A full metal jacket on the bullets begs the question, just how much lead is
actually exposed for supposed dissolution? Admittedly some will be exposed
if the bullet splinters or compresses, but NOT much.
However, it is common for gun enthusiast to use full lead slugs for target
practice because lead slugs are much cheaper than copper jacketed. The lead
also reduces barrel wear because the surface melts as it travels down the
barrel. I does make for nasty cleaning and more frequent jams. I don't
know what the military practice is; of whether or not they use separate
bullet types for the practice range and actual conflict, but even if they
did use lead slugs for target practice, lead leakage is still subject to all
the original arguments that it doesn't measurably contribute to lead levels
in the water.
Not that I want to complain about the added engineering opportunities
associated with lead-free, but articles like that give me the sinking
feeling that the doom of full blown unscientific environmentalism is
impending.
Thanks
Ryan Grant
Advanced Technology Engineer
MCMS
(208) 898-1145
[log in to unmask]
> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Brewer [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Friday, May 04, 2001 11:25 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [LF] Army lead in Cape Cod water
>
> Gordon writes:
>
> "Stopping the use of lead bullets cannot possibly have a measurable effect
> on
> the amount of lead in Cape Cod's water. Everyone knows how it is still
> common to find bullets left over from the Civil War. They are still there
> after 135 years or more because they don't dissolve (or dissolve very,
> very
> slowly, and precipitate as lead carbonate or lead sulfate very close by).
> I'm sure that buried bullets from the Revolutionary War still exist
> undissolved, too. Does the Army intend to remove all the bullets in the
> ground at the Massachusetts Military Reservation? If not, how can the EPA
> think that they have accomplished their objective? What will they do when
> they discover that the lead levels in Cape Cod water are not dropping as a
> result of their order?"
>
> I'd posit that they'll bury the findings in obfuscation.... results that
> don't prove a popular premise
> are not often given the light of day.
>
> " The real basis for deciding to make the
> switch from lead to tungsten composite should be a simple cost trade-off
> between the extra cost per bullet and the money saved from reduced barrel
> erosion, plus the benefit of improved target accuracy."
>
> Very true. An interesting sideline, is that on the NPR treatise, the cost
> of this swap was pegged as "pennies per round" whereas the number given
> on a more in depth article pointed out that the difference was 1/2 cent
> per
> round per "old" bullet and 8 cents for the "green" bullet... a sixteen
> times
> increase. If the change does not result in measureable results, there's
> a lot of money wasted on PC efforts that could have been used to deliver
> meaningful results.
>
> I'd also challenge how a bullet of the same mass (which it must be, to
> perform in the rifling configuration of a M16) and the same outside
> jacketing
> material (It's required to be full metal jacket to be used in war) which
> is usually a copper alloy, could result in less barrel wear.
>
> Thanks for your thoughtful views of this "Pop Science" reporting.
> John
>
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