What material are the shells I just purchased made of?
I purchased a box of shotgun shells in the United States. On the box it says they are for pheasant. But it does not say if the shot is lead, steel or some other nontoxic material. We know from the question I have an older shotgun designed for lead shot, can I use steel shot? that the type of shot is important.
I didn't think about this when I grabbed the box. Now that I have sat down and read the box, I am not sure. There is a very small bit of print that says
This item may include the following SVHC: lead styphinate; 2.4 Dinitrotoluene; Dibutyl phthalate
As written there may or may not be lead as part of any component of the shell (or box).
If the material the shot is made of is not clearly identified, what is it?
1 answer
Put a strong magnet on top of a shell and turn it upside down. If the magnet sticks then you know it contains steel shot.
If it doesn't, then you could have either lead or "non-toxic" shot. If you paid less than $10 for the box, and/or the box doesn't make a big deal of stating that it's non-toxic, then the shells almost certainly contain lead shot.
If you really need to know what it is then you have to open a shell. It is perfectly safe to cut into the hull anywhere in the shot column. If in doubt just cut off the top, or cut and pry open the crimp. Now dump some shot out. If you can't tell by looking at it whether it's lead then put it on an anvil and hit it with a hard hammer. If it flattens easily it's lead. If it doesn't flatten before shattering, or if it begins to powder as you hit it, then it's "non-toxic" and contains primarily tungsten or bismuth (and you really should have been charged more than $10/box!).
Amendment: The lead warning on the box is referring to the primer compound (lead styphnate). Dinitrotoluene could be used in either the primer or powder. Dibutyl phthalate is probably used in the hull, assuming it's plastic, but could also be a binder if the shot is "non-toxic."
This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/11802. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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