Copper fragment in meat

[Desk Jockey]

Curious if copper frag is more of an issue than lead frag in terms of the frequency and volume found in meat, not the health issue with each metal specifically? I switchEd to copper rifle ammo but am primarily a bow hunter So less of an issue for me.

 

[cjl2010]

Yea, I've eaten birds shit with lead for 20 years, but some may consider me deranged. All I know is since switching to monolithic bullets I've yet to find a piece in an animal.

I’m sorry, what’s the best way to prepare bird shit?

 

[S.Clancy]

I’m sorry, what’s the best way to prepare bird shit?

Raw...

 

[cjl2010]

Raw...

Haha you are deranged!

 

[SIontheHunt]

I switched to Barnes this year specifically because I don't want to ingest lead. My dad reloaded his whole life, cast his own bullets, shot lead, played with lead, etc... He just died of liver cancer in May. And he wasn't a drinker.

It's easy to dismiss the warnings when it doesn't kill you immediately. My dad use to shrug it all off, but I tell you, taking care of him while his body shriveled up and died was no fun.

I figure if they don't want you living with lead paint on your walls, why the hell would I want it in my food!

I don't want copper either though... I've cut myself on copper petals while gutting a deer. Scary stuff. I'd be interested to hear others experience with Barnes.

leaded paint and leaded gas are a different form of lead. Lead in bullets is not soluble. I am sorry to hear about your old man but there are a lot of factors that contribute to liver cancer. Casting lead is probably the worst since you inhale the fumes.

 

[Marbles]

A little off topic, but I find how human brains function to be interesting. When I answered the question of lead bullets for my self, the decision was largely based on a gut reaction and boiled down to "this is liberal bull to price people out of hunting."

When I try to answer the question for someone else, I start digging into the research and pulling on my medical knowledge in analyzing it. I am coming away with a very different answer and (due to children in the house) will be switching to copper monos. Especially as I am hoping to increase the amount of game meat we consume.

Before this thread, I had not really connected what I know about lead exposure with the use of lead ammunition for hunting and had operated on the assumption that as lead ammunition has been used for so long it must be ok.

 

[JFK]

I’ll just add to this that the point of my post wasn’t to say copper is bad. I’ve used it for 5 years now with great success. This was the first time I’ve found any fragment in meat. Coincidentally, it was also the first animal I shot with my hot handloads.....110gr TTSX from a 270 that are screaming fast. It would stand to reason that the really high velocity I’m pushing these might increase the chance of blowing the petals off. Or it could have been a total fluke. I’m going to keep using it and if it becomes an issue with the 110gr bullets I’ll go back to a heavier, slightly slower 130gr as I used that for years with no fragments and total pass throughs except one animal.

 

[eoperator]

A good friend of mine was blood tested before starting a building demo job on a corps of engineers job as a way to monitor how much lead dust was inhaled during job. His blood lead levels were elevated before starting the job. He lives in a modern house, does not reload, or have any obvious exposure to lead other than eating wild game his family harvests and processes.

He has no way of knowing for sure were lead came from but, better to be proactive than reactive. Both our families are (mostly) switching to copper this year.

 

[KClark]

Raw...

Don't chew, just swallow.

 

[Squincher]

A good friend of mine was blood tested before starting a building demo job on a corps of engineers job as a way to monitor how much lead dust was inhaled during job. His blood lead levels were elevated before starting the job. He lives in a modern house, does not reload, or have any obvious exposure to lead other than eating wild game his family harvests and processes.

He has no way of knowing for sure were lead came from but, better to be proactive than reactive. Both our families are (mostly) switching to copper this year.

I have my lead level tested annually for work and mine have never been elevated, despite using only lead ammo.