Originally Posted By: Konor3inch
Good post and covers the issue so far. There is no proposal for a voluntary ban on lead rifle ammunition however and as clay shooting is not included in the voluntary ban it will be possible post voluntary ban to practice with your Alex Martin on clays. Which brings up the issue of whether you can clay shoot with lead only on designated clay ranges rather on farm land I suspect clay shooting with lead will be restricted to established clay shooting grounds.
Personally the announcement has caused me to rethink the purchase of any British two and a half inch chambered gun as all my purchases are hunted with and shooting bismuth regularly may be too expensive. I will also not be bidding on the 28 bore Alex Martin over and under in the Holts sale this March as I will be a bit cautious until I see how things develop .
It will be interesting to see if the voluntary ban announcement has any effect on the March Holts sale of small bore shotguns and two and a half inch chambered side by sides.


I shot that Alex Martin 28 Bore, or one very very like it a few years ago when Dickson had an open day at Dunkeld. I very much coveted it and it shot superbly. Those Alex Martin over and under's where made by an Italian maker within the last 20 years, but sadly it went out of business a few years ago. I would much less concern about the availability and use of steel in one of those, than a vintage 2 1/2" chambered gun. If it was a 20 bore, absolutely no issues getting non-toxic and there are plenty of modern 28s in use that it is worth cartridge manufacturers working on developing cartridges.

As for high birds, well a 3" High Velocity Steel cartridge seems to bring down high wigeon well enough with my Franchi Semi Auto. With the correct gun and cartridge I expect high pheasants will be the same - most seem to be shot with modern 3" chambered long barrelled variable chocked over and under by Perrazzi, Berretta or Browning.

And with older guns, Dig Haddeokes article on Vintage Guns makes good reading. Frankly if you can afford to shoot driven phaesants at c40 a bird or driven grouse at whatever lots then go form 0.30 a bang to 1.00 is n't actually going to add a lot of cost. For me a days small shoot with Alex Martin will cost me 25 in bismuth cartridges - and I won't waste them on high flying pigeons and pick and choose my shots.

As for Rifles, the Forestry Commission in England has switched to non-toxic and in extensive testing have found no real difference to traditional bullets. I use the Fox brand from Edinburgh Rifles in my 7x57 and very pleased with the results. They punch a clean 2" diameter hole straight through, deer drop dead very quickly, but you don't all the bruising that you do with a traditional lead bullet. Typically I put a bullet through the shoulder and there is minimal meat damage. With a typical Interlock type bullet I would expect to loose a shoulder on this type of shot.