Copper bullets

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gfol70

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Hello all,

Anyone out there have any experience making / swaging non-lead bullets? I looked at the Corbin site for information - I'd like to look into the practicality of this for hunting purposes where I have less control of where the bullet ends up. Though I realize that lead is a relatively stable metal - there is still a bit of a risk when in soil e.g. leaching etc. I respect the land that I have received permission to shoot on and would prefer to keep it in tact, out of respect for the landowner - hence why I'd like to hunt with copper (I am of course still firing lead - but am catching it using sand bags / berms etc to recover for future casting).

Suggestions?
 
Unless you are dumping thousands of lead rounds there wont be any difference from residual heavy metals in the soil naturally.
The Sittsville skeet ranges are only about 100-150m from their water well and have hundreds of pounds of lead shot dumped on them every year. They have their water tested regularly and so far have no elevated lead levels. I would be curious to test the grass and shrubs growing on the fields where the lead actually falls though; just for personal interest.

Swagging solid copper bullets requires significantly more pressure than jacketed lead bullets. I've never heard of anyone swaging them at home before but I've only looked into DIY bullet swaging a little. There are those who turn copper and brass bullets on a lathe which would seem the easiest way to do it.

If it's for low volume shooting (ie, hunting) I would just buy some Barnes, Hornady, Nosler, or other brands lead free bullets.
 
LUTNIT said:
Unless you are dumping thousands of lead rounds there wont be any difference from residual heavy metals in the soil naturally.
The Sittsville skeet ranges are only about 100-150m from their water well and have hundreds of pounds of lead shot dumped on them every year. They have their water tested regularly and so far have no elevated lead levels. I would be curious to test the grass and shrubs growing on the fields where the lead actually falls though; just for personal interest.

Swagging solid copper bullets requires significantly more pressure than jacketed lead bullets. I've never heard of anyone swaging them at home before but I've only looked into DIY bullet swaging a little. There are those who turn copper and brass bullets on a lathe which would seem the easiest way to do it.

If it's for low volume shooting (ie, hunting) I would just buy some Barnes, Hornady, Nosler, or other brands lead free bullets.
Click to expand...

Sums it up nicely.
 
Good points Lutnit - No doubt that lead is very toxic. It is however apparently quite stable. I too would be interested in seeing some testing in the soil around bullet sites. Some research that I have read indicates some leaching but by how much and for how long was not so clear. There is far more evidence of toxicity when consumed by eg predictors - not surprising.

I was happy to learn recently that Barnes produces copper bullets, and not all that much more expensive than regular ones. Will see what the ballistics are like.
 
Actually, there is very little "evidence" of lead toxicity to scavengers (eagles, condors) or to diving ducks. There is a huge body of "might," "may," "could," as well as a large, non-peer-reviewed literature alleging such toxicity, but as for evidence, not so much. For which read no need for steel/tungsten/bismuth shot, except law, no need for California's "non-toxic" projectile laws, except rabid anti-hunting groups, ans so on.

Lead, is a very stable element, and while it can leach, such leaching take a solution much lower in pH than rain water - yeah, even lower than "acid rain." Lead contamination in old berms on firing ranges is measured in inches past the visibly detectable fragments. As for migration in surface or ground water, nadda.

Not to say your interest in rolling your own copper, gilding metal, or heck, silver bullets is not worth pursuing, just don't sweat a few hundred lead pellets slung at chickens, or a bullet or two shot at Bambi.
 
gfol70 said:
Good points Lutnit - No doubt that lead is very toxic. It is however apparently quite stable. I too would be interested in seeing some testing in the soil around bullet sites. Some research that I have read indicates some leaching but by how much and for how long was not so clear. There is far more evidence of toxicity when consumed by eg predictors - not surprising.

I was happy to learn recently that Barnes produces copper bullets, and not all that much more expensive than regular ones. Will see what the ballistics are like.
Click to expand...

Hornady, among others make them as well. In my eyes it's a bit of a scam though, not much evidence to support lead contamination from shooting affecting outdoor critters, water quality, etc... Best used for regular indoor shooting, where airborne lead particles are an actual risk. Even the study infamous for causing the lead shot bans for waterfowl is highly suspect. They did find some dead birds that had swallowed lead shot, but birds that weren't gulping down shot were dropping dead too. I'm playing around with some Barnes bullets but it's mostly because traditional bullets don't seem to want to hold together too well when they hit a deer shortly after exiting a 257 Weatherby muzzle.
 
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