In terms of throat elongation, wear on the lands overall, and life of the barrel.What do you mean by hard on barrels?
Gilding metal bullets (jacketed bullets) are mostly copper, are they hard on bbls.?? Copper is softer than steel.Do you guys load a bunch of copper bullets such as Barnes or Hornady CRX etc. ? If so where do you like to seat them off the lands, and have you noticed them being hard on barrels?
I'm pretty sure that neither Bear nor Tula has imported anything steel cored), at least in the last 30 years).I shoot steel core bullets sometimes in my 30.06 (golden bear) and Mosin the tula ammo. Have not noticed any wear.
Do you guys load a bunch of copper bullets such as Barnes or Hornady CRX etc. ? If so where do you like to seat them off the lands, and have you noticed them being hard on barrels?
Well no, but copper jacket bullets have soft lead underneath so they can swage. Copper does not. Hence the question. I tbink most agree copper is not hard on the bore thoughGilding metal bullets (jacketed bullets) are mostly copper, are they hard on bbls.?? Copper is softer than steel.
DM
WAAAY before most of us here were alive, a test was made to see how much a jacketed bullet wears bbls..Well no, but copper jacket bullets have soft lead underneath so they can swage. Copper does not. Hence the question. I tbink most agree copper is not hard on the bore though
I haven't noticed abnormal wear with lead free bullets - but they are expensive enough that I don't use them for casual purposes.
I also have not experimented with seating depth, because frankly, these bullets seem much more likely to cause weird pressure spikes and as a result I'm kind of scared of them. I tend to treat the loading of them much as I do the loading of shotshells: I follow the recipe to the letter.
And that is documented somewhere I assume where it can be referenced?WAAAY before most of us here were alive, a test was made to see how much a jacketed bullet wears bbls..
High pressure clean air was used to send bullets down a bbl., and after 80,000 bullets and the bbl. was still like new, the test was stopped.
DM
I am sure they are nasty. I know they really dig into a steel plate.I regularly load Barnes TTSX. My rifles like .020 off the lands (YMMV). They are used for hunting, so not too much concern regarding barrel wear from my personal perspective. For what it’s worth, the results are devastating and they are very accurate.
I am sure they are nasty. I know they really dig into a steel plate.
I'm sure it is, I read about it MANY years ago, not sure where, maybe in one of Townsend Whelens books?And that is documented somewhere I assume where it can be referenced?
my experience wirh copper is shooting less than 40 rounds of Razorback XT.If you’re shooting them at steel plates for fun, you have more money to burn than me. Those suckers are expensive! I load, sight in, and practice with a standard cup and core. Then switch to TTSX for the hunting season after double checking my zero. I’ve rarely had to make an adjustment when switching between the two.
one of the copper bullet companies i reached out to told me they thought their bullets were actually easier on bores than cup and core
I’ve cut pure copper for satellite innards - cooling and insulation parts, mostly but some electrical bridges, too - and it is STICKY STUFF! Sticks to high-speed steel cutters like tar on Brehr Rabbit. We had to invent a new coolant and lard-soap-based lubricant to complete a USAF satellite project. The stuff they’re using for bullets is not pure copper, it’s an alloy - probably with lead, like a 1914x alloy, but that is just a WAG - and it’s not nearly as sticky as pure. I think the exact alloys are probably going to be proprietary but it could be a common metal too. I haven’t checked into the exact properties closely.The copper is softer so that makes a bunch of sense. I’ve had barrels that getting the copper out was a real chore. They have a reputation for leaving more copper residue that copper jacketed lead core bullets. That alone tells me they are softer.
Both of the barrels that get copper fouling real bad, still shoot Barnes good.
Since I started using a “break in” process on new barrels, I haven’t had a problem.