Should I be Shooting Lead Bullets?

All-copper or lead bonded? Clearly the bullets in the center are missing a little bit of lead…

My Lead Bullet Awakening

My wife stopped to take a picture of the beautiful hawk on the falconer’s wrist, while I waited patiently. As she did, I listened to the Cliff Claven-type factoids from the eager falconer. He was explain about the speed and power of these birds of prey. I couldn’t tell exactly which species he was referring to, so I crept closer in an attempt to overhear his monologue.

As I stood there listening, I could see the fellow’s partner sort of eye-balling me off to the side. Curious, I caught his eye and glanced over to the display he was leaning on. He was standing next to six long rectangles of ballistic gelatin penetrated by both copper and lead bullets. Well, when I look at ballistic gelatin, I’m just interested in the wound channel and bullet characteristics, so it wasn’t immediately apparent what the hawk and the ballistic gelatin had in common.

Some Background

Now, I’ve long been frustrated at the ban on lead shot for waterfowl hunters. Between needing two stamps and my basic inability to find duck or goose palatable, the whole lead shot-thing was a bridge too far for me. I long ago hung up my waterfowl hunting aspirations. I cannot imagine ducks or geese eating lead shot and dying.

Fast-forward to a few years ago and I started noticing activists trying to ban lead bullets for big game. Again, my first thoughts on this were simple disgust. I saw this as nothing but an anti-hunting ploy. As a hunter, I don’t like someone else dictating to me the tools I need to ethically harvest game animals. As far as I was concerned, this was just more of the same.

More Data

In the past year, I caught a documentary on Netflix. It was about California Condors. From what I can recall, a major theme was the threat posed to condors by lead bullets used to harvest big game. What I’d understood was that the lead fragments left behind in the carcass and gut pile were a real problem. The producers were citing folks monitoring lead in the blood of condors and their fledglings. They were making the case that the lead was demonstrably harming the condors, especially the young.

Now, my biases led me to scoff at this show. It was cool and enjoyable, but I did not buy their whole “bad hunter” theory. Honestly, I’m still a bit of a skeptic for now. Anyway, I sort of filed this away as somewhat forgettable until this past weekend at the 2018 Backcountry Hunters and Anglers Rendezvous in Boise, Idaho.

Very Interesting Gelatin

I could see by the results of the ballistic gelatin that all six bullets had done their job in “jello”. Pretty cool, but nothing too special. As I started to engage the falconer’s pal, I also noticed the theme of the booth. Oh jeez, these were more of those anti-lead bullet guys. I’m never afraid to hear out the “opposition” (which I sort of figured this guy to be). He quickly pointed to the ballistic gelatin. Now that I looked closely, I saw something I had never before noticed.

The only block that was penetrated by a jacketed lead bullet, a Hornady ELD-X, had a very noticeable dark grey cloud in its wound channel. I mean, it was as if the entire cloud had been dyed black. Various copper/alloy-only bullets had provided wound channels in the other blocks. Pretty much clear. Hmm. The fellow tried to impress upon me how most predators will partake of a gut pile and that the primarily-lead bullets pose a real threat to them. Shades of the condor. I’ve got to admit, the block with the ELD-X in it was pretty thought-provoking evidence. I could envision that cloud of lead in the wound channel and guts of my deer or elk. The x-ray of the ELD-X block was amazing! So many tiny lead particles were scattered throughout the wound channel!

Questions

I’m not goint to lie. My first thought wasn’t of some poor coyote, magpie, or redtailed hawk. The concern that jumped straight into my grey matter was of the massive amounts of game meat my family eats. My wife and I eat game meat in over half of our meals. If that cloud of lead could move so far in that ballistic gelatin, what about a shoulder-shot deer? What about cleaning the bullet wound from a heart-shot cow before frying that heart up?

I started to play a lot of scenarios in my mind and most of them weren’t too pretty. I did not relish taking a big steak out of that ELD-X gelatin and mowing it down with horseradish on the side. Honestly, I am now more than a little concerned about the black cloud in that block and what it means to the people I love the most.

My Own Preference

I already use some all-copper bullets in certain situations. My muzzleloader adores Barnes MZs and their variants. My 25-06 is an elk-slayer with the added penetration of their TTSX bullets. Otherwise, I’ve become sold on lead/copper bonded bullets (Trophy Bonded Bearclaws and Tips, Nosler Accubond, Swift Sciroccos and A-Frames etc.). Bonded bullets kill very well at all angles and most ranges.

Definitely, I’m a bonded bullet fan-boy but it comes from experience. I have pet loads for almost all of my rifles in bonded bullets. To have to give these effective loads up is not going to be easy for me. So, as a skeptic, I’ve done some preliminary research. I don’t have any answers at this point, but I’m open-minded on the topic. I sure as hell don’t want to be harming my family when I’ve been thinking all along we’ve been putting the finest meat on the table each night at dinner.

Research Shows….

All I can provide here now is preliminary review of existing research. I’ll let each of you decide for yourselves the best path forward. I’m not yet sure myself but you can be sure I will update this subject over time. Doctors for Responsible Gun Use published a balanced review of some recent studies in which they conclude that the case for banning lead bullets is inconclusive. The article presents both sides of the evidence but nothing really definitive. They do espouse careful handling of the carcass, which to me makes a lot of sense.

The Global Healing Center provides an entirely inconclusive review of the matter as well.  They sort of assert that lead dusting in meat is a problem, but offer no real data to support it, so that was a swing and a miss for me.

Undark.org published an online article that asserts (and provides citations-click to review):

What’s clear is that previous field analyses have shown that hundreds of lead fragments — one study counted a total of 738 — can extend as far as 18 inches from a lead bullet’s path through an animal, well outside the range where hunters typically trim.

The 2016 study cited is by Nancy H. Golden , Sarah E. Warner , and Michael J. Coffey. This article focuses on impacts to scavengers and clearly there are some legitimate questions posed. I’m focused on human health, not that of coyotes or condors. I cannot locate good studies that demonstrate the impacts of eating game meat on blood lead levels. Perhaps those data don’t exists. Now I’m wondering if these data suggest a danger to humans however.

I will continue to explore this topic seriously. The ballistic gelatin and the Golden, et. al. study pose very serious questions. Is this documented lead spreading in and beyond the wound channel a health threat for hunters? Is it a threat to scavenging wildlife?

My Choice

Ok, so I will admit that my head is spinning. This information has turned my bonded bullet world upside down. I believe the bonded bullet offers a near perfect option. Some of the highest ballistic coefficients. Unbelievable wound channels and excellent on-game performance. Truly the peak of bullet science for me. Now along comes this concept of lead in my game meat. I’m not happy about this turn of events.

As far as I can tell, the jury is still out on this subject. A lot of data points to impacts to scavengers through lead contamination of carcasses. I can’t help but think that some better studies might reveal some disturbing results for humans harvesting game animals. I haven’t completely made up my mind at this point, but I will start testing Barnes LRX, Nosler E-Tip, and Hornady GMX bullets going forward. These bullets are proven and have a legion of followers, so there is no on-game performance sacrifice involved. It is almost purely BC, trajectory, and energy-related. You can allow for this by reducing your maximum range just a bit, and that is about all you need to do.

Risk Management

For now, I’m leaning toward giving up a little bit of ballistic performance to have the peace of mind that I’m actually putting the best meat on the table for my family…not poisoning them. I know that sounds a bit dramatic but it is really a simple type of risk management. Simply, the probability of my family receiving lead poisoning by game meat contamination is quite low; however, the consequences are potentially very high. Taken together, I am deciding to take the simple step of using the copper bullets to eliminate the risk. This is sort of like using safety glasses or a hard hat to protect yourself from an unlikely but dangerous event.

Will this decision impact my hunting? Maybe a little bit, but maybe not as much as one would think. I believe it is probably a good step until more information comes out. Importantly, it is my choice and mine alone.

Note: I’ve not seriously addressed the potential risk of lead to scavengers. To each his own, but I’d suggest you at least consider this. Is it worth burying part of your kill remains or switching bullets for this reason alone? For me the switch is first about my own safety, so I don’t need to address this point…it naturally is addressed by my switch. However, perhaps it is worthwhile to consider the potential for impact. I’m not advocating the government get involved, especially in the face of minimal data. I wish you the best success in considering this matter for yourself and I’m not making a recommendation at this point.