In the 80's, lead was not much of a concern because there were no practical alternatives. Now, I won't shoot any game with lead. I won't shoot lead styphnate primers. I won't even have bare lead bullets on my bench. While I recognize that most shooters would consider me "paranoid," what's changed is that I can be like that without missing anything.

Without a doubt, laser range finders and dialing has come on the scene and taken hold for a large portion of shooters and hunters. I started with a LRF bowhunting in the 90's, and now I have a scope with a custom BDC turrent. On the other hand, I've switched to traditional archery and instinctive shooting, and I hunt only with flat-shooting cartridges using MPBR because a close stalk is far more appealing to me than a long-range shot.

In terminal ballistics, "the truth" has changed the most for handguns, but even with rifles there is a growing popularity to "just enough" rather than "more than enough."