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From Shootinguk:

The Norwegian parliament today (3 February) resolved by 79 votes to 16 to reintroduce lead shot for live quarry hunting outside wetlands. The decision follows a lengthy campaign by BASC�s sister organisation in Norway the Norwegian Association of Hunters and Anglers � the Jegernes Interesseorganisasjon (JI).

BASC chairman Alan Jarrett welcomed the move by the Norwegian parliamentary committee responsible, saying: �BASC firmly believes that all legislative decisions on ammunition should be based on sound science and this underpins our policy on lead ammunition of �no sound evidence, no change.�

In a statement issued on 29 January last week jointly with Norway�s Weapons Council (V�penr�det), the JI had said that the country�s four main political parties were supportive of the move to bring back lead shot for hunting in spite of �massive pressure from a smaller group of researchers and veterinarians against lead ammunition�. �The fact that these parties have not been affected by excessive argumentation on the basis of campaign based research commands respect,� the statement said.

Banned in 2005

The JI has been campaigning to bring back lead � which it sees as �the most suitable material in hunting ammunition� � since the Norwegian government brought in a lead shot ban in 2005. The organisation criticised the ban on the grounds that it lacked a solid evidential basis and that the use of alternative ammunition posed animal welfare risks. Non-lead ammunition does not kill as cleanly or as efficiently as lead, and therefore causes unnecessary suffering to quarry, the JI has argued. It also maintains that the potential adverse effects of such substitute materials on health and the environment have not been studied in sufficient detail.

This is not the first time that proposals to repeal the lead shot ban have come before Norway�s politicians and in 2013, a move to bring lead back was defeated when a parliamentary majority voted against it.

Political support

However, last year, the tide appeared to be turning again, and the JI received statements of support for partial repeal from Norway�s Conservative Party, Progress Party, Christian Democratic Party, Center Party and the Social Democratic Party, which it believes should give the proposals a clear majority in a parliamentary vote.

In spite of their optimism over the latest vote, the JI remains conscious that the lead shot issue is still a live one. It said: �The case is probably not over even though parliament now chooses to lift the ban. The pressures from those who want to ban all lead based ammunition are most likely maintained and they will probably try to find new ways to succeed. They already have their focus towards a ban for lead based rifle bullets. We as dedicated hunters, shooters and professionals must keep up the commitment that our victory is to be a permanent one.�

Adrian Blackmore, director of the Countryside Alliance�s shooting campaign, welcomed the news: �The conclusion now reached by the Norwegians that there is insufficient evidence to justify the continued ban of lead shot outside of wetlands and clay shooting grounds clearly shows that one should only act on firm scientific evidence when considering restrictions to types of ammunition. We should also not be told to use alternatives when the full impact of those to the environment and human health remain unknown.�

hope this gives some weight to the argument in the UK

unfortunately - science and common sense won't have any affect in the US

Those opposed to shooting in the U.K. know that a lead ban would spell an end to shooting a we know it.

Lead in England is banned for ducks and geese. I rarely bother to shoot them any more. I refuse to use steel and just use Bismuth for moderate shots. I like Tungsten but it is very, very expensive.

Norway is a common sense country and I always enjoy my visits there. It is also a country where guns are commonplace. More than 50% of Norwegian homes have a gun so they have a powerful voice. Lagopus.....

lagopus,

Do you not use steel because your guns are not suited to it, or because you feel it is ineffective as a substitute for lead on waterfowl? Just curious.

SRH

I only hope the situation in the UK changes.

I don't use steel because my guns are not suited to it.
I don't use substitutes because they priced me out of that game.

If i cant shoot with the guns i enjoy to shoot whats the point.

To clarify for those who will say if you can afford such guns and such shooting then why can't you afford the cartridges. I'm 20, i don't earn very much, most of my shooting is given as payment for work i have done for others.

Emotionally based "science" and outright manipulated and or false data forwarded as supposed "settled" truth has become a particularly effective weapon by some political groups.

It is impossible to debate with a group with which you cannot even receive a honest factual common definition of the terms upon which a argument can be made. Whether one is addressing the supposed "Global Warming" (retitled "climate change" as the original term is being shown untrue) or the effects of lead in the uplands or perhaps the effects on bird life by "Green" windpower (which by the way is provably far devastating to bird life than any lead in the uplands study has shown) actual truth has shown not to be a priority of the LEFT.

Lead bans for hunting in the uplands are more about anti-gun / anti-hunting / and anti the people who enjoy these sports. A close examination of the anti lobby will easily show their motivations, their lack of intellectual honesty, and there insidious nature. While I have met a few truly honest anti's (oddly enough all Hindu or Vegan) they are rare.

I have never forgotten that the importance of useful idiots and willing dupes to the emotionally and actually unscientific left wing is critical

Stan, I only use steel in one context. I am semi-retired and work as a River Keeper for a private estate. I get a special license to cull a certain number of Cormorants and goosanders (very similar to your mergansers)to stop them wiping out trout stocks. As goosanders are classed as ducks I am obliged to use something other than lead. Due to cost I use steel and bought a 3 inch mag. semi-auto for that purpose. I don't eat goosander as they are not palatable and I make sure I shoot them at as close a range as possible. If I blow them to bits they are dead and that is the aim to reduce numbers. All my other guns, except one, an Ithaca pump, are not suitable for use with lead. I did some experimenting some years ago with the Ithaca, which I bought for that purpose, and found that there seemed to be a narrow range of effectiveness; a slight bit too close and the duck was blasted and a slight bit farther on and it was just wounded. Other reasons I don't like steel other than the ethical reasons is that I don't fancy biting on steel shot. It's use in areas where commercial timber is grown is frowned upon because of potential damage to chain saws and I would not use it on ground game because of the fear of ricochets. It seems its only use, as far as I am concerned, is at close range against non-edible winged pest species in open areas or in non-commercial woodland. One other odd use I have for it is when I need to trim a tree branch out over the river that I can't reach by other means. It will slice branches off like a knife through butter. I just don't do so much duck shooting now. I use Bismuth but at moderate range (expensive) and Tungsten at normal lead range (very expensive). There may be health issues with Tungsten and it is now banned in Denmark. If lead is phased out then there will be a huge demand for Bismuth and that will create a shortage and the price per round will be prohibitive to those of us with normal means. Shooting game then will become the preserve of only the very wealthy few and it would only need a Socialist Government (anti hunting and shooting as well as anti wealth) and that would be voted out and banned. Gun values would plummet except for high end stuff and the Socialists would say there is no reason to own guns so would ban them. Most draconian gun legislation comes in under the Socialists (Tony Blair effectively banned target pistol shooting as soon as he got into power) and with an election in 2015 the Socialists have said that they will increase the cost of Shotgun and Firearms Certificates if they get in. If we lose lead then shooting in Britain will virtually disappear inside ten years.

I live in a part of England just about 10 miles from huge natural lead deposits. The Romans mined it extensively and it is still mined to some degree now. The rivers are fed from streams that run underground through lead veins and yet people live, work and farm on this land and I'm yet to see anyone or anything suffering from lead poisoning. Lagopus.....

Lagopus,
Your experiment with the Ithaca 37 duplicates what I also found to be true with steel. I do suspect one could make an argument that steel works very well for clay pigeon sports, but, the range it is useful on with actual birds is a pretty narrow band.
I have a few guns usable with steel shot, but, I suspect my heart will no longer be in the game if I'm forced to use it for everything. I'm also sick of being sold junk science on topics of interest to me, and then being told how I will go about living my life, based on the junk science.
That likely has as much to do with my thoughts on using steel shot, as anything else.
Thanks for posting your experiences with the loads in the clarity that you did.

Best,
Ted

Thank you for that thoughtful, and thought provoking, reply, lagopus. I have used steel for ducks for so long now that I no longer think that much about it. I love duck hunting too much to quit it because I lost lead, although I do not look down on anyone who would. In actuality, I am quite pleased with how some of the current crop works for me on ducks, and I can well remember how well lead worked. I load some bismuth for a couple of my vintage doubles. I have a couple of doubles that I use steel in, and find that the loads I am using right now work pretty darn good in them, almost no crippling.

All my best, SRH

I think if just a single load with a single shot size is considered, this may be true, but steel can be plenty enough for a wide range of conditions. I'd very much rather use lead, and actually miss it some on ducks, but any game bird well centered up with lead isn't any more appealing than with steel shot.

For me too, waterfowl are still just way too much fun to walk away from. I appreciate that Lagopus, like some of the other folks that comment from his neck of the world, is willing to share how little it takes to make folks give up.