FR2517819A1 - LEAD GRAIN IMPROVEMENT FOR HUNTING AMMUNITION - Google Patents

Abstract

IMPROVEMENT WITH LEAD GRAINS FOR HUNTING AMMUNITION, CHARACTERIZED IN THAT IT CONSISTS OF PROVIDING EACH GRAIN WITH A COATING OR COATING IN A RELATIVELY SOFT AND DUCTILE MATERIAL, CAPABLE OF DIFFUSING UNDER ELECTROLYTIC EFFECT.

Description

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  The present invention relates to an improvement in lead pellets for hunting ammunition, particularly with a view to limiting the risks of poisoning (lead poisoning)

wild meat.

  When hunting, it is common for game drawn

  incurs non-lethal injury In an animal so

  complexion, the muscular fluid dissolves part of the lead,

  before coating the grain (s) This part does not dissolve

  dried in the blood to then largely settle in

the animal's liver.

  We have also found, in game

  water, the ingestion of lead grains having for example

  tis in the mud of the ponds The grains thus ingested stay-

  a while in the gizzard of the animal where they are

  attacked by gastric juice, the products of this dissolu-

spreading through the blood.

  By Canadian standards for example, game is

  unfit for consumption as soon as the animal's liver

  holds more than 0.2 ppm of lead For a duck for example, this value corresponds to the presence in the liver of approximately

micrograms of lead.

  For safety, it is considered undesirable to exceed 0.05

  ppm, which in the duck example corresponds to 5 micro-

grams of dissolved lead.

  However, a single lead in the gizzard makes this value reach

  their in about an hour, while it would take four in muscle tissue for the same result We see

so the problem is real.

  One solution would be to replace lead with iron, but the density and hardness of the latter lead to technical difficulties which are difficult to solve in the state

current technology.

  It has already been proposed to coat lead grains either

  with copper, or with nickel, especially with a view to improving

  At first sight, such coatings improve

  would improve resistance to chemical attack.

  In practice, this is not the case because the deformation of the grains at the start of the blow results in the cracking of the layer.

  superficial and hence the cancellation of the protective effect.

  The object of the invention is therefore to provide a solution

  tion effective to the problem described above.

  This object is achieved, in accordance with the invention, by an improvement in lead grains consisting in providing them with a coating of a material tolerated by the human body, ductile and diffusing under the electrolytic effect A

  such a material can advantageously be tin.

  This coating can be carried out by any suitable process, such as drum plating or the like.

  advantageously preceded by a very fine deposit of copper,

  mant bonding layer for tin.

  The thickness of the coating can be between 2 and

50 microns.

  Comparative tests have shown that the critical dissolution level mentioned above (5 ppm) was reached for bare lead, within 1 hour; for a nickel-plated lead in new condition, in 20 hours; for a nickel lead shot (damaged), in 2 hours; for a tinned lead according to the invention, in new condition, in 20 hours;

  for this tinned lead drawn (damaged), in 10 hours.

  As a result, the invention results in an improvement

  of the order of 10 compared to ordinary lead and gold

  dre of 5 compared to a nickel-plated lead, which is largely

  sufficient to avoid the risk of lead poisoning.

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Claims (3)

  1. Improvement to lead grains for hunting ammunition, characterized in that it consists in providing each grain with a coating or coating in a material tolerated by the human body, ductile and capable of diffusing under electrolytic effect.   2. Improvement according to claim 1, character-   laughed in that said material is tin.   3. Improvement according to claim 2, character-   laughed in that said coating has a thickness comprised between be 2 and 50 microns.