Brass Enclosed Base Ammo

Shooters and workers at indoor ranges face a significant but manageable problem: exposure to airborne lead. Unlike outdoor facilities, where a little breeze can waft away lead vapors, indoor ranges trap and hold the contaminants. Unless steps are taken to mitigate the vapors, lead contamination becomes a serious problem.

But there are solutions, including air filtration and ventilation.

Ammo selection is also important.

Brass enclosed base ammo, often called “BEB ammo,” is one solution. This type of ammo, which includes Winchester’s WinClean and Remington’s Range Clean brands, helps indoor facilities maintain a safer, cleaner environment.

Should you adopt BEB ammo? Is it beneficial, or is this just another product solving a problem that doesn’t exist?

To find out, we need to examine the engineering and composition of BEB ammo and examine how these rounds perform at the range. But first, let’s explore the issue of lead exposure and determine whether this is a genuine concern…

Brass Enclosed Base

Is Lead Really a Problem?

To understand the issue better, to see if brass enclosed base ammo is even needed, we must zoom out and take a wider look. To do that, we can turn to a scientific review conducted by American and Australian researchers, who reviewed 36 articles related to blood lead levels (BLL) and firing ranges.

The review found high lead levels from “nearly all BLL measurements compiled in the reviewed studies” and noted that these levels exceeded the recommended levels from the CDC and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. “Firing ranges, regardless of type and user classification, currently constitute a significant and unmanaged public health problem.”

The study, which was completed in 2017, noted the growing trend of women and youth shooters. It’s wonderful that shooting hobbies are spreading to these shooters, young people and females, especially pregnant women, are at a heightened risk when exposed to lead.

What can we do to ensure that indoor ranges are safer for shooters and employees? There are numerous measures, but one of the best strategies is to simply decrease the total amount of lead in the air. Brass enclosed base ammo can help achieve this goal.

What is Brass Enclosed Base Ammo?

A BEB bullet is simply a lead core wrapped in a copper jacket, similar to a full metal jacket (FMJ). However, instead of having exposed lead at the back of the bullet like an FMJ round, the lead is exposed at the front. This creates a barrier between the hot explosion happening in the case and the soft lead.

So why not just wrap the entire bullet in copper? This is possible, but the result is a type of bullet called a “total metal jacket” (not to be confused with a full metal jacket) that completely encapsulates the lead in copper. However, this type of ammo uses a different manufacturing process, which means a higher total price.

Is BEB Ammo Effective?

There isn’t great research indicating one way or the other just how effective BEB ammo is in decreasing lead exposure. However, by adding a barrier between the cartridge explosion and the soft lead, it seems reasonable that lead exposure would be reduced. In addition, most all-copper and BEB rounds are paired with lead-free primers, further reducing the potential for lead contamination.

Winchester and Remington: The Primary BEB Players

Currently, there are two manufacturers dominating the BEB market: Winchester and Remington.

Winchester has the WinClean brand, which comes in a variety of cartridges. According to the company, WinClean eliminates lead vaporization and provides “exceptional cleanliness.” They also claim it’s their most accurate range bullet, a bold statement for an ammo company that has been in business since the 1860s.

WinClean BEB Ammo options include:

The other brand is Range Clean from Remington. However, to add a little confusion (which ammo manufacturers seem to love), they call their bullets a “flat nose enclosed base,” not a “brass enclosed base.” They are, however, essentially the same thing. These rounds also use a bullet with a copper base and lead-free primers, creating a cleaner environment for indoor shooters.

Range Clean Ammo options include:

.380 Auto (95 grain)
.40 S&W (180 grain)
.45 Auto (230 grain)
9mm Luger (115 grain)

BEB Ammo: Lead-Free at the Firing Point, Not Downrange

Winchester’s BEB ammo “eliminates lead vaporization,” according to the manufacturer. They do not, however, claim that it eliminates lead exposure entirely. This is because lead is exposed at the tip and can become lead dust on impact.

This is emphasized in Winchester’s Ranger Catalog. The company displays lead-free features for three different ammo types, Frangible SF, Superclean Zinc, and WinClean BEB ammo (See page 8). They note that WinClean is lead-free at the point of fire, but is not considered lead-free downrange.

BEB: Performance Analysis

We won’t dive too deeply into the stats, but a brief look at velocity and energy numbers provided by Winchester shows that these rounds have similar performance to most cartridges.

Here’s a quick look at 115-grain 9mm training ammo from a handful of manufacturers:

115-Grain Rounds	Muzzle Velocity (fps)	Muzzle Energy (ft-lbs)
WinClean (Winchester)	1,190	362
Range Clean (Remington)	1,145	335
Syntech Range (Federal)	1,150	338
Target & Practice (Winchester)	1,190	362
Lawman TMJ (Speer)	1,200	368

As you can see, both brands align with typical ballistic stats for the cartridge.

Brass Enclosed Base Compared to Other Popular Bullet Types

Full Metal Jacket

Possibly the most common type of ammo, a full metal jacket bullet wraps the lead in copper but, because of a manufacturing process called swaging (rhymes with “paging”), some lead is exposed at the back.

BEB and FMJ are both for range use; they should not be used for defense or hunting, and the speed and performance stats are essentially the same. (Propellant, bullet weight, and the manufacturer’s components will often have a greater impact on velocity and energy than bullet type.)

Pricing is the major difference between these two ammo types. Thanks to bulk manufacturing, full metal jacket ammo is some of the cheapest on the market, and while most BEB is affordable, it’s generally more costly than traditional FMJ rounds.

Total Metal Jacket

Total metal jackets are completely covered in copper. Like BEB ammo, they have a lead core, but none of the lead is exposed at all. This makes them even safer than BEB, as there is minimal lead exposure at the point of fire and impact.

The manufacturing process is the biggest difference. TMJ ammo is manufactured through a process called electroplating; the lead core is dipped into an electrified chemical bath and copper is deposited on the body until it is completely enveloped. The result is a uniform jacket covering the bullet front to back.

All Copper

Some ammo eliminates the lead entirely. All-copper bullets, as the name suggests, are made from 100% copper and have no lead inside or out.

In many ways, this is an apples-to-oranges comparison. BEB ammo is used exclusively for target shooting and training, while copper ammo is generally used for medium- or large-game hunting. Additionally, there is little overlap in cartridges between BEB and all-copper ammo; BEB is found in handgun rounds like the .357 Magnum, .45 Auto, and 9mm Luger, while all-copper ammo is found in rifle hunting ammo like the .30-06 Springfield and .270 Winchester.

There is also a difference in purpose. BEB is intended to reduce lead vapors, while the main purpose of all-copper ammo is to enhance weight retention. It simply achieves this goal by eliminating lead.

Frangible

Frangible ammo, which is designed to crumble to pieces on impact, is made for close-range training, where ricochet injuries are a real danger. Instead of bouncing off a hard surface, frangible essentially disintegrates into dust, making ricochets virtually impossible.

Frangible rounds turn to dust, so we have to wonder if airborne lead is a threat. Fortunately, this ammo is typically made from metals like copper, tin, zinc, and tungsten, as opposed to lead. Many, in fact, are marketed as lead-free.

Disadvantages of BEB Ammo

Every choice (in life or ammo!) has a positive and negative impact; BEB ammo is no different. These disadvantages include concerns with performance, availability, and use.

First, the rounds are not an option for self-defense. They are not expanding rounds, so shooters should only be using these cartridges at the range. Although the rounds have an open tip with exposed lead at the front (similar to a JHP or LRN bullet), they are not designed to expand on impact. Therefore, they are for paper targets only.

Although reports of this issue are rare, there is a jamming concern. Essentially, the design of a BEB bullet lends itself to more chamber jams in semiautomatic pistols. While rare, the issue could cause frustration at the range.

The other potential downside is market availability or, more specifically, a lack of availability. BEB ammo, as we have discussed, is currently manufactured by two companies. These rounds can be hard to find, and often require a special order, especially for some of the less-common calibers. Shooters are more likely to find FMJ and TMJ ammo, while BEB rounds can be hard to source at stores or online.

These disadvantages, however, are minimal. Shooters are constantly going between training and self-defense ammo, so the first concern is not a deal breaker for most buyers; we all understand that some ammo is for training, some is for hunting, some is for self-defense. That’s just the nature of firearms ammo, something that we have all accepted long ago.

The jamming concern is rare and largely theoretical (it looks like they could jam) and market availability is easily solved when you order from an active, customer-focused online store.

The positives of enclosed base ammo, therefore, largely outweigh the negatives.