Business Notes MAIL ORDER

Duck shoes, bait jackets and chamois shirts are harmless enough, but now the rugged outdoorsman can buy mail-order ammunition. By dialing a toll-free number in which the last four digits spell BANG, customers can order ammunition ranging in size from .22-cal. slugs to 458 Winchester Magnums, known as elephant bullets. Says Aaron Zelman, the company's owner: "It's just like the Penney's or Sears' catalog."

His company is believed to be the first to take advantage of recent amendments to the 1968 Federal Gun Control Act. Until then, mail-order firms could sell ammunition only to licensed gun dealers. Gun-control advocates are lobbying to reverse that change.