90
per point.
• Red deer hinds, from £195 to £250 per hind.
• Fallow deer, from £450 per animal.
• Roe deer, from £350 per animal.
• Driven pheasants and partridges, £32 -36 per bird.
• Driven red grouse, £75-80 per bird.
These advertised prices are exclusive of taxes, and do not include
other incidental costs of game shooting. For rifle-shot game, the
costs of a single lead-free bullet are small in comparison to the
totality of the costs of shooting an animal, possession of which
still remains with the estate for subsequent sale to the retail
game market. Similarly for gamebirds taken by shotgun, using
Tungsten Matrix shot (bought by the case) rather than lead
shot would add about £2 to the cost per bird. Use of bismuth-
tin shot would cost about £1.50 more per bird, and use of steel
shot would convey no extra cost. Collectively these approximate
figures indicate that for both rifle and shotgun shooting,
there is no large economic barrier to the adoption of lead-free
ammunition in the UK. Similarly, for rough shooting and pest
control conducted with shotguns, use of steel shot would pose
no extra financial costs.
Use and effectiveness of lead-free
shotgun and rifle ammunition
LEAD-FREE SHOTGUN AMMUNITION
All game species in the UK can be shot confidently with shot
made of steel, Tungsten Matrix, Hevi Shot, or bismuth-tin alloy.
These four shot types are produced in all the shotgun gauges
used commonly by UK shooters, and in shot sizes designed for
shooting common game animals of all sizes (Table 3). Steel shot
is not loaded into cartridges of gauge smaller than 20 because
of high pressure concerns. This same concern does not apply
to shot made from bismuth–tin alloy and Tungsten Matrix
Table 3:Suitability of three different types of US-approved, non-toxic, lead-free shot for shooting common species of birds and mammals
in the UK. The + sign indicates that the species in question should be hunted with the cartridge gauge, size, and shot size that is advised for that
species within normal field shooting distances.
Species Steel shot.
In gauges 10, 12,
16, 20
Bismuth-tin shot.
In gauges 10, 12 , 16, 20,
28, .410
Tungsten-based shot
e.g. Tungsten-Matrix, Tunsten-iron, or
Hevi Shot. In gauges 12, 16, 20
Geese species + + +
Large-bodied ducks + + +
Small-bodied ducks + + +
Ring-necked pheasant Phasianus colchicus + + +
Partridge species + + +
Wood Pigeon Columba palumbus + + +
Woodcock Scolopax rusticola + + +
Snipe Gallinago gallinago + + +
Red Grouse Lagopus l. scoticus + + +
Ptarmigan Lagopus mutus + + +
Golden plover Pluvialis apricaria + + +
Rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus + + +
European hare Lepus europaeus + + +
Mountain hare Lepus timidus + + +
Vernon G. Thomas