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LEAD USE IN HUNTING
Availability and prices of non-lead gunshot cartridges
in the European retail market
Niels Kanstrup , Vernon G. Thomas
Received: 26 September 2018 / Revised: 9 January 2019 / Accepted: 17 January 2019 / Published online: 20 March 2019
Abstract To analyse those factors that inhibit or facilitate
the shift from lead to non-lead ammunition, it is important
to evaluate the extent to which hunters can purchase
suitable non-lead products. Based on an Internet search, we
identified 22 European and 6 North American
manufactures of non-lead shot cartridges distributed in 10
different countries. During the web search, we found non-
lead shot cartridges available in retail stores with online
sales of these products in 22 of 29 European countries. The
most common non-lead shot type was steel shot, although
bismuth, tungsten and copper were available in some
countries. We conclude that non-lead shot cartridges are
available to purchasers in most European countries, but in a
limited variety. Availability of non-lead ammunition is not
limited by production but by the demand at the national,
regional, and local levels. Multiple manufacturers provide
such ammunition, and their products may become available
in any member state, regionally and locally, once the
demand is established. The collective experience of
Denmark, Canada, and the USA indicate that the demand
for non-lead products will be stimulated by any
intergovernmental initiatives to regulate lead ammunition
for hunting and target shooting, especially when such
initiatives are accomplished through well-enforced national
regulation.
Keywords Ammunition Availability Demand
Gunshot Non-lead Steel
INTRODUCTION
A successful phase-out of lead shotgun ammunition for all
types of hunting requires that lead-free alternative types of
cartridges be available to hunters. Several types of non-lead
gunshot have been developed, manufactured and made
available at the retail level (Kanstrup et al. 2018; Thomas
2019). However, the extent of the availability of the different
products varies, depending on the demand at national and
local levels. Demand is regulation driven. Partial and poorly
enforced regulations have weak impact, whereas full regu-
lation stimulates availability. Poor availability may result in
non-compliance with regulations. Also hunters inclined to
use non-lead shot types may keep using lead ammunition
because they cannot readily purchase non-lead products.
To analyse those factors that inhibit or facilitate the shift
from lead to non-lead products, it is important to evaluate
the extent to which hunters can purchase suitable non-lead
shot cartridges.
In this study, we assessed ‘‘product availability’’ as
defined by Thomas (2013) by identifying ammunition
manufacturers that produce non-lead shotgun ammunition
and ‘‘market availability’’ (Thomas 2013) by compiling a
list of non-lead cartridges brands available in retail gun and
ammunition stores in 29 European countries. This was
combined with a comparison of prices of non-lead and
traditional lead shot cartridges.
METHOD
The method used for the evaluation was based on Internet
searches, primarily using Google. We presumed that most
available ammunition is marketed via the Internet. We
realize that this is complicated as many local retailers will
advertise the ammunition obtainable face-to-face from
their outlets. Also, orders delivered remotely over the
Internet to purchasers are complicated by firearms licens-
ing, shipping, and delivery regulations that differ among
countries. However, marketing of products may be Internet
ÓRoyal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2019
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Ambio 2019, 48:1039–1043
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-019-01151-8
based despite the actual purchase of ammunition being
local and based on the single gun shop. An Internet survey
is, therefore, indicative of the product availability. We
spent a minimum of 30 min per country on searching and
investigated at least five online ammunition shops per
country. However, the results must be regarded as a
minimal assessment, given the inherent limits of this
methodology.
One part was an Internet search of product catalogues
found online at web pages of members of AFEMS
1
(As-
sociation of European Manufacturers of Sporting Ammu-
nition) and other companies. Another part of the study was
a search using the words ‘‘hunting cartridges’’, ‘‘steel
shot’’, ‘‘bismuth shot’’, ‘‘tungsten shot’’, ‘‘gun store’’,
‘‘online’’, and ‘‘web shop’’ translated into national lan-
guages of the countries in question. Words were used
solely or in combination. We made this type of search in 29
European countries. This resulted in hits of retail-level
webshops which showed a similar appearance in most
countries. The number of brands (i.e. manufacturer’s name)
of non-lead cartridges and variety of shot types were used
to assess the market availability in the different countries.
Various search engines including Google offer facilities
for direct translation of webpages’ texts (into English).
Thus, it was possible to decipher website content including
information on non-lead ammunition brands for retail sale
in most European countries, despite the variety of lan-
guages encountered. Results were recorded in terms of
cartridge brand and type (hunting, clay target, low velocity,
high velocity etc.), shot type, load weight (if available) and
price. Price was assessed from gauge 12/70 cartridges with
a 30–32 g load and calculated on the basis of 25 cartridges,
i.e. the normal quantity of cartridges in one ‘‘box’’. A
sample of prices for lead shot cartridges was included for
comparison.
RESULTS
We identified 22 European manufactures of non-lead shot
cartridges distributed among the following 8 countries:
Italy (6), UK (4), France (4), Spain (4), Sweden (1), Ger-
many (1), Poland (1), and Czech Rep. (1). All companies
had a steel shot line, some with a wide selection of gauges
and loads. Bismuth shot cartridges were produced by two,
copper by two, and zinc by one company (Table 1). In
addition, six North American manufacturers produced non-
lead cartridges. One (Kent Cartridge) had specialized in
this type of non-lead cartridge and was directly affiliated
with a British company (Gamebore). The 28 manufactur-
ers, including the six North American companies, had
agencies in most European countries; hence, their products,
including lead-free ammunition, were available, or could
easily become available in any region or country, subject to
demand.
The web search for retail ammunition stores with online
sales in the 29 European countries showed that all had
online services for retail sale of hunting accessories,
including shotgun ammunition. We found non-lead
products available in 22 countries (Table 1). The number of
available cartridge brands per country varied considerably:
from 16 in Denmark, 8 in Finland, 7 in the UK, 4 in
Germany, and only one in 11 of the investigated countries.
We failed to identify any online retail sale of non-lead
shotgun cartridges in seven countries, which had website
shops listing a wide selection of lead shot shotgun car-
tridges: these included Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia and
Spain, all of which have bans on wetland or waterbird
hunting with lead shot. This may seem anomalous, but
suggests that hunters rely on non-web outlets for their
purchases if wishing to comply with national regulations.
In Ireland, Poland, and Romania (all countries with no
regulation of lead ammunition), we did not find non-lead
cartridges available online. However, in Greece where
there is also no regulation, one online shop offered two
types of steel shot. The most common non-lead shot type
was steel shot, although bismuth, tungsten, and copper shot
were available in some countries (Table 1).
There were large differences among the prices of the
shot types. Table 2shows average prices of the five types
that were identified.
Tungsten shot was by far the most expensive type of
non-lead shot. Steel shot cartridges are available at much
lower prices, approximately the same as equivalent, high-
quality lead shot cartridges, which correspond with the
findings of Thomas (2015). A given product may occur at
different prices in different countries, an example being
ELEY VIP Bismuth (12/67) 32 g, which costs 60 Euros per
25 pcs. in Norway and 38 Euros per 25 pcs. in the UK.
One overall result is that lead-free shotgun cartridges are
available in most countries from retail shops with online
service, apart from countries with no regulations. However,
more qualitatively, the survey showed that the product
range of lead-free ammunition in countries with partial
regulations of lead shot (wetlands/waterbirds) was very
restricted compared to lead shot brands. Furthermore, non-
lead types were not prominently displayed on most web-
sites, often on the last page of several pages displaying lead
products, and often grouped as ‘‘special loads’’. It is likely
that some of the investigated gun stores may offer non-lead
shot if particularly requested, but due to low interest from
their customers did not display it on their web shops.
1
http://www.afems.org/.
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DISCUSSION
The study has not evaluated to what degree traditional
advertisement and retail sale of hunting ammunition from
online stores differs among European countries, and
therefore results from different countries may not be
comparable. However, the fact that online sale of hunting
accessories was offered to some degree in all 29 investi-
gated countries indicates that the methodology is valid for
assessing the availability of non-lead products. The web
searches were conducted more intensively for those coun-
tries with no lead shot regulation, i.e. Greece, Ireland,
Poland, and Romania. Except for Greece, it was not pos-
sible to identify non-lead gunshot available for sale, despite
all these countries listing lead shot cartridges from different
manufacturers. Thus, Poland has its own manufacturer of
non-lead cartridges (FAM Pionki), which exports non-lead
products to other markets. Among the countries with partial
bans, only the UK and Germany were shown to have many
different brands, and the general picture is that countries
with partial bans have a rather limited availability of non-
lead products. This is in contrast to the number of com-
panies making non-lead shot in some of those countries:
e.g. Italy 6, France 4, and Spain 4. Although we identified
four companies in Spain making non-lead cartridges, and
despite Spain having a ban on lead shot use in its wetlands,
no website indicated the availability of non-lead cartridges
for sale. Due to the long-lasting and well-established ban
on lead shot for both hunting and target shooting, Denmark
showed the most diverse selection of non-lead ammunition
with the highest variety of brands, gauges, loads, and shot
sizes, based mainly on steel products.
The identification of 28 manufacturers of non-lead shot
lines in Europe and North America demonstrates that the
availability of non-lead ammunition is not limited by
technologies or production potential. The results also show
that some European makers of non-lead cartridges are
actively engaged in export of their products, especially to
the USA, Canada, and Denmark, where a well-established
demand exists. The similar prices for lead shot and steel
shot products demonstrate that production costs are not
limiting availability. This emphasizes the point that avail-
ability is driven mainly by demand at national, regional,
and local levels, as also concluded in other studies. For
instance, the UK LAG (Lead Ammunition Group) (2015)
concluded ‘‘the variety and performance of non-lead
ammunition will, if demand exists, improve to meet
demand’’. Also, Thomas (2015) found that manufacturers
Table 1 Manufacture of non-lead shotgun cartridges and availability
hereof in the 29 European countries that were subject to Internet
search
Country Regulation
of lead shot
for
hunting
a
Number of
non-lead
cartridge
manufacturers
identified
Number
of non-
lead
cartridge
brands
identified
Non-
lead shot
types
available
Austria x 1 S
Belgium x 1 S, B
Bulgaria x 1 S
Czech Rep. x 1 1 S
Croatia x 0 –
Denmark xx 16 S, B, T
Estonia x 1 S
Finland x 8 S, B, C
France x 4 3 S
Germany x 1 4 S, B
Greece – 2 S
Hungary x 1 S
Iceland – 1 S
Ireland – 0 –
Italy x 6 1 S
Latvia x 2 S
Lithuania x 2 S
Luxemburg x 2 S
Malta x 1 S
Norway x 2 S, B
Poland – 1 0 –
Portugal x 1 S, B, T
Romania – 0 –
Slovakia x 0 –
Slovenia x 0 –
Spain x 4 0 –
Sweden x 1 1 S, B
The Netherlands xx 4 S
UK x 4 7 S, B, T
a
No regulation, x =ban of lead shot in wetlands/waterbird hunting,
xx =total ban of lead shot
Ssteel shot, Bbismuth shot, Ttungsten shot, Ccopper shot, – none
Table 2 Average prices of shot types in retail sale identified in the
Internet search in 29 European countries
Type N
a
Price Euro/25 pcs
Average Range
b
Steel 36 11.90 7.50–25.25
Bismuth 8 57.81 42.25–60.00
Tungsten 2 85.00 79.25–90.00
Copper 3 37.28 21.50–41.25
Lead 25 10.45 6.50–18.25
a
Number of web shops,
b
rounded up to nearest quarter Euro
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in Europe make and distribute cartridges according to
hunters’ demands, which, in turn, are driven by regulations.
The production price of a shotgun cartridge consists
basically of three elements: costs of component materials,
costs of construction of components, and costs of assem-
bling the components into a cartridge (loading). This
applies to lead as well as non-lead products. In terms of the
shell, primer, wad, and powder, there are no significant
differences between production costs. Nor is the loading
process different, though some components of the
machinery may be modified and adjusted to change from
one type to another. Hence, the main driver for production
price differences is the price of shot material combined
with shot manufacture. We found the following current
approximate prices for metals on world markets by Internet
search: Lead: 2 Euro/kg; Iron: 0.07 Euro/kg; Bismuth: 20
Euro/kg; and Tungsten (powder): 40?Euro/kg. Prices are
dependent on market forces, purity, etc. and therefore only
indicative of the raw material costs for shot types. How-
ever, the figure that bismuth is 10-fold more expensive than
lead, but at the same time, that lead is 30-fold more
expensive than iron, explains why bismuth shot cartridges
are much more expensive than lead and steel shot car-
tridges. It also demonstrates that prices of bismuth (and
tungsten) shot will not fall to levels comparable to lead and
steel. Secondly, the prices indicate a potential for steel shot
to be significantly cheaper than lead shot if the costs of
making steel shot can be reduced. However, this has not yet
been demonstrated in the retail sale prices of loaded car-
tridges in Europe and North America. We investigated
further retail prices of bulk lead and steel shot being
offered in stores to hand loaders of cartridges and found no
appreciable difference (lead shot approx. 3 Euro/kilo
2
; steel
shot approx. 4 Euro/kilo
3
). The reason why the much lower
price of raw iron compared to raw lead is not reflected in
more pronounced differences in shot prices is related to
processing technologies,
4
energy consumption, production
volumes, market demand, and transport. Production of lead
shot is a traditional technology in many European cartridge
manufactory companies, whereas the production of steel
shot is based almost exclusively on Chinese manufacture.
Hence, the economic and technological conditions vary
greatly. A detailed survey of this situation lies beyond the
scope of this study. However, we believe that an increased
demand for steel shot, driven for instance by European
Union regulations as prepared by REACH
5
(Registration,
Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals),
and thus an increased production volume would gradually
influence the production price, and could lower prices
further in the long term. Another factor affecting the car-
tridge price is the cartridge gauge and the relative market
demand for gauges different from the normal 12 gauge.
This explains why smaller gauges, for instance 20 gauge
cartridges in both lead and non-lead varieties, cost more
than equivalent 12 gauge cartridges, despite the lesser
content of gunpowder, shot and other components. A
manufacturer will require a single production run of about
one million cartridges to justify the costs of switching the
manufacturing equipment settings, product testing for
quality assurances, and packaging set-up (Cove, R. per-
sonal communication
6
). Understandably, demand has a
major effect on price as well as availability of lesser-used
cartridge types, both lead and non-lead.
Wholesale and retail prices of cartridges will basically
depend on production prices, but will also, and to a very
high degree, be influenced of volume of production,
transport costs and other basic factors. In particular, the
profit margins of producers, taxes, and export duties
influence the prices paid by the hunter. One example of this
is the UK-made product ELEY VIP Bismuth cal. 12/67
(shot size 3.2 mm, 32 g) which is listed on the webpage of
a British supplier at less than two thirds of the price in
Norway. This shows that the price of a given cartridge may
differ significantly depending on impact of market demand
and other costs in addition to production cost.
CONCLUSION
Since concerns about dispersal of hunting lead shot in
wetlands and the fatal lead poisoning of birds were raised
in Europe in the 1960s, and earlier in the USA, several non-
lead and approved non-toxic shot types have been devel-
oped and produced commercially. Steel shot cartridges are
produced by most European manufacturers (in this study
sample, all 22 companies). Steel is the by far the cheapest,
most widely used, and most available alternative. However,
some European manufacturers have lines of other non-lead
products, including bismuth and tungsten shot cartridges.
In addition, North American manufacturers distribute via
2
http://www.cabelas.com/.
3
http://www.huntinglife.net/.
4
Lead shot is made traditionally by dropping molten lead through
sieves into cold water from a great height in shot towers, or by the
‘‘bleimeister method’’ where molten lead is dripped from small
orifices into a hot liquid, followed by rolling along an incline to
remove out-of-round pellets. Steel shot is made by hammering small
pieces of low-carbon iron wire into spheres of desired diameter
followed by softening (annealing) the shot in furnaces. These
processes are energy intensive and more time consuming than
traditional lead shot making.
5
https://echa.europa.eu/da/-/echa-identifies-risks-to-terrestrial-
environment-from-lead-ammunition.
6
Personal communication: R. Cove, CEO, Kent Cartridge, Mark-
ham, Canada.
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1042 Ambio 2019, 48:1039–1043
their agencies a variety of non-lead ammunition types in
Europe, thus expanding product availability.
The web shop surveys in this study demonstrated that
non-lead shot cartridges are available to purchasers in most
European countries, but in a limited variety. Stocks of non-
lead ammunition held in local retail shops may be very
limited in variety and quantity, specification and brand.
Hence, a small-scale local purchaser may not be able to
purchase what might be best suited for his/her needs.
It is well established that the availability of non-lead
ammunition is first and foremost limited by the demand at
the national, regional, and local level. Multiple manufac-
turers currently provide such ammunition and their prod-
ucts are available, or can easily become available in any
member state, regionally and locally, once the demand is
there. This is demonstrated clearly by the Danish example,
and the US situation since 1991. The demand for non-lead
products will be stimulated by any intergovernmental ini-
tiatives to regulate lead ammunition for hunting and target
shooting, especially when such initiatives are accomplished
through well-enforced national regulation.
Acknowledgements We thank colleagues and reviewers for helpful
comments on an earlier text. Funding was provided by the personal
financial resources of the authors.
REFERENCES
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Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional affiliations.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES
Niels Kanstrup (&) is a biologist, scientist and hunter. His research
program in focused on sustainability of hunting with emphasis on
dispersal of ammunition components in the natural environment,
particularly the impact of ammunition lead.
Address: Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Kalø, Gre-
na
˚vej 14, 8410 Rønde, Denmark.
e-mail: nk@bios.au.dk
Vernon G. Thomas is a Professor Emeritus specializing in the
transfer of scientific knowledge to conservation policy and law,
especially in the issue of lead exposure and toxicity in wildlife and
humans.
Address: Department of Integrative Biology, College of Biological
Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada.
e-mail: vthomas@uoguelph.ca
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