steel shot in old guns....

[Roxdale]

Steel Shot, a shooter’s perspective…

So to start off with, whats all this sudden fuss about steel? …Well, earlier this year there was a sudden announcement, and one which only was heard or at least registered by 50% of shooters and perhaps understood in its full implications for what it could mean to our sport by even less than this figure.
So what’s the fuss? Well, it essentially boils down to whether you use an English antique or vintage shotgun really. Just to confuse shooters further -the subject of steel ammunition then meets a fork in the road and on the left hand side has a sign saying “for standard steel moderate loads”…and to the right “High powered steel loads” with a caveat not to be used in guns without a modern steel proof stamp!

So lets break this down simply… It would appear that a few things are happening simultaneously, leaving the average shooter both confused or at least anxious at best as to what to use or whether their gun is future proofed to some perceived dark clouds on the horizon? The things or clouds that concern the shooter are…
1) Can steel be used in any shotgun?
2) Why can’t we continue to use lead?
3) What’s wrong with lead?
4) Is steel any cheaper?
5) And will the advent of steel cartridges mean my gun will be worth less or mean I can’t use it entirely, and is now the time to get rid of it if lead is to be discontinued?
6) Is steel really non toxic?
7) Whats wrong with Bismuth?

So lets tackle these questions…
1) As a home loader and gun collector, I can say I have partly found the problems and I hope the solutions to some of these, let me explain…
First of all, its not an entirely straight cut answer as there are undoubtedly variables at play here not least with the guns but also with the ammunition…
So lets start with the guns…
If like me you are using a Damascus barreled nitro proofed English game gun, in my case a virtually unknown provincial maker, of sound quality but clearly over 140years old with change on top and doubtless many owners, a choked bored weapon say for arguments sake ¾ and ¾ choked, and chambered for 2.5” shells…Immediately we have to ask the question, is shooting something physically harder than the gun’s barrels through its bore’s a good idea?
The answer should always be no! Even with a protective wad there can be some scratching as I found out to my guns deterement. It is my firm belief that there are three things to consider when shooting steel, 1) the angle of your chamber’s forcing cones, if its too steep, you will end up with dimples or scratches forward of your guns camber when using steel shot. 2) your chokes can’t be overlooked, and 3) the Iron to steel ratio of your guns barrels.
It has been my observation that steel whilst fired using moderate home loads can be fired safely using a protective thick card or plastic wad through steel barrels no less than 30”thou with progressive or smoothly angled chokes or chamber forcing cones the same can’t be said of Damascus particularly if the mix of your barrels has more iron in than steel, and also if your gun was once 13/1 and of tight bores then this also can accaserbate wear if using steel shot. That said, if you drop the shot charge to around 22- 24grams and put a cone or triangular shaped piece of oasis flower arranging foam inside the shot column before crimping your cartridge down (paper cases are best) you can shoot it through full choke with little problems…However, this is again dependent on the barrels being used the angle of choke and the forcing cones dimensions.
I have added some diagrams to emphasize my points with this short essay.





2) So why can’t we continue to use lead?
Again many variable spanners in the shooter’s works, I’ll break it down…
a) Environmental concerns, lead is seen by a large number of countries particularly developed socialist/ federalist countries to be a pollutant these include the EU and the USA, in particular California, who now label all lead containing products from a jar of artists paint right down to even a small tin of air gun pellets with a disclaimer saying so, both inside and outside of the tin, just to make sure you know you are exposing yourself to 0.009% of a toxin, so negligible that its not worth loosing sleep over.
b) Political bullying, the CIP international proof house, which has about 14 or so members including the UK and most EU country’s sets down one rule for the masses or rather its members a bit like how Strasberg operates with its MEP’s…Its its rules regardless of whether you agree with it or not, most of its members seem to have joined at the roughly the same time that the European superstate was being formed, its only two odd one out members being Chilly and Russia. My point being if the CIP sneezes, then we all sneeze, so, ironically if we could just convince the CIP that lead is really ok, then perhaps they would be promoting that instead?
c) Cost effectiveness/ maximizing profit for the cartridge manufacturers, steel is a quarter of the price of lead, so the future business development of steel cartridges looks very profitable for them.
d) Dwindling world resources. Lead is sadly very expensive to mine and refine so it make sit somewhat expensive to produce and is like all natural resources sadly running a bit thin…
e) Every 100 years or so, gun makers/ retailers like to bring out something new to boost sales. Currently I see a few gun makers are promoting the sale and advantages of using ultra steel proofed guns, so maybe some dealerships will try to push these guns now rather than the older guns or second hand market, which to my mind seems very limiting especially at a time when people have lost their jobs or simply don’t want to buy a whole new gun, and with gu clubs closing due to the pandemic this could go 50/50.


3) So same as above really, lead looks to be phased out one way or the other eventually so manufacturers are looking to start something new.

4) yes steel is cheaper making it an attractive proposition to some parties, though mostly manufacturers.

5) So is now a good time to sell and should I modify my chokes or cut my barrels down to future proof my gun I hear some forum posts ask? No No and No, is my reply, there is simply no reason on earth to ruin a good gun or even a cheap gun for that matter by way of cutting back behind the chokes or even by removing the chokes with a reaming tool, as help has arrived for the sportsman shopper and commercial or private reloader at hand right here in 2020. It has arrived in the form of two available wads both in plastic and thick card. The first wad is essentially a thick cardboard tube which when cut 4 or 8 times for the best pattern can be used with steel birdshot and in steel barrels seems safe from the 4 guns I have tested it in. The second wad somewhat novel can be used in a full choke shotgun but gives the same pattern as if it were cylinder choked, thus making any gun (purely by carrying two types of ammo’s ) a very versatile proposition, a bit like the multi-choked gun is for the modern clay shooter.
The idea of selling a gun in a world recession is perhaps at best a panic option, but if you want to buy one by all means why not, if it make you happy, or you want to fill a missing gap in a collection?
Ultimately the thing that drives us all is the fact that our hobby, despite its set backs with or without world pandemics or Government legislature, is a fun hobby, if it were not fun, we would not do it, nor would we spend our time and money in it. It is an all-consuming hobby with many facets of interest, something for everyone. There are solutions out there, so perhaps the future for shooting isn’t so grey after all? We can either adapt our ammunition, or just prioritize what and when we are shooting and budget for it accordingly, or just take up golf, but no one wants to do that do they?

6) Steel when it rusts in moist conditions or gets exposed to water produces a red kind of furry rust called red oxide, red oxide in itself is toxic and can even stunt the growth of water snails so, steel isn’t the be all and end all it also has a nasty habit of ricocheting below are some images from a clay ground I took to emphercise the aspect of unseen shot pollution whether lead or otherwise..

In this photo below we see a typical clay ground, see the pellets everywhere? Imagine what steel would look like?










7) so whats wrong with Bismuth?
Well, Bismuth has three problems with it, like steel its very light so you need more pellets of the stuff to make up your overall shot load so this means adapting wads, and matching powders to launch it accordingly, overall the quality of Bismuth from a home loaders persepectve is not great, the quality of the pellets is ropey and mis shapen at best, giving slightly irregular patterns, Bismuth is also 4 times more expensive than lead making it unnatractive…larger shot sizes must e used to make up the weight a bit like using steel, although steel is much lighter still, for a point of example an ounce by weight of steel would be a 1.5oz in a lead shot measure by equivalent. A 1oz lead shot measure would be about 21grams of steel etc…

So, in conclusion, points to remember, if you are using a steel barreled gun post 1890’s check your forcing cones, barrel dimensions , wall widths and chokes, look for a smooth run in on both and no steep angles. Never go above 24grains of red dot of Unique or Vectan AS. Avoid steel in Damascus guns.

[FredB]

The British isles are pretty much made of lead---there are old mines everywhere---they are not deep. Lead comes from the ground in the form of galena, lead suplphide which is very poisonous. We put it back in the ground in a form which is not very poisonous, but can be if, in the form of small shot, it is ingested by birds.
Somebody---the shooting o0rganisations should be telling the politicians this and getting them off our backs.
Fred

[RDC]

Somebody---the shooting o0rganisations should be telling the politicians this and getting them off our backs.
Fred

BASC are the ones trying to introduce a 'voluntary' ban...

[Sim G]

I read an article a wee while which concluded that far many more coastland birds are killed by wind farms, than by ingesting lead shot. I imagine that has the environ-"mentalists" and Packems et al in right old tussle of emotional wrestling...

[Chapuis]

Somebody---the shooting o0rganisations should be telling the politicians this and getting them off our backs.
Fred

BASC are the ones trying to introduce a 'voluntary' ban...

Not just BASC. Have you seen the joint statement put out by the majority of the shooting organisations in February.
https://basc.org.uk/a-joint-statement-o ... -shooting/

[RDC]

Somebody---the shooting o0rganisations should be telling the politicians this and getting them off our backs.
Fred

BASC are the ones trying to introduce a 'voluntary' ban...

Not just BASC. Have you seen the joint statement put out by the majority of the shooting organisations in February.
https://basc.org.uk/a-joint-statement-o ... -shooting/

There was quite a bit of drama surrounding that supposedly joint statement, with some of the naked organisations stating there had been discussion but not the level of agreement BASC claimed. Likewise the ammo manufacturers they claimed were on board, weren't. Again, initial discussions but nothing agreed.

[Chapuis]

I was rather disappointed or should that be rather annoyed that the shooting organisation that I belong to signed this statement without first consulting the membership. Personally I believe that these organisations should have introduced a consultative educational/informative campaign process over a period of time before making such a statement. To not do so is to treat their respective members with contempt.

[Blackstuff]

The final nail in the coffin of me deciding to discontinue my BASC membership.

With regard to the proposed ban, at the other end of the shooting spectrum to ye olde Englishe shotguns, Practical Shotgun would no longer be possible as 90% of it involves shooting steel plates at 5-30m. Shooting steel WITH steel at 5m is not a good idea for obvious reasons and you probably wouldn't knock over a plate at 30m with steel shot.... The sport simply couldn't continue in its current form (unless some kind of 'soft' target was produced that could take many, many, many hits)

[GeeRam]

I was rather disappointed or should that be rather annoyed that the shooting organisation that I belong to signed this statement without first consulting the membership. Personally I believe that these organisations should have introduced a consultative educational/informative campaign process over a period of time before making such a statement. To not do so is to treat their respective members with contempt.

Par for the course though......

None of them want to rock the boat that is gradually sinking with all hands on board.

[Dorset_shooter]

Somebody---the shooting o0rganisations should be telling the politicians this and getting them off our backs.
Fred

BASC are the ones trying to introduce a 'voluntary' ban...

The weakest of all shooting organisations, I dropped my membership after the general licence mess up.

Glad I did after seeing their response to the lead ban, although I have no objection with using steel if that’s what is needed, just their lack of action on anything is weak.