Are bullets still made of lead?

[mahna]

Stupid question maybe

Are most rifle bullets these days still lead?

Thinking how pencils were once lead but have long since been graphite.

Wondered if bullets are moving in a similar direction?

[Apollo]

You must be thinking a very long time ago for a Lead Pencil to actually be "Lead", like before the 16th Century when they discovered Graphite.

I'd say you have been reading about the last Lead Smelter to be shut down in the USA. What happens now is yet to be seen but most likely they will import lead from other sources.

There are a number of bullets made that do not contain lead, like Barnes and they are more expensive in general to manufacture.

Time will tell as to the direction bullets will take.

[mahna]

TBH I have no idea when pencils went from lead to graphite.

Poor example probably, just the first one that came to mind

I didn't actually know about the last lead smelter being shut down, but that's interesting. I will do some reading.

[Monty]

For the most part, yes.

There are lead free bullets like Apollo said. Nosler E-Tip is another one.

[Bills Shed]

I am still making mine out of lead,but I can see a day when I will not be allowed to, opposed to not havering any lead to make them out of. It will only take a stroke of a pen and it will be illegal to shoot lead. I am pretty sure California have all ready banned it.
Time will tell

[Guliver]

Thinking how pencils were once lead but have long since been graphite.

Were pencils ever lead?

History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil

Pencil, from Old French pincel, a small paintbrush, from Latin penicillus a "little tail" (see penis—pincellus is Latin from the post-classical period[1]) is an artist's fine brush of camel hair, also used for writing before modern lead or chalk pencils; the meaning of "graphite writing implement" apparently evolved late in the 16th century.[2] Though the archetypal pencil was an artist's brush, the stylus, a thin metal stick used for scratching in papyrus or wax tablets, was used extensively by the Romans,[3] and for palm-leaf manuscripts.

Edit Just read further down the page:

Although lead has not been used for writing since antiquity, lead poisoning from pencils was not uncommon. Until the middle of the 20th century the paint used for the outer coating could contain high concentrations of lead, and this could be ingested when the pencil was sucked or chewed.[

[Wheelbarrow]

It would suck for anyone who casts their own bullets if it was to go

Not like it would be the end of shooting though obviously. There are always all-copper bullets like the Barnes TSX bullets.

[Harper]

Until they find an excuse to ban copper

[Guliver]

Until they find an excuse to ban copper

No need the prohibitive cost of copper takes care of that, US $7300 a ton Aprox.

Lead US $2500 a ton Aprox.

[petemacsydney]

Those bowler look nice... bet they r not cheap though!

[Monty]

Copper is hot property in a few places now I think.

Apparently it's quite an issue of people stealing cabling from train stations or stripping out unoccupied houses and this kind of thing.

I saw some guy on one of those cop shows was going into skyrise carparks where their water heaters were all kept and wheeling them out to steal the metals out of them.