but of course why would our government think of that... But if they ban lead bullets than the import of bullets will stop and all that will be left are expensive useless copper bullets. And man they destroyed that factory, they had issued new regulations thinking they wouldn't be able to meet them, and the factory actually did, so they raised them even more to an extreme level to that it could not meet the demands, I will give cudos to the factory for trying as hard as they did, but the little scum bags at the epa show no mercy. Now I feel as the imported ammo will still remain the same price until people start going crazy and buying it up making is scarce and jacking up the price, but I think the epa will put some sort of lead import tax on it.

mn_smokeater · Dec 22, 2013

Much less an issue then people are making of it:

http://sierrabullets.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/sierra-responds-how-will-the-closure-of-the-lead-smelting-plant-affect-sierra-bullets/

Rowdy Fitzgerald · Dec 22, 2013

Not to mention copper bullets are classified as armor piercing by the ATF. They have to be reclassified as a hunting round or all they have to do is enforce the current ban on armor piercing rounds. Then anybody caught with them will lose their right to bare arms.

85_Ranger4x4 · Dec 23, 2013

I can't see how one plant was making all the lead for all the bullets anyway.

I would think that electrical stuff (batteries, cables, solder...) would get priority because they would pay for the purity of virgin lead.

I am going to bet most bullets were recycled lead anyway.

My cousin has been hunting with lead free bullets for awhile now, they are not FMJ in the traditional sense, they are designed to expand like a lead bullet. He says they work fine, he works for the DNR and is happy to not be poisoning eagles, coyotes and the rest of the wilderness's cleanup crew with lead.

Mac · Dec 23, 2013

Lead shot in shot shells has been banned for a long time I thought. MN_smokeater posted a good link to read. I had heard before that even Canada had closed most if not all of their smeltering plants and send the ore to China or Korea for processing. Good article in latest American Rifleman (NRA) about true shortage of ammo, a of it just do to so many new gun owners.
Dave

85_Ranger4x4 · Dec 23, 2013

Lead shot is illegal for waterfowl but still very legal for everything else in Iowa.

EPA To Wipe Out Lead Bullets

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