I thought clays were made outa clay...

Beer_drinker

Beer_drinker

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I was popping clay pigeons on private land over the winter, thinking they were biodegradable and would go away after a few months but when I returned last weekend I noticed a big orange mess :( I read that they would dissolve and disapear after a while, is this true?

We tossed a few in the fire and they just melted, burned and smelled like plastic!

So aside from the canadian tire brand of clays which are made in canada... what other options do I have? who sells clays that will dissolve in the rain?
 
They are made of some sort of solidified tar .... I'm told they are "environmentally neutral", and will degrade overtime with exposure to sunlight.
 
exposure to sunlight you say... hmm, I guess they werent exposed under all that snow!


anyone know how long they take to disapear in the summers sun?


thanks
 
The color disappears and the clay disintegrates in a very short time with the ones I use at my place. There are no remains after a year.
 
I always thought they were made out of limestone and pitch. I did a tour of the Lawry factory and I beleive that is what one of the line workers had told me.
 
RobSmith said:
They are made of some sort of solidified tar .... I'm told they are "environmentally neutral", and will degrade overtime with exposure to sunlight.
Click to expand...

"Environmentally neutral" would be un-true. They are smoking high in PAH's.

I've seen analytic data from samples on ranges being decommissioned, it's not just lead that's the problem.
 
Beer_drinker said:
exposure to sunlight you say... hmm, I guess they werent exposed under all that snow!


anyone know how long they take to disapear in the summers sun?


thanks
Click to expand...

Not many things start to break down during winter. Cold temps keep things solid. Give them time with the heat and rain and you should see them start to disappear.
 
It is still possible that they are made of some type of clay, I mean look at ancient pottery made from clay, some of it has been exposed to the elements for thousands of years and it still is intact. It definetely won't desolve quickly
 
"Conventional clay targets which are thrown into the air from hand launchers or machine launchers in skeet shooting, in trap shooting and in practicing for field shooting of birds include non-biodegradable components, for example, pitches, tars and other petroleum products generally used as binders for limestone-containing targets. Such binders are noxious and dangerous but are needed to strengthen the targets sufficiently so they can be stored, shipped and launched without prematurely breaking. Such noxious substances may penetrate the soil and adversely affect wildlife, plant life, underground water supplies and the like."
 
Depending on the manufacturer, a clay target is manufactured with petroleum pitch or coal tar binder with limestone dust as the filler. The coal tar ones are highly carcinogenic and the pitch ones are fairly neutral. The so-called "Bio" targets replace the pitch with sulfur. The Bio targets will break down to their base ingredients within about two years but are highly acidic. This acidity will change the "PH" of your soil and kill most vegetation.

You may want to seriously reconsider dropping target pieces into water!
 
Gee whiz, I have thought for some time the 'lead' problem is kind of funny, unless one inhales it. Most people would be happy to find a deposit of lead to mine, especially if there is a lot of it concentrated into a small space and close to easy transportation;). But now the darned clay pigeons are giving me a choice between cancer, from the bad ones, or defoliation, from the bio ones (good posts, by the way). Hard to put a positive spin on this. It isn't too hard to pick up the clay pigeons at our range because we miss so many:dancingbanana:, but the ones we break are just numerous enough to be a problem. PS. I noticed on 'the other site' that Down Range is bringing out, or trying to bring out, a wad that is degradable...good idea... It's amazing how quickly they accumulate out there.
 
They should make clays outta flash powder! You'd know when you hit it forsure. And at the end of the day the ones on the ground could be sniped with 22's for fun. Bang...Poof!
 
wow i actually thought these were made from a normal old clay, so much for blasting a couple boxes of these out in the wilderness
 
Many of the US ranges use American made Bios. It does kill all vegetation and invertabrates! The Czech Bios are so soft that they will have 7 pellets through them and won't break. I have seen rabbits hit hard, change course and not break! You can stand on one, it won't break!

Griffin & Howe at their Farm, use white bios so that the countryside will not be colour polluted. They are no finding that those targets are killing the vegetation. Besides, they are very difficult to see in wooded areas under bright sunlight.

Regards,
Henry;)
BTW: Lawry Bio targets are certified by Agriculture Canada! They are the only target manufacturer that is CERTIFIED Bio! Canada invents another one!!!
 
I don't believe it has anything to do with toxicity of the material. If you take a walk around the landing area (that's what I call it sometimes because so many of mine land instead of being hit) you will notice that there is literally a later of target "gravel" if you will. At well established trap fields it can be very thick. I think that layer does the same as putting a black tarp down over vegetation. No sunlight, no green plants. If you were to take a loader and scrape that layer away I bet you could re-seed grass and it would grow fine.

So unless you are going to the woods to shoot 50,000 clays being all thrown in the same flight path you aren't hurting anything. Well maybe your bank balance, your sholder and your pride (lost!) a little. Shoot as much as you like with no worries. Unless of course you are some kind of flag hating, green peace lovin', dope smokin', communist hippy! Well...are ya?
 
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