Defra’s response to the Animal Sentience Committee, published on 31 July, moves no date on the timetable fixed in law under UK REACH: from 1 April 2029 the placing on the market and use of lead shot will not be permitted, and the same applies to large-calibre lead bullets for live quarry shooting. For retailers and distributors the placing on the market prohibition is the commercial line, because it sets the horizon for ordering, stocking and running down lead lines across the next three seasons.

What may be sold, and until when?

The REACH (Amendment) Regulations 2026 came into force on 1 April 2026. Lead shot and large-calibre lead bullets for live quarry remain lawful to sell and use until 1 April 2029; after that, both are off the market. Elite athletes, as defined in the legislation, keep a conditional exemption for lead shot, a narrow lawful niche after the deadline. Lead in airgun ammunition is out of scope of the restriction, so pellet stock is unaffected.

In between sits a date with its own counter conversation: from 1 April 2028, lead bullets must not be used at outdoor shooting ranges unless the range has what the response calls “effective lead risk management measures in place” and meets specific information requirements. Dealers supplying club and range customers will want that condition understood well before the season it bites.

Who writes the changeover guidance?

Not Defra. The response commits the Government only to watching: “We will be monitoring the development and dissemination of guidance by the sector,” it says. That leaves shooter education on the switch, and in practice much of the point-of-sale advice, with the shooting organisations and the counter. The committee had warned that non-lead ammunition adopted without changes in practice may bring “a reduction in lethality” in the field; the Health and Safety Executive’s answer, which Defra adopts, is that “reductions in lethality can be avoided if hunters follow best practice, as demonstrated by the Forestry Commission’s successful shift to non-lead ammunition”. Denmark has run a total ban on lead shot for hunting since 1996.

The commercial reading is plain: demand for non-lead cartridges and ammunition, and for the advice that goes with them, will build season on season to 2029, and the businesses that can brief a customer on best practice will take that trade.

Is there anything new on airguns or despatch?

Two signals worth logging. The committee has recommended ministers “consider the potential benefits of licensing in order to facilitate a route to restricting lead in airgun ammunition”; Defra notes it cannot deliver that change because firearms licensing powers sit with the Home Office. Nothing is proposed today, but pellet suppliers should watch where the recommendation lands. And on the humane despatch of livestock, Defra confirms the three-year bullet transition stands: the Lead Ammunition Group recommended it, the Health and Safety Executive extended it from an original 18 months, and the Humane Slaughter Association welcomed it.

What happens next

No date moves, so the planning assumptions are safe: range-facing stock and advice in order before April 2028, lead shotshell and large-calibre live quarry lines run down before April 2029, and non-lead ranges built out in their place. The sector guidance Defra says it is monitoring is the piece to watch, because the trade will be delivering much of it across the counter.

Useful links

Defra – the Government’s full response to the Animal Sentience Committee on the lead ammunition restriction

Humane Slaughter Association – the association’s welcome for the phase-out and the three-year bullet transition

Frequently asked questions

When must lead shot leave the shelves?

From 1 April 2029 the placing on the market and use of lead shot will not be permitted, with a conditional exemption for elite athletes as defined in the legislation. Large-calibre lead bullets for live quarry shooting end on the same date.

Can dealers still sell lead airgun pellets?

Yes. Lead in airgun ammunition is out of scope of the restriction, though the Animal Sentience Committee has asked ministers to consider licensing as a possible future route to restricting it.

What changes for range customers in 2028?

From 1 April 2028 lead bullets must not be used at outdoor shooting ranges unless the range has effective lead risk management measures in place and meets specific information requirements.

Related articles

Defra confirms lead ammunition ban timetable in sentience response – the full ShootingUK telling of the Defra response

Firearms licensing delays revealed by Home Office data – the licensing performance picture affecting the counter