Blue is the new lead-free shot alternative from Spanish manufacturer BioAmmo. Their USP is the fact that both their cartridge cases and wads are biodegradable and can be composted, although there is no data yet on how long they take to disappear. Now they’ve joined the lead-free party with Blue, an alloy of Bismuth, Zinc, Tin, and Aluminium. Sounds complicated, but what it actually does is make it more than twice as soft as steel — which has some advantages.
This increased softness means it has better energy transfer than steel, so gives better kills — and it also means that it can be used through any choke.
Under CIP rules, BioAmmo Blue should be treated as steel with the exception of any choke restriction. This means that you can use it in any gun manufactured post-1954 with nitro proof marks (NP or BNP), with suitable chamber lengths and any choke.
Reports from the field are very optimistic. While it’s 20% less dense than lead (steel is 30% less dense), the malleability of BioAmmo Blue means that its efficacy at normal ranges is very good. It is about one and a half times the cost of equivalent lead or steel cartridges — making it a very good half-way house when you consider Bismuth is more than three times the cost.
Better than steel, cheaper than Bismuth, BioAmmo Blue is a very effective alternative.
Reviews
“Used these for the first time yesterday on a partridge day. Very pleased with the results in a lightweight gun. Killed cleanly and with no noticeable recoil which has been a problem with steel, though not in a heavier gun.”— S. Simpson
“I have been using these (28gm 5’s) for driven pheasant this year, they have worked wonderfully in my Beretta Silver Pigeon. I have killed high birds cleanly and when I did a pattern test vs the lead 6’s I used to use they were a better spread.”— C. Morrison
I have seen reports of storage issues with BioAmmo Blue even when stored indoors in dry conditions. The suggestion was that there were issues with cases splitting etc. It seems that even though the concept is that bacteria cause the cases to degrade rather than water if damp does cause degradation wet shoot days are going to be an issue. I see BioAmmo as a possible solution especially for my side by sides but not if I cannot store a cartridges from one season to the next.
I would really like to hear some reports from users who have trialled the cartridges over several seasons on a variety of quarry species.