I think it is advantageous for all to get rid of the Lead in first place.

Lead-free bullets retain most of the mass and produce no or few fragments, which pose no known health-risk to humans, since copper and zinc are essential trace elements for humans and are tolerated in low amounts. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4100882/

Lead is found in bullets as well as the explosive that ignites gunpowder. When a bullet is fired, it gets so hot that that lead actually vaporizes. ... The most direct solution is switching to lead-free ammunition or at least jacketed bullets, which have a lead core covered with a coating made of copper or nylon. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/lead-shooting-ranges-osha/

The health concerns that lead poses humans is also a factor that is being increasingly considered by game hunters today. Lead ingestion leads to myocardial malfunction and stroke mortality, reduced brain mass and even accelerated crime activities. The exact toxic dose of lead has not being established as it varies from individual to individual, nevertheless the effects of its exposure can be devastating. Young people are affected the most by lead poisoning, which results in intellectual problems and retarded growth. Whenever lead is ingested, it is dissolved by acids present in the stomach where it then enters the blood stream, is transported into internal organs, assembles in the liver and is finally deposited in bones. The intensity of lead intake is proportional game consumption and this is prevalent among local hunters. https://sites.google.com/site/ecomasstechnologies/advantage-of-lead-free-ammunition-over-lead-bullet-in-game-hunting

Dear Frank T. Edelmann

What are the substitutes for Lead ?

Steel are used in shotgun ammunition. One of the largest shooting arenas near Oslo in Norway have a large dung of rusting steel stored in a swamp area. Does not look good, nor the water picking up heavy metal trace material from this. I think the steel use may be reversed now.

Edit: it is the former lead bullets that forms the largest problem at the shooting arena. The region near the dung is toxic to animals from lead.

Reasons for using lead-free ammunition that these Bullets are Extremely Effective to provide typical kill gained from a well-placed shot involves bone-crushing penetration, massive organ/tissue disruption, and frequently a sizable exit wound that aids in blood-tracking. Another reason is to Ensure the Highest Quality Meat from a Harvest, the lead would end up in people's food. A study revealed that fragments from lead rifle ammunition can peel off and become lodged in tissue as much as 14 inches from the point of bullet entry. Also, to Prevent Lethal Collateral Damage to Wildlife, as most hunters would agree that a good hunt is one that takes only one pull of the trigger and drops the animal with a quick, humane kill. The idea of accidentally poisoning other non-target wildlife isn't anyone's intention. But many birds and mammals feed on the gut piles and carcasses that they find during and after hunting season.  In many cases, these animals unknowingly eat lead when the carcasses have been shot with lead ammo.

http://www.huntingwithnonlead.org/whyUseNonlead2015.html

The disadvantages of using lead-free ammo that it costs more, and some people say it's a way to enact a stealth gun ban, but does it actually shoot worse. Lead is the dense, malleable, relatively low melting point, and cheap. It is easy to get, easy to form, and easy to recycle. All of these things make it very useful as a bullet. There are other elements that are close (e.g. gold), and compounds which are close (e.g. bismuth + zinc + some other stuff), but none of these share all of those properties. Namely, neither of the ones I mentioned are cheap and in the case of the bismuth compounds, it is not cheap to form nor is it recycle-able once cast.

https://www.quora.com/Are-there-permanent-disadvantages-to-non-lead-ammunition

See the link below please

https://ec.europa.eu/docsroom/documents/13043/attachments/1/translations/en/renditions/pdf

Dear Omkar Singh Kushwaha "What are the substitutes for Lead ?" Currently a hot research topic in this field is the development of so-called "high-energy density materials" (HEDMs) which are e.g. explosive because of many nitro groups in the molecule and do not contain lead.

Article A promising high-energy-density material

Frank T. Edelmann

Thank you for a good article about the Nitro compounds, the HEDMs.

Dear Hermann Gruenwald according to the link cited below "The most expensive lead ammo costs $18 more than its nonlead counterpart. Nonlead ammo wins."

https://www.mpgranch.com/dispatches/nonlead-ammo-expensive

Dear Prof. Frank Edelmann, Thank you for sharing this research and requesting answering...

But unfortunately I am not in the 'business' of hunting or sport-shooting.

I only used lead citrate (and 'lanthanide')in really tiny portions for staining TEM-specimens (ultrathin sections).

For ==> ecological and safety reasons I certainly support replacement (substitution) of 'lead' to bullets made from 'pasta'... many will survive...(:-))

(as I have 'heard' (but this may be perhaps an 'ondit' / a whisper: GLOCK (Austria) is not only interested in such new consumer items, they also seem to carry out research on it....

cf: https://www.k-var.com/lead-bullets-glock-9mm-40sw (QUOTE) Lead bullets are not the same as hard cast bullets. Lead bullets are soft and cheap. Hard cast bullets are alloyed with tin and antimony and take rifling well. They do not lead badly, if used with quality lubricant.

Many commercial bullets were too soft. As a result of these problems, Glock issued a prohibition of the use of lead bullets in the Glock pistol. While many companies prohibit handload use for their products, and such use will void the warranty, this was the first straight across the board prohibition of lead bullet use that I am aware of. (End of QUOTE), also: https://gundigest.com/gun-reviews/handguns-reviews/can-i-shoot-lead-in-my-glock ;

https://www.glocktalk.com/threads/ammo-with-lead-free-primers.1686586/ ;

https://clarkarmory.com/blogs/blog/7-reasons-i-choose-to-use-lead-free-ammunition (already cited previously by another post...)

My best wishes and good luck, Stay safe and healthy, - Wolfgang

As a former firearms instructor at a national law enforcement training academy, I can tell you that we shot millions of lead-based rounds over the last decade. Our practice rounds were fully encapsulated lead rounds (no exposed lead coming out of the pistol but lots of lead dust downrange after the bullet hit the target). Our duty rounds (the rounds carried by officers in the field) had a hollow-point meaning some lead was exposed at the tip. We didn't shoot these rounds as much because they were more expensive (about a penny more per round). Ballistics were the same. There has been a movement over the last couple of years to move away from lead-based rounds for practice use. One of the local police forces practices exclusively with lead-free products (eliminates the need for hazmat protocols during range maintenance). As far as I know, most police departments still issue bullets with a lead core (in a gunfight, the police are more concerned with stopping the threat than lead contamination).

It is green ammunition and using such ammunition gives benefits to ecology.

https://www.army.mil/article/56157/green_bullet_as_effective_as_m855_round_consistently

Uranium is lead-free too...

That was just a joke, but every joke has a piece of truth...

Seriously speaking, the answer depends on the area. In bird hunting, that can be really important, especially in Europe - limited areas with lots of shooters. Lead contamination can be a real problem, but steel shot looks as a questionable solution. Indeed, lower energy of the single grain increases the number of the wounded birds, which can escape from the site, but die after...

Tungsten or something else is not better than lead, thus it just doesn't have sense to discuss it seriously.

In boar (bear, deer, etc) hunting the lead contamination of the environment cannot be a real problem, because there are very limited numbers of shots, thus it can be even uranium, doesn't matter.

In military application, of course, lead will be not a major problem in comparison with other environmental issues...

Hermann Gruenwald do you mean sport hunters for tanks?

Let's shake words a bit (AND YES: it is meant as 'JOKE'!):

>>Ultimate hunting: More roads into our woods! And: Tanks for sport hunters!

A disadvantage is that if you are repeatedly exposed to this toxic element, it can cause anemia, brain damage and high blood pressure. An advantage is that lead has a low melting point, so it is easy to shape and mold the bullet.

https://www.shootinguk.co.uk/guns/ammunition/cons-of-lead-free-bullets-and-the-pros-116589