Lead ammunition restrictions - government announcement

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Conor O'Gorman said:
The Government has announced plans to implement restrictions on the sale and use of lead ammunition in England, Scotland and Wales.

Today’s announcement confirms that the Government plans to introduce legislation to restrict lead ammunition by summer 2026, with a further three-year transition period running until 2029.

BASC response to announcement:

basc.org.uk

BASC response to government announcement on lead ammunition ban

Read BASC's statement in response to the Government's announcement regarding a ban on the sale and use of lead ammunition.
basc.org.uk basc.org.uk

Guardian article with quotes from BASC, CA and others:

www.theguardian.com

Lead ammunition to be banned for hunting and shooting in England, Scotland and Wales

Exclusive: Restrictions on ammunition containing toxic metal to be phased in over three years from 2026
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
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I doubt Labour will actually be in power by the time this will be put in place
 
Trying to excempt the 243 and 22 C/F for deer is a fools errand, it would be so easy to change the minium calibre to 6.5mm.

Lots of views on the 243 with both lead and non-lead on SD, so lets not repeat them.
 
Mungo said:
Watch the sale of .22-250, .220 Swift, .22 Creedmoor etc explode… 😁
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There is an exemption for the outdoor shooting of permitted birds and animals using small-calibre bullets, because of a lack of suitable non-lead alternatives. Also exempt are airguns, and ammunition used by elite athletes, the military, police and in outdoor target shooting ranges with risk management measures.

You're guessing. No-one can be sure of this, as it could refer to .22rf only. That would make sense.
 
What's the crack with the phasing out over 3 years? Is there a date where the sale of lead ammunition will be banned followed by a date of the use of lead being banned?
 
Heym SR20 said:
Not really. On existing gallery ranges with sand butts every thing is already there.

If you don’t have sand traps, you will need to find a lorry load of sand and a digger for a couple of days and put some down.
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your guessing read the HSE documents they were talking about water course and drainage protection and can birds not fly onto sand? Who will inspect it, who will pay for that.

As I say the devil will be in the detail.
 
RCS Deer Management said:
In my experience .243 is one of the superior non toxic cartridges. It’s a fast cartridge that can force monolithics to work well. Why people continue to spout nonsense about it and non toxic is beyond me, they should be more concerned by some of the slower cartridges.
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Agreed ! I run 100 grain ttsx in a 260 at 100 grain copper on all UK deer and a good proportion on that is big reds at longer ranges . I am only really wondering about the small stuff like 22rf and the sub 12ftlb airguns , you just cannot replace it with copper and if its not cheap it will disappear. Most of what this current leadership wont ever be enacted though because there is such a grown swell of angry voters'
 
Having looked, can not find any official government announcement...appears to have been briefed to the media and other organisations (presumably) by Emma Hardy presumably ahead of any official statement. Have to assume that the proposed legislation (by summer 2026) will largely follow HSE final recommendations
andyk said:
Recommended by the HSE, not agreed by the Government yet (or perhaps until this morning, that’s why I’m asking).
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Having looked, can not find any official government announcement...appears this has been briefed to the media and other organisations (presumably) by Emma Hardy ahead of any official statement. Have to assume that the proposed legislation (by summer 2026) will largely follow HSE final recommendations (https://www.hse.gov.uk/reach/assets/docs/rr-aavi-0821.pdf) with large calibres being greater / equal to 6.17mm /0.2429134. I think (may be wrong) but looking at 3-4 years for any implementation as the way the briefing reads is legislation by summer 2026 + 3 years....maybe wrong though
 
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LE9219 said:
What's the crack with the phasing out over 3 years? Is there a date where the sale of lead ammunition will be banned followed by a date of the use of lead being banned?
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You have 3 years to use up your stocks of lead ammunition, after that you have very limited options.
If you follow the EU REACH proposals ( and you seem to be in lock step with them ) the sale, use and possession of prohibited lead ammunition will become illegal after the transition period.
Expect regular checks of game on dealers racks to monitor progress during the transition period and expect more monitoring post transition period with questions being asked and possibly prosecutions to follow.
You’ll probably get away with using lead if you keep quiet and just eat the stuff yourself, but the commercial sector will transition.
To those of you threatening to buy .22 centre fires specifically to shoot deer with lead ammunition post ban, I ask why?
Do you really think that a hot .22 using lead will perform better than a slightly larger caliber using non lead?
I shot deer with hot .22’s for over 20 years, they come with serious drawbacks, especially for the 3 larger species.
 
Liveonce said:
your guessing read the HSE documents they were talking about water course and drainage protection and can birds not fly onto sand? Who will inspect it, who will pay for that.

As I say the devil will be in the detail.
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The polluter should pay. And yes I have read the HSE documents, and also guidance being produced by the NRA and started thinking how we manage within the rifle club.

We in the shooting community have already had many years to think about this and to develop new ways of doing things. Many of us have.
 
dunwater said:
You have 3 years to use up your stocks of lead ammunition, after that you have very limited options.
If you follow the EU REACH proposals ( and you seem to be in lock step with them ) the sale, use and possession of prohibited lead ammunition will become illegal after the transition period.
Expect regular checks of game on dealers racks to monitor progress during the transition period and expect more monitoring post transition period with questions being asked and possibly prosecutions to follow.
You’ll probably get away with using lead if you keep quiet and just eat the stuff yourself, but the commercial sector will transition.
To those of you threatening to buy .22 centre fires specifically to shoot deer with lead ammunition post ban, I ask why?
Do you really think that a hot .22 using lead will perform better than a slightly larger caliber using non lead?
I shot deer with hot .22’s for over 20 years, they come with serious drawbacks, especially for the 3 larger species.
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Ok yeah makes sense, i use 12 ga for foxes and .223 for foxes currently so wont be affected much espeically on the rifle side of things
 
LE9219 said:
Ok yeah makes sense, i use 12 ga for foxes and .223 for foxes currently so wont be affected much espeically on the rifle side of things
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More detail emerging. presumably from a press release:-
The change to the law, announced by the environment minister Emma Hardy, will outlaw shotgun pellets containing more than 1% lead, and bullets that have more than 3%.
 
Quixote said:
I look forward to the next ten years' wildfowl death statistics being revealed. I'll bet my pension the numbers will be no different. I don't believe the 'science', and I don't accept that lead shot is responsible.
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In ten years global warming and pollution will have done so much damage to the natural environment that statistics will likely be impossible to conduct reliable conclusions from.
 
Trickyd66 said:
Any word of compensation for users of guns that non lead alternatives are not available for or likely to be? Eg 9mm flobart, and older 410s. (Or is it possible to empty the lead shot from 410 subsonics, replace with bismuth, and re crimp ? :-)
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Bugger.. just looked at the cost of 6kg of bismuth to replace the no6 lead in my slab of 410 subsonics (kindly gifted to me) £300 + delivery. Think the old norica bolt action may be heading to the scrapper :-(
 
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