Shotgun Shell - Lead Free Shotshell

Lead Free Shotshell

At the beginning of the 21st century lead-free shotshell ammunition loaded with steel, bismuth, or tungsten composite pellets instead of more traditional lead-based pellets was introduced.

Due to environmental regulations, lead-loaded ammunition must be used carefully by hunters in Europe. For instance, in France, they cannot fire in the vicinity of a pond. In fact, the laws are so complex that some hunters in Europe prefer not to risk getting into problems for firing lead pellets at wrong places, so they opt for composite pellets in all situations. The use of lead shot is also banned in Canada and the United States when hunting migratory game birds, such as ducks and geese, forcing the use of non-toxic shot in these countries for upland waterfowl hunting. (Lead shot can still legally be used in the United States for hunting game other than waterfowl. This means that manufacturers need to market new types of lead-free shotgun ammunition loaded with alternative pellets to meet environmental restrictions on the use of lead, as well as lead-based and cheaper shotshell ammunition, to remain competitive worldwide.)

The C.I.P. enforces approval of all ammunition a manufacturer or importer intends to sell in any of the (mainly European) C.I.P. member states. The ammunition manufacturing plants are obliged to test their products during production against the C.I.P. pressure specifications. A compliance report must be issued for each production lot and archived for later verification if needed.

Besides pressure testing, shotshells containing steel pellets require an additional Vickers hardness test. The hardness VH1 must be below 100 for the steel pellets used but, even so, steel is known to wear the barrel excessively over time if the steel pellet velocities become too high, leading to potentially harmful situations for the user. As a result, the measurement of pellet velocity is also an additional obligation for shotshells in 12-, 16-, and 20-gauges in both standard and high performance versions sold in Europe. The velocity of pellets must be below 425 m/s (1,390 ft/s), 390 m/s (1,300 ft/s) and 390 m/s (1,300 ft/s) respectively for the standard versions. Another disadvantage of steel pellets is their tendency to ricochet unpredictably after striking any hard surface. This poses a major hazard at indoor ranges or whenever metal targets or hard backstops (e.g. concrete wall vs. a dirt berm) are used. For this reason, steel shot is explicitly banned at most indoor shooting ranges. Any shooters who are considering buying ammo loaded with steel for anything other than hunting purposes should first find out if using it won't cause undue hazard to themselves and others.

However, it should be noted that data supporting the danger of firing high velocity shells loaded with steel shot causing barrel wear has not been published and the US equivalent of CIP, SAAMI, does not have any such restrictive limitations on the velocity of commercial steel shotshells sold in the United States. Similarly, shotgun manufacturers selling shotguns in the United States select their own appropriate standards for setting steel hardness for shotgun barrels and for velocities of steel shotshell loaded ammunition.

Some indoor shooting ranges prohibit the use of steel shot over concern of it causing a spark when hitting an object down range and causing a fire. Another problem is ricochet. Steel is very elastic and can reflect back to the shooter.