Table 2.

Suggested compositional criteria for gunshot, rifle bullets, and fishing sinkers. These criteria could be incorporated into the regulations of any nation making the transition to use of non-lead products

Metal/metal alloy	Shotgun shot	Rifle bullets or shotgun slugs	Fishing sinkers
Iron, Fe	≥ 99% Fe	Not suited	Suitable as corrosion-resistant “stainless” steel for weights and jigs
Tungsten, W	95% W, with polymer	Any %W, when used as a densifier with other approved material	Any %W, when mixed with polymers, glass, or other approved material
Tin, Sn	While demonstrated to be non-toxic, and unconditionally approved in Canada, the low-density limits use as gunshot	Not suited when used alone, but can be used in conjunction with other approved materials	Suitable for use as split shot, weights, or jigs
Bismuth-tin alloy, Bi-Sn	Suitable and fully approved in USA and Canada	Not suitable, due to frangibility concerns at high-velocity impacts	Suitable as weights and jigs
Bronze, copper-tin alloy, Cu-Sn	Suitable, especially when used in conjunction with denser tungsten	Potentially suitable, but metal hardness may be problematic	Suitable as weights and jigs
Copper, Cu	Not suitable, see Fäth et al. (2018) for aquatic environmental concerns	Highly suitable, either as pure Cu, or as a 95% Cu—5% Zn alloy	Suitable as a 95% Cu—5% Zn alloy to resist corrosion
Lead, Pb	Less than 0.1% by mass	Less than 0.1% by mass	Less than 0.1% by mass
Zinc, Zn	Less than 1% by mass	Allowed only as an alloying metal	Allowed only as an alloying metal
Nickel, Ni	Less than 1% by mass	Allowed as a bullet jacket coat	Less than 1% by mass

Iron in stainless steel is unacceptable, ballistically, because of its greater hardness than annealed iron shot. This would increase pressures beyond safe limits, and be also more expensive to produce

See “Discussion” about high levels of nickel permitted in some types of approved non-toxic gunshot