Non-toxic shot is any shotgun ammunition made from materials other than lead that won’t poison wildlife when left in the environment. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service maintains an approved list of specific non-toxic materials, and federal law has required their use for waterfowl hunting since 1991. The most common option is steel (iron), but hunters can also choose from bismuth, tungsten alloys, and copper-based alternatives, each with different performance characteristics and price points.
Why Lead Shot Was Banned
Waterfowl feed by dabbling and diving in shallow water and muddy bottoms, where spent lead pellets accumulate. Birds mistake the small, round pellets for grit or seeds and swallow them. Once inside the bird’s gizzard, the lead dissolves and enters the bloodstream, where it interferes with calcium and blocks the enzyme responsible for producing hemoglobin. The result is anemia, neurological damage, weakness, drooped wings, and eventually death, often within two to four weeks of ingestion.
The damage doesn’t stop with the bird that swallowed the pellet. Raptors, including bald eagles and California condors, are poisoned when they scavenge carcasses or gut piles containing lead fragments. Bears, coyotes, and raccoons face the same risk. Because species like condors and eagles are long-lived and slow to reach breeding age, losing even a small number of adults to lead poisoning can suppress entire populations. This cascading threat through the food chain was the primary driver behind the federal ban, which was phased in starting with the 1987-88 season and became nationwide in 1991.
Approved Non-Toxic Materials
The Fish and Wildlife Service currently approves 14 shot types for waterfowl and coot hunting. The full list includes iron (steel), bismuth-tin, iron-tungsten, iron-tungsten-nickel, copper-clad iron, corrosion-inhibited copper, tungsten-bronze, tungsten-iron-copper-nickel, tungsten-matrix, tungsten-polymer, tungsten-tin-iron, tungsten-tin-bismuth, tungsten-tin-iron-nickel, and tungsten-iron-polymer. Approved coatings such as copper, nickel, tin, zinc, and fluoropolymers can be applied to any of these base materials.
For practical purposes, most hunters choose between three categories: steel, bismuth, and tungsten-based loads. Each involves trade-offs in cost, performance, and compatibility with your shotgun.
Steel Shot: The Affordable Standard
Steel is by far the most widely used non-toxic option and the least expensive, typically running $0.65 to $1.00 per shell. It’s what most waterfowl hunters load by default, and modern ammunition manufacturers have refined steel loads significantly since the early days of the ban.
Steel pellets are lighter than lead. A steel pellet needs to be larger in diameter to carry comparable energy downrange, which means fewer pellets fit in each shell. In ballistic testing, steel No. 3 shot and lead No. 5 shot penetrated to roughly the same depth (about 30mm into ballistic gelatin) at 50 yards, suggesting that lethality at moderate ranges comes down more to pattern density than raw penetration. One notable advantage: steel pellets stay perfectly round in flight because they don’t deform on firing, which can produce more consistent patterns.
The main limitation is compatibility with older shotguns. Steel is much harder than lead and doesn’t compress when squeezed through a choke constriction. Tight chokes, especially older fixed extra-full chokes, can be damaged or bulged by steel shot forcing its way through. Thin-walled barrels on vintage guns face similar risks. Shotgun manufacturers generally recommend using modified or more open chokes with steel, and most modern shotguns are proofed for steel from the factory. If you’re shooting a gun made before the 1990s, check the manufacturer’s recommendations before running steel through it.
Bismuth: The Vintage Gun Solution
Bismuth sits between steel and tungsten in both performance and price, typically costing $1.30 to $2.00 per shell. Its key selling point is softness. Bismuth is gentler on barrels and chokes than steel, which makes it the go-to choice for hunters using older shotguns, side-by-sides, or guns with fixed chokes that can’t handle steel. You can safely use tighter choke constrictions with bismuth without worrying about barrel damage.
Bismuth is also denser than steel, so it retains energy better at longer ranges and allows for smaller pellet sizes. It’s not as dense as lead, but the gap is much narrower than with steel. For hunters who want a versatile, gun-friendly non-toxic option and don’t mind paying roughly double what steel costs, bismuth is the most popular upgrade.
Tungsten Alloys: Maximum Performance
Tungsten-based loads, often marketed as TSS (tungsten super shot), represent the high end of non-toxic ammunition. TSS is approximately 60% denser than lead, which gives it remarkable energy retention at distance. That density translates into two practical advantages: deeper penetration into feathers and tissue, and the ability to use much smaller pellet sizes.
Smaller pellets mean more of them fit in each shell, which produces denser, more consistent patterns. Hunters using TSS report reliable kills on large Canada geese and sandhill cranes at 50 to 60 yards, ranges where steel loads lose effectiveness. TSS was originally popularized for turkey hunting, where a tight, hard-hitting pattern at longer range is critical, but it has steadily gained followers among waterfowl hunters willing to pay for the performance edge.
That performance comes at a cost. Tungsten shells run $2.00 to $3.50 each, three to five times the price of steel. For a high-volume duck hunt where you might fire 20 or 30 shells in a morning, the expense adds up quickly. Many hunters compromise by loading tungsten for longer shots or late-season birds and keeping steel on hand for closer work over decoys.
Where Non-Toxic Shot Is Required
Federal law mandates non-toxic shot for all waterfowl hunting across the United States. On National Wildlife Refuges, requirements often extend further. Some refuges now require non-toxic ammunition for upland game, turkey, or even predator hunting. For example, several refuges in North Carolina, Montana, and New York specify approved non-toxic shot for turkey and upland species, not just ducks and geese.
State regulations vary. Some states have expanded non-toxic requirements to dove hunting over managed fields, certain wildlife management areas, or specific zones with sensitive habitat. California has gone the furthest, requiring non-lead ammunition for all hunting statewide. Before heading afield, check both federal and state rules for the specific area you plan to hunt, since requirements can differ from one refuge or management unit to the next.
Choosing the Right Non-Toxic Load
Your choice comes down to three factors: what gun you’re shooting, what species you’re hunting, and what you’re willing to spend.
- Modern shotgun, budget-conscious: Steel is perfectly effective for ducks and geese over decoys at ranges under 40 yards. Use one to two shot sizes larger than you would with lead (steel No. 2 instead of lead No. 4, for example) and stick to modified or improved cylinder chokes.
- Older or thin-walled shotgun: Bismuth lets you hunt safely without risking barrel or choke damage. It performs closer to lead than steel does, and you can use tighter chokes.
- Long-range waterfowl or turkey hunting: Tungsten loads deliver the tightest patterns and deepest penetration at extended range. The smaller pellet sizes mean you can drop down in shot size while gaining pellet count per shell.
Pattern your shotgun with any new load before hunting. Non-toxic materials behave differently from lead, and the only way to know how a specific shell performs through your barrel and choke combination is to put rounds on paper at the ranges you expect to shoot.