Effect of prolonged target practice on backyard lawn?

Will it eventually get to the point where the grass around my targets won't ever grow again? Can I expect to find mangled bits of lead scattered all over my backyard that my kids will eventually cut their bare feet on and my dog will eventually ingest?

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Yes you are literally poisoning your yard. The lead will probably not cut your kids feet but do you want that in their environment? Will your dogs eat it? Probably not. Birds will as they store gravel in their crops to help them grind up grains. Get (or build) a dang bullet stop.

Not to mention the potential ricochet when you mow the grass. Watched Final Destination? YO!

Sounds like you have a pretty big "yard".

I am lucky enough to have enough land to shoot about anything I want short of a 20mm. The powder stuff is in one area with a real backstop, the pellets sounds like I do about what you do, but I do shoot into a tree line. I figure by the time the pellets get to a locust tree they are about out of energy and likely just knock a nice thorn off that will poke holes in my tractor tires.

You are putting lead into the ground no doubt about that, I doubt your dog,kids will be harmed by it, I highly doubt a soft pellet will be sent flying by a mower blade....gravel yes, I have been on the receiving end of that....but a lead pellet, doubt it would make it out past the plastic guard...you do still have that on the mower don't you....and anywhere to do any damage....small and soft pellets are.

I doubt it will kill the grass....you might tear up the grass, and keep it from growing but I doubt the grass will stop growing....sure has not stopped stuff from growing on the back of the powder stop.

I'd be concerned about the effects of the lead leaching into the ground and making its way into the groundwater.

Runoff is also possible getting the lead into the local sewer system

In this area that would mean the lead makes it to the Potomoc River & Chesapeake Bay

If your water supply is via well water the concern is much more immediate

Lead is highly poisonous, as you may know



Why not purchase some pellet traps.

This way only the broad misses & misfires make it to the ground

They are also easy to make, especially if silence is not a concern.



Hope this does not sound like an environmental riot act read by

I must admit I've hugged a tree or two in my life.

But only when very lonely.

Ed

I like that you brought this issue up because that’s exactly what you just mentioned is... an “ Issue”. But lucky for us human folk we kinda got real good at solving those pesky “ Issues “ thingy-ma-bobs! This is also a concern for me as I have two small children of my own to worry about and I often wonder the same about what’s happening with all that lead we leave behind. In the last few years I have taken more precautions to collect my lead when feasible, ie.... any stationary target practice. We should all be doing our part as members of this community to show those who will eventually oppose our airguns that we are some of the most respectful and courteous sportsman they have ever seen. I already know that about us but we gotta show those who don’t.

Think of all the lead burried in the soil of continental europe left behind from just WWI and WWII. If lead rounds left in soil were an issue it would be glaringly evident in Europe, and the Pacific Islands. 

I'm not saying you shouldn't be responsible with your shooting and lead collection. I am saying it's not as severe a problem as you might think. 

Here’s you a Super Easy Rubber Mulch pellet trap. About $15 to build. 4 minute video on my old channel. (I really need to migrate this to my new one. 
https://youtu.be/yhnAALUM8yk

Now that I think about it, getting one of these bullet traps was one of the best investments I have made. This, a ream of heavy card stock, and either stickers or markers and I'm a happy camper!

Now that I think about it, getting one of these bullet traps was one of the best investments I have made. This, a ream of heavy card stock, and either stickers or markers and I'm a happy camper!

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I use the same trap and empty the lead into a bucket for a friend who melts it down.

Think of all the lead burried in the soil of continental europe left behind from just WWI and WWII. If lead rounds left in soil were an issue it would be glaringly evident in Europe, and the Pacific Islands. 

I'm not saying you shouldn't be responsible with your shooting and lead collection. I am saying it's not as severe a problem as you might think.

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You are probably correct John.

Actual lead poisoning requires a hefty dose of the stuff

However the effects of exposure to lead over may years is known to have an effect on the human brain

Lead is considered to have been a factor in the ultimate downfall of Rome

The aqueducts that carried water throughout the environs of Rome and other parts of the empire were made of lead.

And it's believed to have had a dramatic effect, over time,on the brains of the community.

As such, today, lead pipe is not permitted for water carrying tasks (such as the water entry into homes, schools, & businesses); and over the later portion of the 20th century concerted efforts were made by municipalities to refit installations that used lead.

Maybe all that lead in the soil in Europe, leaching its way into the water supply, is contributing factor to the current political dementia.

In the Philippines too,

Ed

That dementia seems to be a world wide phenomenon. If lead poisoning is that severe in our politicians then we've all got it.

I agree we all need to be responsible and not leave it around if possible and away from small children. I try and wash up after a match so I don't have residue on my hands before I eat. Although I have had a sizable chunk of lead in my bicep from a 1 oz 12 ga slug for the last 10 years, doctor wasn't to concerned about leaving it in and I'm fine, but.......wait where was I going with this. Crap forgot again....... uhhh, oh well

As for leaching into water via your well, I would not be so concerned about that if it is a modern constructed well. If it is a shallow well thats a different story. I've drilled a lot of holes in mother earth for water supplies, your strata or gravel or sand layer you are drawing your water from is below many layers and feet of clay. If constructed correctly there is up to 100 feet or more of neat cement on the outside of your casing you draw water from. This seals off contamination from leaching between stratas of clay and you end up with high quality H2o. YMMV

Dave

Guys,,, You do realize led comes out of the ground it is not a man made chemical. I have been inside underground led mines, it was not thousand of feet deep, maybe 20-30 feet deep.On the back side of a friends property was a location where Led was mined right on the surface of the ground in the late 17-1800, and probably a few hundred years before that by the local Indian's.

What little we as airgun shooters scatter about is not going into a water system. Led does not dissolve as many other elements. Is it totally safe no. Just don't eat it or get in its way at over 4-500fps. Gun ranges that have bin in the same location for over fifty years using the same earthen backstops have no leaching problems into water systems or aquifer's.

I use a pellet trap, to collect my led so I can cast it for big bore airguns and PB firearms. I also do not like the litter of splattered pellets in my yard, but I also do not like the litter of wood splinters from using wooden backstops. I see many people using treated lumber to build backstops and target holders. Yet no one seems to be worried about the hazards from the chemicals in pressure treated lumber. Hell bugs won't even eat that stuff, so how safe can that be! 

Hairsmith and his thoughts on led !

Believe what you want and come up with your own fears. Now Bigfoot scare me to death.... Him and the Government ! But Mostly the Government.

I ran into something interesting in an old chest that was in storage, a time capsel of sorts my mother put away in the '50s, my "glass" baby bottle, my hospital "I'd" bracelets, diper pin, a lock of hair from my first haircut in '56, and my shot records, I just turned 65 April first, so this stuff and me are 65years old. Notice on the end of the "long" string the "lead" split shot seal....also note the yellow plate the things are sitting on, original Fiesta ware china my mother got in 1939 and use all her life, (me too) it is made with lead, my play blocks were painted with lead paint, our house I grew up in was painted with lead paint, I would run my fingers over it to see the mark it made, I handled lead sinkers and "crimped" them on the line with my teeth, I've handled pellets and bullets all my life and I wasn't the most dilligent about washing my hands after use, and I could go on, but here I am....I can still shoot Streight (most times) and run a hand pump with anyone! Not sayin' not to be responseable or not to wash your hands but there is a WHOLE lot more I worry about then lead poisoning. BTW do you think it would be possiable to transplant that hair back on me???

I belong to a rather large gun club and somewhere along the way it was decided to check for our selves to see how much lead contamination there was on the property and of major concern was a creek that started on the club property and was actually the head waters of large water shed area that turned into a small river not far down stream. So the club hired a independent company to come out and take samples all around the property and especially the water as it was leaving the property. It turned out that the lead count was below average for the club property compared to the surrounding area and there was zero lead being washed in the water system. We felt very fortunate with those results. 

So I think that if a person just use's common sense make a pellet trap or buy one and use it you'll be OK. And the lead can be recycled. 

I belong to a rather large gun club and somewhere along the way it was decided to check for our selves to see how much lead contamination there was on the property and of major concern was a creek that started on the club property and was actually the head waters of large water shed area that turned into a small river not far down stream. So the club hired a independent company to come out and take samples all around the property and especially the water as it was leaving the property. It turned out that the lead count was below average for the club property compared to the surrounding area and there was zero lead being washed in the water system. We felt very fortunate with those results. 

So I think that if a person just use's common sense make a pellet trap or buy one and use it you'll be OK. And the lead can be recycled.

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That's very good & encouraging news

I didn't read all of the replies, but I can tell you what I did and it works for me. I went to HD and purchased 5/8" outdoor grade lumber and made my own box or trap and bolted it onto a tree assembled.I cut up scrap carpet and stuffed the box with about around 8 layers cut to fit the inside side to side, top to bottom. Then I cut up a cardboard box for the facing and used a staple gun. Once a week I will go to the box, remove the carpet strips and clean out all of the pellets. I replace the cardboard facing after about 20 targets. My total cost was around $8.