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I stumbled upon this doing something else.  I thought some of you may find it interesting reading.  

 

No question or commentary, just thought a few of you would be interested.

 

http://www.firearmsid.com/Feature Articles/GreenBullets/GreenBullets.htm

 

ABSTRACT

This article is written in order to inform other firearms examiners of new non-toxic, frangible ammunition developed by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory for America's military

 

America's military is about to lock and load with new ammunition that's tough on enemies but easy on mother earth. It's known as the "Green Bullet", which is a new lead-free projectile that defense officials say is just as lethal as the standard 5.56mm without harming the environment. The Army led effort is designed to one day end the use of environmentally hazardous materials in small-arms munitions for all services.

The new round will replace the copper-jacketed lead core with a copper-jacketed tungsten tin or nylon core Military officials hope the program will soothe growing environmental and health concerns that have led to the closing of hundreds of live-fire training sites around the country. Currently, the newly designed ammunition is restricted to small arms caliber's ranging from 9mm to .50 caliber.

Engineers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are using powder metallurgy techniques to produce metal matrix composite simulants for lead. Bullets are being fabricated from mixtures of powdered metals, and/or coated metal powders or particulates that are consolidated to form dense metallic materials. 

High-density metals such as tungsten are mixed with lighter, softer metals such as tin and zinc to produce components with controlled density and mechanical properties. Powder metal mixtures are simply cold pressed to produce a high-density material. 

No heat treating or sintering of the composite simulants is necessary to achieve the appropriate properties. The combined processes of mechanical interlocking and "cold-welding" bond the metals together, and can be varied to control the properties of the non-lead core. Bullets can be pressed directly to shape, or cores can be produced that can be swaged into projectiles, with or without jacketing.

Processing conditions and composition can be used to control density, i.e. ballistic performance and weapons functionality and impact properties, i.e. penetration and frangibility.

The primary goal of the project is the development of functional, high density, non-toxic small arms projectiles with controlled impact behavior, i.e. frangibility, for training and field use. Preliminary results have been achieved using cold pressed mixtures of metal powders. Core materials with densities similar to lead have been fabricated and tested. Small caliber bullets including 5.56, 7.62,9mm, .38 and .45 caliber, have been produced employing the same techniques used for the construction of lead-containing bullets. 

Ammunition was assembled to match current specifications for the given caliber and test fired. Factors such as velocity and accuracy were recorded and found to be similar to those of the lead-containing projectiles.

It was also found that terminal performance, i.e. impact properties, could be controlled through selection of materials and processing.  An advantage of the powder metallurgy approach for the fabrication of bullets is the ability to vary the properties of the materials over a wide range. 

  

The impact properties of the bullet can be controlled through composition, selection of starting materials and processing conditions. The use of wetting agents and coatings has permitted even greater control of the bonding of the materials and thus terminal behavior.

Another advantage of the powder metallurgy approach is that the composite core materials are completely recyclable. The binder and high-density metals are NOT chemically bound and the binder metal does NOT wet the dense constituent. The metals are easily reclaimed from the scrap collected at firing ranges employing simple heat treatments. This will provide a new and less expensive source of raw materials, inevitably lowering cost. 

  

In contrast, non-toxic simulants employing polymer binders will have to be burned to reclaim the metals, complicating the ability to cost-effectively reuse the materials.  

 

Conclusion

The powder metallurgy approach has the potential not only to produce quality high density, non-toxic bullets that are a direct replacement for lead, but also to revolutionize many of the aspects of bullet design and performance. Significant reductions in environmental pollution can be achieved through the development of ammunition projectiles, which are composed, of materials that are not environmental or health hazards and are economically recyclable. For additional information, please contact:

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 9/12/2018 at 6:59 PM, BrianBM said:

Is this really for use in war? Or is it primarily intended for training, and to mitigate complaints of 1) environmental damage, and 2) exposure to lead?

 

I suspect that this is not really intended for use in a war zone. 

 

I was guessing the same.

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if it's classified as armor piercing by ATFE, it won't be available to the commercial market.

 

if it's not available to the commercial market, it's probably not going to take off.

 

i'm all for environmentally friendly options to lead.

 

understand that much of the lead shooters are exposed to is not in the bullet itself but from the primer detonation.

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2 hours ago, fishweewee said:

if it's classified as armor piercing by ATFE, it won't be available to the commercial market.

 

if it's not available to the commercial market, it's probably not going to take off.

 

i'm all for environmentally friendly options to lead.

 

understand that much of the lead shooters are exposed to is not in the bullet itself but from the primer detonation.

If that is the case why hasn't/can't a new primer be made that is lead free?

fishinambition  Posted June 30 ·After a decade and a half of trolling and disrupting the website, frank's finally fed up with Tim's bull****

 

 

 

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overheard this story at a LGS.  take with a grain of salt.

 

28 y.o. fella was working at an indoor range - cleaning it up without protective gear.  Was exposed to a ridiculous amount of lead.

 

Quits working there and goes to automotive school.  One day at class, he suffered a massive heart attack (at age 28).

 

Docs examined him and found astronomical levels of lead in his blood. His levels were so high that he had liver damage, which cause his heart attack.

 

Somehow the governor's office of the state in which he was a resident found out.  The governor is very antigun.  Called up the dude and said "hey let us help you, we'll shut your former employer [the range operator] down."  The dude with lead poisoning told the governor's office to ****.  :laugh:

 

Shooting and working in an indoor range is inherently hazardous - more so than casting your own lead bullets and sinkers.  Lead poisoning is nothing to mess with - be careful when handling the stuff.  Wash your hands and clothes after shooting at an indoor range.  Use protective garb/gloves and a respirator when handling lead contaminated waste at an indoor shooting range.

 

 

Edited by fishweewee
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