A few years ago, the choice of projectiles available for those of us who wanted to shoot lead-free ammunition was pretty minimal; Barnes was broadly the only name that the average UK stalker would have been familiar with.
Fast-forward a few years through:
- Brexit;
- The election of Joe Biden (and the subsequent scramble by thousands of Americans arm themselves to the teeth in the face of impending doom);
- The possibility of a ban on lead in the UK and to top it off;
- The war in Ukraine
and we find ourselves in an unprecedented situation. A huge number of us are searching for alternatives to traditional lead cup & core bullets and surprise, surprise, the shooting industry has responded.... for a price! We now find ourselves spoilt for choice (availability is a separate issue) and for many, it's a job to decide which type of projectile to go for, let alone which brand. However, due to the historic lack of choice and resulting dominance of Barnes, there is still a perception among many that lead-free projectiles are all one and the same. From a terminal performance perspective, that couldn't be further from the truth. These days we can lay our hands on the lead-free equivalent of anything from Varmint bullets to Round-Nose Bonded bullets, with an ever-growing number of options in between. As a side-note, even competitive target shooting is seeing a shift towards copper projectiles due to the advantages in consistency and BC that the manufacturing methods offer.
How can we differentiate between types?
There are a few ways that we could classify these bullets but for ease of comparison of terminal performance, I'd say they fit pretty well into 3 categories (if we exclude , each with their own positives and negatives.
Bi-metal (BM). Non-toxic metal core with a copper jacket;
e.g. RWS Geco. These offer rapid expansion which assists in the generation of Hydrostatic Shock, resulting in decreased likelihood of an animal 'running on'. However, they generally result in less penetration compared to NFC and FC and a greater number of small metallic fragments left in the carcass.
Non-fragmenting Copper (NFC). Pure copper projectiles designed to retain as much weight as possible whilst delivering a level of expansion;
e.g. Barnes TSX/TTSX. These offer excellent penetration and less carcass damage. However, they tend to create a smaller temporary wound channel and have less ability to generate Hydrostatic Shock (although some are specifically designed to induce Hydrostatic Shock, at the expense of other qualities). In turn, this reduction in Hydrostatic Shock puts greater importance on shot placement and increases the likelihood of animals 'running on'. A great choice for more competent shooters, especially for larger animals but they give less margin for error.
Fragmenting Copper (FC). Pure copper projectile that is designed to break into a number of parts, often in the form of 'petals';
e.g. Virtus Merlin. These give good penetration by the main body of the projectile, a wide wound channel created by the petals, and good ability to generate both Hydraulic Shock and Hydrostatic Shock. Also, they are usually lathe-turned so, precision is greater than BM or NFC. The downside is that carcass damage may well be greater than that from NFC and the petals may deviate enough to pierce unintended parts of the animal (such as the rumen), especially with suboptimal shot placement.
Which one is best?
To my mind, the ability of a projectile to deliver the most humane kill possible, should be the priority. So, the leaderboard is simple right?
- Bi-metal
- Fragmenting Copper
- Non-fragmenting Copper
......Except that all 3 are capable of delivering humane kills in the right hands, and each pair of hands will have different secondary priorities; whether that be high BC, low carcass damage, low cost, or something else.
Let me give an example.
The majority of my shooting is Fallow, Roe, Muntjac and CWD and I find that FC projectiles suit me best. The exceptional precision of the Virtus bullets makes them ideal for head/neck shooting and the fragmenting petals mean that at longer ranges where I am not comfortable taking a head/neck shot, I can be confident of sufficient expansion to ensure minimal 'running on'. Furthermore, the precision means that so far, I am yet to have a petal wander off-course and rupture a gut..... That's not to say that I haven't cocked up any shots but I have not had any issues that I could blame on the bullet.
Now, I rave about the Virtus stuff so I gave 25 of them to my Father-in-Law to try out. He's been stalking for decades and despite being in his mid 70s, he still shoots (and extracts!) more deer per year than most people have hot dinners! After a few months, I asked him how he got on with them and he promptly confessed that he hadn't tried them and that I could have them back. A split-second before I could accuse him of being an ungrateful b*stard, he explained why. He shoots a lot of large game in Africa and swears by NFC, specifically Barnes TSX for that. In the UK, he shoots a lot of Fallow and Red and wants penetration more than expansion or extreme precision as he disagrees with head-shooting and he's 100% confident of his shooting abilities; even at his age, he's still an GB competition shooter so, I can't argue! His priorities and his prior experiences mean that he is utterly confident that he has already found the best bullet for him in the form of Barnes TSX/TTSX. I have accepted that I will probably never win him over.
So, what am I trying to say?
If anyone new to stalking or lead-free ammo was hoping I was going to reveal the best lead-free bullet on the market, I'm sorry, that just ain't going to happen. This is such a complex and emotive topic that this thread would undoubtedly descend into an internet scrap and I'm shite at fighting in real-life and online! What I hope I have done though is explain why there is no such thing as 'the single best lead-free bullet on the market' and outlined a few pros and cons of each of the types available; all based on my experience and where appropriate, the experience of others.
What each of us has to do is decide which one best suits our needs. One of the best ways to do that is to consider several factors in the order that they are most important to you. For me, precision came top because as the theory goes, put your bullet in the right place and everything else is secondary; that's why I use Virtus. It's a personal process though so, nobody can do the thinking for you. Instead, I'll finish up with a list of things to consider. The list is just to get the conversation started so, feel free to pipe up with what is important to you.
- Availability of factory loads (if you don't load)
- The distance at which you shoot
- Precision of the projectile
- The size and type of animal you shoot
- Your shooting ability
- Acceptable carcass damage
- Intended point of impact on the animal
- Cost
- Availability
- Prior experiences
If you fancy giving Virtus a go, simply twist the arm of your own friendly Son-in-Law. Just make sure you actually use any bullets he gives you as failure to do so may cause emotional damage. If you don't have a vulnerable in-law to bully, I am sure
@Virtus Precision UK will have a stand at the British Shooting Show so they can show off new products, like their factory ammo. Check out their Facebook/Instagram for more details.
Hopefully this thread is of use to some of us.
