The metal age
The debate about the use of lead metal for the shot pellets in shotgun cartridges and the bullet projectiles in rifles and airguns has been going on for years. Sometimes it has happened behind the scenes, among the experts and influencers from the shooting sports and the environmental groups; sometimes it has bubbled to the surface and been more apparent to the general shooting communities and the wider public.
In the UK, lead shot was banned from use for shooting ducks and wading birds in the early 2000s to prevent the shot falling on wetlands where these birds feed. Research had shown that wildfowl were dying from lead poisoning by ingesting the metal while feeding.
Across the Channel
Our European friends put in place similar restrictions more recently, but they have considerably over-egged the legislative pudding by making the definition of a wetland extremely wide.
“Having digested all of the data… they proposed an extensive group of limitations in how
