Heavy metal blues
The initiative by the shooting groups to phase out lead shot has raised more questions than it has given answers, says Robin Scott
Are you concerned the game we eat doesn’t come with enough nutrientrich iron for your liking? Don’t fret. Before long roast pheasant and partridge will be stuffed with it. Shooting and other rural groups say the effectiveness of soft iron shot is now so good that lead and single-use plastics in shotgun ammunition for live quarry shooting can be phased out voluntarily within five years. But have they spoken too soon?
Britain’s cartridge makers are spitting feathers. They say the organisations, which orchestrated such a massive PR victory with general licences last year, have jumped the gun with this recent announcement.
Reminders
Before pitching into the debate now raging over lead shot and plastics, let ’s remind ourselves of what happened 12 months ago.
Wild Justice, you’ll remember, won a court reprieve giving protection to vermin at the expense of endangered nesting birds, livestock and vulnerable crops. In doing so they lost face and credibility thanks to an amazingly effective campaign co-ordinated by BASC, the Countryside Alliance and others. It generated unprecedented media and public support for gamekeepers, shooters and farmers. By working together and delivering a unified message for once this countryside pact won the argument by a country mile.
Fast forward 12 months and you could say we’ve now handed back the ‘bragging rights’
to the antis with a goal of our own making. The opposition must be chuffed to bits by the strong difference of opinion in our ranks. And the irony (no pun intended) is that it all started with the best possible of intentions.
Shooting organisations say British cartridge makers were consulted before the seismic statement on the five-year plan was published. But Eley Hawk, Lyalvale Express, Hull Cartridge and Gamebore vehemently disagree. They claim there had been no consultation and that organisations had only looked at a “limited amount of products and had assumed these are a viable answer to the issue at hand. Unfortunately, this is not the case.”
Block
Cartridge makers say they are working hard to find non-lead ammunition but it won’t happen inside five years. The main stumbling block is still the development of suitable wadding materials and European regulations on operating pressures for steel shot loads.
Another part of the problem might be the role China plays in all this. It is by far the world’s biggest producer of steel shot, bismuth and tungsten. The last two materials will always be extremely limited in availability – and, as such, costly – but there’s also a shortage of Chinesemade steel shot in Europe. Extra demand for shotgun cartridges in Britain will create further shortfalls and push up prices. And that was before the coronavirus ran riot. To be at the mercy of such a world market with one country largely controlling the supply and price of the materials that we need to keep firing on all cylinders is worrying indeed.
There’s no doubt the arguments for and against on this topic are going to rage for months, if not years. Here are just some of the questions we need answers to:
“We’ve handed back the ‘bragging rights’ to the antis with a goal of our own making”
• To promote the benefits of non-toxic shot, will BASC this year ensure no lead loads are used on its coaching line at country fairs?
• Will it also insist that participants in any clay shooting event it might run, or sponsor, on ground not designated as a shooting range also use lead alternatives? If not, why not?
• If no suitable material is found to replace single-use plastic cartridge cases and shot cups within five years, will the programme be extended without legislative clauses?
• What steps can we take to minimise so many bird deaths attributed to lead shot ingestion on game shoots? Will gritting sites now have to be established to reduce the chances of birds picking up spent shot? What sort and size of grit is best, where should it be placed and how much will be needed?
• Many 2½in chambered 12-bores and smallbore shotguns will be made redundant
if the owners can’t afford expensive bismuth or tungsten cartridges (currently priced around £1.30 and £3 a shot respectively). The total cost of these guns will run into many millions of pounds. Can the Gun Trade Association offer guarantees that scrappage schemes will be put in place for people wanting to trade-in guns for new steelsuitable models?
• One supermarket chain has said it will only sell lead-free game from this season. To ensure this happens, how many shoots across the country have agreed to supply the necessary birds? How can dealers ensure that game shot with lead doesn’t find its way accidentally to these customers, causing whole consignments to be rejected?
• We’re told woodpigeon shot with steel fetch better prices than those killed with lead. Will the same apply to pheasants and partridges?
Answers please to the Editor here at Sporting Gun via email, postcard or letter.