Steve Merlo: Time for a little clarity on new lead ammunition law

By STEVE MERLO, contributing columnist | Thursday, Jul 10 2008 11:29 PM

Last Updated: Friday, Jul 11 2008 8:53 AM

All hunters need to be aware of the new laws in effect since July 1 regarding the use of lead bullets while hunting big game or coyote.

Longtime hunter Dan Damerow calls to his dog King Tut near blind No. 11 at the Kern National Wildlife Refuge. Hunters are no longer aloud to possess lead ammunition while hunting in the field.

The highly contested ban, supposedly enacted to protect the endangered California condor from ingesting lead from the carcasses they feed on, has caused mass confusion among the hunting and shooting fraternities. Hopefully, this column will settle the problem once and for all.

Hunters and shooters may continue to shoot their .22 rim fire and high-powered rifles within the eastern boundary of Highway 99 and the western edge of Interstate 5. Shooters may continue to fire lead bullets at any known shooting range, such as the one at 5-Dogs, but hunters may not possess lead ammunition or the rifles to shoot them while hunting in the field. To be caught in possession of both will result in immediate and expensive citations. Shotguns are not included in the ban.

Regular .22 (Long Rifle, Long, or Short) shells and rifles are banned altogether within the zone, because no ammunition manufacturer currently makes a non-toxic bullet for them. However, both CCI (Federal) and PMC have started manufacturing .22 Winchester Rimfire Magnum cartridges with non-toxic bullets, which should be on their way to dealers at this moment. The cartridges will have a 30-grain copper bullet with a muzzle velocity of 2,050 feet per second, and will be legal to use on coyotes and other vermin within the impacted area.

Pete Cattani, owner of the popular Ammo Dump on Easton Avenue, says his sales on copper projectiles have skyrocketed over 25 percent, while his lead bullet sales remain constant. "I sell a lot of ammo to sportsmen hunting out of state, and most want lead."

However, lots of them are already switching over to the Barnes Triple Shock X Bullets or Nosler E-Tip, which have proved devastating to big game all over the world. In a more light-hearted moment, Cattani also pointed out that, "Copper projectiles would work just fine on condors, too, in case someone ever gets attacked by one and has to protect himself."

Most big-game and coyote hunters in our area have already made the leap from reloading lead bullets to the more expensive copper.

In fact, some of us who have are enjoying some incredible accuracy and knockdown power with the "new" bullets, even though some people are having continuing problems with accuracy with the new-style ammo.

With 25-40 percent less contact with a rifle's lands and grooves than conventional bullets, it may take a while to get things on the right track. Look for that problem to be solved within the very near future, when new loads and loading literature come out.

The condor protection zone extends from the border of Mexico well into over a third of the state, ending at the northern border of deer hunting Zone D-7 on the eastern side of the San Joaquin Valley and the northern part of the coastal zones past San Francisco. Only the area between I-5 and Highway 99 remains open, because the California Fish and Game Commission members could not call that space a "traditional condor habitat" as they did the rest of the contended area.