Head and neck shots with lead ammunition
- Thread starter Birdshot
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Heym SR20
Well-Known Member
Have a read of this article published in Nature in 2025
Lead micro- and nanoparticles directly observed within gunshot wounds in hunted game meat - Scientific Reports
Bullets, shot, and other projectiles from firearms can fragment inadvertently when they strike a target. The fragmentation process is concerning for hunting, where the projectiles are often lead-based, and the targets are animals that will likely be ingested by people and/or scavenging wildlife...
www.nature.com
Ask your dealer as they will be the ones passing it direct to their customers/public.
HonestJohn
Well-Known Member
Shame scapula was removed and image didn’t go further back
Freeforester
Well-Known Member
Intelligent use of applied ballistics coupled with appropriate bullet design largely obviates the risks associated with lead ammunition; sadly the use of a bullet ‘designed to expand in a predictable/controlled manner’ gets overlooked by many, even though it is a statutory requirement.
Woodenbeam
Well-Known Member
Yep I’ve read thatHave a read of this article published in Nature in 2025
Lead micro- and nanoparticles directly observed within gunshot wounds in hunted game meat - Scientific Reports
Bullets, shot, and other projectiles from firearms can fragment inadvertently when they strike a target. The fragmentation process is concerning for hunting, where the projectiles are often lead-based, and the targets are animals that will likely be ingested by people and/or scavenging wildlife...
Shock horror……….
Still gonna eat game though………I must be mad due to overconsumption of toxic contaminated meat.
If you look hard enough you’ll find & this is the case with this thread - nano particles
Let’s be honest bullet into the rib cage……….thats most of the front end for the bin due to shot damage and with it goes the major amount of said contamination.
I’m sure if you looked hard enough you’d find countless other things that would be dangerous to one’s health with regard to game consumption.
More of a chance of being ill though through bad hygiene practices in the preparation of said game than a build up of nano particles - as usual a load of regurgitated tosh.
Smoking is the one which costs both the smokers pocket also the burden long term to the health service.Yep I’ve read that
Shock horror……….
Still gonna eat game though………I must be mad due to overconsumption of toxic contaminated meat.
If you look hard enough you’ll find & this is the case with this thread - nano particles
Let’s be honest bullet into the rib cage……….thats most of the front end for the bin due to shot damage and with it goes the major amount of said contamination.
I’m sure if you looked hard enough you’d find countless other things that would be dangerous to one’s health with regard to game consumption.
More of a chance of being ill though through bad hygiene practices in the preparation of said game than a build up of nano particles - as usual a load of regurgitated tosh.
Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death in the UK, with recent estimates attributing approximately 74,600 to 78,000 annual deaths to smoking-related illnesses. Over 15% of all UK deaths are linked to smoking, with cardiovascular diseases alone accounting for around 40 deaths every day.
As of 2024, approximately 5.3 million adults (10.6% of the population) smoke cigarettes in the UK that figure does not include children who smoke.
Regular Smokers: Around 1% of pupils aged 11-15 in England are classified as regular smokers.
@Heym SR20 needs to wave his flag at the above first as that is doing more harm
Heym SR20
Well-Known Member
You are welcome to your views which many will view as complete and utter regurgitated tosh.Yep I’ve read that
Shock horror……….
Still gonna eat game though………I must be mad due to overconsumption of toxic contaminated meat.
If you look hard enough you’ll find & this is the case with this thread - nano particles
Let’s be honest bullet into the rib cage……….thats most of the front end for the bin due to shot damage and with it goes the major amount of said contamination.
I’m sure if you looked hard enough you’d find countless other things that would be dangerous to one’s health with regard to game consumption.
More of a chance of being ill though through bad hygiene practices in the preparation of said game than a build up of nano particles - as usual a load of regurgitated tosh.
Heym SR20
Well-Known Member
consider that the paper above was written up in 2025 and making use of new techniques of electronic microscopy etc. where as the MRI and X Ray studies were a number of years ago.
Bavarianbrit
Well-Known Member
Going head to head then? 
X-ray analyses of deer carcases do not distinguish between lead present in the meat and lead.present in other parts of the carcase.
In particular, the study of the deer tissue in the Nature article was from a section of tissue which nobody in their right minds would ever consider eating.
As is usual with these studies, the authors wanted a particular answer and designed their study to achieve it. Had they examined a sample of meat, rather than a sample of material which would go in the waste bin, the results would have held value.
This is typical.of "the science" which anti-shooting activists and their useful idiots use to support their cause - misrepresentative by design. Everybody.can see that, yet people who claim to know better close their eyes and use studies like these to argue conclusions which are not remotely supportable on the real scientific evidence.
In particular, the study of the deer tissue in the Nature article was from a section of tissue which nobody in their right minds would ever consider eating.
As is usual with these studies, the authors wanted a particular answer and designed their study to achieve it. Had they examined a sample of meat, rather than a sample of material which would go in the waste bin, the results would have held value.
This is typical.of "the science" which anti-shooting activists and their useful idiots use to support their cause - misrepresentative by design. Everybody.can see that, yet people who claim to know better close their eyes and use studies like these to argue conclusions which are not remotely supportable on the real scientific evidence.
Consider that the paper above studied a piece of deer tissue which was not food. Therefore it has precisely zero relevance to food safety and whether one should ban lead bullets.
Dunwaters
Well-Known Member
Try this yourself.
Butcher and mince meat from adjacent to the shot site ( assuming you used a lead bullet at around 2,800 fps or higher). Include the bruised and blood shot material between the muscle groups and layers.
Put the mince into a plastic container and wash it, remove the mince and carefully decant the liquor.
There will almost certainly be lead particles in the container.
Whether you were going to eat it yourself or feed it to the dog isn’t relevant, the lead will be there and it will be spread a considerable distance from the wound channel.
I did this myself having recovered a 140gr .270 bullet, it weighed 80 when I checked. The logical conclusion was that the missing 60gr of lead core was somewhere between the POI and where I found the bullet, and at least some of it was.
Heym SR20
Well-Known Member
But you really really don’t understand. The lead in bullets has not been proven to be toxic. It does you no harm what so ever, nor will it harm your dog, ferrets, falcons or family. The leadites have huge amounts of evidence to support this argument, along with plenty of evidence that smoking, drinking to excess, asbestos etc all do no harm what so ever.
Logic doesn’t come into it. It’s all a conspiracy
TringSaint
Well-Known Member
When I travel into London and go on the tube I ingest god knows what into my body. Same when I walk through the city, tring , Aylesbury or any other urban area with cars present.
I drink water that has god knows what forever chemicals floating in it along with micro plastics and the same goes for my food, no matter how careful I am to buy good stuff.
So……. On the balance of it, I’m not that worried about eating game which I have shot with a lead bullet.
I drink water that has god knows what forever chemicals floating in it along with micro plastics and the same goes for my food, no matter how careful I am to buy good stuff.
So……. On the balance of it, I’m not that worried about eating game which I have shot with a lead bullet.
Dunwaters
Well-Known Member
I know, I know, but I thought it was worth a try.But you really really don’t understand. The lead in bullets has not been proven to be toxic. It does you no harm what so ever, nor will it harm your dog, ferrets, falcons or family. The leadites have huge amounts of evidence to support this argument, along with plenty of evidence that smoking, drinking to excess, asbestos etc all do no harm what so ever.
Logic doesn’t come into it. It’s all a conspiracy
I’m not saying that the lead is harmful ( might try again later) just pointing out that it is there.
Try this....Don't do that. Throw damaged meat away as per all sensible advice. There will be lead particles in your bin, not in your dog, not in your food.
Everyone knows that and takes appropriate measures to avoid it.
But the logical conclusion is NOT that this missing lead is in meat that a sensible person would eat or feed to his dog. There is no logical, quantifiable connection between the lead fragments which were found in this paper (and via your suggested method) and the presence of lead in food.
You might as well say you shouldn't eat beef because of E. Coli present in the anal sphincter of cattle. The disconnect between the observation and sensible food preparation practice is equally wide.
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