Moving from lead to copper?

[PerH]

If Slugs have been removed from Face / EU ban , then Norway better remove it also since they also banned slugs in shotgun ammo with the new ban of recently .

 

[Rimshot]

I guess my big question is, why use them? What measurable way does it out perform other premium bullets?

There are more modern bullets that retain their weight better. Bullets like the Swift A-frame are just an improved version of the Partition. Then there is the North Fork soft point bullet and the Federal Trophy Bonded bullet which blend bonded lead tech with mono-metal tech.

The only reason I could see for using the Partition is because you started using it before better bullets became available and you don't feel the need to change. That is a fine reason to use them, but that isn't going to convince me to start using them.

In thinner-skinned species, a bullet like the Partition or a regular cup and core bullet kills quicker than anything else with a broadside shot. The "lost weight" of these bullets is tiny shrapnel in the vitals, causing much more tissue damage and trauma than any other current bullet design under these circumstances. Everything is a tradeoff though. The shrapnel does you no good with a Texas heart shot for example. I really like the Partition for it's best of both worlds fragmentation up front and intact core (with reduced frontal diameter) to aid in penetration. Partition is probably my all time favorite design simply for it's huge versatility in smaller, non-DG calibers.

I like and have used Swift A-frame, and anyone who has anything bad to say about it (besides low BC) is probably not worth listening to. You get just the right amount of frontal area to maximize wounding while allowing adequate penetration on big stuff. The ones I have used seem to be very well engineered to balance the terminal sectional density with the power of the cartridges used.

Bonded plastic tipped bullets have their place too, and I use them in some applications.

The Cutting Edge Raptor design that fractures the nose into pieces of shrapnel with penetrating rear shank is interesting. The rear shank is only a little larger than caliber diameter after fracturing, so penetration is tremendous despite the light retained weight. I think I saw a chart somewhere comparing the terminal sectional density numbers with other bullets and it becomes clear why. It worked really well for me in Africa on everything from warthog to giraffe.

 

[Doug3006]

I guess my big question is, why use them? What measurable way does it out perform other premium bullets?

There are more modern bullets that retain their weight better. Bullets like the Swift A-frame are just an improved version of the Partition. Then there is the North Fork soft point bullet and the Federal Trophy Bonded bullet which blend bonded lead tech with mono-metal tech.

The only reason I could see for using the Partition is because you started using it before better bullets became available and you don't feel the need to change. That is a fine reason to use them, but that isn't going to convince me to start using them.

If weight retention was all that matters, then we’d all be shooting solids. Nothing retains weight and penetrates more deeply than a solid. The reason we don’t, is that solids don’t expand at all. Good on elephant brain shots. Good on steep quartering shots on buffalo. Not so good on most everything else.

Quick, clean kills on plains game more often depends on reliable expansion. A Barnes TSX or Swift A Frame won’t expand much more than a solid on a broadside Impala, or Kudu. Their toughness isn’t needed, and can even be a drawback. Horses for courses as they say.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Rimshot, Here is one example of the 100 grain FB Raptor going through the full length of the animal.

Not a Texas heart shot. But the opposite. A frontal shot of some kind. I can’t remember exactly where the bullet entered but it went the full length and exited the rear leg.

We couldn’t explain the rupture in front of the rear leg. We guessed it was one of the blades exiting.

While out after my wife’s Buffalo we had her .375 H&H and I shot an impala with her rifle with a Barnes TSX. The impala ran the typical 120 ish yards. The 300 grain expanding TSX didn’t seem to smack the animal as hard as the 100 grain Raptor.

In the beginning of the hunt I passed on a frontal shot on an all white Kudu because during the frenetic disembarking of the truck the tracker handed me my wife’s .308 loaded with the Safari Raptor and I had yet to kill anything with the 100 grain bullet yet.

So at approximately 120 yards we finally caught up and had a frontal shot at the unique all white kudu. I still had doubts about the 100 grain bullet (hadn’t shot an animal yet) so passed the shot.

The trackers were happy because they thought the all white Kudu should not have been killed.

I later learned that it would have killed the Kudu bull very quickly, even if I had hit it on the point of the shoulder.

For guys worried about shooting animals near property borders, in tough tracking conditions or habitat. It’s nice to walk up to a dead animal instead of a weak blood trail.

In thinner-skinned species, a bullet like the Partition or a regular cup and core bullet kills quicker than anything else with a broadside shot. The "lost weight" of these bullets is tiny shrapnel in the vitals, causing much more tissue damage and trauma than any other current bullet design under these circumstances. Everything is a tradeoff though. The shrapnel does you no good with a Texas heart shot for example. I really like the Partition for its best of both worlds fragmentation up front and intact core (with reduced frontal diameter) to aid in penetration. Partition is probably my all time favorite design simply for its huge versatility in smaller, non-DG calibers.

I like and have used Swift A-frame, and anyone who has anything bad to say about it (besides low BC) is probably not worth listening to. You get just the right amount of frontal area to maximize wounding while allowing adequate penetration on big stuff. The ones I have used seem to be very well engineered to balance the terminal sectional density with the power of the cartridges used.

Bonded plastic tipped bullets have their place too, and I use them in some applications.

The Cutting Edge Raptor design that fractures the nose into pieces of shrapnel with penetrating rear shank is interesting. The rear shank is only a little larger than caliber diameter after fracturing, so penetration is tremendous despite the light retained weight. I think I saw a chart somewhere comparing the terminal sectional density numbers with other bullets and it becomes clear why. It worked really well for me in Africa on everything from warthog to giraffe.

 

[Ryan]

I've been using mostly unleaded fuel for over a decade. My 30-06s run quite well on 150 and 168 Barnes and everything I have shot with those is dead quickly.
But we are talking Dangerous Game here.

In 2019, I decided to work up a trip involving a buffalo. My Rifle of choice was a Ruger M77 African in 375 Ruger. With that I settled on Peregrine Bushmaster (VRG-3) 300 grain bullets.
The hunt for postponed into January 2021. But when it happened the bullet worked as it needed to. Full penetration and trauma. The animal ran100-150 yards and dropped dead.

There's a lot of copper choices out there, use them properly and just like any other bullet, they will do the job properly.

 

[matt85]

A Barnes TSX or Swift A Frame won’t expand much more than a solid on a broadside Impala, or Kudu. Their toughness isn’t needed, and can even be a drawback.

I have personally killed game smaller than Impala with the Barnes TSX and it has fully expanded each time. In fact, the warthog in my avatar has a 416 RM with a 300gr TSX balanced on its nose... because that was the same cartridge that killed it. The performance was fantastic and the warthog was killed in nearly instantly.

The Swift A-frame opens exactly the same as the Nosler Partition. The only difference between the two bullets is that the A-frame's jacket is bonded to its lead cores.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Barnes TSX expand reliably in high velocity calibers, but sometimes don’t open up properly when used in low velocity Nitro Express calibers.

The photo above is of a 570Gr Barnes TSX bullet (factory loaded Barnes ammunition) fired from a .500 Nitro Express at a Cape buffalo from a broadside position at 34 yards (double lung shot). The recovered bullet didn’t expand at all. Although (as can be seen clearly) the petals were JUST starting to open.

The same bullet fired from a .500 Jeffery or .500 A Square expands reliably ten times out of ten.

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

I’ve used Barnes 80 Grain for TTSX in .243 for PG up to a Roan. Very effective, very accurate, and can run extremely fast. You need enough twist to stabilize them.

I used to use Nosler Parttions, but switched to Barnes in most everything else. I’ve killed a lot of PG with Barnes in my .375H&H using 300 Grain TSX, also Croc, Giraffe, Hippo, Buffalo with .375H&H - 350Grain TSX

I have loaded Barnes 500 grain TSX in 450 Dakota. I have not hunted them yet.

 

[Hyde Hunter]

With a brass or copper bullet of the same weight as a lead-copper bullet you will need a faster twist to stabilize it. Or just use a lighter weight copper or brass bullet.
You are seeing all the newer cartridge being marketed with faster twist rifling. I see in time all rifles changing to faster twist.

I'am having a 458 WM built it has a 1-10" no problem shooting brass or copper bullets.

you will need to try the CEB Safari Raptors in 420 open point or with a tip installed and the 400 gr Safari Solid both unreal. I just took 3 Cow Buffalo last month and the damage was unreal with the 420 Raptors. My PH had never seen what Raptors will do and made the comment "I wish I could get a lifetime supply of those for my 375"only one bullet recovered after going thru both shoulders and the 6 pedals that break off were just under the hide. I am sold on them for my 458 and 9.3x62 200 or 210 gr Raptors all one shot kills warthog,impala,Blue Wildebeest, Blesbok 13 animals.

 

[coyote wacker]

you will need to try the CEB Safari Raptors in 420 open point or with a tip installed and the 400 gr Safari Solid both unreal. I just took 3 Cow Buffalo last month and the damage was unreal with the 420 Raptors. My PH had never seen what Raptors will do and made the comment "I wish I could get a lifetime supply of those for my 375"only one bullet recovered after going thru both shoulders and the 6 pedals that break off were just under the hide. I am sold on them for my 458 and 9.3x62 200 or 210 gr Raptors all one shot kills warthog,impala,Blue Wildebeest, Blesbok 13 animals.

I've been shooting CEB's since 2011 ! No other bullet has polluted my barrel while hunting !

 

[Altitude sickness]

And CEB does continuous runs of production

not annual runs of DG bullets as other popular bullet makers seem to do.

So after you dial the rifle into the CEB bullet. You can actually get your hands on that particular bullet.