With the shooting world in a state of flux due to the proposed ban on lead shot – complicated by the issue of replacing oil-based plastic wads with bio products – the scarcity of fact-based, test-proven data available is concerning. We need information because these changes affect the very fabric of our shooting sports. Knowledge based on several generations of practical experience and ongoing development is being swept away. We are asked for our comments, but how can anyone comment fully and knowledgeably regarding something they know little about? Good outcomes, as a rule, just do not come about in this way.
From what we have seen, so far it appears that little actual ballistic testing of ammunition for the new areas likely to be affected has been done. If it has, then details are scant. When it is something as fundamental as the replacement of a material, and one long proven effective, with something self-evidently ballistically inferior, the need for proper testing and research is obvious.
I have been testing steel shot ammunition more recently, especially those cartridges with biodegradable wads. It is early days and much testing remains to be done. However, my results to date – some published here – do raise questions. They beg input from the associations and shooting bodies with the staff, knowledge and finances to conduct more meaningful testing than we currently have. The findings here may reinforce that need.
