LETTERS

LEAD SHOT BAN

I read with interest your report (News, 2 December) that the Danes are about to prohibit the use of lead shot and Professor Tom Cameron’s comment that “there is nothing for European hunters to fear from a lead-free future”.

Simon West, who is director of the Gun Trade Association, trialled steel 32g No 3 cartridges against lead 32g No 5 cartridges. While both pellet sizes retained enough energy out to 50 yards, the steel shot cartridges failed to give adequate pattern density much beyond 30 yards, providing only 60% of the pellets in a 30in circle compared with lead shot. The 32g steel shot cartridge therefore performed as a 20g lead