Click here to download the catalog as a PDF file. To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. Bob Irwin Becoming A Green Range lead vapor ejected from the gun upon firing. Generally, the vapor problem is overcome with airflow from behind the firing points pushing the contaminated air away from the shooting line and toward the exhaust fans above bullet traps. These systems are effective when properThe problem is lead. Lead, ly designed, but then the air as we all know, is a heavy needs to be clean before it is metal poison. Lead primarily pumped outside. So HEPA enters the human body by befilters are added in the airing eaten or by inhalation of flow system to trap the lead the vapor. vapor. This, in turn, requires Indoor shooting ranges sending those used filters to are loaded with lead. Like a toxic waste dump, too. most indoor range operators, Employee exposure to the range I operate, The Gun lead vapor presents the bigStore in Las Vegas, Nev., was gest problem of all. Your equipped with slanted steel customers are rarely in the traps, which deflect bullets environment long enough to into a deceleration chamber. build up dangerous lead levThe bullets and related fragels in their bodies, but your ments then spin around until range employees certainly they decelerate to a stop and are. They are exposed during fall into a bucket at the botcleaning and maintenance tom of the trap. Most ranges The Gun Store, 12,000 square feet of retail and indoor range space, offers a and while assisting shooters feature some variation of this wide range of firearms for use on the facility’s lead-free range. on the range. design. The collected lead is The government, through then sold to a scrap metal dealer and that’s tered and the remaining lead sludge then various federal and state OSHA programs, the end of the problem. shipped to a toxic waste dump. An easier sets lead exposure limits and remedies. At a I’m sure all range operators wish that and cleaner alterative is vacuuming all the minimum, this requires blood tests for your last sentence was really true. The reality surfaces with a HEPA-filtered vacuum and employees to determine current lead levels, is that lead bullets tend to smash into frag- then shipping the residue bags and full fil- and if levels are too high, then your range ments. Their reaction to hitting steel is ters to the toxic waste dump. airflow must be monitored and employee more like water balloons than tennis balls. Most of the residual lead in a range is exposure hours limited. The EPA investiThe lead dust created is then deposited on spatter from the bullets hitting the steel gates complaints and sets standards for air walls, brass, floors, shooting booths and traps, but some of it is the more sinister exhausted into the outside environment. ob Irwin operates The Gun Store in Las Vegas, Nev., and has 25 years of experience in building and operating indoor shooting ranges. Here, he shares how he successfully overcame a major challenge for range operators. B employees’ clothing. It is tracked literally everywhere near the range. The lead film that settles on all the range surfaces can be washed off or mopped up. What do we do with the cleaning water? It certainly cannot be dumped down the drain. The contaminated water must be fil- Another Approach: Go Lead-Free ortunately, with modern lead-control techniques, up-todate range designs and proper maintenance protocols, lead can certainly be successfully controlled. However, when running a modern indoor range, lead control can be time-consuming and expensive. Perhaps a better solution is not to control it, but to not permit lead on the range in the first place. A few years ago, several companies began making solid-copper bullets, while others started producing frangible bullets made of compressed copper powder or powdered iron. Lead-free primers began to appear, as well. PMC Ammunition manufactured “green” ammunition in a few calibers. It was composed of a lead-free, frangible bullet coupled 18 APRIL 2008 F with a nontoxic primer. Frangible bullets are designed to turn to dust when they hit a hard surface. These bullets, except in very unusual circumstances, simply will not ricochet. Our range, more or less, became PMC’s test range. While the ammunition had some developmental problems, the basic theory was sound. As we integrated the ammo into our range mix, employee blood lead levels began to drop, lead was mined out of our traps less often and the lead spatter in front of the traps began to disappear. Over the next few years, with the increasing availability of lead-free, frangible ammunition for commercial use from multiple sources, our range has become nearly 100-percent lead-free. One lane is still used for occasional shooting with ammo containing some lead. This lane is to qualify concealed weapon permit www.shootingindustry.com