Lead vs steel shot

[Shootermick]

Will lead shot ever be phased out completely?
Or will we be able to buy it pretty much forever?
With the amount of older shotguns out there I’m guessing it will always have a place.

[rc42]

It's new environmental legislation and individual range policies that will drive this, as they have in Europe.

There will always be steel alternatives like bismuth which is soft enough to deform through tighter chokes but price will always be prohibitive and it's difficult to find anyway.

The days of lead shot are numbered, we just don't know what that number is yet.

[MtnMan]

Will they go full retard and ban lead rifle projectiles like they have in California?

[Shootermick]

The reason I ask is related to my recent posts about getting a sxs shotgun. Is it a backward step to buy an older one that would only be suitable for lead if it were only to become a bit redundant further down the track due to a full lead shot ban.?

[rc42]

Fixed chokes at 3/4 or Full can't use steel shot, even if the barrel is steel proofed and older SxS may not be steel proofed at all so the options for them will be lead whilst its available (and usable at your range) or Bismuth alloy (or equivalent) which will become easier to find as lead is phased out but will always be expensive.

If you are getting an older shotgun that can't use steel it will eventually be expensive to shoot, but that could be 10 or 20 years away, (or next year if the Greens get their way). Unless it's a crazy expensive collectors shotgun I'd say go for it and worry about the future sometime in the future.
If you don't ever want to worry about it then a shotgun with a steel proofed barrel with open or swappable chokes is the way to go.