Shooting Times & Country – 07 August 2019

Thekillingpowerofleadversussteelshotisa hottopicbuta two-year

study in the US has concluded that there is no discernable diff erence

W

aitroseisplanning

tophaseoutgamethat

hasbeenshotwithlead

infavourofgameshot

withnon-toxicalternatives.Lookingfurther

afield,somesaythatmachinationswithin

theEUmakeaneffectivebanonexporting

lead-shotgametomainlandEuropea

probabilitywithinthenextfewyears.

Steelisthemostcost-effective

alternativetoleadshot.Manypigeon

shootershavealreadyswitchedtosteel,

mindfulthatgamedealerspaybetterfor

pigeonsshotwithsteel.Andif youcantap

intothemarketforlead-freecarcasesfor

thefalconrymarket,you’vehitthejackpot.

However,a majordrawbackofsteel

loadsisthefactthatmostcurrentlyuse

plasticshotcups.Thisisa bigno-noin

anagewhensingle-useplasticpollution

isa veryhigh-profileenvironmentalissue.

Manygameshootsinsistonbiodegradable

wadsbeingused.Indeed,thisistrend

isencapsulatedintheCode of Good

ShootingPractice.

Yettheuseofplasticshotcupsinsteel

loadsisnolongerinevitable,asalternatives

arecomingontothemarket.A prime

exampleisEleyHawk’snewProEcoWad,

whichisfullybiodegradeableandcanbe

usedwitha gameloadofNo.5steelshot.

wasabsolutelymassive.It focusedonthe

Americanmourningdove,a verycommon

quarryspecies.A totalof 53 hunterswere

appointedfroma computer-generated

randominvitation.Theyfireda totalof

5,094shots,killing1,146 doves outright

andwounding739.

Ofthebaggedbirds,1,110were

subsequentlyX-rayedanddissectedto

investigatethepelletstrikesanddepthof

penetration.Eachhunterwasaccompanied

bya trainedobserverequippedwitha laser

rangefinder.Theaveragerangeatwhich

shotsweretakenwas31.7yards.

Thethreetestloadswerea 2¾in

12-bore 11 ∕ 8 ozloadofUSNo.7½leadshot

at1,200fps—themostpopularleadload

fordoves.Otherswere1ozloadsofUS

No.7andUSNo.6steel,bothat1,300fps.

Allcartridgeslookedidentical,savefora

codeletter.Theyweretakenfromlocked

storage,re-codedeachdayanddistributed

randomly,onlybeingdecodedafteruse

byanotherteam.Inshort,nohunternor

observerhadany inkling of what load was

beingused.

Andtheresults?Putsimply,theTexas

DoveLethalityStudyfoundthatsteel

workedjustaswellaslead.Patterndensity

provedtobemoreimportantthanindividual

pellet density. Food for thought?

Foryears,criticshavesaidthatsteel

simplydoesn’tkillaswellaslead,lacking

thedensitytodothejobproperly.There

weresomehorrorstoriesaboutearly

steelloads.Morerecently,however,

manufacturersclaimtohavedeveloped

somehighlyeffectivesteelloads, chiefl y

byslightlyboostingvelocity.

I confesstohavinga personal

prejudiceagainststeel.Buttheadvent

ofbiodegradableshotcupsforsteelloads

hasforcedmetore-examinetheissue.

I stumbledona remarkablestudybythe

TexasParks&WildlifeDepartmentthat

comparedtheeffectivenessofsteelversus

leadinlivequarryshooting.Fieldworktook

placein 2008 and2009,buttheresultshad

togothroughanexhaustivepeer-review

processbeforebeingpublishedin2015.

Inkeepingwitheverythingaboutthe

Lone Star State, the Dove Lethality Study

AlasdairMitchell

Sharpshooter

DOG BY KEITH REYNOLDS

“Nohunternor

observerhadany

inklingof whatload

wasbeingusedat the

time of shooting”

58 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

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