Cambridge Pimpernel
Active Member
Its really interesting - "lead" is such an emotive issue, and those that would oppose fieldsports know it. In the current climate attacking its use is a relatively easy win for them, like rolling stones downhill. But some might legitimately argue that acting against lead ammunition in respect of actual risk to human health needs to be put in context, before moving away from what sportsmen have known to be the cheapest, most effective means to despatch game for over 200 years.
In 2004, the Norwegian government banned the use of lead shot, only to overturn the ban in 2015, citing that the extreme warnings from the lead-ban lobby at the time of the ban were both exaggerated and untrustworthy. (The Norwegian ban remains, though, over wetlands, which was in place before the general ban was introduced and overturned.)
In 2019, 17.1m people were admitted to hospital in England (NHS data). On average over the last 10 years, some 20 people have been admitted to hospital annually with lead poisoning, including those working in the smelting industry ( H of Commons library). That is to say 0.0001% of hospitalisations in England, or one person in every 3,250,000 of the UK population (assuming a UK population of 65m). A person is 1.5 times more likely to be struck by lightning in the UK (average 32 people per annum) than suffer lead poisoning. There is not one single hospitalisation case directly linked either to the ingestion of lead shot or game meat shot using lead.
The regulation-hungry EU REACH has been willingly lured down the lead ammunition ban path, initially against the will of, incidentally, the Czechs who with a strong hunting ethos, initially opposed the move by EU REACH, before being brought into line by the Commission, doubtless with a another political carrot or stick elsewhere. The question is whether the UK also falls into the same trap of unnecessary over regulation. Wasn't that one of the reasons why the UK chose to leave the EU - to get away from excessive, high-cost, low benefit bureaucracy? The relative vaccine responses that we are seeing now might indicate that getting out from unnecessary regulation and control is a good thing. As I say, while lead poisoning is clearly a highly emotive issue, I would have thought Government time ought be focussed on more pressing and more important health issues - alcoholism accounts for c.8,500 hospitalisations each year. But wait..banning alcohol..that wouldn't be unpopular and cost votes would it....?
In 2004, the Norwegian government banned the use of lead shot, only to overturn the ban in 2015, citing that the extreme warnings from the lead-ban lobby at the time of the ban were both exaggerated and untrustworthy. (The Norwegian ban remains, though, over wetlands, which was in place before the general ban was introduced and overturned.)
In 2019, 17.1m people were admitted to hospital in England (NHS data). On average over the last 10 years, some 20 people have been admitted to hospital annually with lead poisoning, including those working in the smelting industry ( H of Commons library). That is to say 0.0001% of hospitalisations in England, or one person in every 3,250,000 of the UK population (assuming a UK population of 65m). A person is 1.5 times more likely to be struck by lightning in the UK (average 32 people per annum) than suffer lead poisoning. There is not one single hospitalisation case directly linked either to the ingestion of lead shot or game meat shot using lead.
The regulation-hungry EU REACH has been willingly lured down the lead ammunition ban path, initially against the will of, incidentally, the Czechs who with a strong hunting ethos, initially opposed the move by EU REACH, before being brought into line by the Commission, doubtless with a another political carrot or stick elsewhere. The question is whether the UK also falls into the same trap of unnecessary over regulation. Wasn't that one of the reasons why the UK chose to leave the EU - to get away from excessive, high-cost, low benefit bureaucracy? The relative vaccine responses that we are seeing now might indicate that getting out from unnecessary regulation and control is a good thing. As I say, while lead poisoning is clearly a highly emotive issue, I would have thought Government time ought be focussed on more pressing and more important health issues - alcoholism accounts for c.8,500 hospitalisations each year. But wait..banning alcohol..that wouldn't be unpopular and cost votes would it....?
i found number 3 steel 36 gram mammoth steel from game bore excellent! Just don't send the dog and take the gun when your clearing the slain 
