Don't know if anyone else has ever worn unpowdered latex surgical gloves while handloading but I started using them recently and I really like them. Keeps the case lube from getting on my fingers and also seems to give me a better grip when de-burring necks and primer pockets. I use a new set when handling primers so not to get oil on them. It seems to give some support to my hands and lessens cramping and of course much easier cleanup.
Works for me,
BJB

I suppose the gloves would help, but for me it would be like taking a shower with socks on! Having worked with my hands all my life I hate gloves. They just don't feel right and hinder my movement. But if it works for you go with it and who knows I might just sneak a try at it.

BJB,

This is a good idea just because of the potential for lead residue. ( even from jacketed bullets ) .
I could never get used to the way they feel. ( guys know whay I'm saying here. )
A barrier cream ( from your local auto paint supplies store ) will let you wash off the residue easily after use, and keeps the lead and stuff out from under your fingernails really well.
Arretil and Glove Coat are two of the brands I have used with good results.
I still use a bristle brush and scrub well.

Just .o2 on the lead thing.
If you do alot of loading / shooting you can potentially be exposed to some lead.

Less is better than more.

My last lead test came back with a score of 26 , this is way too high , but not high enough to show any symptoms, or cause any permanent damage. OSHA gives 40 as their upper limit.

The assumed culprit in my case is breathing air from an indoor range which may not have adequate ventilation.

The ideal lead reading is ZERO, there is no amount which is good.


Travis F.

quote:

Originally posted by Blob1:
I suppose the gloves would help, but for me it would be like taking a shower with socks on! Having worked with my hands all my life I hate gloves. They just don't feel right and hinder my movement. But if it works for you go with it and who knows I might just sneak a try at it.

He's not talking about cowhide roping gloves, you know.

I think surgeons wear thekind he's talking about, and do some pretty delicate work with their hands.

If I'm doing reloading for ammo I'm going to store for any extended time I wear latex gloves. It seems to keep the brass from getting finger prints and discoloring.

hth

While watching Modern Mavels on TV last night, I noticed that the AMU folks doing the reloading, all wore gloves.
It was nice to see our tax dollars at work. They load ammo all day for competition and snipers.

They weigh every bullet, case, and powder charge.

They turn, and ream every neck, plus mike every case.

Wonder what becomes of all that once fired brass after the practice and matches they shoot?

I wear nitrile (sp) gloves most of the time after the brass is polished, in that my skin oil makes brass oxidize rather quickly... partly due to the high jalapeno content of my diet... partly due to my acidic wit!!

the nitrile gloves last about 5times longer than latex, and seem to be much thinner

jeffe

I also use Nitrile gloves, but do have a box or two of latex as a back up.

I grew up using them on the farm though, so it doesn't bother me that much.

I've used them on ocassion while loading lead bullets. For the past year, though, I've used "D-Lead" liquid soap to clean up after a loading session.

If I were worried about fingerprints on the brass I would wear latex gloves while shooting.

I only wear surgical gloves while I'm performing surgery...they make my hands sweat...reloading would be a nightmare if I wore them then..besides, I only reload a few thousand rounds a year!

I have used kitchen gloves, latex gloves and nitrile gloves for loading for years especially for handling primers as I prime at the top of my press. I also use them for loading cast bullets and cleaning brass, they are cheap, work and I just change them about every hour to deal with sweat, works for me.

I've just started doing this and I like the idea. My wife gave me the idea when she was helping me fish empty cases out of my Dillon tumbler. It really helps me during the bullet seating operation, as well as priming. I hate handeling cases and components with perspriation on my hands. I have also found them to be helpful when cleaning my guns. Nothing will rust a gun quicker than sweat. billt

I wear gloves occassionally, but I prefer vinyl to latex. I haven't used the nitrile gloves. Where do you get them?

quote:

Originally posted by billt:
Nothing will rust a gun quicker than sweat.

Try blood.

RSY

Autozone and harbour freight are where i get mine

jeffe

Billt,,,I have a collander,,with round holes,,it fits perfectly into a 5 gallon pail with the handles suspending it on the mouth of the bucket,,dump tumbler contents into collander,,give a few shakes,and you're done! Clay

What I did was to drill a 1/4" hole in the center of my brass separator (I have one of them "pannin' fer gold" types). I just screw it onto the bowl of my tumbler and turn over, shake out and smile. Works great!

I don't use hand protection when I reload lead slugs for my handguns. I have a bad heart and my days are numbered, so what the hell.

The thing is with bottlenecked cases, especially small ones like the .22-250, you still have to shake the media out of each individual case to get it all out. billt

quote:

Originally posted by BJB:
Don't know if anyone else has ever worn unpowdered latex surgical gloves while handloading but I started using them recently and I really like them. Keeps the case lube from getting on my fingers and also seems to give me a better grip when de-burring necks and primer pockets. I use a new set when handling primers so not to get oil on them. It seems to give some support to my hands and lessens cramping and of course much easier cleanup.
Works for me,
BJB

It sounds like a good idea as long as you don't wear the gloves too long. Rubber or latex, vinyls, Nitrile, etc. gloves concentrate your sweat around your hands, and in time bacteria grows around the cuticles. Once that happens you will notice very small but painful cracks by the corners of your fingernails. If this happens, wash your hands regularly with an antibacterial soap, and if that is not enough to take care of the problem, work Neosporin into the cracks after washing your hands thoroughly. You will have to do that for approximately a week of vary painful moments.

quote:

Originally posted by rootbeer:
.... I have a bad heart and my days are numbered, so what the hell.

Hey Rootbeer, Darn shame about that. Maybe you can get on one of those "Swap-Out" programs and get a slightly used model. A close buddy of mine in Raleigh just got one and he is doing extremely well.

Of course, then you would have to worry about all the bullets you touched!!!
---

Interesting idea about the gloves. I've never worn them in five decades of reloading. But, I do see some advantages to wearing them.

Sorry to hear that RB, keep on keepin' on anyway!

Wear high quality cotton gloves quite a bit for loading, latex for rolling paper patch. You'd be pleased to know I haven't turned my tumbler on it over 10 years.

quote:

Originally posted by TBF:
BJB,

My last lead test came back with a score of 26 , this is way too high , but not high enough to show any symptoms, or cause any permanent damage. OSHA gives 40 as their upper limit.

The assumed culprit in my case is breathing air from an indoor range which may not have adequate ventilation.

Travis F.

Travis,

If indeed you are at 26 micrograms/deciliter you need to shoot somewhere else! I have only known one person that high and he was a leadburner. (lead welder) After six months of 12 hour a day, six days a week he would get to the 20 range and the company would stop the leadburning for six months and he would be back to 5 - 10..........

I spent a "campaign" of lead exposure three years back testing point configuration, hollow point shape........I was filing and drilling lead everyday. I shot every day, (no exaggeration) casting bullets as well, mixing in shotgun shooting when I had time.......... This went on for a six or eight month period....

I started wondering about lead...... It was on me everyday... It finally worked on me enough to go for a blood test. My reading came back less than 5........ Lowest on the chart.

Travis, I would change where I was shooting as a polite opinion.....


Best, BigRx

I find gloves to be a nusiance when reloading and thus don't wear them except for loading cases with bullets that I've moly coated myself. That moly rubs off easily and quickly makes your fingers very dirty, so I do wear gloves while loading those bullets.

They go pretty good with lace panties I suspect!!

Ray,
ughh..

you trying to put me off my feed? the mental image of you with blue gloves and lace panties on...

LMFAO

jeffe

I have been trying to get used to gloves while using cleaning solvents and even that feels difficult,

quote:

I started wondering about lead...... It was on me everyday... It finally worked on me enough to go for a blood test. My reading came back less than 5........ Lowest on the chart.

My brother-in-law was telling me that lead had to be in a certain "form"? to be "taken in" by humans. He's a Dr of something but not health or metals.
I read a news article couple of days ago that reckoned we were getting poisoned by breathing in some metal in our shower water. . . Magnesium or something. Guess we're all doomed.

JOhn L.

I reached my Pb quota eating paint as a child. On a more serious note tho, I cast bullets and shoot smallbore at an indoor range for months at a time, so I chose to have blood work done. The medicos told me that my Pb levels were negligable.
What prompted this response tho was reading about rootbeer's case tumbler. Who knows how much Pb has been soaked up by the cleaning media from primers, let alone any other source. Every time a batch of clean cases is sifted from the tumbler, all that media has yet again been exposed to the air in the confines one is using. I'll bet most of us don't have adequate ventilation unless we're working out in the garage.
Just a nagging thought...

Well each to his own on the gloves and I wasn't talking about cowhide roping gloves either. But if it works for you -go for it! As far as guys knowing how it feels to fondle a bullet-well don't know about all that!

After working as a printer using lead type for 15 years, I don't think reloading would even come close to that.

Not only did I handle it, I remelted it.

Bill Mc you would have to have drank about a quart a lead paint a day for it to equal the Feds guidelines on lead posioning. But it is a good point for them to work on--to eliminate all bullets because of the 12376759887645587654433277236262626626262532289899 to 1 chance of lead comtamination of reloadoing. Hummmmmm guess Ted Kennedy hasn't thought of it yet!

Way to hot and sweaty for me. I put those things on and I get that hot clammy, slimy feeling.....can't get 'em off fast enough.
You wanna see something funny as hell...watch somebody that doesn't know they are allergic to latex put a pair on. Makes 'em swellup like a little hippo..........