Tim Bonner: A lead free season

On Saturday afternoon I took the spaniel, the Labrador and my 20 bore out for an hour or so. I missed a hen pheasant, shot a cock and then at last light had a single drake mallard from a group that skirted along the side of the lake. So ended a season that stretched from Essex in September to the Isle of Lewis in January and took in varied species and locations in between. What was slightly different about this season, though, was that I did not fire a lead cartridge.

I shot a lot with a 20 bore and Eley steel eco wad cartridges, but also with a range of different 12 bore cartridges as new steel game options came on the market from manufacturers like Express, Gamebore and Bioammo. As I experimented with various cartridges the most consistent finding was, surprisingly, that those of my fellow guns who knew the most about steel cartridges were those who had never used them. More than one shoot lunch philosopher was slightly surprised to discover, as they set forth their firmly held views on the impossibility of replacing lead, that the gun on the next peg had been knocking birds down with steel all morning.

Change is always a difficult thing and it does sometimes seem that the rural community is hardwired to resist it. On some issues that is an endearing quality, after all who wants change just for change's sake? On others, however, it does seem a little like stubbornness, especially when there are good reasons for doing something in a different way, and few - if any - downsides.

On lead there are some unarguable facts. It is toxic, it is not good for the environment and it is not much good for us either. It will be banned from use in cartridges in the next few years as it has already been banned from paint, petrol and other products. Meanwhile, there is an alternative which, whilst different, is already being used to produce alternatives for the vast majority of guns used in most forms of shooting. That is why two years ago the Alliance, along with all the other major shooting organisations, called for a voluntary phase-out of the use of lead cartridges by 2025.

This season has, for the first time, seen a range of steel cartridges suitable for game shooting available from all the major manufacturers and we are already hearing news of several major shoots going 'lead free' next season to meet growing demand for game shot with alternatives. The biggest challenge to phasing out lead completely would seem to be component supply issues resulting from the pandemic and especially the import of steel shot from China.

Change is in the air, however, and on this issue we should not be resisting. If you shoot with an older gun, get your gunsmith to check it over and ease the chokes if they are a bit tight, then get hold of some steel cartridges for next season. I promise you that as you sit down to fill in your gamebook on the last day of next season you, like me, will be wondering what all the fuss was about.