View to a (steel) kill

British shooting has been divided in recent months by the announcement on the withdrawal of lead shot within five years ( News , 26 February, 4 and 11 March). While many view the decision to phase out lead and move towards alternatives such as steel as a strange route to go down, I see it as a potentially positive step.

In light of the decision, I wanted to investigate the difference in impact between lead and steel shot with similar strength of load to see whether steel can really cut the mustard in the field.

Clay and game

I met up with our resident pigeon man, Tom Payne, in Hertfordshire to begin the investigation. He was joined by locals Tom Craig, a pub owner, and Darren Hannible, a builder. They all would be using Hull’s steel clay and game cartridges, 24g No 7 and 28g No 5 respectively, and I would be