STOP The Bird Shot – It is Human Rights Abuse

Broadly, ammunition for shotguns is referred to as “shot,” and consists of pellets of a certain material inside a cartridge. Bahrain Watch has observed two sizes of metallic birdshot in Bahrain: #2 birdshot (pellet diameter of about 3.8mm), and #8 birdshot (pellet diameter of about 2.2mm).

Bahrain’s top cartridge: Victory Starlight by G&L Calibers Ltd. (Cyprus):

The most popular shotgun shell being used by Bahrain’s Secuirty Forces is the Victory Starlight, a product of Cyprus G&L Calibers Ltd; The shell is identifiable by the word “STARLIGHT” in all-caps, shaped semi-circularly over the marking “32gr”, indicating a load weight of 32 grams,. To the right, a large “8” (shot size) is located above a vertical line, broken by the marking “70” (shell length). The shell metallic headstamp reads “Victory 12″.

Birdshot from UK manufacturer Gamebore(US Owned) has also been seen in Bahrain. The shell can be identified by the presence of the Gamebore logo, followed by “67mm” (length of the shell), and “8 – 32gms,” where the 8 is shot size and a load weight of 32 grams. The Gamebore cartridge has been observed in use for #2 and #8 shot sizes.