{"id":1167,"date":"2020-01-04T12:28:13","date_gmt":"2020-01-04T17:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/?p=1167"},"modified":"2020-02-03T00:08:08","modified_gmt":"2020-02-03T05:08:08","slug":"copper-bullets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/copper-bullets\/","title":{"rendered":"UNLEADED BULLETS Some love \u2018em, others hate \u2018em\u2026but they work! By Craig Boddington"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The fancy term is \u201chomogeneous alloy,\u201d but we\u2019re primarily talking about all-copper or copper-alloy rifle bullets, absent any trace of lead. There are two primary reasons to hunt with this type of bullet: Because you have to; or because you want<\/em> to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Barnes
Barnes X, TSX, TTSX: The Barnes X-Bullet was the first effective copper-alloy expanding bullet. The TSX, center, added driving bands to reduce copper fouling, while the TTSX, right, added a polymer tip, which drives into the bullet upon impact to initiate expansion.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Without question, lead is a toxic metal, and lead poisoning is a serious and potentially fatal health hazard. Waterfowlers have been required to use non-toxic shot nationwide since 1991, now with multiple alternatives including alloys of bismuth, iron, tungsten, and zinc. A legal requirement to use non-lead bullets<\/em> is newer and still uncommon\u2026but that depends on where you live. Since 2007 California has banned hunting with lead bullets throughout the range of the endangered California condor. The condor, really the world\u2019s largest vulture, is primarily a scavenger. Hard evidence is sketchy, but there is a chance a condor could ingest lead fragments or particles by eating carcasses of animals taken with lead bullets. California\u2019s Central Coast, where I\u2019ve lived for 25 years, is part of the so-called \u201ccondor zone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\"This
This elk was dropped in its tracks with a single 180-grain Barnes X with a shoulder shot from a Savage 110. The deep-penetrating homogenous alloy bullets are excellent for larger game such as elk\u2026especially if you\u2019re of the school that likes exit wounds.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The region also has\nCalifornia\u2019s densest feral hog population, reasonable deer hunting, and a\ngrowing herd of tule elk. For a dozen years hunters here have been among those\nwho must<\/em> use non-lead bullets. Now we\u2019ve got a lot of company, because\nas of July 1, 2019, use of lead bullets for hunting has been banned statewide!\nSo, everyone who hunts in California is now in the group who have<\/em> to<\/em>\nuse unleaded projectiles. Scattered throughout the country there are other\nlead-free zones, undoubtedly for various reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Buff
Buff in herd: The homogenous alloy bullets penetrate so well that we don\u2019t use them much for buffalo hunting in large herds. Even on buffalo, exit wounds are likely, and it\u2019s difficult to be certain the background is safe.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are many hunters\nwho use copper (copper-alloy) bullets because they want to: They like them,\nbelieve in them\u2026 and they work! The famous \u201cX-Bullet\u201d from Barnes was the first\nsuccessful expanding copper bullet, improved into the TSX (Triple Shock X).\nMore recently, Barnes added a polymer-tipped version (TTSX) and a long-range\nversion (LRX) with improved aerodynamics. Today there are other choices,\nincluding Hornady\u2019s GMX (Gilding Metal eXpanding) and MonoFlex; Nosler\u2019s E-Tip;\nFederal\u2019s Trophy Copper; Norma\u2019s Eco-Strike; Winchester\u2019s Copper Impact\u2026and\nmore. All perform essentially the same way: A hollow nose cavity with a skived\ntip so that, upon impact, the nose peels back in petals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\":
: Outside of California, Boddington bases bullet choices largely on what groups best in a given rifle. This LAW .300 Winchester Magnum really liked Hornady\u2019s 165-grain GMX in their \u201cFull Boar\u201d load.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Expansion is controlled or limited by the depth and diameter of the nose cavity. In the case of the polymer-tipped copper bullets, upon impact the tip is driven down into the nose cavity, initiating expansion\u2014which is exactly what the tip does in conventional lead-core bullets that are tipped. The advantage to the homogeneous alloy bullet is just that: It is one piece of solid metal, so it can\u2019t come apart or separate. It is possible for petals to break off, but even when this happens weight retention is extremely high. If the petals remain intact (they often do!), then weight retention approaches 100 percent. Typically, expansion is not as great as with lead-core bullets. Therefore, I think of homogeneous-alloy bullets as \u201cpenetrating bullets\u201d that usually exit with broadside shots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Boddington\u2019s
Boddington\u2019s \u201cbest-ever\u201d mule deer was taken with a single 130-grain Barnes TTSX. The shot was quartering away, entering behind the left shoulder and exiting through the right shoulder. The big-bodied buck took just a few steps and went down.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Copper fouling can be an\nissue, especially with rough bores. The driving bands that came in with the TSX\nbullet and are found on most copper bullets today mitigate this, and in any\ncase it\u2019s not a problem to scrub it out with a copper solvent containing\nammonia. Copper is lighter than lead, so a copper bullet will be longer than a\nlead-core bullet of the same weight. Against this, the copper bullets work so\nwell and lose so little weight during expansion and penetration that many\nhunters who use them believe lighter bullets can be used with the same effect,\nthus increasing velocity and reducing recoil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"All
All copper-alloy expanding bullets have a hollow nose cavity and skived tip, with various numbers of serrations or splits, causing petals to peel back. This is a 200-grain Hornady MonoFlex .44 Magnum bullet, recovered from a whitetail buck.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As for accuracy, it\ndepends on the rifle! Adequate hunting accuracy is rarely a problem, but my\nexperience has been that some rifles shoot homogenous alloy bullets extremely\nwell\u2026and some do not. This is pretty much the same with any rifle or any other\nbullet or type of bullet: You never know what\u2019s going to work best in a given\nrifle until you experiment with a variety of loads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Hornady
Hornady GMX: The Hornady GMX (Gilding Metal eXpanding) is another extremely effective homogenous alloy bullet. This is a 130-grain .270 GMX, recovered from a big Turkish stag taken at 400 yards. The group was fired from Donna Boddington\u2019s MGA .270.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Although there are many\ngood choices, it\u2019s important to have confidence in your rifle and cartridge.\nIt\u2019s also good to have confidence in your bullet. Many hunters place tremendous\nfaith in copper bullets and use them in various calibers for everything<\/em>.\nThey are among the group that use these bullets because they want to, not\nbecause they have to!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s get back to the \u201chave to\u201d group, which now includes all California hunters! Nobody likes to be told what products they must use, and hunters and shooters are probably an especially prickly group. For years, the lead-bullet ban in the condor zone was a major item for discussion at area ranges and local gun shops. Some hunters made it sound like they were being forced to shoot blanks!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Boddington
Boddington chose a 250-grain GMX in a Mossberg .375 Ruger for his polar bear hunt. The homogenous alloy bullets penetrate so well that some bullet weight can be sacrificed, yielding higher velocity and less recoil. This big bear was taken at 40 yards, all bullets exiting.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are two traditional\nschools of thought regarding bullet performance. Some demand exit wounds,\nthrough and through penetration. One rationale is that exit wounds leave a\nbetter blood trail to follow. Another: If a bullet consistently exits on\nbroadside shots, then there\u2019s probably enough penetration for quartering-away\nshots. The opposite school wants the bullet to expand, penetrate to the vitals,\nand expend all its energy, believing that energy spent in dirt, rocks, and\ntrees on the far side on the far side of the animal is wasted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Boddington
Boddington and Chad Wiebe with a very large California boar, taken with a 165-grain GMX from a .300 Winchester Magnum. A single shoulder shot dropped the pig in its tracks.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Although these concepts\nare conflicted, there is truth in all of them. Ideal bullet performance is some\nmysterious mixture of expansion and<\/em> penetration. It depends on what you\nwant\u2026and it also depends on the size of the animal relative to the caliber and\nweight of the bullet. So, do I use homogenous-alloy bullets? In California you\nbet I do\u2026because I have to!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"One
One of the problems with the California lead ban is availability of unleaded options, especially in older cartridges. Hornady\u2019s LeveRevolution line with MonoFlex bullets solves the problem in some cartridges. Their 250-grain MonoFlex performed perfectly on this eatin\u2019 size California porker!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Elsewhere, I don\u2019t have to use them, so I have lots of choices. I use them when I want to\u2026sometimes because a TSX or GMX happens to group extremely well in that rifle\u2026and sometimes because expansion\/penetration qualities of the copper bullets seem to match the job at hand. Not everyone agrees, but because, typically, these bullets penetrate more than they expand, my opinion is: The bigger and tougher the game, the better they work! I like them for elk and bear. African professional hunters tend to agree that they\u2019re awesome for buffalo. In fact, they\u2019re so awesome that we don\u2019t use them for Mozambique\u2019s swamp buffalo hunting! In that area we\u2019re usually working big herds; the homogeneous-alloy bullets often pass straight through, even on buffalo. There, we avoid them because, in herds, it\u2019s difficult to get a clear shot, so we prefer lead-core expanding bullets that are less likely to pass through and endanger unseen animals on the far side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Donna
Donna sighting in for a deer hunt in California\u2019s \u201ccondor zone\u201d with a Mossberg in 6.5mm Creedmoor. At this time Federal\u2019s 120-grain Trophy Copper was the only \u201cunleaded\u201d 6.5 Creedmoor factory load available. Fortunately, homogenous alloy bullets are popular, and options will increase.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here in California they work great on feral hogs, which are tough and can be large. Our black-tail deer aren\u2019t large. I tend to agree with the nay-sayers: The homogeneous-alloy bullets the law requires us to use are often unimpressive on our small-bodied deer. In part this is a matter of how we employ them. Traditionally, American hunters prefer behind-the-shoulder lung shots: The target is the largest, and meat damage the least. Especially with the lighter calibers we use on our small-bodied deer (6mms and .25s are traditional favorites), on behind-the-shoulder lung shots the homogeneous-alloy bullets often pass straight through without doing a lot of damage. A through-and-through central lung shot is surely fatal, but with caliber-sized entrance and (at best) twice-caliber exit some tracking is likely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"This
This custom .270 Winchester by Joe Balickie, on a left-hand Carl Gustav action, groups pretty well with everything\u2026but it really likes the 130-grain GMX, top right. Naturally, that\u2019s what Boddington uses to hunt with this rifle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is not necessary to shift to larger calibers. Instead, borrow a page from the African PHs, who consistently exhort their clients to concentrate shot placement on the shoulder<\/em>. Instead of shooting behind the shoulder, on a broadside shot come straight up the middle of the on-foreleg, one-third to no more than half-way up into the body. The homogeneous-alloy bullet will pierce (and usually break) the on-shoulder, penetrate across the top of the heart, and, on deer-sized game, usually break the opposite shoulder and exit. This is the shot I\u2019ve long preferred on all game bigger and tougher than deer. There is a bit more meat damage than with the behind-the-shoulder lung shot, but usually not extreme with the tough homogeneous-alloy bullets. Try it, and over time I think you\u2019ll do a lot less tracking!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The fancy term is \u201chomogeneous alloy,\u201d but we\u2019re primarily talking about all-copper or copper-alloy rifle bullets, absent any trace of lead. There are two primary reasons to hunt with this type of bullet: Because you have to; or because you want to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[7,21,35],"tags":[181,180],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1167"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1167"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1192,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1167\/revisions\/1192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}