Frangible Lead-Free Ammunition

Lead is a multi-purpose metal. It forms a major ingredient in various products ranging from toys to bullets. Demand for lead is usually high given its abundance in supply and its low price. However, this advantage does not make the mineral human-friendly. Consistent or excessive humanexposure to lead can prove to be extremely hazardous and in some cases fatal.

People have become aware of the possible repercussions of using lead. They have come to understand that with lead comes toxic qualities which can be devastating to human health and life. Hence, regulators have pulled the plug on easy usage of lead. Different types of rules have been set on availability of lead, and all of this regulatory oversight has come at significant added costs. Lead is not used in structures that come in direct contact with humans such as plumbing, radiation shielding equipment and balance weights. Researchers have thus begun to look for an alternative to lead which possesses the same physical properties, most notably high density, but that is less pricey and is not harmful to human life.

Frangible Lead-Free Bullets

For the first time in over a century, a revolution is taking place in ammunition in the form of frangible lead-free bullets. Standard training ammunition, which is used for training and close combat exercises, initially included lead. But with knowledge of potential harm to the human life and owing to the EPA regulations, lead is no longer a part of such bullets. Instead, a new lead-free product has been introduced, which is known as “green bullets.”Prominent materials included in the production of “green bullets” are polymer, tungsten, copper and tin. They are produced from either an injection molding or a powder metallurgical production process.

These innovative new bullets have been used in the three programs, namely:

- Military training ammunition projectiles (5.56 mm)

- Military training ammunition projectiles ( 9 mm and 40 cal)

- 40 mm door breaching grenade projectiles for law enforcement personnel

These new products introduced by Ecomass are known as lead free frangible bullets. These bullets are made from polymers and metal powders, either copper or tungsten, and are especially made for low calibre rifles or handguns. Lead-free production of bullets greatly improves safety to the shooter and removes the threat of airborne lead at shooting ranges. While producing these bullets,the strictest tolerances are adhered to. These bullets have alsobeen acclaimed by the military and leading U.S. ammunition manufacturers as theyhave met all of their performance requirements. This ammunition is a ballistic match to standard lead rounds for up to 25m for pistols and 100m for rifles.

Ecomass has coined these state-of-the-art bullets as “bullets of the future” because they are low-cost, nontoxic, environmentally benign bullets with equal performance to their lead equivalents. Moreover, these bullets have gone through and passed all the stringent regulations, tolerances and testing as set by the U.S. military and leading ammunition manufacturers.