Lead-free .22 LR ammo?

[HuggyBear15]

Good morning everyone,

I've been reading through the California hunting regs (as recommended in the "Noobs: Start here!" post ), and noticed hunting requires, or will soon require, lead-free ammo. I'd like to start hunting small game, but will likely hunt infrequently, and don't want to have to worry about changing regulations and whether the ammo I have is legal, so I figured I'd just buy lead-free ammo from the start.

I've been looking through the listed manufacturers of certified lead-free ammo, and am unable to find any .22 LR lead-free ammo that's legal for use with small game by a manufacturer I've heard of. Winchester has some lead-free .22, but it looks like it's legal for non-game only

Does anyone have any recommendations?

 

[SluiceCoot]

Good luck finding .22 anyways. Lead free .22 isn't required until 2019 (unless you are on dfg land), so your options will be limited. And expensive. Don't over think it. Go buy some lead rounds and use those (as long as you aren't hunting in the condor range). If you are worried about the cost of re-buying ammo in 2019 you're getting into the wrong sport. Plus, you can always use the lead for target practice.

When in doubt, call F&G or email them. They are pretty responsive.

 

[HuggyBear15]

That explains why it's been so difficult to find, haha. Thank you for the information! I appreciate you taking the time.

 

[SurfNHuntSD]

You'll be hard pressed to find any 22 right now actually.. there's still a run on it going on several years now. Luckily a family member just gave me some old brick packs they had otherwise I would've ran out by now. Look for promotional deals online, gun shows, and sites like Calguns, etc.

 

[Gspman]

Walmarts north of LA have most Amos in stock and have for about a year. Bricks of 22lr (lead) as well as any other basic calibers.

 

[SluiceCoot]

Walmarts north of LA have most Amos in stock and have for about a year. Bricks of 22lr (lead) as well as any other basic calibers.

I haven't seen that at all. I've been to Walmarts in the SGV, Bakersfield, Tulare Co, Kings Co, Fresno Co, San Luis Obispo Co. Zero .22LR.

 

[Gspman]

Sorry I should have been more clear. Ventura even turners has it. Also Lompoc and Santa Maria. I also just got 2 bricks of Winchester super X lead free 22lr for $40 a brick. It does not shoot very good in my opinion. But hey at 16cents a shot it's almost the same price for me to use 223 varmit grenades

I usually hunt the condor zone and have for years so I've been using lead free for a few years now.

 

[HuggyBear15]

Thank you everyone for all of this information! I'll have to check out Walmart, Turners, and Calguns, and keep my eyes peeled for gun shows.

I did recently find some Winchester super X, but didn't think it was legal for game use? What's got me mixed up is the statement that the .22LR version of the super X ammo is "Certified for use on appropriate non-game species only" per, https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=82834&inline.

I appreciate y'all putting up with what I'm sure are dumb questions. I definitely underestimated the complexity of all the regulations! (Alternatively, I overestimated my ability to understand them on my own ) I clearly need to get signed up for a hunter's ed class!

Thanks again.

 

[HuggyBear15]

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd follow-up and mention that I completed my hunter ed last weekend, and got my license earlier this week. I've even managed to convince the wife to let me outta the house for a bit, and will be trying my hand at some small game next week

Thanks again for the advice! I'm continuing to follow-up with WalMart and Turners in my quest for lead-free .22; I know it's just a matter of time until I call the right store on the right day!

 

[ilovesprig]

HB15,

Congrats on passing your hunters safety class......Now go out and bag something.....

 

[SurfNHuntSD]

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd follow-up and mention that I completed my hunter ed last weekend, and got my license earlier this week. I've even managed to convince the wife to let me outta the house for a bit, and will be trying my hand at some small game next week

Thanks again for the advice! I'm continuing to follow-up with WalMart and Turners in my quest for lead-free .22; I know it's just a matter of time until I call the right store on the right day!

Congrats on the license.. check AmmoSeek also.

 

[HuggyBear15]

Thank you both! I was unaware of ammoseek, and will keep an eye on it as well! We'll see how next week goes

 

[bry0232]

Am I the only one on here that is sick of this crap???? My two sense...... F#$% them..... shoot lead.... come and find me.... Moan Labe!!!

 

[HuggyBear15]

Hi bry,

I've only been working on this for a month or two, and I'm already sick of it, lol. A Big 5 salesman told me they had some so I drove up there, only to find out he was under the impression copper plated lead bullets were lead free somehow /doh! I'd just go with lead rounds but I'm a coward and am dissuaded by the prospect of a monstrous fine. So I'll be looking for jackrabbits with my lead-free .223 :-/ For the sake of actually using anything I hit, and for my pocketbook, hopefully my shot placement will be good :-/

 

[bry0232]

Hi bry,

I've only been working on this for a month or two, and I'm already sick of it, lol. A Big 5 salesman told me they had some so I drove up there, only to find out he was under the impression copper plated lead bullets were lead free somehow /doh! I'd just go with lead rounds but I'm a coward and am dissuaded by the prospect of a monstrous fine. So I'll be looking for jackrabbits with my lead-free .223 :-/ For the sake of actually using anything I hit, and for my pocketbook, hopefully my shot placement will be good :-/

and there in lies the problem..... I will not comply... they have to find me first.... then convince me that I'm going to give up my information....which I'm not.... then catch me when I walk away... (thats why you wear camo) they're not calling out the dogs for a lead ammo ticket...

 

[bry0232]

plus.... some fat, overweight, old, government worker who only likes to sit back and collect a check isnt going to be looking that hard.......


Can you tell I'm a Libertarian / Anarchist.

 

[longbowhunter2]

plus.... some fat, overweight, old, government worker who only likes to sit back and collect a check isnt going to be looking that hard.......


Can you tell I'm a Libertarian / Anarchist.

hey who's old

 

[longbowhunter2]

seriously this lead ban on ammo is FUBAR.

 

[HuggyBear15]

Can you tell I'm a Libertarian / Anarchist.

I was starting to get that impression haha.

 

[HuggyBear15]

Hi everyone,

So today I went on my first hunt, or hunt attempt rather It turns out I could have been carrying any caliber of ammo and it wouldn't have made a difference

I headed out to Fargo Canyon, north(ish) of Indio, then west to Little Fargo Canyon. I chose this area because I knew it was legal to shoot in there, thought the terrain looked consistent with that shown in YouTube jackrabbit hunt videos, and because I hoped the two dried creek beds depicted on my map would make it easier to track. The good news was, I was right about the dried creeks: there were tracks all over the place! While this was my first attempt at recognizing tracks, and couldn't follow most of the trails for more than 10-20 yards, I'm pretty sure most of them were coyote, along with a few jackrabbit.

While I saw plenty of birds, bees, a couple of lizards, and a ground squirrel (I think?), I saw no jacks and no coyotes...though I DID do a great job of sneaking up on what turned out to be a rock ;D I was pleased to find what I'm pretty sure was fresh rabbit scat though, which suggested to me the area wasn't a total bust, even if my hunting skills seemed to be. All-in-all I enjoyed being outdoors, and look forward to giving it another go!

I plan to get a pair of binoculars so that I can glass over areas, and hopefully avoid more rock stalks Does anyone have any words of wisdom they'd mind sharing in terms of spotting jacks?

Also, because I know what everyone needs is pictures of rabbit scat ( ), I figured I'd share.

Edit: WOW those pictures came out huge! I can't seem to figure out how to resize or erase them. I'm sorry about that folks. If a moderator takes one or both down, I understand.