Well guys that's the trip up Scotland complete for a few months.testing with the Virtus Precision bullet heads complete.all I can say is they have been outstanding on deer.9 deer shot in total.shots taken from 80yds up 200yds plus.head,neck and shoulder.the first head and neck shots were 168 yards.dead before they hit the ground and the damage was as good as the 120 Bergers.212yds just behind the shoulder.the deer ran no more than 15yds..stone dead.when I gralloched it the bullet hadn't exited dispelling all it's energy inside the animal and doing real damage to its vital organs.i was very sceptical about shooting deer with copper bullets but I've got to say im impressed with these and the added bonus is they shoot really tight groups and virtually no load development was required.
Copper hunting bullets.
- Thread starter Carl S
- Start date
47.0gr of Varget in a Lapua SRP case with a CCI450 gets me there in a 26" Browning bbl. I've shot this load numerous times without issue.
Coyotefurharvester
Silver $$ Contributor
Everyone needs to make government show their research about secondary lead poisoning of birds/mammals. Otherwise it's nothing more than another gun control action. The waterfowl lead ban was based on bogus "research".
wboggs
Gold $$ Contributor
That is a pretty high pressure load. I doubt the average 6.5 Creed reloader could reach anywhere near this.
wboggs
Gold $$ Contributor
Absoluy agree with SD guy. A CNS shot is the only way to guarantee an animal drops on the spot.
Dont know if anybody has tried these, but I sure love them:
coldboremiracle.com
A Solid Season: hunting with Cayuga solid Bullets
hunting with solid copper bullets is becoming more common, today we discuss the cayuga solid bullets from patriot valley arms
coldboremiracle.com
It was achievable without issue in my 26" Browning bbl and Lapua SRP brass. Brass was reloaded several times and there were no signs of excessive pressure. Naturally, you need to start low and work up carefully in such a small case.
FWIW - the velocity was measured on a LabRadar.
Coyotefurharvester
Silver $$ Contributor
Carl did you recover any bullets, similar to the manufacturer tri petal expansion photos on their website?
Eagles in our area that were found unable to fly, or dead, were found with lead poisoning. That's the report from our DNR.
No,unfortunately I didn't.two deer that I neck shot that were facing me had wounds on their backs.i guess it was a petal that had fragmented off the bullet on exiting the back of the neck.they were both shot quite high up the neck.they were 130ish-150ish yards if I remember.it was abit confusing at first wondering how the wounds got there.i shot one at 200+ just behind the shoulder and it didn't exit.it caused severe damage to the internal organs.i didn't look for the bullet.i wish i had.head and neck shots were the norm.i will take photos next time.im really impressed with them and they group tight.my friend who is a contract stalker in Scotland has been using copper bullets for the last 7years.(factory load,Forestry Commision Rules).he said to me he has shot close to 20 thousand deer over the last 28years and has no problem with copper.
Coyotefurharvester
Silver $$ Contributor
Did they post the necropsy and tox report for each dead bird recovered? Did they present blood toxicity findings from healthy birds for lead levels comparison?
Ccrider
Gold $$ Contributor
Depends on where you hit.
Here is a link that should help.
https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=fd54...b3hpY2l0eSUyMGluJTIwQmFsZCUyMEVhZ2xlcy4&ntb=1
Used them for one season had a cow at 300 using Barnes ttsx from a 30-06. She took two rounds in the boiler room and just kind of stood there like nothing happened. I immediately switched over to a mag of 180 accubonds and she folded up on the first round. Was very clear that the ttsx penciled through on breaking her down. The two ttsx impacts were about three inches apart..
Figured I would use the rest hunting in Texas shooting does. 100 yds right behind the shoulder the doe jumped and ran off with no blood trail practically. Just a few drops here and there. Found her and it was the exact same story no real internal damage. Normally using partition or accubond they don't make it more than 10 steps ever. I think that's the only time I haven't seen the deer drop when hunting in Texas with a 30-06..
It sucks because that load from Barnes was extremely accurate. I have relegated those for target practice at this point. Consistently sub 1 moa out of a factory tikka.
Figured I would use the rest hunting in Texas shooting does. 100 yds right behind the shoulder the doe jumped and ran off with no blood trail practically. Just a few drops here and there. Found her and it was the exact same story no real internal damage. Normally using partition or accubond they don't make it more than 10 steps ever. I think that's the only time I haven't seen the deer drop when hunting in Texas with a 30-06..
It sucks because that load from Barnes was extremely accurate. I have relegated those for target practice at this point. Consistently sub 1 moa out of a factory tikka.
Some newer fragmenting offerings have in my opinion increased the reliable lethality of the all copper bullets. Suppose I have taken 5 deer with copper bullets over the years. First two deer were taken with a 270 Win & TTSX offerings. Expansion was sufficient. Though the lethality I related to shooting a deer with a broad head. Shock of Impact was rather anemic when placed in the boiler room.
Next was a 6.5 Grendel with the TTSX & Lethality was very similar to the 270 years earlier.
Last season I opted to give a 87 grain Absolute hammer a try in the 6mm ARC with two doe tags. First doe was shot in the boiler room again. Lethality was again much like the 270 Win & 6.5 Grendel years earlier.
2nd tag the doe was in very tall cover. Only her head & a bit of her neck was offered as a target @ 100 yards. Placed the cross hairs on the base of the neck. Only all copper experience where DRT results were experienced.
BTW none of the deer taken with the copper projectiles covered over 80 yards.
Next was a 6.5 Grendel with the TTSX & Lethality was very similar to the 270 years earlier.
Last season I opted to give a 87 grain Absolute hammer a try in the 6mm ARC with two doe tags. First doe was shot in the boiler room again. Lethality was again much like the 270 Win & 6.5 Grendel years earlier.
2nd tag the doe was in very tall cover. Only her head & a bit of her neck was offered as a target @ 100 yards. Placed the cross hairs on the base of the neck. Only all copper experience where DRT results were experienced.
BTW none of the deer taken with the copper projectiles covered over 80 yards.
Last edited:
Thanks, guys, for the info on the Hammer bullets. Guess I've been living in a bubble. Just perused their website, and the info is very interesting.
Would you guys agree with them, that the Shock Hammer would be a proper choice for...say general hunting in a 7MM-08? I think it is a 131 gr bullet.
Would you guys agree with them, that the Shock Hammer would be a proper choice for...say general hunting in a 7MM-08? I think it is a 131 gr bullet.
Sounds like US deer esp whitetails must be very different to red or sika deer here in NZ...
Barnes TTSX have seen extensive use here and the 120s in the 7-08 and the 130s in the .308 are well proven at tipping deer over. Of the ?? twenty-odd deer I've shot in the last five years with my 7-08, it's unusual for any to take more than a dozen steps, most bounce. I do however try to smash a shoulder. The projectiles exit in more than three quarters of cases. I only have about five that were recovered from the carcase.
I do however limit the distance to about 300yds as expansion is limited past there. That's when my .280AI with LRABs takes over.
Barnes TTSX have seen extensive use here and the 120s in the 7-08 and the 130s in the .308 are well proven at tipping deer over. Of the ?? twenty-odd deer I've shot in the last five years with my 7-08, it's unusual for any to take more than a dozen steps, most bounce. I do however try to smash a shoulder. The projectiles exit in more than three quarters of cases. I only have about five that were recovered from the carcase.
I do however limit the distance to about 300yds as expansion is limited past there. That's when my .280AI with LRABs takes over.
Coyotefurharvester
Silver $$ Contributor
Everyone who has read this "report" from the Iowa Wildlife Diversity is now dumber because of it. Writing a report linking lead in blood samples(less than 25% of the eagles) with ingestion of lead bullet/fragments WITHOUT any proof the eagles ever ingested lead bullets is purely political.
I think you will be very pleased with how they work on your game shot. Place that bullet in the correct spot and it will do the job it intended to do. Don't expect to recover a bullet, as 99.9 % of the time they do a complete pass through the animal. Keep us posted on your hunt and maybe a few photos. Have a safe and enjoyable trip/hunt.
Upgrades & Donations
This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.