OT: copper bullets

[grouse]

For the past few years i have wanted to try copper bullets but could never find them in any store I visited. This year I finally found a box of Winchester solid copper bullets in .270 at 130 gr., the same weight as the lead bullets I have been using. At the range they shot just like the lead bullets, no adjustments were needed.

Our firearms opener was Saturday morning. I saw a couple of bucks in the morning (including a really big one). They were both in range but coming right toward me along the edge of the crop field without stopping. They both went back into the woods and disappeared without offering me the kind of shot I wanted.

No deer appeared during a midday hunt, and I headed back out for the evening. The high that day was 29F. with strong northwesterly winds, The stand I was using is in the southeast corner of a crop field. The wind was relentless, and I had to leave after a Sunday morning hunt at the latest (my wife had cataract surgery this morning and I had to be home to drive her to the surgery site). I decided to shoot the next doe that appeared so I could get out of the wind and have something show for my effort.

About 4:30 a doe stepped out at around 100 yards. After making sure she wasn't a spike buck, I put the crosshairs behind her shoulder and fired. The recoil of the round moved the scope a little, and I lost sight of the deer. After a quick look I could see she that was laying right where I shot and not even kicking. When I walked up to look at her, I couldn't find the entry wound but the exit wound was huge. Her heart and lungs were shredded.

These bullets are divided into four parts behind a small, pointed plastic cap to maintain aerodynamics. Copper being harder than lead. the whole bullet stays in one piece as it expands uniformly. I know that some early copper bullets were disappointing, but I think they have figured out how to make them work.

This is too small of a sample to be sure, but copper bullets seem to be clearly better than lead.

[frisky]

Congrats on the deer.

[longbow joe]

Congratulations on your success.
Years back l used to use hollow points , like for groundhogs in my 243 for deer .
As long as you didn't hit bone and with the accuracy of that rifle you shouldn't..lung shots were devastating havnt shot the coppers but I'm sure they are awsome as you reported.
I haven't killed a deer with a rifle in years even upstate l use my slug gun it's so brushy where we hunt.

[AJ01]

Grouse, if you handload, the Barnes "X" bullets are a good bullet!!

[grouse]

Grouse, if you handload, the Barnes "X" bullets are a good bullet!!

The Barnes "X" bullets look great, but I've never been much of a recreational shooter. I check my rifle's zero before deer season, and I shoot one or two deer. Thats the extent of my rifle shooting. Factory loads cover my meager needs pretty comfortably.

The new copper rounds sold by Winchester seem to have reaped the benefits of the work done by Barnes and other companies to improve copper bullets.

The more deer I kill with a crossbow, the longer a box of cartridges lasts me.

[Carl-in-MO]

I agree with AJ101, Barnes X bullets work well. I switched from Nosler partitions to X bullets in my .243 and never looked back. Had to run them a bit faster since they are lighter and longer, but managed my first ever sub .5" group. Texas boys also taught me to shoot em in the neck and they fall where ya shoot em. Every time. No more shot up shoulders or trackin em through the brush.

Carl

[IronNoggin]

We had some disasters with mono copper bullets years past.
That was when I was guiding for mulies, whitetails and elk in Alberta.
Resulted in a few non-recovered animals.

The Buddy (outfitter) I worked with then (and occasionally still do) will not allow anyone to book a hunt with him if they insist on using them.
Instead, he will refer you to another outfitter who doesn't care.

From that experience, I personally will never use them.

Happy with the Nosler Partitions the few times I use any of my rifles any more...

Cheers,
Nog

[grouse]

We had some disasters with mono copper bullets years past.
That was when I was guiding for mulies, whitetails and elk in Alberta.
Resulted in a few non-recovered animals.

The Buddy (outfitter) I worked with then (and occasionally still do) will not allow anyone to book a hunt with him if they insist on using them.
Instead, he will refer you to another outfitter who doesn't care.

From that experience, I personally will never use them.

Happy with the Nosler Partitions the few times I use any of my rifles any more...

Cheers,
Nog

I'm sure the Nosler partitions will serve you well, but saying you wouldn't use one of today's copper bullets because of the performance of early attempts to make them is a bit like saying you wouldn't buy a Toyota because you knew someone who had one in 1970 and it was junk.

[longbow joe]

I would buy a Ford truck in 1970 but surely a Toyota now..
I heard of deer guides telling people they couldn't use shwackers when they first came out boy were they wrong

[AJ01]

https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/barnes-x-bullet-25-years-of-premium-performance/


This may shed some light on the whole Copper vs Lead thing.
Much has changed in the last 25 years!!

[AJ01]

We had some disasters with mono copper bullets years past.
That was when I was guiding for mulies, whitetails and elk in Alberta.
Resulted in a few non-recovered animals.

The Buddy (outfitter) I worked with then (and occasionally still do) will not allow anyone to book a hunt with him if they insist on using them.
Instead, he will refer you to another outfitter who doesn't care.

From that experience, I personally will never use them.

Happy with the Nosler Partitions the few times I use any of my rifles any more...

Cheers,
Nog

Matt, I too know guys like you that swear by certain calibers for certain game, and they'll throw rocks at you if you show up at camp with anything less!! And the bullet weight you choose must be up to their standard also!

However, I am reminded of a story told by the late Jack O'Conner. It was of an old Kansas farmer who worked all his life to afford an African Safari.
When he showed up, all he brought was a beaten and battered old Model 70 in .270.
The PH said, "You can't hunt with that!". The old farmer assured him he could INDEED hunt with that caliber and ask the PH to let him prove himself.

After it was all said and done, the old Farmer had collected 27 different plains game, and NONE required a second shot to finish the animal.
The PH being impressed with the old man's ability ask him, "Where'd you learn to shot like that?" The old man replied, "I farm. Every day I carry my .270 on the tractor with me.
I shoot running jackrabbits as they run thu the rows.
It's not what you shoot, but how you shoot that matters.

[AJ01]

I agree with AJ101, Barnes X bullets work well. I switched from Nosler partitions to X bullets in my .243 and never looked back. Had to run them a bit faster since they are lighter and longer, but managed my first ever sub .5" group. Texas boys also taught me to shoot em in the neck and they fall where ya shoot em. Every time. No more shot up shoulders or trackin em through the brush.

Carl

I like the Partitions, but they don't seem to fly as well as other types. I also like the old Speer Grand Slams. I haven't hunted anything with a rifle in many years.
My favorite round is the 7MM STW. I locked on to that round back in the mid-80's. Killed a lot of critters with it. I use the old Hornady Interlock in 162 grains.
And yes, it's a little over-kill for Whitetails and Pronghorn, but the last time I looked there is only one degree of dead!!

I have a dear friend that I hunt with from time to time. He too shoots the Barnes "X" in his .243. And I must agree, everything he shoots at dies right there!!

[Boo]

For big game rifles, the Bonded Bear Claw has been my favorite bullet for a couple of decades.

[janesy]

I was one of those guys that really didn't care. Until I tried Barnes expanders in my 20g slug gun.

Mono's work, and they work well.

But so do partitions, and so do Corelocts. So who's to say?

It's impossible to argue the penetration power of a mono, so it's a real came changer when used in calibers that typically didn't pentrate as good as their more modern equivalents climbers. 30-30 is a perfect candidate for a mono bullet.

[mchurch]

In California, we are required to use them by law