Non-Lead Partnership

[RobG]

This study out of Minnesota is what changed my mind, I went down that rabbit hole after listening to the above mentioned podcast. Here is a slideshow, but there is also an in depth write up. https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/fish_wildlife/lead/index.htm. From what i understand a MD started x-raying packages of processed deer and half of them contained lead. Think about the bloodshot meat discarded for millions of gut piles, 2 #6 lead pellets ingested can kill a bird.

IMO copper is fine for ELK and other big game because of the weight retention. Probably even better than most quick fragmenting lead bullets. It's whitetails that bother me, I remember when ballistic tips came on the scene and I watched people starting losing big whitetails regularly. The bullet simply fragmented too quickly. On the opposite end I remember people trying to use bullets that did not fragment at all and losing deer with complete passthroughs. Add to that the bullet performance difference between a mature buck and a doe, I can see why people would want to stick to good ole core lokts for deer.

For me the switch was easy after seeing the x-rays. Who wants to eat a bunch of lead?

Between my wife, son, and myself, I've bet we've shot 50 deer (mostly whitetail does) with Barnes copper and I can only think of one that went any distance, and it was shot in the lower leg. We use 243, 270, and occasionally an '06. Here's one from my wife's mule deer.

 

[BWALKER77]

I am not a tree hugger and I dont really care if a few scavenger birds bite the dust from lead poisoning. What I do care about is not exposing my children to lead. As such I have switched over to monolithic bullets for all hunting purposes.

 

[shaffe48]

Heck as much as you people keep getting me thinking and second guessing myself, I keep coming back to my trophy bonded tip. And in this lead poisoning debate, it's a great compromise. The rear half is non lead. The front half is bonded. 95% retention you don't lose much lead into the animal. Heck, in this video retention is 99% unless you shoot it through a cow femur it's 85%.

https://youtu.be/8Ha6eo6LBmI

And to mention 2x+ expansion and reasonable price so you can practice with it. Factory 180 gr shoot sub moa in my .308 and the .300 I sold.

 

[BWALKER77]

I have shot an elk, a deer and a antelope with the Barnes 30 caliber 175LRX this year from a 300 Ultra and 300 WSM. Worked great.
I picked this one out of a cow elk a few years ago. Barnes 180TTSX from a 300 Ultra.

 

[WoodsQuest]

I made the switch to monolithic copper. I don't see any reason to expose my children to lead fragments. I know there are some folks, Nathan Foster one of them, that don't like monolithic bullets because as he says, they can be "slow killing". I've read his website extensively and it seems just about every cartridge he has an article on that isn't a magnum has some cautions against slow killing with various types of shots. He undoubtedly seems to prefer lead core bullets that cause some level of fragmentation. However, I think he is only looking at this from the angle of how long it takes for an animal to expire. To me, it seems that if slow killing was such an issue with monolithic bullets we'd see more people complain about them than praise them and companies like Barnes (who is now owned by Remington) wouldn't be successful to the point that Nosler and Hornady are following suit.

I think legislation may be necessary. Especially from an optics stand point. The amount of hunters in America is dwindling and I could see a future where a lot of people don't hunt. That could result in a lot of negative impacts for sportsmen. Teddy Roosevelt advocated for hunting regulations from a conservation stand point because animals were being hunted to extinction. Even now, over 100 years later we still experience the repercussions of over hunting of certain species.

We don't like being told what to do. Hunters are typically Type A personalities and don't want to be told what to do or how to do it. Some of it is habit-I've been doing it this way for XX years and I'm not changing. Monolithic non-toxic projectiles are the future. Anti-hunting organizations are moving toward lead contamination as a way to inhibit hunting opportunities. Monolithic ammunition and bullets really aren't that much more expensive. I see Barnes TTSX/TSX selling for about the same price as any other premium lead core bullets. Even loaded ammunition is reasonable. Federal and Winchester both released copper projectiles in the Power-Shok and Deer Season XP line that run $25 to $21 a box respectively. That isn't much more than any other premium hunting load and is only a few dollars more than a box of Core-lokt, Power-Shok or Power Points. I think the cost argument is over stated. It was valid a few years ago but not anymore.

The political optics on this are in favor of non-lead ammunition. In my opinion, regulating the use of non-lead ammunition just may be the next step in conservation that TR started over 100 years ago. I'm for it and I don't see any issue with it.