This whole lead contamination in game meat has gotten to be a really hot issue here in my state of MN. It has gotten to the point where I am getting pressure not only from my wife and other non-hunting friends who are eating the venison I take. I am now getting some pressure from other hunters I hunt with about not using lead bullets for deer hunting.

Is this going on anywhere else or is everyone here just freaked out by the lead in venison study that the MN DNR did recently? (I will look it up and post it as well.)

quote:

Is this going on anywhere else or is everyone here just freaked out by the lead in venison study that the MN DNR did recently? (I will look it up and post it as well.)

MN DNR Condensed Summary of Examining Variability Associated with Bullet Fragmentation and Deposition in White-tailed deer and domestic sheep: Preliminary Results
Lou Cornicelli, Big Game Program Coordinator
The intent of the study was to conduct an experiment that would control for bullet caliber and focus on examining the variability of lead fragmentation and deposition associated with distinctly different categories of bullets and firearms used to harvest deer in Minnesota. We selected bullets based on their advertised performance and consumer availability. For this study, 72 previously euthanized domestic sheep were used as a surrogate for white-tailed deer.
The study was conducted in July 2008 at Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area. X-Rays and CT scans were taken at the University of Minnesota Small Animal Hospital and lead analysis was completed by the University of Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.
Each sheep was propped up in a broadside position and shot in the thoracic cavity at 50 meters. A chronograph was used to record the velocity and bullets were recovered using a box filled with sand behind the target.
The guns used for this study included centerfire rifle, muzzleloader and shotgun.
For centerfire rifle, we used a .308 with 150 grain bullets and five different bullet designs:
•
Rapid Expansion (Ballistic Tip, Soft Point)
•
Controlled Expansion (exposed lead core, non-exposed lead core)
•
Non-lead (Copper)

For the muzzleloader, we used a .50 caliber, 100 grains of powder (2-50 grain Hodgdon 777 pellets) and two different bullet designs:
•
245 grain
•
300 grain

For the shotgun, we used a 12-gauge and a 1-ounce Foster-style slug
We also shot three sheep in the pelvic region using a ballistic tip, soft point, and slug to document dispersion of lead in animals shot poorly.
We skinned and gutted each carcass, inserted a carbon fiber tube through the wound channel, then took a radiograph on the exit wound side. We also rinsed carcasses of sheep shot with both types of rapid expansion bullets and took a second radiograph to determine the effect washing had on fragment distribution.

A veterinarian counted the number of fragments and measured the maximum distances the fragments travelled.
The extent of lead contamination in muscle tissue was determined using techniques similar to other studies published in scientific literature. We collected muscle tissue samples at 2, 10 and 18 inches from the exit wounds. We also measured the diameter of the entry/exit holes and the wound channel length.
The study showed that using bullets with no exposed lead (a copper case completely surrounds the lead core) or copper are two ways to significantly reduce (or eliminate) lead exposure. The non-exposed lead core bullets averaged nine copper fragments in the animal with an average maximum distance from the wound channel of seven inches. By design, copper bullets leave no lead and the few fragments that were seen on x-ray were less than an inch from the exit wound. Overall, both of these bullet designs fragmented very little and left no lead.
The ballistic tip bullet (rapid expansion) had the highest fragmentation rate, with an average of 141 fragments per carcass and an average maximum distance of 11 inches from the wound channel. In one carcass, a fragment was found 14 inches from the exit wound.
Soft point bullets (rapid expansion) left an average of 86 fragments at an average maximum distance of 11 inches from the wound channel. In this research, bonded lead-core bullets (controlled expansion, exposed lead core) performed almost identically to the soft-core bullets and left an average of 82 fragments with an average maximum distance of nine inches from the wound.
Shotgun slugs left an average of 28 fragments at an average maximum distance of five inches from the wound channel. Muzzleloader bullets (245-grain and 300-grain respectively) left an average of three and 34 fragments, respectively, at an average maximum distances of one and six inches, respectively.
A key take away message from the study is that given fragments were found so far from the exit wound, routine trimming likely will not remove all of the fragments and DNR cannot make a recommendation as to how far out trimming should occur.
In counting fragments, only about 30 percent were within two inches of the exit wound. The vast majority was dispersed further from the carcass. In some cases, researchers found low levels of lead as far away as 18 inches from the bullet exit hole. The DNR also learned that rinsing a carcass produced mixed results. While rinsing tends to reduce lead around the wound channel it also transports lead away from the wound.
The research also showed that a shot to the hindquarters of a deer – where heavy bones are found – will result in extensive fragmentation. Fragmentation was so pronounced that a hunter would likely not want to utilize this meat as there would be no way to remove all the fragments. The full research report is available at www.dnr.state.gov/lead.

This was a hot topic last year.
I think the bunny huggers will eventually outlaw lead bullets in their attempts to outlaw all guns.

quote:

Originally posted by jb:
I think the bunny huggers will eventually outlaw lead bullets in their attempts to outlaw all guns.

I am really not that worried what the "bunny huggers" think but when my wife and hunting buddies are talking to me about it I feel like I should at least listen.

Yes this is being looked at in other area including military.

California has banned lead bullets but as jb claims at least on the part California's liberal politics this is gun controll in the name of the environment.

As far as the MN DNR study it seems the're spending money to learn what hunters allready know. we've allways trimmed bloodshot meat. Bullet fragments leave a trail of hehmoraged meat. Also I want to take an educated guess where these fragments are going and that would be through the softest tissue being the body cavity. Any fragments left there will be gone after gutting.

This issue is certanly worth a closer look at but since I have eaten game meat my entire life at 50 I should have been dead of lead posining years ago.

MN Hunter
By the way I'll bet you reconise the bear on my avatar.

quote:

Originally posted by Akshooter:
MN Hunter
By the way I'll bet you reconise the bear on my avatar.

Yes I think I have seen that bear a couple of times. In fact I saw her two weeks ago.

One last thing. I think this is my first time over hear on this page at AR.

Has anyone commented yet about the revolver on the top of the page and that the barrel is out of index.

I've had this problem with a couple S&W'a and Rugers as well.

MN hunter, we discussed this earlier this year. What in the hell is happening in MN? We have granolaville out west, Schumer and his merry band of socialist up east and now MN in the middle? Have your fellow square heads lost their minds? Ya'll have now elected an idiotic joke to the Senate and are believing a lead study that has been debunked w/ facts. I think you can/will find info that clearly shows the MN study was flawed to say the least! Make sure you get the follow-up info to the MN report.
If you need additional good info to combat this lunacy, find the "lead study" report that South Dakota conducted.

there are three kinds of lies:
1. white lies
2. damned lies
and
3. statistics.

Anyone with an agenda and a box full of data can prove almost anything. Look at the studies in early WWII that proved the atomic bomb was impossible, and the one that showed that bumble bees were too un-aerodynamic to fly.

In your case, consider the fact that prior to 1880 or so all game killed was killed with lead projectiles... That is the answer to give your wife and your buddies.

Rich
DRSS

quote:

Originally posted by Akshooter:
Yes this is being looked at in other area including military.

California has banned lead bullets but as jb claims at least on the part California's liberal politics this is gun controll in the name of the environment.

As far as the MN DNR study it seems the're spending money to learn what hunters allready know. we've allways trimmed bloodshot meat. Bullet fragments leave a trail of hehmoraged meat. Also I want to take an educated guess where these fragments are going and that would be through the softest tissue being the body cavity. Any fragments left there will be gone after gutting.

This issue is certanly worth a closer look at but since I have eaten game meat my entire life at 50 I should have been dead of lead posining years ago.

CA has only banned lead bullets in a certain area, ie., the CA Condor range. But you can bet your ass that dimwits in Sacramento will go after the rest of the state in due time. Right now, the Yurok Tribe in NorCal is hoping to reintroduce the condor to the northern part of the state. There goes the neighborhood.

I thought the test method in that report was disputed by several experts and it was retracted.