December 24 News Update:

Hornady introduces new
line of California-legal
big game ammunition

 

     Hornady Manufacturing has announced a new line of “expanding solid” bullets and loaded ammunition that will meet California’s non-lead requirements in the range of the California condor for hunting ammunition.
     The new bullet is made from solid gilding metal, a copper-based alloy that has no lead in its construction, similar to the three other non-lead products currently on the market, the Barnes X-line of bullets, the Nosler E-Tip line, and Lapua Naturalis bullet. The new Hornady GMX bullets will be available in .270, 7mm, .308, and .338 diameters for 2009. Hunters will be able to buy bullets for reloading or loaded ammunition in popular cartridges for those three calibers, and the first loaded ammunition should be available on dealer’s shelves soon after the first of the year.
“It should be ubiquitous by August next year when your deer seasons start opening,” said Steve Johnson, a spokesman for Hornady.
     And as it has done with its other products, the new Hornady bullets will also be priced about 20 percent below similar competitors’ products.
     The Hornady GMX bullet is a polymer tipped solid bullet with an expansion hollowpoint below the tip. It also has grooves in the bearing surface along the side of the bullet to reduce drag and pressure. Reloaders can use the same data they use with lead-based bullets. Bullets will be made in 130-grain 270 caliber, 139-grain 7mm caliber, 150 and 165-grain 30 caliber, and 225-grain 338 caliber in 2009. Loaded ammunition will be produced in .270 Winchester, 7mm Remington Magnum, .308 Winchester, .30-06, .300 Winchester Magnum, and .300 Ruger Compact Magnum (RCM) initially with other bullet diameters and cartridges to follow in 2010.
     The new bullets are designed to expand to 1 1/2 times their original diameter across a wide range of impact velocities. Since they also retain over 95 percent of their weight, they also penetrate very well. But this has become the norm with the copper-based bullets currently on the market, all which perform well in the field.
     Sportsmen interested in learning more about the new bullet and ammunition line can visit the Hornady web site at this address: http://www.hornady.com/story.php?s=792.

     Hunters in California often had a difficult time finding non-lead ammunition for deer and hog hunting this summer and fall, but this was more a problem of stores not stocking the ammunition than it not being available. With Hornady’s entry into the marketplace, there are now four major companies making bullets and offering loaded ammunition featuring non-lead bullets that are legal for hunting in the state’s non-lead hunting zone. Federal, Black Hills, and many custom loaders are offering Barnes Triple Shock X-bullets in loaded ammunition. The new Nosler E-Tip is currently only being offered in Winchester ammunition, and Remington has some loadings in their “Green” line that feature the Lapua Naturalis solid copper bullet. Now Hornady will be offering its new GMX bullet, which stands for Gilding Metal eXpanding, both to reloaders and in loaded ammunition. Hopefully, with so many options now available, perhaps retailers in the region will have more product available next hunting season.
     And please no more whining about how these copper/gilding metal bullets perform on game. Game shot through the vitals with these slugs die just as quickly as with any other bullet, and they actually perform better than standard lead bullets if you happen to hit large bones or need penetration to reach vitals if you poke at game angling away from you.
Game running off after being shot is almost always a factor of poor shooting rather than poor bullet performance.
 

October 10 News Update:

New Minnesota study points to possible
human health impacts with lead ammunition
 

     A new study done by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources shows that lead ammunition shot into big game animals can spray lead fragments as far as 14 inches away from the wound channel, potentially causing poisoning issues for humans who might eat the lead-tainted meat, especially children and the fetuses being carried by pregnant women.

     A story in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune at this link (http://www.startribune.com/sports/outdoors/30579269.html ) gives more details While this link (http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/hunting/lead/index.html ) will take you directly to the DNR study (a PDF file).

 

September 11, 2008 Commentary
Knowledge about non-lead
ammunition requirements high,
but compliance is a mixed bag

By JIM MATTHEWS
Outdoor News Service

     While knowledge about the lead ammunition ban within condor range is extremely high among hunters, the number of sportsmen participating in the A zone deer season is off this year, according to Department of Fish and Game wardens patrolling the hunt zone.
     Roland Takayama, DFG warden captain for the Ventura and Santa Barbara county area, said that while virtually all hunters contacted during the A zone opener in late August knew about the non-lead ammunition requirement, there was still confusion about what ammunition was legal. He said some hunters purchased polymer-tipped bullets thinking they were legal because they could not see a lead tip. They also continue to see hunters using steel-jacketed military surplus ammunition, which has always been illegal for big game hunting.
     Of the nearly 100 people contacted the opening weekend, he said only about 60 percent were in full compliance with the requirement, but that everyone knew about the new law. Many hunters were carrying both lead and non-lead ammunition, which is not legal.
     “As one hunter who packed in with horses told me, ‘If it didn’t perform, I going to shoot with my old ammunition,’” said Takayama.
     “Knowledge of this was better than I thought it was going to be. Virtually everyone has heard about it, and compliance has been pretty fair,” said Takayama.
     The most disconcerting thing he found?
     “Not a person I spoke with had zeroed in their rifle with the new ammunition. Not one. They didn’t want to shoot up this expensive ammunition -- and these are long-time hunters,” said Takayama. “We’re going to lose a lot of animals to wounding because guys will just be winging shots downrange and never know where they’re hitting.”
And of course, they’ll blame the ammunition.
     Wounded and lost deer will be chalked up to inadequate performance from solid copper bullets and not to poor shooting or guns that weren’t sighted in correctly. There have been rants in some local outdoor publications about how the all copper Barnes X-Bullet line and new Nosler E-Tip bullets don’t expand properly, but that simply doesn’t jive with extensive laboratory work and field testing done with this ammunition.
     Traditional lead bullets are more likely to fail than the copper bullets, which are touted by hunters around the world as among the most-reliable and best-performing bullets available. Yet, some hunters still insist these new bullets don’t perform. Takayama’s discovery that many hunters aren’t sighting in guns with the new ammunition gives us a clue where that ignorance originates.
     In my own firearms, the solid copper bullets from both Barnes and Nosler shoot to different points of impact than lead ammunition, sometimes dramatically so. Using the same sight setting, the difference in group locations has been up to 14 inches in my guns. It’s a well-known rule that you always resight your hunting guns whenever you change ammunition, and you should always check before each hunt to make sure the ammunition is shooting to the same point of impact as the last time you shot the gun.
     Takayama was amazed that otherwise veteran hunters he spoke with had not even sighted in their guns with the new ammunition. Appalling is more like it.
     Takayama said that the cost of the non-lead ammunition and its general lack of availability may have been a factor for this huge lapse. He told of going into one hunting camp where the hunters, who all shot the same caliber rifles, had went in together and bought one $60 box of ammunition and split the ammunition between them before hunting.
     He also said that a lot of hunters -- because of the cost of the new ammunition and gasoline -- simply didn’t show up to hunt this year. The wardens’ anecdotal car counts and hunter contacts show that participation was down by 50 to 70 percent, depending on area.
     Takayama said he spoke with hunters in one camp who said some of their relatives just decided not to do it anymore because it was getting too expensive. For hunters who would purchase $8 boxes of .30-30 ammo, the idea of now paying $50 or $60 for that ammo, combined with $4-plus per gallon gasoline, kept many of them home.
     “We’re going to lose participation. That’s the sad part of all this,” said Takayama. “A lot of hunters have always done this ‘on the cheap,’ and we’re running these guys away from the sport.”
     The expensive non-lead ammunition is still not available in good supplies at many guns and ammunition dealers, and a number of D-zone deer seasons, also in the range of the California condor where non-lead is required, will begin opening starting Sept. 20. Zones affected include D7, D8, D9, D10, D11, and D13, or about 28,000 deer hunters who will have tags for these zones.

 

July 30, 2008 Commentary
Coastal deer season opens on August 9
and non-lead ammo supplies still lacking

By JIM MATTHEWS
Outdoor News Service

     The A-zone deer hunting season kicks off Saturday, August 9, and most sporting good stores throughout Southern California have dismal supplies of newly-required non-lead big game hunting ammunition.
     “Availability is a serious issue,” said Glenn Tessers with the California Deer Association. “It irks me when I hear that no one can get non-lead ammunition.”
     Most bigger Southern California dealers knew this train was coming down the tracks over a year ago, but they still didn’t take steps to make sure they had adequate supplies of non-lead ammunition. In quick checks with selected stores in the region -- Turner’s Outdoorsman, a chain of 13 stores in Southern California, Fowler’s Gun Room in Orange, Bass Pro Shops in Rancho Cucamonga, and Second Amendment Sports in Bakersfield -- they all had scanty supplies of non-lead deer ammunition available, even in common calibers. For example, Second Amendment Sports was out of even .30-06 and .270 Winchester ammunition, while Fowler’s didn’t have .243 non-lead. Turner’s and Bass Pro Shops only had limited supplies of 30 caliber magnum rounds.
     While California’s A-zone opens over a month before most other deer seasons in this state open and two months ahead of most other Western states, dealers could have made sure they had good supplies on hand with better planning. Most said they will be receiving shipments from manufacturers with their usual fall goods coming in late August.
     But that doesn’t do much good for hunters who travel to the coast for the A zone opener each year.
     August Harden at Shoot the Moon Outfitters in Paso Robles, a small gun and ammunition store on the Central Coast in the heart of the lead ammunition ban, is a good example of what could have been done by Southern California dealers. Harden said he had good supplies of all standard calibers and a lot of lesser calibers on hand this week. Harden said he was stocking non-lead ammunition from Federal, Winchester, Cor-Bon, Black Hills, and even some specialty calibers like .300 Savage, .250-3000, and .257 Roberts put together by a custom loader in Santa Barbara, Custom Cartridge, Inc.
     “We’ve been scrambling to make sure we have ammunition for our customers,” said Harden. “Supplies of .270 Federal ammunition -- all Federal non-lead ammunition for that matter -- has dried up recently, so we got in some Black Hills .270 stuff.”
     Harden is also one of the few dealers stocking Cor-Bon rifle and pistol ammunition, which is available in non-lead for a wide range of calibers.
     Most of the public land deer hunting in the A zone takes place on the Los Padres National Forest, and Kathy Good, a spokesperson for the forest, said the entire Monterey Ranger District would likely be closed for the opening of the season August 9. While the Indian and Basin fires are both listed as “contained,” crews are still mopping up through the burn areas and the public probably won’t be let back into the areas for some time. The Indian Fire burned over 81,000 acres, while the Basin Fire charred nearly 163,000 acres. The entire Monterey Ranger District only has 311,000 acres -- this means nearly 80 percent of this part of the forest burned in June and July.
     “The forest supervisor and district ranger are well aware that the deer season opens on August 9th, and they are in discussion this week to see what can be done to accommodate hunters,” said Good, but she suggested the outlook was not good for the Monterey Ranger District.
     The other districts of the Los Padres, including the area around the recently contained Gap Fire near Goleta, and the vast areas burned last year (the Zaca Fire at 240,000 acres) and the year before (the Day Fire at nearly 163,000 acres), are both going to be open to hunters barring any changes in conditions. Hunters should note that some of those fires were in the D13 hunting zone, which opens in October, and not the A zone. Good said hunters should call with the ranger station or district office nearest where they intend to hunt to get the latest conditions, road closures, and fire restrictions.
     “The massive Zaca Fire left a moonscape over miles and miles of the forest,” said Good. “The view is stunning.”
While it appears the area is a moonscape, chaparral plants send new sprouts up from the root stock (called crown sprouting) within two to three weeks of a fire if the plant is not killed, and since most are fire resistant, few are killed. This fresh vegetation is like candy to deer, and they move out into the burn areas to feed almost immediately on this fresh growth. These burns generally lead to increased deer production for the five or six seasons following the fire.
Erwin Ward, a retired forest service employee and publisher of Big Game Hunting Maps, detailed where-to-go hunting guides, said “a hunter wants to get out there and work the edges of those burns.”
     Ward, who lives in Santa Barbara, said that deer will start using the edges of the Gap Fire, which was just contained three weeks ago, immediately.
     “The vegetation will be sprouting up and the deer will be in there,” said Ward.
Statewide, Tessers said the Department of Fish and Game was saying that deer herds have declined by 30 percent or more in recent years because of habitat loss and drought conditions, but fires concentrate deer in the habitat on the edges of the burns where conditions become ideal and production jumps.
     Harden said that on his family’s ranch on the Central Coast near Paso Robles, “there’s a whole lot more of them than I’ve seen in 20 years on our place. Horn growth is pretty good, and I’ve got at least two bucks with 25-inch spreads. So our deer look pretty good.”
     Apparently that is true in a number of pockets of the A zone, where better weather conditions this year led to good deer feed and improving deer numbers, especially around the burned areas.

 

 

 

July 2nd News Update:

Lead ammunition ban in effect this week


By JIM MATTHEWS
Outdoor News Service
     The regional ban on lead big game and varmint hunting ammunition went into affect Tuesday (July 1) this week, but non-lead ammunition is still available in very limited supplies at most Southern California suppliers. Sporting goods stores on California’s Central Coast and San Joaquin Valley, right in the heart of the ammunition ban area, seem to have better supplies but availability is still scanty.
     The area encompassed by the ban includes the D7, D8, D9, D10, D11, D13, and the southern A zone deer hunting zones (scroll down to see map). This region also has the highest wild hog densities in California and some of its best varmint hunting. Conservative estimates place the number of sportsmen affected by the lead ammunition ban at over 40,000, including 25,000 deer hunters.
     “Most people are aware of the ban, but they still don’t have all the details,” said August Harden of Shoot the Moon Outfitters in Paso Robles, which has extensive supplies of non-lead ammunition. “There’s still a lot of mis-information out there. I had a guy in here who swore up and down it included [use of non-lead ammunition for] birds, but it does not.”
     Joey Penney at Second Amendment Sports in Bakersfield, which also had decent supplies of non-lead big game ammunition, said that while most hunters were aware of the new law, “I get a lot of guys who think it’s all B.S.”
     Lead bullet fragments and slugs from big game hunting ammunition have been found to poison endangered California condors which eat the fragments in gut piles and the remains of butchered game left in the field, and the legislature banned lead ammunition for big game and coyote hunting in October. In December, the California Fish and Game Commission expanded the ban on lead hunting ammunition adopted by the legislature. While the legislature’s ban only affected centerfire big game ammunition and buckshot and slug loads in shotguns used for coyotes and deer, the Commission expanded the regulation to ban popular .17 and .22 rimfire ammunition for the hunting of all non-game animals — not just coyotes — in condor range. The ban also includes shotgun ammunition used for varmint hunting only.
     Neither the legislation nor new Commission regulations affect the use of lead ammunition used for target shooting with rifles or handguns, or lead shotgun ammunition used for gamebird hunting or target shooting. Lead rimfire or centerfire ammunition was also not banned for use when hunting small game, like cottontail rabbits or tree squirrels.
     Staring July 1, big game and varmint hunters were no longer allowed to have lead ammunition in their possession when hunting within the range of California condors. Sportsmen can be fined $500 for violating the new law.
While compliance for the new law is expected to be high for fall deer seasons, the biggest impact immediately will be on varmint hunters and wild hog hunters who can’t find ammunition for their guns, especially rimfires.
     There is currently only one rimfire round being manufactured – a .22 magnum load made by CCI/Federal called the TNT Green. While supplies were supposed to be in the pipeline, most of the stores contacted for this story did not have it in house yet. Harden at Shoot the Moon said his first order arrived on July 2, the day after the ban went into affect.
     Nabor Mascorro with Turner’s Outdoorsman, a chain of 13 retail stores carrying guns, hunting, and fishing tackle, said they did not have any of the new rimfire ammunition in stock and didn’t know when it would arrive. But he noted that most rimfire shooters use standard .22 long rifle or the new .17 HMR rounds, and manufacturers have not even announced when they would have non-lead ammunition for these two popular rimfire rounds.
     Big game hunters have it a little better with most stores having loaded ammunition in some of the most popular calibers, and most store managers report they are getting in new supplies by late July. With the lead ammunition ban affecting approximately 25,000 deer hunters across the seven zones, the stocks will arrive none too soon. The A zone deer season opens August 9, while D7 opens Sept. 20, followed by the D8, D9, and D10 openers on Sept. 27. The D11 and D13 deer zones do not open until Oct. 11.
     Penney at Second Amendment said that hunters need to get the new non-lead ammunition well in advance of deer season and make sure their guns are sighted in properly with the new loads.
     “It shoots differently,” said Penney. “You definitely have to resight-in with the new ammo. My dad and I both had to make adjustments with the new loads in our rifles.”
     While non-lead loaded ammunition is manufactured for most standard deer hunting calibers, most retailers do not carry more than a few boxes of non-lead ammunition in standard loadings. Based on store surveys this week, many hunters will have difficultly finding ammunition for their big game and varmint rifles. For example, no major manufacturer is loading non-lead .30-30 ammunition, and most dealers are not stocking loads for common but less popular rounds like the .243 Winchester, .25-06, 7mm-08, or 280 Remington.
     Federal has the most comprehensive non-lead line-up in its Premium line of ammunition, featuring the non-lead Barnes Triple-Shock X-bullets and the Barnes MRX bullet, listing loads for 17 different calibers from .243 to .338. All Weatherby ammunition is also available with Barnes bullets, and Black Hills has some big game ammunition loaded with Barnes bullets. Winchester loads the new Nosler E-Tip non-lead bullet into four 30 caliber cartridges and .270 and 7mm rounds are expected to follow later this fall. While generally not available in this country, Lapua has a non-lead bullet — the Naturalis — that is available in many European cartridges, in addition to standard American hunting rounds. This bullet is also made of copper, like the Barnes and Winchester slugs, but it has not been approved yet by the California Department of Fish and Game.
     Most hunters, who might be buying the premium ammunition for the first time because of the ban, also have been experiencing sticker shock. Typical cost for a box of 20 non-lead big game hunting rounds is between $40 and $70 or more. While this is comparable to other premium loads with lead bullets (mostly because lead ammunition costs have jumped dramatically in the past two years with raw lead increasing from 20 cents a pound to $1.60 a pound), there has been a lot of grumbling among buyers, according to reports from all dealers.
     Many experienced hunters aren’t waiting to see if their local dealer will special order or get the factory ammunition in time. Custom cartridge loaders are very busy, seeing their waiting times increase as orders for non-lead ammunition stack up. Bill Jobson and Becky Davis of Custom Cartridge, Inc., in Goleta, a small custom shop that loads for virtually any cartridge available, said their usual turnaround time is less than a week, but the volume of orders has increased as hunters scramble to get ammunition for their fall hunting season. Davis said the average wait is two to three weeks now.
And while Davis said their prices are really on par with premium factory loads, ranging from $45 to $80 for most non-lead loads, they also still hear a lot of complaining about the price.
     “They’re worried about ammo prices when performance in the field should be their biggest concern when hunting,” said Davis. “When you consider all the other costs involved in hunting, the price of your ammunition is a very small part.”
     Hunters who do their own reloading will have no problem getting non-lead big game or varmint hunting bullets. For big game, Barnes line of tipped and regular Triple Shock X-bullets and MRX bullets are available in virtually all calibers, and Nosler is growing its line new E-Tip bullets with 270, 7mm, and 30 caliber bullets available now. For varmint hunters, Barnes’ line of Varmint Grenade non-lead bullets has also been expanded with new .20, .22, and .243 diameter bullets, and it also has Multi-Purpose Green (MPG) bullets in 22 and 30 calibers.
     “It’s going to be hard for people to get used to shooting this stuff,” said Harden. “It’s not that it’s not good ammunition – it’s the best ammunition out there – but people just don’t like being told what to do.”

 

 

March 1st News Update:

Lead ammo ban affects seven deer zones

 

By JIM MATTHEWS

Outdoor News Service

      Hunters in D7, D8, D9, D10, D11, and most of the southern A zone will be required to use non-lead ammunition when deer hunting during this year’s hunting seasons. The new regulation goes into affect July 1 — and the lead ban extends well beyond just big game hunting.

      Lead fragments and slugs from big game hunting ammunition have been blamed for the poisoning of endangered California condors which eat the fragments in gut piles and the remains of butchered game left in the field, and the legislature banned lead ammunition for big game and coyote hunting in October.

      In December, the California Fish and Game Commission expanded the ban on lead hunting ammunition, adopted by the California legislature, throughout condor range.

      The legislature’s ban only affected centerfire big game ammunition and buckshot and slug loads in shotguns used for coyotes and deer.

      But the Fish and Game Commission expanded the regulation to ban popular .17 and .22 rimfire ammunition for the hunting of all non-game animals — not just coyotes — in condor range. The ban also includes shotgun ammunition used for varmint hunting.

      The legislation would not have banned rimfire ammunition for varmint hunting, but the Commission was concerned about lead fragments from rimfire ammunition also posing a threat to condors which might eat ground squirrels or other rodents shot with this ammunition.

      Neither the legislation nor new Commission regulations will affect lead ammunition used for target shooting with rifles or handguns, or lead shotgun ammunition used for bird hunting or target shooting. The ban only affects hunters in condor range who pursue big game and non-game animals. Interestingly, lead rimfire or centerfire ammunition was not banned for use when hunting small game, like cottontail rabbits or tree squirrels.

      As requested by the legislature, the Commission also defined what constituted “lead free” ammunition. When the legislature was debating AB 821, the lead ammunition ban, the Commission and ammunition manufacturers pointed out that there were no alternatives that were 100 percent lead free. Even the widely touted alternatives, most notably the Barnes X-line of solid copper bullets, have trace elements of lead. Addressing this concern, the Commission defined “lead free bullets” as those that contain no more than one percent trace elements of lead in their construction.

      This move assuaged fears that hunting could have been banned entirely in condor range because there were no 100 percent, lead-free alternatives available.

      The new requirement goes affect beginning July 1, 2008. In addition to being required to use non-lead ammunition, and big game and varmint hunters will not be allowed to have lead ammunition in their possession when hunting within the range of California condors.

      The lead ammunition ban will affect approximately 25,000 deer hunters across the seven zones, and while non-lead loaded ammunition is available for most stardard deer hunting calibers, some hunters will have difficultly finding ammunition. They will have to resort to reloading their own ammunition or purchase a new rifle in order to continue to hunt in these areas.

      For example, at press time, no major manufacturer was loading non-lead .30-30 ammunition.

      The Department of Fish and Game has a complete information package about the lead ban on its web site at this address: www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/hunting/condor/index.html, but, as of March 1, the list of legal non-lead ammunition was out-of-date. The list had ammunition no longer available (PMC), and it didn’t include the latest products from several companies. [THIS LIST HAS BEEN UPDATED SINCE THIS PIECE WAS WRITTEN.]

      Federal has the most comprehensive non-lead line-up in its Premium line of ammunition, featuring the Barnes Triple-Shock X-bullets and the Barnes MRX bullet.

      All Weatherby ammunition is also available with Barnes bullets.

      Nosler has expanded its bullet selection in the E-Tip non-lead line to include two 30 caliber slugs, a .270 and a 7mm bullet, and all four are lead-free. Winchester will be loading these non-lead bullets into their Supreme line in standard hunting cartridges in these three calibers for this fall.

     While generally not available in this country, Lapua has a non-lead bullet — the Naturalis — that is available in a few cartridges, in addition to standard American hunting rounds. This bullet is also made of copper, like the Barnes and Winchester slugs.

      With Barnes expanding its line of Tipped and regular Triple Shock X-bullets and MRX bullets, big game non-lead bullets are available in all calibers for reloaders.

      For varmint hunters, Barnes’ line of Varmint Grenade non-lead bullets has also been expanded with new .20, .22, and .243 diameter bullets, and Speer is a new entrant in the non-lead varmint bullet line with its TNT Green, with CCI loading rimfire and Federal loading centerfire lead free ammunition with these new bullets. The Speer  line currently includes only .22 caliber fragmenting copper bullets. Both the Barnes and Speer non-lead varmint bullet lines will be expanded more this year, according to sources at both companies.

      CCI’s Brett Olin said that .22 magnum rimfire ammunition with a non-lead Speer bullet will be available for varmint hunters by early May, but that .17 rimfire and standard .22 rimfire non-lead loads will take a little longer to reach the marketplace.

      Black Hills Ammunition announced it will be loading .223, .22-250, and .243 ammunition with the new Barnes Varmint Grenade slugs for varmint hunters, and it already loads several popular big game cartridges with Triple Shocks.

     Hornady and Remington are currently the only two major ammunition companies not to have non-lead products available for the California hunting marketplace.

      However, Hornady management said the company would have new products to announce by the end of this year that would comply with the California non-lead restrictions.

            The DFG is also promising to keep it’s web site up-to-date with information on legally approved ammunition and bullets, but that information is also available here (below).

 

Map of Lead-Free Area

 

Legal Bullets & Ammunition

Non-Lead ammunition and bullets which are legal, or probably will be legal, for hunting in California beginning July 1, 2008 are listed below (the approval process is ongoing). These are 2007-08 and 2008-09 products. A number of new products were introduced early this year, but they are not available on dealer's shelves yet. This list is updated as new products are announced, not necessarily when they are available. (Last updated July 3, 2008)
 

NON-LEAD RIFLE AMMUNITION


Federal Premium - Vital Shok & Cape Shock (www.federalcartridge.com)

.222 Remington 43 Speer TNT Green

.223 Remington 43 Speer TNT Green

.22-250 Remington 43 Speer TNT Green
.243 Winchester 85 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.25-06 Remington 100 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet

.270 Winchester 110 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.270 Winchester 130 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.270 Win. Short Magnum 110 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet

.270 Win. Short Magnum 130 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet

7mm-08 Remington 140 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet

.280 Remington 140 Barnes Triple Shock X bullet

7mm Remington 160 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
7mm Win. Short 160 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet

.308 Winchester 140 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.308 Winchester 150 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.308 Winchester 165 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.30-06 Springfield 165 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.30-06 Springfield 165 Barnes MRX X-Bullet

.30-06 Springfield 180 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.300 Winchester Mag. 165 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.300 Winchester Mag. 180 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.300 Winchester Mag. 180 Barnes MRX Shock X-Bullet
.300 Win. Short Magnum 165 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.300 Win. Short Magnum 180 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.300 Win. Short Magnum 180 Barnes MRX X-Bullet
.300 H&H Magnum 180 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.300 Rem. Ultra Mag 180 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.300 Weatherby Mag. 180 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.338 Federal 185 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.338 Winchester 225 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.375 H&H Magnum 300 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.416 Remington Mag. 400 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.416 Rigby 400 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.458 Winchester Mag. 500 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet

 

 

Winchester Ammunition (www.winchester.com)

.223 Rem. 55 Super-X Super Clean

.22-250 Rem. 55 Super-X Super Clean

.270 Winchester 130 Supreme Nosler E-Tip

.270 Win. Short Mag. 130 Supreme Nosler E-Tip

7mm Win. Short Mag. 140 Supreme Nosler E-Tip

7mm Rem. Mag. 140 Supreme Nosler E-Tip

.308 Winchester 150 Supreme Nosler E-Tip

.308 Winchester 180 Supreme Nosler E-Tip

.30-06 Springfield 150 Supreme Nosler E-tip

.30-06 Springfield 180 Supreme Nosler E-tip

.300 Win. Short Mag. 150 Supreme Nosler E-Tip

.300 Win. Short Mag. 180 Supreme Nosler E-Tip

.300 Winchester Mag. 150 Supreme Nosler E-Tip

.300 Winchester Mag. 180 Supreme Nosler E-Tip

.375 H&H Mag. 300 Supreme Nosler Solid

.416 Rem. Mag. 400 Supreme Nosler Solid

.416 Rigby 400 Supreme Nosler Solid

.458 Win. Mag 500 Supreme Nosler Solid

 


Black Hills – Gold (www.black-hills.com)

.223 Remington 36 Barnes Varmint Grenade

.22-250 Remington 36 Barnes Varmint Grenade (new)

.243 Winchester 62 Barnes Varmint Grenade (new)
.25-06 Remington 115 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.270 Winchester 130 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
7mm Remington 140 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.308 Winchester 168 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.30-06 Springfield 180 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.300 Winchester 180 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet



Weatherby Premium (www.weatherby.com)
.240 Weatherby Magnum 90 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.257 Weatherby Magnum 115 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.270 Weatherby Magnum 140 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
7mm Weatherby 150 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.300 Weatherby Magnum 180 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.30-375 Weatherby 180 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.340 Weatherby Magnum 225 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.338-378 Weatherby. 225 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.378 Weatherby Magnum 270 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.416 Weatherby Magnum 350 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.460 Weatherby Magnum 450 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet

 

 

Remington Arms (www.remington.com)

.243 Win. 90 Premier Green Rifle

7mm Rem. Mag 160 Premier Green Rifle

.308 Win. 180 Premier Green Rifle

.30-06 Springfield 180 Premier Green Rifle

 

These loads were not available as of early July, 2008.

 

 

Norma Ammunition (www.norma.cc)

This ammunition is not currently approved by the Department of Fish and Game, but the ammunition uses Barnes bullets which has been approved.

.270 Win.Short Mag. 140 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet
.7mm Rem. Mag. 140 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet

.300 Win. Short Mag. 150 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet

.300 Winchester Mag 150 Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet

.375 H&H 300 Barnes Banded Solid

.416 Rigby 400 Barnes Banded Solid

.458 Winchester Mag 50 Barnes Banded Solid

 

 

Lapua Ammunition - Naturalis (www.lapua.com)

This ammunition uses a non-lead bullet, but it is not currently approved by the Department of Fish and Game.

.243 Winchester 90 Lapua Naturalis

6.5x55 Sweedish 140 Lapua Naturalis

.308 Winchester 170 Lapua Naturalis

.30-06 Springfield 170 Lapua Naturalis

.338 Winchester Mag 170 Lapua Naturalis

.338 Lapua Mag 231 Lapua Naturalis

9.3x62 Mauser 220 Lapua Naturalis

9.3x62 Mauser 270 Lapua Naturalis

9.3x74R 270 Lapua Naturalis


 

NON-LEAD SHOTGUN AMMUNITION

 

Federal Premium
12 2 ¾” Barnes Sabot Slug
12 3” Barnes Sabot Slug
20 2 ¾” Barnes Sabot Slug
20 3” Barnes Sabot Slug

 

Winchester Supreme

12 3" 1 3/8 oz. Elite Extended Range Hi-Density Coyote Load

12 3" 300 Elite XP3 Sabot Slug

12 2 3/4" 300 Elite XP3 Sabot Slug

Remington Premier
12 3” 1 oz. Solid Copper Sabot Slug
12 2 ¾” 385 Managed Recoil Solid Copper Sabot Slug
20 2 ¾” 5/8 oz. Solid Copper Sabot Slug

Hevi-Shot
12 2 ¾'” Hevi Shot Sabot Slugs
12 2 ¾'” Hevi Shot Foster Slugs
12 2 ¾'” 00 Hevi Shot Buckshot
12 3” 00 Hevi Shot Buckshot

Bismuth Cartridge
12 2 ¾” 00 Bismuth Buckshot

 

 

NON-LEAD PISTOL AMMUNITION

Federal Premium
.357 Magnum 140 Barnes Expander
.41 Rem. Magnum 180 Barnes Expander
.44 Rem. Magnum 225 Barnes Expander
.454 Casull 250 Barnes Expander
.480 Ruger 275 Barnes Expander
.500 S&W 275 Barnes Expander



NON-LEAD MUZZLELOADER SLUGS

Barnes MZ Sabots
.45 195 Expander MZ
.50 245 Spitfire BT
.50 250 Expander MZ
.50 250 Tipped MZ
.50 285 Spitfire BT
.50 290 Tipped MZ
.50 300 Expander MZ
.54 275 Expander MZ
.54 325 Expander MZ

Knight Red Hots

.45 150 Barnes Bullet
.45 175 Barnes Bullet
.50 220 Barnes Bullet
.50 250 Barnes Bullet
.50 300 Barnes Bullet
.52 275 Barnes Bullet
.52 350 Barnes Bullet
.52 375 Barnes Bullet
.54 325 Barnes Bullet



NON-LEAD BULLETS FOR RELOADING
 

BARNES
Barnes Triple Shock X-Bullet – Solid copper heat-treated bullet with 3 rings.
Available calibers: .22, 6mm, .25, 6.5mm, 6.8mm, .270, 7mm, .30, 8mm, .338, .358, 9.3mm, .375, .416, .458
Barnes XLC Bullet – Solid copper heat-treated bullet with solid dry film lubricant.
Available calibers: .22, .25, .270, .30, .338, .375, .470 Nitro, 6mm, 6.5mm, 7mm, 8mm, .500 Nitro, .577 Nitro
Barnes X-Bullet – Solid copper heat-treated bullet.
Available calibers: .22, .25, .30, .338, .35, .375, .416, .45/70, 6mm, 7mm, .30/30, 9.3mm, .405 Winchester, .404 Jeff Exp, 425, .458, .50
Barnes Solid Bullet – Solid copper/zinc alloy bullet.
Available calibers: .22, 6mm, .25, 7mm, .30, .338, 9.3mm, .375, .416, .458, .50 BMG LRS, .577 Nitro, .600
Nitro
Barnes XPB Pistol Bullet – Solid copper pistol bullet.
Available calibers: 9mm, .40 S&W, .44 Cal, .45 Long Colt, .45 ACP, .454 Cassull, .460 S&W, .480 Ruger/.475 Linebaugh, .50 S&W

 

NOSLER

Nosler E-Tip Bullet -- Solid gilding metal (copper and zinc) in .270, 7mm (.284), and .30 calibers.

 

 

Custom Ammunition Loaders

These companies can load custom ammunition with non-lead bullets (most use Barnes)  for most rifle and pistol calibers, including many not loaded by the larger factories. For example, Custom Cartridge and Superior Ammunition both load Barnes Triple Shock X-bullets in .30-30 Winchester. Superior Ammunition also has a wide range of wildcat loadings available. Most also carry an inventory of standard loads available to consumers and dealers. Check with the web sites for updated lists and availability. Also note that only Custom Cartridge Inc. and Dakota Ammo are currently listed as loading "legal" ammunition by the California Department of Fish and Game. Ammunition loaded by the others using approved non-lead bullets should be legal, but may need to go through the approval process..

 

Custom Cartridge, Inc. (www.customcartridge.com)

Dakota Ammo/Cor-Bon Ammunition (www.dakotaammo.com)
Conley Precision Cartridge (www.cpcartridge.com)

Safari Arms (www.safariarms.com)
Superior Ammunition (www.superiorammo.com)

 

 

 

Historic Background

[The story below is from the Vol. 2, No. 1 issue of California Bucks, published in October, 2006. It gives background on how lead hunting ammunition poses a threat to wildlife through lead poisoning. Remember this piece was written before the current lead ammunition ban in California.]

Why lead bullets are on
the verge of being banned

By JIM MATTHEWS
California Bucks Editor

     There is a very good possibility a lawsuit filed earlier this year by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and other groups will result in a ban on the use of lead big game hunting ammunition in the range of the California condor in this state.
     Such a court-order or restraining order could be even more broad-based, with a ban on all lead ammunition in condor country — or even the whole state — a possibility. This could include .22 rimfire and shotgun ammunition and not just big game hunting ammunition.
     With each new scientific study, the evidence becomes more compelling that lead bullet residue in gutpiles and shot varmints is significant enough to cause serious problems for wildlife that feed on these remains.
     While condors poisonings and deaths get the most publicity in the news, there is increasing evidence that golden and bald eagles are also dying from exposure to this lead.
     Hunters first became aware of the dangers of lead poison in wildlife in the 1970s when lead shotshell ammunition was banned for waterfowl because the birds ate the spent pellets while feeding in shallow marshes. Small amounts of lead are highly toxic, and it was estimated over a million ducks a year could have been dying from this problem.
     Doing the right thing for wildlife, hunters now shoot non-toxic ammunition over wetlands and the problem has been eliminated.
     It has been known for decades that lead bullet residue has been a chronic problem for condors which feed on gutpiles, wounded and lost game shot by hunters, and shot varmints left in the field. The critically endangered birds can ill-afford any losses to their population, but both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Game have been negligent in doing a better job of documenting the problem and enlisting hunters’ support to protect the big vultures, and it was only two years ago, the DFG initiated an effort to ask hunters to voluntarily either use non-lead big game ammunition or to make sure gutpiles were put in brush, steep canyons, or buried so they were unavailable to condors.
     Many hunters still find it difficult to believe that condors and eagles can be poisoned by lead fragments left in gutpiles, and the state and federal agencies have done a dismal job in conveying the problem to hunters and explaining alternatives available.
     All hunters are familiar with how copper jacketed-lead core bullets react when striking game. Ideally, the jacket and lead mushroom, increasing in diameter and causing more tissue damage. Some bullets can completely come apart, especially at high speeds, sending bullet fragments in all directions from the impact point but reducing the penetration. Varmint bullets are designed to do this, but most big game hunters shoot bullet designed to hold together in a solid mass, penetrating through the vitals and breaking bones.
     The reality is that most lead-based bullets still shed a significant amount of lead as they penetrate through game. Most of these fragments, many of which are almost microscopic, are caught in the meat and inner organs of the game.
     For this story I weighed a number of hunting bullets I’ve collected over the years from the carcasses of big game animals I’ve shot. Most of the “premium” big game bullets I’ve recovered looked like the classic mushroom we all want in bullet performance. And while they all retained a significant portion of their original weight, none of the lead-based bullets retained 100 percent of their weight. This means that most shed some toxic lead along the wound channel. With the quality bullets, 10 to 40 percent of their weight was left along the bullet channel. Standard bullets often used for big game hunting frequently lost 60 percent of their original weight or more.
     When you consider that two or three small pellets from a shotshell are enough to kill a duck, you can see that a condor could get as much as 30 or 40 grains of lead by eating the buck’s entrails you or I have left in the field. Scientists also point out that small pieces, which have a greater surface area to mass, allow more lead to be taken into the system quickly, making small fragments more dangerous.
     We can solve the condor and eagle poisoning problem by shooting non-lead bullets, like the Barnes X-Bullet, Triple Shock X-Bullet, and new MRX bullet, or a slug where the lead is complete encapsulated, like the Winchester Fail Safe or new XP3 bullet. None of these bullets leave lead along the wound channel and most retain virtually 100 percent of their original weight. Or we can simply make the gutpiles of our field dressed game unavailable to these birds, both of which prefer to feed in the open.
     If we don’t do this on our own, there’s a good chance we’ll have lead ammunition banned.

Above are a representative sample of bullets collected from game over the years. From left to right: A 130-grain Nosler Ballistic Tip from a .270 ended up weighing 44 grains. A 30 caliber 110-grain Sierra hollow point from a .32-20 handgun weighed 90.6 grains from an antelope. A 180-grain Nosler from a .30-06 weighed 132 grains recovered. In the middle is a .338, 220-grain Winchester Power Point that weighed 165 grains. The 150-grain .270 Speer Grand Slam weighed 93.5 grains, and the 130 grain Hornady Spire Point next to it weighed 92.2 grains. The last bullet is a 45 caliber Buffalo Bullets muzzleloader slug that weighed 265 grains and was recovered at 259 grains.

 

[The story below originally appeared in California Bucks, Vol. 2 No. 2, published in March, 2007. It outlines how lead bullet residue is left along the wound channels in game, potentially poisoning hunters.]

 

Is lead bullet residue in

game a threat to hunters?

 

By JIM MATTHEWS

California Bucks Editor

      The x-ray photograph with this story is a graphic illustration of the amount of lead bullet residue that is left behind in the carcass of a big game animal shot with a high power rifle.

      All of those white specks are pieces of lead or copper.

      The photo is one of 38 whole deer, eviscerated carcasses, and/or gut piles that were X-rayed for a study to show the volume of lead left behind in game carcasses. While the scientific paper was written to show how much lead was available to wildlife that scavenge gut piles or find wounded and lost game, the photographs also bring up concerns about the possibility that hunters might be getting occasional doses of toxic lead when we eat our wild game.

      Fragments of lead traveled as far as 12 inches from the wound channel, and 3/4s of the carcasses had more than 100 fragments, most less than two millimeters across in the guts and meat, and some had as many as 783 fragments.

      (The information quoted in this piece is from “Bullet Fragments in Deer Remains: Implications for Lead Exposure in Avian Scavengers,” published in the Wildlife Society Bulletin 34(1): 167-170; 2006.)

      If you Google lead-poisoning, you will find a wealth of information about how lead in various products used by humans has been a serious health issue for centuries. Today, lead has been all but eliminated from anything where it might be ingested by children or adults or lead vapor inhaled.

      While few humans die or go mad from lead poisoning today, there are still cases throughout the world where there are an array of impacts in adults and severe mental problems in children. Where are people still getting lead in their diets?

      Most of it comes from bullet lead. A study conducted on subsistence Indian tribes in Canada, most who relied on hunting for food, all had elevated levels of lead in their systems, and many children had consumed enough lead to cause serious problems. Most of these tribes “eat right down to the bullet hole” so they are more likely to get lead bullet residue than sportsmen who are — mostly — careful about cutting off all bloodshot meat.

      Since it takes only small amounts of lead for problems to occur, hunters should take precautions to make sure all the bloodshot meat is removed from shot game. It is also best if you do this work yourself in the field before you take the carcass to a butcher.

      While most butchers are careful about cutting away all bloodshot meat, smaller operations might try to optimize how much burger meat is saved, including some of the shot-up meat in the pile to be ground.

      Since lead does pass through the system, small doses — even amounts that could cause early lead-poisoning symptoms — are not likely to cause long-lasting damage in adults. Small amounts of lead are taken up in bone and hair, which give scientists a way to measure recent and long-term exposure.

      Some hunting groups are calling for testing of hunters’ hair and bone marrow to see how common lead exposure might be for us, in relationship to the general, non-hunting populace.

      Most bird hunters have swallowed a piece of shot or two over their lives, but most big game hunters probably don’t believe they’ve been exposed to bullet lead. Look at that picture and think again.

       The question is simply how much meat with tiny lead bullet residue ends up in our ground meat and sausage? Any? A lot?

       Unfortunately, the honest answer is that we don’t know. Yet.

 

[The story below is adapted from the Summer Issue of the California Hog Hunter newsletter published in August, 2000. It is printed here to give background on the lead-condor issue and how things spiraled out of control since this story was published. Virtually all of the negative things discussed in this piece have come to pass.]

 

Hog Hunter Special Report

Lead bullet fragments in

gut piles deadly to wildlife

 

By JIM MATTHEWS

California Hog Hunter Editor

            Successful big game hunters may be killing far more than their intended game. Lead hunting bullets and small fragments of those bullets left behind in gut piles or parts of game discarded in the field are poisoning a variety of species that scavenge on these remains.

            Behind the scenes, biologists are calling this “Project Gut Pile.” It is an effort to educate hunters about the dangers fired lead bullets and bullet fragments pose to wildlife.

            Most hunters are familiar with the requirement to use non-toxic ammunition when hunting waterfowl because ducks pick up the spent shot when feeding in shallow waters and die from lead poisoning.

            But a huge body of scientific data shows the problem goes well beyond waterfowl. Very similar wildlife poisonings occur when carrion-feeding animals eat gut piles that contain bullet fragments left behind by big game hunters who have had successful hunts.

            The animals most affected by picking up bullet fragments in gut piles are some of our most majestic and — in some cases — endangered wildlife species: California condors, golden and bald eagles, ravens, vultures and hawks are most at risk. Other species that eat carrion may also be affected, including some of our most popular varmint and game species in California — ranging from squirrels to coyotes to black bears.

            “It just blows me away how many times we have to keep proving lead is bad,” said Greg Austin, a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s condor program in Ventura.

            Austin and his staff have been mounting an education campaign to explain the problem and its relatively simple solutions to hunters.

            “A lot of these guys want to do the right thing, which is really nice for us to know, but the word is still not getting out,” said Austin.

            The Death Toll: A number of condor deaths over the past 17 years have been directly attributable to lead poisoning caused by bullets or bullet fragments. According to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s “Recovery Plan for the California Condor,” three birds have died from lead poisoning between 1983 and 1999. One of the birds had a fully mushroomed slug in its digestive tract, and the others were presumed to have picked up bullet fragments when feeding, probably on gut piles.

            In June, 2000, three more condors in Arizona were found dead, and a fourth from the group presumed dead, all from lead poisoning. The recovered dead birds had lead shotgun pellets of two sizes (No. 4s and 7 1/2s) in their digestive tracts.

            Ten of the remaining 16 condors in Arizona were trapped and tested for lead exposure. Eight had moderate to extreme lead toxicity levels. Six lead pellets were surgically removed from one bird. Four condors are being chelated (treated with calcium, which bonds with lead) to lower their blood lead levels.   

            These poisonings illustrate how susceptible the huge birds are to lead poisoning and that small amounts of lead can be lethal.

            While condors, because of their critically endangered status, are getting the most attention regarding lead fragments in gut piles, the overall amount of wildlife poisoned could be extensive.

            “Condors, bald eagles, golden eagles, turkey vultures and other raptors to varying degrees are very susceptible to lead under these conditions. I really can’t tell you the affects on coyotes or badgers or other scavengers, but all living organisms — including humans — react to lead the same. The data is just overwhelming,” said Pete Bloom, a research biologist with the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology and former member of the Condor Recovery Team.

            In a study conducted by Bloom, he found elevated lead levels in 36 percent of 162 golden eagles’ blood samples he took from live-captured wild birds in condor range in California. Four had levels that probably indicated they were terminally ill, and many more of the other birds could have perished after being released.

            Condors have taken up to six weeks to succumb to lead poisoning, which paralyzes the digestive tract making it impossible for the birds to eat or drink. Bloom said a single lead pellet, or perhaps even a smaller shard from a rifle slug because of its greater surface area, would be enough to kill a California condor.

            “Almost certainly” all of the lead in the tested birds, both condors and eagles, has come from shot or lead bullet fragments, said Bloom. There simply were no other sources identified for the lead in all of the studies conducted.

            Banning Lead Ammo: Because of its impacts on wildlife, lead has become a four-letter word in national politics and within the environmental community. Part of the reason for this is because the substance is so highly toxic to humans in even small amounts. Lead-based products used by humans are almost a thing of the past due to regulation.

            The same may soon be true for wildlife. Even if the poisoning from big game bullet fragments is very limited in scope, the way is already paved to usher in vast restrictions on lead ammunition.

            “Lead is such a recognized toxin, I imagine one day it could be litigated [out of existence for ammunition] and non-toxics mandated,” said Bill Toone, a biologist with the San Diego Zoo who works on the condor program. “My fear is that it will come down to that, but none of us want to see that happen. Our tool is education.”

            The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in particular, doesn’t want to see lead big game ammunition banned.

            “The service doesn’t want to go through the same public relations and legal nightmare they endured after lead shot was banned for waterfowl. That could be completely avoided in this case,” said one current USFWS employee, who asked not to be named.

            Lloyd Kiff, who formerly headed up the condor recovery program and is now the science director for the Peregrine Fund in Boise, Idaho (which raises endangered condors and Aplomado falcons for release back into the wild) is blunt in his assessment of what banning lead hunting ammunition would do.

            “It would just make matters worse,” said Kiff. “I know what the [hunter’s] reaction is going to be: a small number of these blue-collar guys will shoot the birds. We don’t want this to be characterized as a condor problem or an eagle problem. We don’t want these birds to be blamed if there is a ban on lead ammunition.”

            Kiff has worked diligently to keep the lead poisoning of condors and raptors as a background issue. “We’re not denying lead’s a problem, but banning lead ammunition would just create a bigger problem.”

            Lawsuit Possible: In spite of the condor scientists’ hopes, they all recognize  “there’s a loaded gun lying around out there. It may just be a matter of who’s going to pick it up and pull the trigger,” as Toone said about the mounting scientific evidence on the dangers of lead in animal gut piles.

            A lawsuit could force the issue, and a court order could ban lead ammunition in certain areas or even nationally. The Southwest Center for Biodiversity, through a lawsuit early in 2000, forced the U.S. Forest Service to initiate a number of measures to protect endangered species on its four forests in Southern California, including educate the public on the dangers of lead ammunition for condors.

            Toone said that if the agencies and sporting groups worked together to initiate a good education campaign, it could alleviate the problem and provide precedence for a judge to dismiss or mollify a lawsuit.

            “People start out gently [on pressing for environmental change], but when there’s no movement, they come in with the axe,” said Toone. “It would really nice to be able to avoid the howling crowd.”

            The problem is that the lead-gut pile issue has been known for over a decade. Bloom said scientific papers written in 1990 recommended that some means of reducing the impacts of lead ammunition be implemented before condors were reintroduced back into the wild. That did not happen, and it is only now that hunters are learning the extent of the problem.

            “The sportsman has the opportunity to take the lead in the conservation effort in benefiting wildlife,” said Jim Davis with the Ventana Wilderness Society. “What we need is a sensible approach to protection, and I believe that hunters can provide that leadership. They only need to know what they can do to benefit wildlife for the future.”

            Simple Solutions: The reality is that hunters could effectively eliminate virtually all lead poisoning in condors, vultures, raptors, and most other wildlife that feed on carcasses or gut piles.

            Alan Corzine, the former director of research and development for Winchester ammunition in East Alton, Ill., cited a recent instance where the Japanese government was concerned about the loss of sea eagles to lead poisoning on one of its remote islands. It was determined the poisoning was coming from the gut piles left behind by subsistence hunting of sika deer on the island.

            Wanting to address the problem as quickly as possible while having a minimal affect on the residents there, the government looked at the source of the lead and recommended (and even provided) ammunition that expanded without leaving behind pieces of lead or those that were made of material that was non-lead.

            “There’s no reason that same tactic would not work here,” said Corzine at a meeting at the U.S. Forest Service office in Arcadia.

            If hunters would exercise one of two options right now, sportsmen may be able to avert regulations that force sportsmen to use expensive, non-toxic hunting bullets.

            The first and most economical option is to continue to use traditional lead hunting ammunition for wild pigs and deer, but simply bury all gut piles so foraging birds and mammals do not get to the lead fragments left behind by this ammunition.

            The second option is to use one of the two bullets currently on the market that do not leave lead fragments behind when big game animals are shot. Those two slugs are Barnes X-Bullets, available for handloaders or in factory-loaded ammunition made by Federal in its Premium line of ammo, or Winchester Fail Safe bullets available in Winchester’s Supreme  line of big game ammunition or as a component for handloaders. [Ed. note: Note that Fail Safe’s or the bullet that replaced it, the CX3, are not lead-free and do not comply with the current ban. This story was written in 2000.]

            While the Fail Safe bullet contains lead in it’s rear core, this is the part of the bullet that is completely encapsulated with copper jacket and almost always penetrates completely through the animal. The forward expanding portion of the bullet is made of copper (as with the X-Bullet), and pieces are not left behind in the game as with standard lead-core or lead-tipped bullets.

            [Ed. note: Note that Fail Safe’s or the bullet that replaced it, the CX3, are not lead-free and do not comply with the current ban. This story was written in 2000.]

            With both of these bullets, hunters need to make sure there is both an entrance and exit wound. If the bullet has not exited the carcass of the animal, the hunter should attempt to find the slug and remove it. Both lead and copper are highly toxic to animals, and large birds like condors and eagles will often ingest the entire mushroomed slug and are likely to die from subsequent poisoning.

            All other traditional jacketed lead hunting bullets on the marketplace leave lead residue or fragments behind in the carcass and gut piles of animals — even when they penetrate completely through the game animal. Hunters are familiar with how big game bullets mushroom and expand upon entering the body of the game. As the lead mushrooms, small pieces and fragments are left behind in the game or spun off to create wound channels of their own. When bones are hit, even more fragments are left behind. It is these tiny pieces, when left in gut piles or unwanted portions of game, that are eaten by predators and scavengers. As with humans, even small amounts of lead can have devastating effects.

            Condor and eagle biologists would actually prefer that hog and deer hunters continue to leave gut piles out there, so shooting solid copper bullets is the preferred alternative. “It’s a shame we have to suggest that we cart it off or bury it,” said Bloom. “Hunters are actually providing a good food source for these birds.”

            As a result of the lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service, deer, wild hog, and other hunters will increasingly hear about the dangers of lead left in game carcasses and gut piles. Flyers will be left on hunter’s windshields and personal contacts will be initiated both in the field and at sportsmen’s gatherings.

            The Ventana Wilderness Society will be visiting dozens of sportsmen’s clubs, hosting seminars in sporting goods stores, and making hunter contacts throughout the condor country over the coming year to educate hunters on the dangers to wildlife of lead bullet fragments in gut piles.

            The question is simply will it be too little too late?

            Non-Toxic Ammunition: In a worst-case scenario, a lawsuit could force the federal government to mandate the use of non-lead or completely non-toxic ammunition throughout the range of the California condor — perhaps nationwide because of widespread poisoning of other species.

            Unlike with when steel shot was mandated, there are a number of alternative materials that could be introduced to the market quickly. If the requirement is for non-lead bullets, the Barnes X-Bullet already fits this requirement. If it is for completely non-toxic alternatives (copper is also toxic), the picture gets more difficult. Several makers have been experimenting with slugs made from tungsten or bismuth alloys. However, testing has shown they are simply not as effective as lead-based slugs. The materials are not maleable enough, even in a variety of alloys, to perform like lead. The slugs either fragment into a powder on impact or they do not expand at all, similar to steel-jacketed bullets. Both alternatives are poor for big game.

            Even if the tungsten or bismuth slugs could be made to function, these alternatives are expensive, perhaps as much as doubling the cost of a box of premium big game hunting ammunition.

            “We don’t need to get to this point,” said Kiff, about the prospect of banning lead ammunition. “Certainly the people in the Fish and Wildlife Service don’t want to ram anything down the hunters’ throat, but that may be where we’re headed.”