If you are loyal readers of all4shooters.com/all4hunters.com you should be already well aware of the current trend in Europe towards the complete banning of lead in ammunition, both in hunting and sporting use. Just in case you missed something, here you can find some links to our past articles.
It's certainly a very hot and complex topic, involving not just hunters and sport shooters, but also politics, the environment, the industry and society as a whole. Norma, one of the most renowned ammo manufacturers in the world, is presenting “Dedicated Lead Free”, a documentary series that follows Mette Karin Petersen, a passionate hunter from Denmark in her search for knowledge about lead-free ammunition. “Denmark is moving towards becoming the first country in the world banning lead in hunting ammunition,” Mette explains at the beginning of the videos. “I am not trying to convince you to be lead-free but I am trying to communicate a complex topic in a simple and educational way so you have enough knowledge to choose whether you want to be dedicated lead-free,” she promises.
Everything from how a lead-free bullet is made to how it affects the way we hunt is dealt with, focusing on knowledge, hunting, and not the least wild game cooking.
Video 1: Introduction to lead free ammunition
In Episode 1 you're invited to come along behind the scenes at Norma's ballistics department in Åmotfors, Sweden. Watch as Mette together with one of Norma's ballistic experts shoots Evostrike and Ecostrike in ballistic gelatin and compares the results. Mette also sits down together with Anton Brask and Jonas Hellentin to get answers to her many questions about lead-free ammunition. You can watch the episode here:
Video 2: Roebuck hunting with Ecostrike Silencer
In Episode 2 Mette Karin Petersen goes hunting for roebucks, with her rifle loaded with the new lead free Ecostrike Silencer in caliber .308 Win. After many days of persistence, Mette also gets the opportunity to show you, step by step, a wild game recipe out of the ordinary – roedeer mini tacos!
Norma lead-free hunting ammunition
Since 2015, the lead-free all-round Norma Ecostrike hunting cartridge has been available in several calibers. Among them, the most widespread hunting cartridge (together with the .308), that is the .30-06 Spingfield. In particular, the Norma Ecostrike Silencer .30-06 Spring. with 150-gr bullet is specially designed for use with silencers and short barrels and is the lead-free choice for hunting medium and large game. The copper bullet with the distinctive green polymer tip of the Norma Ecostrike series delivers deep penetration and effective expansion at both low and high velocities, almost 100% weight retention and a high BC. To make the bullet lighter and prevent it from fragmenting, the lead has been replaced by copper and nickel.
Still in the Ecostrike series, the Norma Ecostrike 6.5 Creedmoor with a 120-gr bullet is the lead-free option for the more recent cartridge created in 2007 by a cooperation between Hornady and Creedmoor Sports and designed as a long range target shooting cartridge. Thanks to its bullet's sectional densities and ballistic coefficients, the 6,5 Creedmoor has become very popular for long range hunting too.
We mentioned the .308 caliber: besides the Ecostrike series, the popular cartridge is also available in Norma's Evostrike range, the lead-free choice for small and medium game when instant stop is required. The Norma Evostrike in .308 Winchester features a 139-gr bullet. It achieves its convincing performance with dual cores made from tin and featuring a special pre-fragmentation of the frontal core and a solid core at the back for enhanced penetration, with outstanding stopping power even at long range.
These are just three lead-free cartridges offered by Norma, but remember that the Swedish ammo manufacturer has many lead-free products in its catalog, in different calibers and/or bullet weights.
To learn more please visit the Norma website.
