The world of non-lead cartridges, what are your options?

A lot has evolved over the past 4 or 5 years since the announcement of the transition away from lead, originally being told lead would be banned by 2025 However, this is only if it had been legislated, as we are still waiting on legislation, which is rumoured to be this year it is likely that by 2030 lead will be banned. Like the smoking ban in pubs, we know it’s coming, it is just when.

While the majority of shoots and game dealers are happy with deal with lead shot game, some are not. So, what are the options?

The things to consider are the shot material and wads. The default options have been steel or bismuth, but there are other alternatives out there that may be more suitable, such as alloy shots (aluminium, bismuth, tin and zinc) or tungsten, if cost is something you don’t consider.

Steel cartridges are available from all major manufactories in both standard and high-performance. Nitro-proofed guns that are in proof are suitable for standard steel and those with the fleur de leys are suitable for high performance steel. Typically a steel load larger than 32gs of No 4 in a 12 bore and 24gs of  No 4 in a 20 bore would make it a high performance load but check the packaging or with the gun shop before shooting.

With steel being a much harder metal than lead (120 Vickers and lead is 40 Vickers) it is important to match your cartridges to the range of the game being shot. Not the easiest thing to do when different drives may mean different heights and angles of birds. One of leads great attributes is the energy dump that it produces from the deformation of the pellet, that steel does not. As 85% of game is shot under 40 yards, typically a 4 or 5 shot would be more than capable of bringing the bird down. A cock pheasant needs 3-foot lbs of energy to kill it, one lead pellet of 6 shot at 40 yards has 2.3 foot pound of energy whereas a 5 shot in lead has 3.5 foot pounds of energy. Using the same reasoning a steel 4 has 2.5 foot pounds of energy and a 3 shot has 3.5 foot pounds of energy.

The disadvantage with steel is being able to shoot through no more than half choke, this is due to the pressure that will increase while the shot is being choked in the gun, as lead is more malleable this pressure is much less, hence the option for use full choke. Another thing to bear in mind with steel is the damage that could be caused from use, if there are to be any lose pellets that have slipped outside the wad there would be chance of striation damage up the barrel from steel and steel contact.

For those with older guns bismuth has always been an option to use as a non-lead alternate, it can be shot through any choke with any wad and has a density of 9.8/cm3 (lead is 11.3g/cm3 and steel is 7.6g/cm3). The two major draw backs to bismuth cartridges are the price, and when impacting on a hard surface bismuth shatter.

One alloy shot that is on the market is made up of aluminium, bismuth, tin and zinc, this may be the closest there is to a lead alternative. They can be shot through more than half choke, they are available in both standard and high-performance cartridges, they are available in all calibres and can be used with a fibre wad. The shot has a hardness of 45 Vickers and density of 8.6g/cm3, with a sale price 40/50% more than lead, (bismuth is 3 times the price of lead) it offers a product that is a close imitation to lead.

Other than using depleted uranium, tungsten is the best material to use in cartridges, with a density of 19.4g/cm3, a shot size 9 would kill a goose at 45 yards, the biggest drawback to tungsten is the cost of £3 per cartridges, but if money is no option, then there is not better readily available product.

The final thing to consider is the change in wads, for the past 15 to 20 years fibre wads in the UK have dominated the game market with plastic wads becoming a thing of the past. Nothing has really changed with the materials being a fibre pulp and bitchermin.

For a full cup wad as a shooter, you want a product that protects your gun, produces a good pattern and is environmental. There are 3 types of eco wads now on the market, there are hydro soluble wads meaning there start to deteriorate when come in to contract with moisture, others have gone with more of a vegetable starch type wad that do take much longer to break down back in to the ground but are perhaps protect guns to a higher level, or newly on the market is a paper wad from a French manufacturer.

All in all, there are plenty of options to choose from, so dependent on gun type, calibre and shooter preference there is a cartridge for you.

Alexander Levett Scrivener

Shooting Star