Green Reloading: Granola Ammunition

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dubious

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I'm getting into reloading here... just ordered a Lee Classic Turret for 44 mag... and one of they many approaches I'm curious about is how environmentally friendly I can make the process... "granola ammunition" I'll call it. :evil:

Don't laugh at me, they're my guns and I can do what I want....;)

Actually you're welcome to laugh at me if you want....:neener:

I want to know about the alternatives to Lead bullets. The only ones I've seen are copper frangibles and they cost $1 a bullet! I'd consider casting my own to get the prices down. I've heard you can cast Iron and Tungsten for shotgun shot.

However, I'm not entitrely certain that the production and and environemental breakdown of these metals, like copper and tungsten, are less polluting than the the production and environmental breakdown of lead.

So to sum it up:

1. What environmentally friendly bullets are there? How can I make them?
2. What granola powders are there? Preferably for 44 mag. I know you can't use rainbows here...
3. What granola primers are there?

I'm definitely on a budget here too...
 
Actually, since lead comes out of the ground, and if it's handled correctly, it's no more noxious than your average politician. The reason there is so much hysteria about lead these days is because the State of California, in their infinite wisdom, declared lead a "toxic substance". You shouldn't chew on it, swallow it, or do several other things with it, but this is true for a lot of metals and chemicals we use on a daily basis.

As for your questions, you can't make leadfree bullets at home, other than straight zinc, which is expensive and not that satisfactory anyway. You can't smelt iron or tungsten, since the melting points are so high and the equipment required is expensive. You could possibly melt pure silver, but you mentioned you're on a budget..........

As for powders that are environmentally friendly, that all are. They're high in nitrates and make great fertilizer, so any powder you choose will fill your requirements.

Lead free primers are available from several companies, though since there has been very little demand for them from reloaders, they're getting less and less available.

I don't know if I answered your questions or not, but just in case, I hope it helps.

Fred
 
technically, you can do whatever you want with your Buttercup 44 magnum, sounds like you're trying to Macintosh your guns... (slang phrase meaning to make something more 'friendly') but, I don't own a mac, nor do I own a 44 magnum.

The weight of lead makes it best for storing energy. old timers used to load up rock salt because it wouldn't penetrate more than just skin (at most), whereas lead has the potential energy to rip through flesh very easily. See why they use lead? That and it melts at about 600 degrees, so a little hotter than french fry oil. Solder that you use on electronics has lead in it, that's how easily the stuff melts.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I would like to mention that lead is very soft and won't damage your steel gun barrel. Copper is also softer than steel, and when it's got a lead core, you've got an even softer material. You can rub lead against stuff and it rubs off rather than going through... that's why it used to be used in pencils.

There's been rumors of folks making bullets from ICE, from frozen hamburger from frozen chocolate... all have been proven to melt and disentegrate as soon as they leave the barrel... Since you've got a revolver, you can prime a case, and fill it with a little wax for close range target shooting. beeswax or berry wax are natural, paraffin is made from petroleum. You could probably use tallow as well, but I wouldn't suggest it... It's just not hard enough and is bound to have the stench of old candles.

maybe you could come up with a paper bullet? use old paper, grind it up real nice until it's paper-ready quality and then put that in your mold. maybe that would work. I'm just spitballing here (pun intended) but maybe a good idea to put some sort of a wad at the base of it, not sure how well it would hold up.

or, take up archery. That's a perfectly biodegradable sport. shoot haybales with wooden dowels? well, it's worth a shot... speaking of which, how about steel bb's from an air rifle? those will oxidize (rust) and decompose pretty well.

many solutions to a silly problem, tree hugger.
 
many solutions to a silly problem, tree hugger.
Click to expand...
Muahahahahhahahaa! Nothing more ironic than a tree hugger with guns!

Oh yeah I forgot to mention this is primarily for target shooting... lets not get into self defense here. :rolleyes:
 
All casting equipment available commercially is set up for lead. You can load all copper bullets but their expensive too. If you really don't want to deal with anything lead, your're going to need to ditch the shooting and pick up another hobby. good luck.
 
Quit Shooting?! That'll be the day! I'll just keep on shooting good old fashioned lead regardless... this is one of many reloading projects I'm interested in.

Obviously I'm going to have to do a lot of experimenting lead components because I want to milk every ounce of accuracy out of my guns.

I basically feel the same way about lead bullets as I feel about gas in my car. I'm not terribly happy about it, but I'm still driving around all the time. I'm open to new options, but not willing to spend a fortune on a hydrogen - granola - rainbow - unicorn poop powered car.
 
And this is EXACTLY the reason that environmentalists are so hard to take seriously.
 
Though I am being light hearted about the subject, I assure you I am completely serious. Serious enough to actually spend my time and effort meticulously hand loading some batches of Granola Ammo.

Instead of using this as a venue to make fun of smelly hippies, can we just share some useful info here? This IS The High Road.

So far here's what I've learned: Lead and Copper are both soft enough to use as bullets... and can be melted at low temps. I'm going to have to look into zinc.

I found out that Nosler has some "alloy" bullets that are not available for 44 mag.

Thats not a lot....
 
Just remember that most copper bullets are jacketed. There most likely will be lead on the inside.

I have never heard of homemade copper bullets, so that is a new one to me. The beeswax thing is a good idea if you want to shoot balloons....but then that would be wasting rubber. I think the beeswax is what cowboy action shooters do for popping balloons. Just powder held in place with the wax. You would have to look into that further, but it might be cheaper than buying lead bullets. You could even come up with a custom shotshell load for revolvers....a little powder, some kind of wad, a few copper BB's, and a topper of wax.
 
Well, if it is just for target shooting, why not either the reloadable plastic bullets from Speer, or some wax bullets? Both would be primer powered only, so no "nasty" propellant to add to "global warming". You could also re-cycle your components, save the primers, making you even more "green".

The rest of us will continue to belch out clouds of black powder smoke and smokeless propellant pollution in great quantities behind large hunks of "carcinogenic" lead.
 
Granola primer advise: Use non-toxic primers. While the old-fashioned primers use lead styphnate with glass crystals, the non-toxic primers use dynol - a volatile organic compound, supposedly non-toxic.

The factory Winchester and Federal ammo can be had with non-toxic primers, and is so marked on the headstamp.
The dynol primers are only made in small pistol size, AFAIK. So, the 45ACP non-toxic ammo has the small primer pocket, creating a headache for reloaders, but I digress.

Advantage: non-toxic, heavy metal free.
Disadvantage 1: limited shelf life, it is unknown at this time. Projected shelf life is 10-15 years.
Disadvantage 2: weaker spark, requiring larger flash hole.

PMC imports the dynol primers from Russia, and sells them in green boxes.
LT

P.S. Avoiding heavy metals is a good idea. After many years of running matches at a local indoor range, my 2004 blood test showed the lead level of 23 ppb, way too high. I scaled down my indoor shooting, had a new ventilation system installed, started showering after every trip to the range, etc. My lead level has been steadily declining, but is still above 10 ppb. This is no joke, I am exploring options to lead as well.
 
Actually, you probably could make non-lead cored, copper-jacketed bullets if you buy a swaging setup, rather than trying to cast. The British have used aluminum and paper pulp in their bullets, with lead in the back.

They would be extremely light, though.
 
Being environmentally conscious is not necessarily a bad thing. I don't consider myself a tree hugger and if I could find a suitable lead alternative I would. I personally know two people that work at ranges who are being treated for lead poisoning. Lead is dangerous when it builds up in the bloodstream and especially so for kids. It's not just the State of California that says it is. It doesn't make you any cooler to go out of your way to trash the environment.

I also leave the land I hunt on free of Beer Cans, trash, and pickup my cartridges. Guess that makes me a Tree Hugger. Oh yeah I eat what I kill also!
 
Plastics almost sound like the way to go. Maybe a type of vinyl, kinda like little tykes stuff you put in the backyard. Just thought of this: a stiff foam with wax covering. Or what about that stuff they make ceiling tiles out of. It's heavy weight and porous. Stuff your mold tight with that and soak with a thin wax. Once it hardens, it'd be like pikrete (or however it's spelled)
 
ballistics won't be as good, but aluminum core is an option
 
Want to avoid adding lead to the environment while being the ultimate recycler? Build a bullet trap and reuse you LEAD bullets, again and again.

Use Barnes bullets, 100% copper. That green move will cost you green though.

barnes.gif
 
oh, forgot about this one thing... there's some of those 44 caliber shotshell thingy's made of plastic. Plastic, though not biodegradable, is inert. I don't remember who makes them, but I know midway sells them and you can pack them with whatever you want...the recommend very small shot and use them against varmints.

Also, lead kinda 'sticks' to steel plate (no ricochet). So if you shoot lead bullets and have a steel plate as backstop, you can easily track down your bullets later without too many ricochets. Well, that's the case with black powder anyhow, never seen it done with harder lead but I would imagine about the same.
 
Lead exposure "problems" are vastly over blown. It's another liberal fad fear exactly like RADON GAS! was a few years back and Global Warming! is now.

Chicken Littles of the world are always searching for the next thing that threatens to kill us all, wonder what's next? Whatever, it too will be silly but pervasive and the media will also hype it to keep folks bowels in an uproar, with "...film at six."

Lead, in its solid form, is quite harmless even if swallowed. The current CA condor and old duck "problem" is ONLY a problem for a few types of birds. Foul have unique digestive systems in which solids are held in a special container (a "craw"), soaking in special acids and actually ground around in such a way as to reduce the solid lead to an oxcide form. Only then can a small part be absorbed. Thus, only birds suffer any harmfull effects at all and, even for birds, it's a very uncommon and small problem.

Lead is, after all, a natural element that's been safely "contaminating" (?) soil long before lead bullets and shot were developed. Lead is not some evil toxin concocted by man to poision little critters in the fields and woods. Well, it's harmless unless it is injected into them at high velocity anyway. ;)

The ideal place for the critters is next to the mashed potatoes!
 
On indoor ranges the lead poisoning issue is mainly because of the lead styphanate in the the primers.

Metallic lead isn't readily soluble. Many lead compunds are.

Added: I was under the impression that most birds picked up small pebbles to use as grinders in the stomach, and part of the issue was these birds specifically picking up lead shot for that purpose. It wasn't incidental consumption by the birds, but intentional consumption of these attractive little "pebbles"
 
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Funny you should mention this. I happen to be developing a type of nut that, when properly dried, would make an excellent non-toxic, environmentally friendly, politically correct explosion tube projectile (the term "bullet" is politically incorrect). In order to continue my research on these "gun nuts," I need investors to fund the necessary time and carbon credits.

I am open to investors in increments of $10,000, which should be paid by check made out to: Carbon friendly Armaments for Safe Handling. That's C.A.S.H.

Just send them to DrBoomBoom and I'll send you an official, suitable for framing, certificate that thanks you for your contribution to the environment and gives you carbon credits for late night video games.

My next invention will be paper-free, tree friendly targets. Made of deer skin.
 
Sublimaze is of course correct. A bullet trap will solve the problem for high volume practice shooting.

Davinci is nuts. I have picked up many paper thin disks of lead at the foot of steel targets, amounting to maybe 10% of the original cast bullet; the rest pulverized too fine to recover.

A colleague was sent around to military smallarms ranges to dig in the berms and study the fate of bullets shot there for decades. There was no consistency. Depending on soil conditions, he found whole bullets, bullet cores with the copper jackets gone, bullet jackets with the lead cores gone, and no bullets at all, except for those from recent use. Can't generalize.
 
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