Who is the leader in lead free bullet technology?

[Corn-Picker]

To make a long story a little shorter, I shot a whitetail deer with a standard 180 grain soft point (cup and core) bullet about a month ago. The bullet completely disintegrated and did not exit the 100 lb doe that was 60 yards away (the rifle was a 30-06). The deer dropped instantly, so I don't consider the bullet to have failed, but it did get me thinking. I have small children, and I want to minimize any probability of lead exposure. The only way to do this is to move to lead free bullets/shot for all of my hunting, and to process my own game (because I can't control whether or not a deer processor puts lead-shot scraps through their meat grinder).

Concurrently, I am thinking of picking up hand loading as a hobby. I bought a book that gives a basic overview of hand loading, and it states that I need to buy a detailed hand loading manual (recipe book), which makes sense. Since lead free bullet technology is somewhat of a niche market, I thought that I would ask which manual has the widest variety of lead free loads? Looking around on Midway's site, it seemed that most of the lead free bullets were from Barnes, so that's the manual I was planning to go with. But, you all know more about the subject than me, so I wanted to get your opinions.

 

[plmitch]

I use Hornady GMX bullets for most of my hunting needs. Barnes Bullets are also good.

 

[BruceB]

The Barnes company has been making lead-free bullets for decades. Their technology has now matured to the point that the TSX series of bullets brings SUPERB accuracy to the users, along with completely-reliable expansion and weight retention (most important, in my book).

I have personally seen Barnes bullets recovered from animals as small as antelope and deer, and as large as moose and bison. The bullets ALL looked like advertising subjects!

They cost a bit more than other bullets, but ..... spending an extra twenty bucks on RELIABLE bullets is peanuts compared to what we might spend on gas, motels, meals, camp equipment etc etc for a hunt. Even a local-area hunt (from home) will cost a good bit if we think about it. Good bullets are the one of the best investments we can make in a successful hunt.

(No, I have no connection to the company.....except as a completely-satisfied customer .)

 

[hovercat]

Just go with a FMJ.

 

[jmr40]

Used correctly, Barnes. The biggest mistake shooters make is using too heavy of a bullet. The 130 gr Barnes @ 3300 fps from your 30-06 is about right for deer, the 110's @ 3600 fps are not too light. 150's @ 3000 fps are the biggest I'd use and only if you anticipate much larger game such as elk or bear.

The Barnes 130's will give you a complete pass through and still expand very well. ANY of the copper bullets rely on lots of speed to expand. If you go too heavy and can't shoot them fast enough, or shoot them at extreme range, you won't get good expansion.

Don't worry about the light bullets, they penetrate. Here is a good article from a guy shooting elk with a 243 WSSM with 80 gr bullets and 270 WSM and 130's. The lighter, faster 80 gr bullets out performed the heavier bullet because it had slowed too much at longer range. Note the difference in expansion at slow impact speeds. Quite a difference.

http://www.thediyhunter.com/big-gam...hock-bullets-tsx-ttsx-243-wssm-270-wsm-rifles

 

[Longhorn 76]

I think you are overly concerned. I believe metallic lead is benign, and it is lead compounds that are dangerous.

 

[Corn-Picker]

Organically bound lead (e.g. paint chips) is certainly much worse than metallic lead, but metallic lead from wild game shot with lead bullets/shot does make it into your blood.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...Yvqgbc0auwKVa6n_A&sig2=n99Yygi7z2jaHU2JaotLTA

There is no proven safe level of lead in the blood, less is always better. Am I overly concerned? Maybe, but I figure why take the chance when there are alternatives that achieve the same goal?