Captain*kirk
Member
No, not the sort that the guy on the wrong end of your barrel has to deal with...LOL!
I'm speaking to the kind of hazard that we as reloaders have to deal with on a regular basis.
Specifically, lead from cleaning and tumbling.
I've been a dry tumbler since I got my first RCBS tumbler in the late '90s and have done a lot of it since, never really stopping to think (until lately) about the hazards imposed. Sure, using copper plated bullets has helped a bunch. In fact, I thought I had it covered pretty well until recently. Now I'm seeing a lot of guys on YT vids and such wearing latex gloves and respirators/masks admonishing us to only run or empty our tumblers outside, etc and citing the fact that our primers have lead deposits in them that can be absorbed through the skin or inhaled. I'm sure there are a lot of guys that have been reloading a lot longer or a lot more than I have probably going "Pfft!" right now...but there are quite a few here that have kids or grandkids around their reloading area that might want to consider this as well.
Personally, I never thought much about it before. But now that I have a wet tumbler, it seems common sense to de-prime and wet tumble fresh range brass in hot water with a squirt of dish soap to get rid of any lead deposits and rinsing/draining the brass before beginning your handling of the brass for sizing and case prep, and once you're done with all the monkey motion you can do another wet tumble with your Lemi Shine and pins, or dry media tumble without contaminating your dry tumbler media.
Any thoughts on this avenue from the peanut gallery? Am I making a mountain out of a mole hill?
I'm speaking to the kind of hazard that we as reloaders have to deal with on a regular basis.
Specifically, lead from cleaning and tumbling.
I've been a dry tumbler since I got my first RCBS tumbler in the late '90s and have done a lot of it since, never really stopping to think (until lately) about the hazards imposed. Sure, using copper plated bullets has helped a bunch. In fact, I thought I had it covered pretty well until recently. Now I'm seeing a lot of guys on YT vids and such wearing latex gloves and respirators/masks admonishing us to only run or empty our tumblers outside, etc and citing the fact that our primers have lead deposits in them that can be absorbed through the skin or inhaled. I'm sure there are a lot of guys that have been reloading a lot longer or a lot more than I have probably going "Pfft!" right now...but there are quite a few here that have kids or grandkids around their reloading area that might want to consider this as well.
Personally, I never thought much about it before. But now that I have a wet tumbler, it seems common sense to de-prime and wet tumble fresh range brass in hot water with a squirt of dish soap to get rid of any lead deposits and rinsing/draining the brass before beginning your handling of the brass for sizing and case prep, and once you're done with all the monkey motion you can do another wet tumble with your Lemi Shine and pins, or dry media tumble without contaminating your dry tumbler media.
Any thoughts on this avenue from the peanut gallery? Am I making a mountain out of a mole hill?