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HSE Lead shot and ammunition consultation make sure your voice is heard!

Ystranc said:
I may just go over onto a shotgun proofed for steel and a PCP if this goes through. I seriously doubt they can effectively ban lead pellets as they’re not controlled in any way.
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It would be nice if lead pellets did slip through Mike......cant see that happening personally 🤔 but.....fingers crossed:)

.177 may have a chance though.
 
Just surfing the web and found this..
..funny how they managed to reach all of these conclusions long before the close date for submitting evidence to their public consultation. This smells like it’s a complete fit-up. It looks like lead shot will be consigned to the history books along with a large number of older shotguns.
On the bright side, reading between the lines it seems like they may accept the fact that there really is no viable alternative to lead bullets in the sub <5.6mm centre fire and rimfire or lead pellets for pest control/hunting with airguns.
 
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Totally agree that deciding on a judgment before all the facts are known is not the way to proceed, isn't that the very definition of prejudice? However, if this turns out to be the final decision I will get everything I was hoping for.
 
Paul N said:
Totally agree that deciding on a judgment before all the facts are known is not the way to proceed, isn't that the very definition of prejudice? However, if this turns out to be the final decision I will get everything I was hoping for.
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Let’s hope so… as I say, I‘m only reading between the lines of a convoluted 210 page document.
 
This is some work currently being peer reviewed for scientific publication regarding how lead and steel shot react together and their impact on the environment.
The gist of the findings is that steel shot can have serious environmental consequences on its own and exacerbate the effects of lead shot already in the wetland environment. If you wish to read it in full you will need to download the PDF.
www.preprints.org

Experimental Study of Steel Shot and Lead Shot Transformation Under the Environmental Factors

This paper presents the results of an experimental study of the patterns of steel and lead shot transformation under the impact of environmental factors (two types of shot exposed alone and in combination with each other). The analyzed environmental factors include atmospheric precipitation of...
www.preprints.org www.preprints.org
 
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Bismuth isn’t as innocent as expected either, often used in medicine it can be absorbed, build up and migrate around the body with excessive exposure. Some 1st nation subsistence hunters have already suffered from bismuth poisoning. This same article states that bismuth is rare, one of the least understood elements and is usually only produced as a by product of mining other heavy metals. This is an exert from an article that was written before bismuth became common as a lead shot replacement.

Side Effects of Bismuth​

“Although bismuth is considered to be nontoxic as stated previously, the long-term use of bismuth may result in certain degree of side effects on human subjects. Besides the few cases caused by occupational exposure to bismuth in the manufacturing industry, most of the poisoning incidents occur in the form of accidental or deliberate over-dosage of bismuth drugs. The extent of bismuth toxicity depends on individual cases, i.e., the types of bismuth compounds and the amounts absorbed. It is still not clear why only selected individuals develop bismuth toxicity.

Patients suffer toxicity at different bismuth levels in blood but the syndrome is rare when bismuth levels are below 50 μg/L. Among the bismuth-based regimens, the use of insoluble bismuth compounds such as bismuth oxychloride and bismuth subcarbonate are related to low toxicity, whereas the use of soluble bismuth organic compounds such as bismuth sodium tartrate and tripotassium dicitratobismuthate, or the combined use of bismuth with thiolate-containing ligands, are associated with high toxicity, such as neurotoxicity and nephrotoxicity. This is probably due to the enhanced uptake of soluble bismuth salts in human bodies. It has also been suggested that the oral bismuth drugs need to undergo methylation by intestinal microbes to enable them to be absorbed. Absorbed bismuth will accumulate in the kidneys, lungs, spleen, liver, brain, and muscles, and will be eliminated in urine and feces via bile and intestinal secretions. In the clinic, depending on the administration time of bismuth, its toxicity can be roughly divided into acute and chronic exposures. Both exposure doses can cause neurotoxicity, gastrointestinal toxicity, nephrotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, and increased bismuth concentration in blood. In spite of the toxicity, most of these side effects can be alleviated after the discontinuation of bismuth therapies. Bismuth iodoform paraffin paste (BIPP), which reduces the risk of bacterial infection, renders a deep necrotic wound cavity clean and promotes the development of granulation tissue, and is widely used in oral, maxillofacial, and ENT surgery (ear, nose, and throat surgery) as an antiseptic dressing. However, a few examples of serious adverse effects of BIPP were observed in the clinic when some patients were treated with BIPP. In one case, the patient became acutely confused and the gait became unsteady, indicative of an encephalopathy caused by over-dosage of bismuth. This was confirmed by the observation of a toxic level of bismuth in the patient’s serum. Another case involved using BIPP to cover the dura mater in a wound after removal of a large basal cell carcinoma. The patient became confused and then comatose. An encephalopathy was confirmed by the observation of diffuse cerebral edema in a tomographic scan. However, upon removal of the BIPP, the patient recovered, and deteriorated if the pack was applied again. The mechanism of intoxication has not been well understood till now. It was probably caused by the interference of bismuth with the oxidative metabolism of the central nervous system by binding to essential enzymes and reducing cerebral blood flow”
 
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Wow, out of approx 4million active shooters and firearm owners (including air gunners) only 2700 people actually bothered to fill in the consultation. That was another chance to try and protect our sport completely wasted.
 
Ystranc said:
Wow, out of approx 4million active shooters and firearm owners (including air gunners) only 2700 people actually bothered to fill in the consultation. That was another chance to try and protect our sport completely wasted.
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It needs clubs and organisations to push their members into replying.
 
divebuddy said:
It needs clubs and organisations to push their members into replying.
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…but why? You would think that based on the experiences of each and every licenced shooter since the 1996 handgun ban onwards we would have learned to stand up for our sport a little better. Each time a nutter or a criminal kills someone every legitimate firearm owner comes under increased scrutiny. Scotland criminalised owners of air guns because of they couldn’t process applications and register them fast enough. I see this as more of the same, gun control by the back door…but instead of the voices of shooters being loud and united in opposition it’s greeted with apathy.
I wonder how many other forum members actually followed the link and filled in the consultation. I sometimes think that the future of pest control or hunting will be restricted to hunters throwing blunt sticks at quarry….oops, no that is also banned under the Wild mammals act (protection of) 1996
 
I did.
But the big problem is the vast majority of shooters are occasional air gun back garden plinkers who aren't involved in the hunting, club or social media part and don't really care enough.
People who actually make plans to go out and shoot are a rare breed these days. Also today's attitude towards shooting is very different to what it was when I was a teenager. I thought nowt of taking my fishing gear and my meteor down to the canal for the afternoon. Nowadays ARU's would be allover the place.
 
Manthing said:
I did.
But the big problem is the vast majority of shooters are occasional air gun back garden plinkers who aren't involved in the hunting, club or social media part and don't really care enough.
People who actually make plans to go out and shoot are a rare breed these days. Also today's attitude towards shooting is very different to what it was when I was a teenager. I thought nowt of taking my fishing gear and my meteor down to the canal for the afternoon. Nowadays ARU's would be allover the place.
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No doubt followed by environment agency enforcement to look at your rod licence and check for a barb on your hook. Non of us have the freedoms that we grew up with. I also remember shooting rats by the Leeds Liverpool canal when I was much younger…honestly, they freak out if they see a rat and look for someone else to blame but they also freak out if you kill a rat…there is no talking to these people.
 
Some good news on the HSE proposals. As expected, lead shot is to be completely banned except for a small number of sportsmen/women shooting competitively at an international level.
Lead bullets are to be controlled for target shooting and only allowed at a few select ranges that have sufficient environmental protection and lead recovery. Lead bullets will be banned for most other target shooting, practical shooting etc.
Lead bullets will continue to be allowed for those of us that shoot live quarry or engage in pest control on the grounds that there is not yet a humane alternative to expanding lead bullets.
Air rifle pellets will be unaffected for the foreseeable future as they’re too difficult to regulate.
Many people will be affected by these changes but because my licenses are for the purpose of pest control I won’t be affected.
Thankfully this proposal is greatly watered down from the original draft proposal that was consulted on. It is likely to be voted on by all four (devolved) governments by autumn.
 
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The few UK suppliers of the small game CCI .22lr copper ammunition are now getting rid of it at cost. This is probably an indication of how badly it’s UK sales have performed and the poor performance as hunting ammunition.
To recap what I have read about this ammunition, it’s bad for fouling your barrel making the bore hard to clean, it’s very light and fast so it’s impossible to silence and isn’t much good in wind or rain, finally it disintegrates on impact so it’s terminal grain weight performance is very poor.
This government experiment has cost gunrooms a great deal of money and we could all do with some closure on this.
 
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