Prompted by our recent experiences, during a trip to the highlands to the hinds, I felt the need to open a discussion amongst the group, about the effectiveness of lead free ammunition.
Four of us arrived to shoot hinds, having previously been told we’d only be allowed to use lead free ammunition, to find that the estate stalkers were less than impressed that we hadn’t brought any lead. In their words, all of the copper that they’d come across wasn’t up to the job and they’d be using lead until they couldn’t.
Of the four in our party, two were using .270 one of these using the Hornady 130gn CX, the other Winchester extreme point impact, again in 130gn. The remainder, using 7mm-08, one again using Hornady, this time 139gn CX, whilst I was using the 130gn Fox Classic Hunters.
I’ve personally used the Fox on Roe and downovers and whilst I felt that they might be a bit harsh, I’ve not had any complaints about their knockdown ability with this size of deer.
The hinds however were a different matter.
Across the group we generally found that both calves and the mature animals, when shot with a classic heart lung shot, generally just took, the impact standing with very little reaction, going down slowly, several seconds latter from blood loss. Also reports of a couple of peculiar internal ricochets and exit wounds. The conclusion was that whilst retaining the weight, the bullet with minimal expansion, was passing through the chest cavity without imparting much of its energy in the animal, leaving it standing and leading to a relatively slow death. Post Mortem results in the larder would tend to confirm this with minimal damage to the organs.
The general conclusion over a drink afterwards, amongst both us and the stalkers was that lead free ammunition in the lesser calibers ( not that I ever thought I’d hear myself describe the venerable .270 Winchester as a lesser caliber) just isn’t there yet. The bullets generally, aren’t imparting the bulk of their energy into the carcass and the only way to ensure a knockdown kill is to put the shot through the shoulder, with the ensuing carcass damage. The stalkers opinion is that we’re going to have to use bigger diameter bullets ( let’s try and explain this to the average FEO ).
In General, I think we all felt disillusioned over the performance of what, with lead, had been perfectly capable calibers, which tended to bare out the experience of the professionals.
What are you’re thoughts and experiences and have any of you found any bullets which you feel are performing well on the larger animals.
Four of us arrived to shoot hinds, having previously been told we’d only be allowed to use lead free ammunition, to find that the estate stalkers were less than impressed that we hadn’t brought any lead. In their words, all of the copper that they’d come across wasn’t up to the job and they’d be using lead until they couldn’t.
Of the four in our party, two were using .270 one of these using the Hornady 130gn CX, the other Winchester extreme point impact, again in 130gn. The remainder, using 7mm-08, one again using Hornady, this time 139gn CX, whilst I was using the 130gn Fox Classic Hunters.
I’ve personally used the Fox on Roe and downovers and whilst I felt that they might be a bit harsh, I’ve not had any complaints about their knockdown ability with this size of deer.
The hinds however were a different matter.
Across the group we generally found that both calves and the mature animals, when shot with a classic heart lung shot, generally just took, the impact standing with very little reaction, going down slowly, several seconds latter from blood loss. Also reports of a couple of peculiar internal ricochets and exit wounds. The conclusion was that whilst retaining the weight, the bullet with minimal expansion, was passing through the chest cavity without imparting much of its energy in the animal, leaving it standing and leading to a relatively slow death. Post Mortem results in the larder would tend to confirm this with minimal damage to the organs.
The general conclusion over a drink afterwards, amongst both us and the stalkers was that lead free ammunition in the lesser calibers ( not that I ever thought I’d hear myself describe the venerable .270 Winchester as a lesser caliber) just isn’t there yet. The bullets generally, aren’t imparting the bulk of their energy into the carcass and the only way to ensure a knockdown kill is to put the shot through the shoulder, with the ensuing carcass damage. The stalkers opinion is that we’re going to have to use bigger diameter bullets ( let’s try and explain this to the average FEO ).
In General, I think we all felt disillusioned over the performance of what, with lead, had been perfectly capable calibers, which tended to bare out the experience of the professionals.
What are you’re thoughts and experiences and have any of you found any bullets which you feel are performing well on the larger animals.
