IS .243 LEGAL WITH LEAD FREE BULLETS

Roedeer 1962

Well-Known Member
Just putting it out there for opinions for reloaders , will the .243 be legal in a lead free bullet if this becomes law , just preparing as a legal requirement for Deer
 
Word is that in Scotland the law is going to be changed to allow bullets lighter than 100g for red deer so that non lead ammo can be used in 243.
If they don't do that, then there will be a lot of 243s for sale cheap, or even a situation where the government might be forced to give compensation

Cheers

Bruce
 
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Just putting it out there for opinions for reloaders , will the .243 be legal in a lead free bullet if this becomes law , just preparing as a legal requirement for Deer

I would not be surprised if those pushing for 'lead' ammunition to be banned are those who stand to profit from it.

BASC made a lot of noise about shotgun cartridges, why are people keen to turn their attention towards rifle ammunition?

Don't mess about, get a bigger calibre.

Please explain why this is necessary.

Word is that in Scotland the law is going to be changed to allow bullets lighter than 100g for red deer so that non lead ammo can be used in 243.
If they don't do that, then there will be a lot of 243s for sale cheap, or even a situation where the government will be forced to give compensation

Cheers

Bruce

Pigs will fly before that happens.
 
Word is that in Scotland the law is going to be changed to allow bullets lighter than 100g for red deer so that non lead ammo can be used in 243.
If they don't do that, then there will be a lot of 243s for sale cheap, or even a situation where the government might be forced to give compensation

Cheers

Bruce
Sounds like “ animal welfare and best practice “ have gone by the wayside in favour of the new agenda .... interesting 🤔
 
I would not be surprised if those pushing for 'lead' ammunition to be banned are those who stand to profit from it.

BASC made a lot of noise about shotgun cartridges, why are people keen to turn their attention towards rifle ammunition?



Please explain why this is necessary.



Pigs will fly before that happens.
I never get the constant questions about bullet weight/speed/law with regard to the. 243. Get a .308 and all your questions are answered whatever you shoot at. The End.
 
Sounds like “ animal welfare and best practice “ have gone by the wayside in favour of the new agenda .... interesting 🤔
What's better for welfare, an 80grain non lead bullet designed to penetrate and kill deer sized animals or a 100 grain varmint bullet made from lead and copper? At the moment one is legal but less humane (assuming chest shots) while the other would be more effective but against the law.

I don't own a 243 or shoot in Scotland so it's purely hypothetical for me.
 
I never get the constant questions about bullet weight/speed/law with regard to the. 243. Get a .308 and all your questions are answered whatever you shoot at. The End.
I never get the constant questions about bullet weight/speed/law with regard to the. 243. Get a .308 and all your questions are answered whatever you shoot at. The End.

Why .243 is perfectly capable of dealing with all UK deer ,its all about bullet
placement if you can't stop UK deer with a .243 I would suggest it says more about
your shooting than it does about the calibre.
 
What's better for welfare, an 80grain non lead bullet designed to penetrate and kill deer sized animals or a 100 grain varmint bullet made from lead and copper? At the moment one is legal but less humane (assuming chest shots) while the other would be more effective but against the law.

I don't own a 243 or shoot in Scotland so it's purely hypothetical for me.
Doesn’t matter ! The LAW is 100 gr up and has been for ages , any moving of goalposts for the lead free fad makes a joke of this law
 
Doesn’t matter ! The LAW is 100 gr up and has been for ages , any moving of goalposts for the lead free fad makes a joke of this law
All I'm saying is 100g of a "legal" but unsuitable bullet is surely less humane than 80grains of something suitable? When I did have a 243 I used the Federal 80grain powershok instead of the 100grain. They were more accurate and produced more energy.

The law is the law but doesn't mean it makes sense and laws get changed all the time to reflect advances and changes in technology. Otherwise why can you shoot a roe in Scotland with a 50 grain 22 bullet but not in England? Are Scottish Roe much tougher? What about shooting a Norfolk red stag with an 80 grain which is legal on a deer much bigger and heavier than a Highland red stag weigh 30% less but having to use 100 grain bullet?
 
Doesn’t matter ! The LAW is 100 gr up and has been for ages , any moving of goalposts for the lead free fad makes a joke of this law

Has been the law since 1986.
However the Scottish Government commissioned a group to look at deer law in Scotland with the intenion of improvement ( In their eyes)
( among the things considred were deer season , lead free ammunition and many others the group made a great number recomendations of where they thought change was needed, one of those was that the minimum bullet weight should be
dropped to 80gr to allow .243 to remain legal if and when a lead ban is introduced.
The Scottish Government will consider all recommendations made ,which ones the implament remains to be seen.
 
Doesn’t matter ! The LAW is 100 gr up and has been for ages , any moving of goalposts for the lead free fad makes a joke of this law
Not really because the monometal bullets behave very differently to the lead core bullets that shed mass by fragmentation whilst penetrating through tissues. I would be willing to bet that an 80 grain mono-metal loaded to comparable muzzle energy will outpenetrate a 100g soft point in comparable media
 
All I'm saying is 100g of a "legal" but unsuitable bullet is surely less humane than 80grains of something suitable? When I did have a 243 I used the Federal 80grain powershok instead of the 100grain. They were more accurate and produced more energy.

The law is the law but doesn't mean it makes sense and laws get changed all the time to reflect advances and changes in technology. Otherwise why can you shoot a roe in Scotland with a 50 grain 22 bullet but not in England? Are Scottish Roe much tougher? What about shooting a Norfolk red stag with an 80 grain which is legal on a deer much bigger and heavier than a Highland red stag weigh 30% less but having to use 100 grain bullet?
Indeed the law makes no sense , but is put into force in the guise of “ animal welfare and best practice “ , my point being the law would seem not to matter at all if it’s being changed for this fad ....
 
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