Should You Allow Shooters to Scrounge for Lead on Your Gun Range?

MT2.com | Firing Range Services | Lead Reclamation & Environmental Remediation – #1 and Largest Nationwide Professional Environmental Soil Remediation & Firing Range Lead Reclamation Maintenance Contractor for both Indoor & Outdoor Firing Ranges

Shooters who cast their own bullets sometimes scrounge lead from ranges. Should you, as a range owner, allow them to do this? No! Trusting a Professional Firing Range Services Contractor keeps you safe.

Lead can be a toxic heavy metal. Allowing someone to dig through a rubber backstop or dirt berm or scoop up spent shot from a trap is going to stir up a lot of lead dust. The person digging for the lead to recast is going to be exposed to potentially high levels of lead. A quick check of how-to videos on Youtube, like this one, show few casters using protective gear when pulling spent bullets from a range, this video shows the person handling the lead bullets with their bare hands!

No one has studied the blood lead levels (BLL) of a person after scrounging fire lead projectiles, but The Trace took a look at people who go to ranges to shoot. High blood lead levels (BLL) were found in a significant number of the shooters. Now imagine how much exposure a person will get from actually handling spent bullets and shot.

Michigan State University published a brochure for people who cast their own bullets. Among other things, it recommends ventilation gear and protective clothing during the casting process. While they do point out good recommendations, there is much more to consider. The Navy has a 58 page Firing Range Industrial Hygiene Technical Guide covering recommendations on what to wear when cleaning a range, a berm or a bullet trap. Protective gear is necessary, but the guide covers topics such as:

Lead Exposure factors
Ventilation assessment
Hygiene practices to prevent the ingestion of lead
Proper protective clothing

What are you risking by allowing someone to scrounge for old bullets at your range? Are you willing to take the risk of potential legal action if that person later is negatively impacted by lead?

The best thing to do with the bullets from a berm or trap is to let a professional handle it for you who also will give you all of the proper documentation showing all lead was properly transported from your range to the correct destination.

MT2 is well known industry wide for being the nation’s #1 largest professional provider of the full scale of outdoor/indoor range environmental, maintenance and construction services; proven at over 2,000 ranges in all 50 states from our nationwide office network. Including:

Comprehensive OSHA training program
Knowledge of EPA regulations
Our “Never Generate Hazardous Waste Guarantee.”

Specializing in:

Lead: Reclamation, Screening & Treatment to MAXIMIZE Your Lead Value!
Environmental: EPA & OSHA Consulting;
Remediation Maintenance: Filters/Ventilation, Rubber, Traps, Decontamination
Construction: Renovation, Design/Build, Improvements, Closure.

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