Tumbling Brass in the Cold

stubblejumper said:
I never posted that I tumble my bullets,I tumble my brass.I merely posted that since I don't use bullets with exposed lead,my brass can't get contaminated with lead dust.As such.tumbling my brass in the house poses no risk of lead dust getting into my house.
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yes it does, all the lead dust is on the brass. not the bullet. like others have said you get the inhalation when loading and unloading your tumbler.
 
like others have said you get the inhalation when loading and unloading your tumbler.
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But not when the sealed tumbler is running,whether it is running in the house,or in the garage.It doesn't matter where it runs,only where you load and unload it.
 
I guess that depends on what type of bullets you use,I don't use any bullets that have exposed lead tips or cores,so there is no lead contamination on my brass.
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Being ignorant of the facts CAN actually hurt you.

Primers contain LEAD stypnate. Primer residue will coat the inside of every single case. Over thousands of rounds you end up with an amount of lead dust that is not good for you. As an adult you can tolerate a certain amount of lead in your system but lead is quite dangerous to children.
 
I wonder how many people have died from tumbling their brass in the basement?
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You want to take your chances with lead contamination ..... be my guest. Doesn't sound like much fun to me.

From Wikipedia:

Lead poisoning can cause a variety of symptoms and signs which vary depending on the individual and the duration of lead exposure.[10][11] Symptoms are nonspecific and may be subtle, and someone with elevated lead levels may have no symptoms.[12] Symptoms usually develop over weeks to months as lead builds up in the body during a chronic exposure, but acute symptoms from brief, intense exposures also occur.[13] Symptoms from exposure to organic lead, which is probably more toxic than inorganic lead due to its lipid solubility, occur rapidly.[14] Poisoning by organic lead compounds has symptoms predominantly in the central nervous system, such as insomnia, delirium, cognitive deficits, tremor, hallucinations, and convulsions.[9]

Symptoms may be different in adults and children; the main symptoms in adults are headache, abdominal pain, memory loss, kidney failure, male reproductive problems, and weakness, pain, or tingling in the extremities.[15] The classic signs and symptoms in children are loss of appetite, abdominal pain, vomiting, weight loss, constipation, anemia, kidney failure, irritability, lethargy, learning disabilities, and behavior problems.[15] Children may also experience hearing loss, delayed growth, drowsiness, clumsiness, or loss of new abilities, especially speech skills.[12] Symptoms may appear in children at lower blood lead levels than in adults.[16]

Early symptoms of lead poisoning in adults are commonly nonspecific and include depression, loss of appetite, intermittent abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, and muscle pain.[17] Other early signs in adults include malaise, fatigue, decreased libido, and problems with sleep.[10] An unusual taste in the mouth and personality changes are also early signs.[18] In adults, symptoms can occur at levels above 40 μg/dL, but are more likely to occur only above 50–60 μg/dL.[10] Symptoms begin to appear in children generally at around 60 μg/dL.[19] However, the lead levels at which symptoms appear vary widely depending on unknown characteristics of each individual.[20] At blood lead levels between 25 and 60 μg/dL, neuropsychiatric effects such as delayed reaction times, irritability, and difficulty concentrating, as well as slowed motor nerve conduction and headache can occur.[21] Anemia may appear at blood lead levels higher than 50 μg/dL.[17] In adults, Abdominal colic, involving paroxysms of pain, may appear at blood lead levels greater than 80 μg/dL.[11] Signs that occur in adults at blood lead levels exceeding 100 μg/dL include wrist drop and foot drop, and signs of encephalopathy (a condition characterized by brain swelling), such as those that accompany increased pressure within the skull, delirium, coma, seizures, and headache.[22] In children, signs of encephalopathy such as bizarre behavior, discoordination, and apathy occur at lead levels exceeding 70 μg/dL.[22] For both adults and children, it is rare to be asymptomatic if blood lead levels exceed 100 μg/dL.[11]
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I'm having new windows put in and the wood trim around the windows was tested for lead. I asked the installation service tech to do me a favor and test around my loading bench for lead because years ago I casted bullets.

The test regestered "0" zero lead on reloading bench and floor. Have your reloading area tested if you have young children, the biggest effect of lead is mental development in children. The reverse is true of old farts like me, we need more lead in our pencil. ;)

NOTE: In Roman times the wealthy ate off lead plates, ate with lead forks and knives and drank from lead pitchers. If like Nero you start fiddling while Canada burns your over exposed to lead.
 
Suputin said:
Being ignorant of the facts CAN actually hurt you.

Primers contain LEAD stypnate. Primer residue will coat the inside of every single case. Over thousands of rounds you end up with an amount of lead dust that is not good for you. As an adult you can tolerate a certain amount of lead in your system but lead is quite dangerous to children.
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Bingo. I used to do all my reloading in the house, including tumbling brass. I really didn't give a rat's a$$ about the lead whatchamacallit. When I got married and the wife got pregnant, my reloading stuff went out in the shed, I would not expose a pregnant woman or small children to lead dust, they are very vulnerable to exposure. I would keep the tumbler and it's dust outside if you have kids. Loading up rounds in the house is probably not a big deal.(I'd still do that part indoors myself if we had the space)
 
I guess I shall live to be 200 years old
With just over 40 years of reloading not caring about lead contamination.


Funny, just for sh*ts and giggles I got myself tested for lead in 2009.
Guess what, I am in the lower quarter of the acceptable range of lead content for humans.
I am thinking some people make mountains out of mole hills.
 
a couple of points:
1) Once again the "lead poisoning" serpent rears its ugly head. I know that there is lead in the primers and I read an article at least 10 years ago telling me how contaminated my loading bench was since I took NO PRECAUTIONS whatsoever when loading. Even when my children were helping me. Me wife saw the article and demanded that I get my reloading stuff out of the house. I made a deal with her, if I tested the bench and it was contaminated beyond safe limits, then I would ditch it, if not, then I would keep it in the house. Went to work, stopped in at Hazmat, borrowed a lead contamination test kit. Went home that night and tested everything just the way it told me to. Gridded off my loading bench with masking tape into 6" squares. Swiped every square. Put each one in its own bag and took them back into work the next day for reading. I got the results 3 days later. The lead content was barely registerable, and where it was most concentrated was next to the old cast iron sewer pipes that had been sealed with lead.
I also got a heavy metals test about 5 years ago. Guess what? No lead contamination, but I was positive for a high concentration build-up of Strontium-90.
2) If you wanna ping about stuff go ahead, but don't make assumptions based on "facts" outside of your experience.
3) I was one of those kids that drank from lead pitchers, licked and chewed on lead painted furniture when I was teething, there was lead everywhere! I believe that I came out on this end still fairly intelligent. Without the significant mental retardation I am supposed to have.
4) That being said, I did change my habits a little after that article. I now reload with rubber gloves on (as does my son), but we still don't wear masks. And at 19, he still gets decent marks in school.
 
3) I was one of those kids that drank from lead pitchers, licked and chewed on lead painted furniture when I was teething, there was lead everywhere! I believe that I came out on this end still fairly intelligent. Without the significant mental retardation I am supposed to have.
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No offence, but someone is gonna have a hay day with this one.......:p ;):)
 
Suputin said:
Being ignorant of the facts CAN actually hurt you.

Primers contain LEAD stypnate. Primer residue will coat the inside of every single case. Over thousands of rounds you end up with an amount of lead dust that is not good for you. As an adult you can tolerate a certain amount of lead in your system but lead is quite dangerous to children.
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exactly what i was getting at, i just couldn't find the right wording.
 
nate18 said:
exactly what i was getting at, i just couldn't find the right wording.
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This posting was about me tumbling my brass in the cold, not the usual fighting that goes on about lead. Please stick to the topic as nobody cares about your life-long lead exposure experiences.
 
When we were kids we'd sometimes put a few pellets in our cheeks if the hunting was going fairly quickly and we didn't want to keep cracking open a tin for one pellet at a time.
 
I better stop chewing a tin of Copenhagen a day..it contains lead in it..does lead poisoning make people pissed off at other people, specially dumb ones?
On topic, I haven't tried my thumler tumbler outside in really cold weather,but pretty sure the water would freeze..in your case I see no problem..try it worst that can happen is you have to buy another tumbler..they are cheap. They do produce a certain amount of heat..I know my motor gets hot,so I did use it outside, when it was 0 degrees.
 
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When we were kids we'd sometimes put a few pellets in our cheeks if the hunting was going fairly quickly and we didn't want to keep cracking open a tin for one pellet at a time.
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There is a big difference between swallowing a lump of elemental lead and breathing lead dust.

We used to play chicken with Lawn Darts but you can't buy those anymore either.
 
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