A cost effective way to prevent and minimize lead migration and subsequent environmental pollution is through immobilization of the contaminant. In this study the efficacy of phosphate rock and phosphoric acid to immobilize lead in shooting ranges was evaluated through column leaching experiments. Phosphate was applied at a molar ratio of P/Pb 4:1 with two-thirds of the P supplied by phosphate rock (PR) and one-third by phosphoric acid (PA). Four shooting range soils were incubated for 18h overnight in soil columns. Leaching/percolation was done in two stages using toxicity characterization leaching procedure (TCLP) and synthetic precipitation leaching procedure (SPLP) fluids respectively. Even though there was a >90% decrease in Pb leached from all phosphate treated soils, the treatment effectively reduced TCLP Pb to below 5 mg/L in only two of the shooting ranges tested. Soil properties such as clay, total Fe and total P contributed significantly to the reduction in TCLP-Pb leached after 18h of incubation even though clay content was the only significant predictor at á= 0.05. There was initially a fast release of Pb with TCLP fluid followed by a slow release in untreated shooting range soils. The metal release was positively correlated to the pH of the leachates suggesting a proton-induced mineral desorption and dissolution. Addition of phosphate sources changed the pattern of release probably due to immobilization of lead in the soil.