The Firearm Blog

In the past tungsten has been considered non-toxic and more environmentally friendly than lead at shooting ranges. Recent research has shown that Tungsten is in fact toxic and potentially carcinogenic. Danger Room reports:

There have been growing concerns about tungsten for some years. An October 2008 Issues Paper from the state and federal waste managers’ group says that the “original position of the scientific community with regard to fate and transport, analytical testing and toxicology” of tungsten has “drastically changed.”

The report further warns: “Over the past years, soil and groundwater samples collected at certain small arms ranges have demonstrated that tungsten is very mobile and soluble once it is released into the environment. In addition, limited yet important health studies have also revealed that tungsten may pose risks to humans and ecological receptors.”

The Army has now stopped production of “green” tungsten ammunition:

The Army is concerned enough about possible risks that it has stopped making the tungsten ammo. “The U.S. Army developed a lead-free 5.56mm round during the mid 1990s with a tungsten-nylon alternate slug materiel. Environmental studies later determined that the tungsten-nylon combo had a possible environmental impact. The Army stopped production of its tungsten-nylon 5.56mm [rounds],” Tonya Townsell, a spokesperson for the Army’s Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, tells Danger Room. “The residual inventory of 5.56mm Tungsten-Nylon rounds is still available for use in training at lead-restricted sites as it is deemed safer than lead.”

While the majority of lead-free civilian tactical and hunting bullets are either solid copper or copper jacketed with a tin core, some bullets do use tungsten. Two examples are Barnes MRX Bullets and Extreme Shock Ammunition.

The core of Barnes’s premium long range hunting MRX bullet is made from a tungsten based compound called Silvex. One the Barnes website the compound is said to be “non-toxic”:

Screenshot from Barnes.com

The core of Extreme Shock frangible ammunition is made from a tungsten powder/flake compound called Ny-Trilium. It is also said to be non-toxic:

Screenshot from Extremeshockammo.net

I imagine some people are not going to be happy after paying a premium for ammunition that promised to be non-toxic, only to find it isn’t. Is this lawsuit material? I don’t know, but I do wonder how long it will take manufactures of tungsten bullets to remove the “non-toxic” text from their websites.

Remington have released two types of lead free ammo. The first is the Disintegrator Varmint in .223 Rem and .22-250 Rem., both with 45 grain bullets. Disintegrating ammo is normally lead free so that in itself is no special. It is a pity they have confined their offering to two calibers (and not 6mm for me )

Now you see him. Now you don’t. Introducing new Disintegrator® Varmint. Loaded with new lead-free frangible bullets that meet the requirements of non-toxic hunting areas, this ammunition delivers radical, explosive expansion that shatters the capabilities of conventional lead core/copper jacketed bullets. Because they break into tiny fragments at impact, Disintegrator Varmint bullets will not ricochet, offering added peace of mind wherever you shoot. Extremely tight manufacturing tolerances combined with our industry-leading components produce tiny groups on paper as well.

The second lead free ammo is the Remington Premier Copper Solid. Because copper is lighter than lead the bullet has to be longer to hold the same weight, this results in a very high ballistic co-efficient, which in turns produces good long ranger performance. The downside is that copper is much harder than lead so the bullet will give the barrel a very hard time. It will be available in 30-06, .270 Win, .243 Win, 300 Win Mag, 7mm Rem Mag and 308 Win.

For 2009, Big Green is proud to launch a truly superior bullet design onto the lead-free scene. While our new Copper Solid™ complies with non-toxic regulations, it dispatches big game with lightning authority in any neck of the woods. It delivers extremely deep penetration with nearly 100% weight retention and has a sleek ogive profile with a polymer tip and boat tail base that gives it outstanding flight characteristics. In fact, it’s one of the finest extended-range lead-free hunting bullets we’ve ever offered due to its extremely high ballistic coefficient. At impact, the polymer tip acts as a wedge, plowing through a built-in expansion chamber and initiating a mushroom that’s consistently 1.8x bullet diameter – creating a large terminal wound channel from close range to the farthest reaches of your shooting ability.