Approved Shot Types
The ban on the use of lead shot for hunting waterfowl was phased-in starting with the 1987-88 hunting season. The ban became nationwide in 1991. Nontoxic shot regulations apply only to waterfowl, defined as the family Anatidae (ducks, geese, [including brant], and swans) and coots. Nontoxic shot is defined as any shot type that does not cause sickness and death when ingested by migratory birds.
Approved shot type* | Percent Composition by Weight | Field Testing Device** |
|---|---|---|
| Bismuth-tin | 97 bismuth, and 3 tin | Hot Shot®*** |
| Iron (steel) | iron and carbon | Magnet or Hot Shot® |
| Iron-tungsten | any proportion of tungsten, and ≥1 iron | Magnet or Hot Shot® |
| Iron-tungsten-nickel | ≥1 iron, any proportion of tungsten, and up to 40 nickel | Magnet or Hot Shot® |
| Copper-clad iron | 84 to 56.59 iron core, with copper cladding up to 44.1 of the shot mass | Magnet or Hot Shot® |
| Corrosion-inhibited copper | ≥99.9 copper with benzotriazole and thermoplastic fluorescent powder coatings | Ultraviolet Light |
| Tungsten-bronze | 51.1 tungsten, 44.4 copper, 3.9 tin, and 0.6 iron, or 60 tungsten, 35.1 copper, 3.9 tin, and 1 iron | Rare Earth Magnet |
| Tungsten-iron-copper-nickel | 40–76 tungsten, 10–37 iron, 9–16 copper, and 5–7 nickel | Hot Shot® or Rare Earth Magnet |
| Tungsten-matrix | 95.9 tungsten, 4.1 polymer | Hot Shot® |
| Tungsten-polymer | 95.5 tungsten, 4.5 Nylon 6 or 11 | Hot Shot® |
| Tungsten-tin-iron | any proportions of tungsten and tin, and ≥1 iron | Magnet or Hot Shot® |
| Tungsten-tin-bismuth | any proportions of tungsten, tin, and bismuth | Rare Earth Magnet |
| Tungsten-tin-iron-nickel | 65 tungsten, 21.8 tin, 10.4 iron, and 2.8 nickel | Magnet |
| Tungsten-iron-polymer | 41.5–95.2 tungsten, 1.5–52.0 iron, and 3.5–8.0 fluoropolymer | Rare Earth Magnet or Hot Shot® |
*Coatings of copper, nickel, tin, zinc, zinc chloride, zinc chrome, fluoropolymers, and fluorescent thermoplastic on approved nontoxic shot types also are approved.
**The information in the “Field Testing Device” column is strictly informational, not regulatory.
***The “HOT*SHOT” field testing device is from Stream Systems of Concord, CA.
