How do I "decontaminate" my gun?

Wash your hands after shooting or cleaning your firearm. Done.

You could also do some scientific testing yourself. Shoot your guns at the range, clean them, and then have swab for lead residue on your hands before & after washing. Also get regular blood level analysis over time.
 
I dry fire/handle my guns when they're slightly dirty. If I shoot 200 rounds, I won't clean my pistols. I still handle them.
Looks like I am gonna die! LOL
 
You have more important things to worry about. The food you are putting in your body is probably a bigger health concern.
 
freeflier said:
As a new shooter I was completely unaware that shooting exposes one to significantly toxic levels of lead. This is unacceptable to me but unfortunately I'm hooked.
I'm thinking that if I attend my local outdoor range during non peak hours I can avoid exposure from other shooters and, by using Win Clean or American Eagle TMJ, I can reduce my own exposure. My first problem is how do I clean my Gen 4 Glock 17 so that I'm not contaminating my living room every time I practice dry firing (one can carry enough lead from the gun range on skin and clothing to put family members at risk) . Can anyone give me some informed advice on how to do this effectively (respectfully I'm not interested in speculation and "opinion" on this. I'd like to know how to do it properly and scientifically).
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You'd probably bring home more crap from a doctor's office waiting room than you would from a trip to the range...don't spoil this awesome hobby for yourself by turning it into something else to worry about. Enjoy yourself out there, and just make sure you wash up thoroughly once you're done.

If you're still a little insecure, you can always install a Haz-mat shower on your driveway, or better yet, on your neighbors's driveway (this way you won't get any contaminants on your property) and have someone hose you down each time you get home from the range...

Just bustin' ballz, man...:D
 
Briggz said:
... The lead accumulates slowly in the body over time and doesn't go away...
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Not quite.

"The distribution of absorbed lead in the body can be modeled using three compartments: blood, soft tissue, and bone. Under steady-state conditions 99% of the lead in blood is attached to read blood cells. Under chronic exposure conditions, the bone serves as a storage organ and can release lead back into the blood and soft tissues. Absorbed lead is eliminated primarily in the urine and bile. In adults the elimination of lead is first order and triphasic with elimination half-lives of 1 week, 1 month, and 10 to 20 years." Some random forum on the Internet.

This pretty much corresponds to what my colleague told me. He would seem to know what he's talking about: http://faculty.uoit.ca/waller/bio.htm
 
Lead at the range? Seriously, don't make sandwiches and eating them on the firing line - at least not on a busy day and you should be fine.

Honestly, I'd say that spending anytime in traffic, is more of a concern. You know that there is lead in the paint that they use on the city streets right? Not to mention all that brake dust (asbestos) that is being kicked up from all the cars.

Clean pure living no longer exists... unless you go off the grid and move to the middle of nowhere (and that would present a whole new set of concerns).

Don't worry too much about it. It is what it is... most of us are going to come down with something at some point, no use worrying about it now. Enjoy!
 
From what I've gathered, lead is only a problem if you're under 15, and eating it, or inhaling enough regularly to cause a problem. One exposure to lead wont hurt you. It's many frequent exposures that cause an issue. If you are really concerned, you can ask your doctor to run a test on you once a year to see if they are noticing an increase. We have to remember: a lot of folks in the olden-times used lead pencils, lead gasoline, lead bb's for bb guns, lead toys... and most of these people are probably still using this forum today.
 
freeflier said:
As a new shooter I was completely unaware that shooting exposes one to significantly toxic levels of lead. This is unacceptable to me but unfortunately I'm hooked.
I'm thinking that if I attend my local outdoor range during non peak hours I can avoid exposure from other shooters and, by using Win Clean or American Eagle TMJ, I can reduce my own exposure. My first problem is how do I clean my Gen 4 Glock 17 so that I'm not contaminating my living room every time I practice dry firing (one can carry enough lead from the gun range on skin and clothing to put family members at risk) . Can anyone give me some informed advice on how to do this effectively (respectfully I'm not interested in speculation and "opinion" on this. I'd like to know how to do it properly and scientifically).
Click to expand...

First don't open and put your lunch on the shooting bench while shooting..
Don't lick the end of your gun, no matter how ###y you think it looks..

Don't believe everything you read, some of us shoot plain lead bullets and upwards of 50,000 rounds a year indoors for 6 or 7 months and are not worried about the "significantly toxic levels of lead".

If you really believe the potential for lead poisoning is that dangerous sell your guns and stop shooting the lead is the least of your worries..
 
Jeezuz, when we were kids we all used to hunt everyday after school with airguns for years, guess where we stored our pellets, yup, in our mouth. Then at age 18 I started plumbing with none other than 50/50 lead solder, been doing that for 32 years now, mix that in with making fishing sinkers and decoy weights and hell, I should be dead right? Wrong, we get tested annually for lead levels at work and nothing has ever shown up. I'd say maybe stop reading so much internet "expert" advice.
 
I sense another Mythbusters episode...

Always wear eye protection, bring a box of baby-wipes for your hands after range use.

Problem solved.


I would bust some balls, but it's just too easy with a silly topic like this :D Next time a cop tells me that I have "Lead Foot", I'll tell him I saw it on a forum on the interweb hahaha
 
I've been shooting since I was 7 years old. When I was 7 I was given a single shot pellet gun, like the previous poster, I carried pellets in my mouth regularly. After that it was 22 Lr, all lead bullets, then it was a 38 revolver (you guessed it, 148 and 158 grain lead). I spent five years working for the worlds largest manufacturer of lead acid batteries. I've burned posts, done post conversions, and assembled forklift batteries by soldering the terminals together with pure lead straps. Lead level - normal. I'd be far, far more concerned about carbon tetrachloride in my cleaning solvent than I would be about lead. Incidentally, if you look for lead in your shooting set up, the only place you're likely to find a really unhealthy amount is in your tumbler.
 
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