Shoot in my backyard - worry about lead ???

[SteveB2175]

Hi,

I have rigged up a small plinking range for me and my wife in one of our fields (we have 9 acres in a farm area w/o neighbors).

This is a safe area and we can shoot into a hill (no danger of hitting someone behind the targets).

We plink with .22's maybe twice a month during the nice weather. I've never counted, but I would guess that we shoot about 50 rounds total when we plink.

Should I be worried about lead poisoning in the ground ? I would hate to be an old man and find out that I couldn't sell the property because of our plinking.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[pgrass101]

As long as you don't grow and eat anything there, or grow something (like hay) and feed it to something you eat (like a cow) and you don't dig it up it will stay in the ground.

If you dig in the ground wear a dust mask

[jamierah]

Don't lick the dirt

No seriously if you don't grow food on it or let kids play in the dirt, I wouldn't worry about it. Especially if you're just shooting a few .22. As far as going to sell it some day "what shooting range" if you don't tell anybody about it nobody will look.

Jamie

[gaowlpoop]

It is my understanding that the EPA has their bloomer in a bunch is trying a back door approach to gun control by claiming that lead is a hazardous material and under "pollution" laws no one should be allowed to shoot and leave the hazardous material lying around. In other words: "We are going to ban ammunition."

If you have ever dug up a bullet that has been in the ground, you know that they become encrusted in a short time. The longer it is in the ground, the more encrusted and inert it becomes.

You have no problem.

[TangoMonkey]

Even if you did grow a garden there, the minuscule amount you might pick up would be nothing to worry about. Then again, why would you have a range in your garden? I think you are fine. I shot 1000's of lead shot over my fields for years. I am ok, arent I?

[OldVet]

From the next landowners:
Man, those are the heaviest tomatoes I've ever picked!

[SteveB2175]

Thanks to all who have replied.

I have no concerns for my own health. I will never plant a garden on the side of the hill :) :)

My worry is that I won't be able to sell the property because of some EPA regulation, but like others have said, who would ever know ?

[retsupt99]

I wish I still had the land to be able to shoot out my back door. I've never worried about the lead when I did have the space.
Happy shooting...

[Supertac45]

It's nothing to worry about.

[packinnova]

I think I have a post in a thread about this floating around here somewhere. If you're really worried about it you can do what I did by accident. I discovered that the big ORANGE CROSSBOW foam blocks along with a sheet of bar floor rubber mat or really even a piece of plywood draped diagonally over the back of said block WILL stop just about any .22lr.

With a little short barreled pistol mine rarely even make it completely through the block and with the rifle it's 50/50, but by the time they come out the block they're so slow that a thick sheet of rubber mat or a thin sheet of plywood stop them dead in their tracks. Doesn't even dent the plywood. Round just pops out the back of the block and dinks off the rubber mat or plywood to the ground.

edit: oh yeah...
The point of this long-winded post was the fact that you can now pick up all of your .22lr lead before it gets buried in the ground forever. I doubt this setup will stop much else, but it works just fine for .22lr. I usually go by and scoop up the undamaged rounds right up off the ground.

[celticredneck]

I (and others) shoot thousands of rounds on my property every year and never worry about the lead. Heck, around here we still find quite a few Minnie balls from the Civil war. They have been in the ground for nearly a hundred and fifty years now and the only lead poisoning I know that they might have caused was when they hit a Confederate or Union combatant.

[automatic slim]

I know few people and absolutely no enviromentalists consider it, but doesn't Lead originally come from the ground? Isn't Lead like Mercury, Arsenic, Sodium and other deadly elements already present in abundance deep in the ground? This stuff is mined and part of the Earth, not imported from outer space. I wouldn't worry about it.

[supv26]

I live in the country and can shoot out my back door. I have my own pistol and rifle range set up so I can shoot on a moments notice. I used to have a pistol range set up so I could shoot from my concrete drive way set up with a back stop. I had a steel back stop set up that would stop a 44 mag and drop it into the dirt. I used that for years but have since moved it due to neighbors moving in and building a house in the general direction of that range. Since then the grass has never grown back and is just a bare spot in the yard. I have "mined" most of the lead out of that spot to cast bullets but there will always be a spot there. I am sure that sometime a million years from now an archaeologist is going to be scratching his head as he digs in that spot!

[Chuck R.]

I wouldn’t worry about it, I also built my own range by digging into a hill. Here’s a few pictures of the guys I shoot matches with at my place this morning. We set up a couple IDPA scenarios and had a BBQ:

Engaging on the move:


Tac reload behind cover:


Knock down hit, swinger in motion:


Shooting the swinger behind 2 “no-shoots”:


From behind low cover:


Man Vs. Man Vs. Bowling Pin Finale:


Agony of defeat, one left standing:


Overall a great time. I also make it a point to be respectful of the neighbors by keeping decent hours and only allow shooting when I’m physically there.

Chuck

[GlockLobster]

Anybody mine/recycle there shooting berms for lead? My local club is just starting and estimates there's 10 to 20 grand worth of recycled lead to be had.