Lead free ( copper ) bullets

[Jake Pearson]

Debating loading some copper bullets either in 30 caliber or 6mm (.243). I have zero experience with any copper or lead free bullets and was hoping to get some suggestions on what a good starter would be. Hunting would be the main application. Thank you in advance

 

[CANNONMAN]

I got yelled at for using copper for cannonballs. Precious metal waste. There are a lot of reasons why not to. I made some .9 out of silver and put them in nickel cased loads. They look awesome! Its way different than lead. So is copper. do you plan on milling them or casting them? If you find a bullet that you like you can go to several industrial sites where you can send the bullet to be mass manufactured via CNC. I'm all for your endeavors and wish you the best of luck.

 

[mcb]

I have been impressed with the all copper bullets I have tried. I have been using Barnes Bullets in my 450 Bushmaster and super sonic 300 Blackout. For subsonic 300 Blackout I have been using Maker bullets.


Recovered this Barnes 275gr TSX 450BM bullet after passing through a raccoon and about 3ft of forest floor. 100% weight retention.



This Maker REX 220gr 300BO launched at 1060fps went hrough three 1-gallon milk jugs and was recovered from the forth. 100% weight retention.

 

[horsey300]

Debating loading some copper bullets either in 30 caliber or 6mm (.243). I have zero experience with any copper or lead free bullets and was hoping to get some suggestions on what a good starter would be. Hunting would be the main application. Thank you in advance

For 6mm or 7.62, speed will be your friend, you'll absolutely get penetration, but expansion will be the trick, I prefer to keep impact velocity above 2000, even better above 2200, so which specific cartridges are you running, and do your local regulations have special requirements about energy levels etc?
Until those are answered, I'll throw in that my favorite runner right now is a nosler blemished 86 gr etip loaded hot with either 4451 or imr4831, since those are not widely available, I'd check into the 80 gmx or 90 etip (barnes 85 has lower bc and that matters for my purposes) with the 90, I'm sure the 4451 and imr4831 should still be applicable, as for the .30, I believe that @MCMXI can chime in on hunting experience with the .30 barnes line.
As for hunting application, what is the planned quarry? If for varmints and other light game sinterfire might be worth a shot with the 30s, I'd like to toy with them in .22 but require a different rig to do so, but they aren't meant to exit, kind of the opposite of the other monolithic bullets.

 

[mdi]

If I were to try solid copper bullets my first purchase would be a manual from Barnes or Berger.

 

[labnoti]

The Barnes TSX and TTSX are well-proven for hunting. The bullets are designed for expansion and different velocities based on what the popular cartridge(s) are for a particular caliber. In 6mm, the .243 Winchester is pretty ubiquitous so you can bet there's a bullet for the velocities that cartridge will produce. For 30 caliber, there's a big spread. I mean, everything for .30 M1 and 30-30 all the way up to .300 Win Mag. There's bullets to match too, but you'll want to take care to make those matches. There's also Varmint Grenades for the smaller calibers which are both good for varmints and inexpensive enough for targets. Barnes publishing load data for their bullets on their website.

For steel targets, Sinterfire makes frangible non-lead bullets that are safer at closer ranges. They also publish data on the web.

 

[cowboy77]

I really like the Barnes TTSX. Having mostly all Tikka rifles I find mine like a good jump to the lands for best accuracy.