Availability and prices of non-lead gunshot cartridges in the European retail market

Abstract

To analyse those factors that inhibit or facilitate the shift from lead to non-lead ammunition, it is important to evaluate the extent to which hunters can purchase suitable non-lead products. Based on an Internet search, we identified 22 European and 6 North American manufactures of non-lead shot cartridges distributed in 10 different countries. During the web search, we found non-lead shot cartridges available in retail stores with online sales of these products in 22 of 29 European countries. The most common non-lead shot type was steel shot, although bismuth, tungsten and copper were available in some countries. We conclude that non-lead shot cartridges are available to purchasers in most European countries, but in a limited variety. Availability of non-lead ammunition is not limited by production but by the demand at the national, regional, and local levels. Multiple manufacturers provide such ammunition, and their products may become available in any member state, regionally and locally, once the demand is established. The collective experience of Denmark, Canada, and the USA indicate that the demand for non-lead products will be stimulated by any intergovernmental initiatives to regulate lead ammunition for hunting and target shooting, especially when such initiatives are accomplished through well-enforced national regulation.

Introduction

A successful phase-out of lead shotgun ammunition for all types of hunting requires that lead-free alternative types of cartridges be available to hunters. Several types of non-lead gunshot have been developed, manufactured and made available at the retail level (Kanstrup et al. 2018; Thomas 2019). However, the extent of the availability of the different products varies, depending on the demand at national and local levels. Demand is regulation driven. Partial and poorly enforced regulations have weak impact, whereas full regulation stimulates availability. Poor availability may result in non-compliance with regulations. Also hunters inclined to use non-lead shot types may keep using lead ammunition because they cannot readily purchase non-lead products.

To analyse those factors that inhibit or facilitate the shift from lead to non-lead products, it is important to evaluate the extent to which hunters can purchase suitable non-lead shot cartridges.

In this study, we assessed “product availability” as defined by Thomas (2013) by identifying ammunition manufacturers that produce non-lead shotgun ammunition and “market availability” (Thomas 2013) by compiling a list of non-lead cartridges brands available in retail gun and ammunition stores in 29 European countries. This was combined with a comparison of prices of non-lead and traditional lead shot cartridges.

Method

The method used for the evaluation was based on Internet searches, primarily using Google. We presumed that most available ammunition is marketed via the Internet. We realize that this is complicated as many local retailers will advertise the ammunition obtainable face-to-face from their outlets. Also, orders delivered remotely over the Internet to purchasers are complicated by firearms licensing, shipping, and delivery regulations that differ among countries. However, marketing of products may be Internet based despite the actual purchase of ammunition being local and based on the single gun shop. An Internet survey is, therefore, indicative of the product availability. We spent a minimum of 30 min per country on searching and investigated at least five online ammunition shops per country. However, the results must be regarded as a minimal assessment, given the inherent limits of this methodology.

One part was an Internet search of product catalogues found online at web pages of members of AFEMS1 (Association of European Manufacturers of Sporting Ammunition) and other companies. Another part of the study was a search using the words “hunting cartridges”, “steel shot”, “bismuth shot”, “tungsten shot”, “gun store”, “online”, and “web shop” translated into national languages of the countries in question. Words were used solely or in combination. We made this type of search in 29 European countries. This resulted in hits of retail-level webshops which showed a similar appearance in most countries. The number of brands (i.e. manufacturer’s name) of non-lead cartridges and variety of shot types were used to assess the market availability in the different countries.

Various search engines including Google offer facilities for direct translation of webpages’ texts (into English). Thus, it was possible to decipher website content including information on non-lead ammunition brands for retail sale in most European countries, despite the variety of languages encountered. Results were recorded in terms of cartridge brand and type (hunting, clay target, low velocity, high velocity etc.), shot type, load weight (if available) and price. Price was assessed from gauge 12/70 cartridges with a 30–32 g load and calculated on the basis of 25 cartridges, i.e. the normal quantity of cartridges in one “box”. A sample of prices for lead shot cartridges was included for comparison.

Results

We identified 22 European manufactures of non-lead shot cartridges distributed among the following 8 countries: Italy (6), UK (4), France (4), Spain (4), Sweden (1), Germany (1), Poland (1), and Czech Rep. (1). All companies had a steel shot line, some with a wide selection of gauges and loads. Bismuth shot cartridges were produced by two, copper by two, and zinc by one company (Table 1). In addition, six North American manufacturers produced non-lead cartridges. One (Kent Cartridge) had specialized in this type of non-lead cartridge and was directly affiliated with a British company (Gamebore). The 28 manufacturers, including the six North American companies, had agencies in most European countries; hence, their products, including lead-free ammunition, were available, or could easily become available in any region or country, subject to demand.

Table 1.

Manufacture of non-lead shotgun cartridges and availability hereof in the 29 European countries that were subject to Internet search

Country	Regulation of lead shot for huntinga	Number of non-lead cartridge manufacturers identified	Number of non-lead cartridge brands identified	Non-lead shot types available
Austria	x		1	S
Belgium	x		1	S, B
Bulgaria	x		1	S
Czech Rep.	x	1	1	S
Croatia	x		0	–
Denmark	xx		16	S, B, T
Estonia	x		1	S
Finland	x		8	S, B, C
France	x	4	3	S
Germany	x	1	4	S, B
Greece	–		2	S
Hungary	x		1	S
Iceland	–		1	S
Ireland	–		0	–
Italy	x	6	1	S
Latvia	x		2	S
Lithuania	x		2	S
Luxemburg	x		2	S
Malta	x		1	S
Norway	x		2	S, B
Poland	–	1	0	–
Portugal	x		1	S, B, T
Romania	–		0	–
Slovakia	x		0	–
Slovenia	x		0	–
Spain	x	4	0	–
Sweden	x	1	1	S, B
The Netherlands	xx		4	S
UK	x	4	7	S, B, T

^aNo regulation, x = ban of lead shot in wetlands/waterbird hunting, xx = total ban of lead shot

S steel shot, B bismuth shot, T tungsten shot, C copper shot, – none

The web search for retail ammunition stores with online sales in the 29 European countries showed that all had online services for retail sale of hunting accessories, including shotgun ammunition. We found non-lead products available in 22 countries (Table 1). The number of available cartridge brands per country varied considerably: from 16 in Denmark, 8 in Finland, 7 in the UK, 4 in Germany, and only one in 11 of the investigated countries.

We failed to identify any online retail sale of non-lead shotgun cartridges in seven countries, which had website shops listing a wide selection of lead shot shotgun cartridges: these included Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain, all of which have bans on wetland or waterbird hunting with lead shot. This may seem anomalous, but suggests that hunters rely on non-web outlets for their purchases if wishing to comply with national regulations. In Ireland, Poland, and Romania (all countries with no regulation of lead ammunition), we did not find non-lead cartridges available online. However, in Greece where there is also no regulation, one online shop offered two types of steel shot. The most common non-lead shot type was steel shot, although bismuth, tungsten, and copper shot were available in some countries (Table 1).

There were large differences among the prices of the shot types. Table 2 shows average prices of the five types that were identified.

Table 2.

Average prices of shot types in retail sale identified in the Internet search in 29 European countries

Type	N a	Price Euro/25 pcs
		Average	Rangeb
Steel	36	11.90	7.50–25.25
Bismuth	8	57.81	42.25–60.00
Tungsten	2	85.00	79.25–90.00
Copper	3	37.28	21.50–41.25
Lead	25	10.45	6.50–18.25

^aNumber of web shops, ^brounded up to nearest quarter Euro

Tungsten shot was by far the most expensive type of non-lead shot. Steel shot cartridges are available at much lower prices, approximately the same as equivalent, high-quality lead shot cartridges, which correspond with the findings of Thomas (2015). A given product may occur at different prices in different countries, an example being ELEY VIP Bismuth (12/67) 32 g, which costs 60 Euros per 25 pcs. in Norway and 38 Euros per 25 pcs. in the UK.

One overall result is that lead-free shotgun cartridges are available in most countries from retail shops with online service, apart from countries with no regulations. However, more qualitatively, the survey showed that the product range of lead-free ammunition in countries with partial regulations of lead shot (wetlands/waterbirds) was very restricted compared to lead shot brands. Furthermore, non-lead types were not prominently displayed on most websites, often on the last page of several pages displaying lead products, and often grouped as “special loads”. It is likely that some of the investigated gun stores may offer non-lead shot if particularly requested, but due to low interest from their customers did not display it on their web shops.

Discussion

The study has not evaluated to what degree traditional advertisement and retail sale of hunting ammunition from online stores differs among European countries, and therefore results from different countries may not be comparable. However, the fact that online sale of hunting accessories was offered to some degree in all 29 investigated countries indicates that the methodology is valid for assessing the availability of non-lead products. The web searches were conducted more intensively for those countries with no lead shot regulation, i.e. Greece, Ireland, Poland, and Romania. Except for Greece, it was not possible to identify non-lead gunshot available for sale, despite all these countries listing lead shot cartridges from different manufacturers. Thus, Poland has its own manufacturer of non-lead cartridges (FAM Pionki), which exports non-lead products to other markets. Among the countries with partial bans, only the UK and Germany were shown to have many different brands, and the general picture is that countries with partial bans have a rather limited availability of non-lead products. This is in contrast to the number of companies making non-lead shot in some of those countries: e.g. Italy 6, France 4, and Spain 4. Although we identified four companies in Spain making non-lead cartridges, and despite Spain having a ban on lead shot use in its wetlands, no website indicated the availability of non-lead cartridges for sale. Due to the long-lasting and well-established ban on lead shot for both hunting and target shooting, Denmark showed the most diverse selection of non-lead ammunition with the highest variety of brands, gauges, loads, and shot sizes, based mainly on steel products.

The identification of 28 manufacturers of non-lead shot lines in Europe and North America demonstrates that the availability of non-lead ammunition is not limited by technologies or production potential. The results also show that some European makers of non-lead cartridges are actively engaged in export of their products, especially to the USA, Canada, and Denmark, where a well-established demand exists. The similar prices for lead shot and steel shot products demonstrate that production costs are not limiting availability. This emphasizes the point that availability is driven mainly by demand at national, regional, and local levels, as also concluded in other studies. For instance, the UK LAG (Lead Ammunition Group) (2015) concluded “the variety and performance of non-lead ammunition will, if demand exists, improve to meet demand”. Also, Thomas (2015) found that manufacturers in Europe make and distribute cartridges according to hunters’ demands, which, in turn, are driven by regulations.

The production price of a shotgun cartridge consists basically of three elements: costs of component materials, costs of construction of components, and costs of assembling the components into a cartridge (loading). This applies to lead as well as non-lead products. In terms of the shell, primer, wad, and powder, there are no significant differences between production costs. Nor is the loading process different, though some components of the machinery may be modified and adjusted to change from one type to another. Hence, the main driver for production price differences is the price of shot material combined with shot manufacture. We found the following current approximate prices for metals on world markets by Internet search: Lead: 2 Euro/kg; Iron: 0.07 Euro/kg; Bismuth: 20 Euro/kg; and Tungsten (powder): 40+ Euro/kg. Prices are dependent on market forces, purity, etc. and therefore only indicative of the raw material costs for shot types. However, the figure that bismuth is 10-fold more expensive than lead, but at the same time, that lead is 30-fold more expensive than iron, explains why bismuth shot cartridges are much more expensive than lead and steel shot cartridges. It also demonstrates that prices of bismuth (and tungsten) shot will not fall to levels comparable to lead and steel. Secondly, the prices indicate a potential for steel shot to be significantly cheaper than lead shot if the costs of making steel shot can be reduced. However, this has not yet been demonstrated in the retail sale prices of loaded cartridges in Europe and North America. We investigated further retail prices of bulk lead and steel shot being offered in stores to hand loaders of cartridges and found no appreciable difference (lead shot approx. 3 Euro/kilo2; steel shot approx. 4 Euro/kilo3). The reason why the much lower price of raw iron compared to raw lead is not reflected in more pronounced differences in shot prices is related to processing technologies,4 energy consumption, production volumes, market demand, and transport. Production of lead shot is a traditional technology in many European cartridge manufactory companies, whereas the production of steel shot is based almost exclusively on Chinese manufacture. Hence, the economic and technological conditions vary greatly. A detailed survey of this situation lies beyond the scope of this study. However, we believe that an increased demand for steel shot, driven for instance by European Union regulations as prepared by REACH5 (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals), and thus an increased production volume would gradually influence the production price, and could lower prices further in the long term. Another factor affecting the cartridge price is the cartridge gauge and the relative market demand for gauges different from the normal 12 gauge. This explains why smaller gauges, for instance 20 gauge cartridges in both lead and non-lead varieties, cost more than equivalent 12 gauge cartridges, despite the lesser content of gunpowder, shot and other components. A manufacturer will require a single production run of about one million cartridges to justify the costs of switching the manufacturing equipment settings, product testing for quality assurances, and packaging set-up (Cove, R. personal communication6). Understandably, demand has a major effect on price as well as availability of lesser-used cartridge types, both lead and non-lead.

Wholesale and retail prices of cartridges will basically depend on production prices, but will also, and to a very high degree, be influenced of volume of production, transport costs and other basic factors. In particular, the profit margins of producers, taxes, and export duties influence the prices paid by the hunter. One example of this is the UK-made product ELEY VIP Bismuth cal. 12/67 (shot size 3.2 mm, 32 g) which is listed on the webpage of a British supplier at less than two thirds of the price in Norway. This shows that the price of a given cartridge may differ significantly depending on impact of market demand and other costs in addition to production cost.

Conclusion

Since concerns about dispersal of hunting lead shot in wetlands and the fatal lead poisoning of birds were raised in Europe in the 1960s, and earlier in the USA, several non-lead and approved non-toxic shot types have been developed and produced commercially. Steel shot cartridges are produced by most European manufacturers (in this study sample, all 22 companies). Steel is the by far the cheapest, most widely used, and most available alternative. However, some European manufacturers have lines of other non-lead products, including bismuth and tungsten shot cartridges. In addition, North American manufacturers distribute via their agencies a variety of non-lead ammunition types in Europe, thus expanding product availability.

The web shop surveys in this study demonstrated that non-lead shot cartridges are available to purchasers in most European countries, but in a limited variety. Stocks of non-lead ammunition held in local retail shops may be very limited in variety and quantity, specification and brand. Hence, a small-scale local purchaser may not be able to purchase what might be best suited for his/her needs.

It is well established that the availability of non-lead ammunition is first and foremost limited by the demand at the national, regional, and local level. Multiple manufacturers currently provide such ammunition and their products are available, or can easily become available in any member state, regionally and locally, once the demand is there. This is demonstrated clearly by the Danish example, and the US situation since 1991. The demand for non-lead products will be stimulated by any intergovernmental initiatives to regulate lead ammunition for hunting and target shooting, especially when such initiatives are accomplished through well-enforced national regulation.

Biographies

Niels Kanstrup

is a biologist, scientist and hunter. His research program in focused on sustainability of hunting with emphasis on dispersal of ammunition components in the natural environment, particularly the impact of ammunition lead.

Vernon G. Thomas

is a Professor Emeritus specializing in the transfer of scientific knowledge to conservation policy and law, especially in the issue of lead exposure and toxicity in wildlife and humans.