Choosing Lead-Free Bullets

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Too Deer

Well-Known Member
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?
  1. Bi-metal
  2. Fragmenting Copper
  3. 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.
 
Some good points made. I would add that we are at the very early stages in the non-lead bullet life cycle and in 10 years time most of the companies/brands mentioned above will be gone. Better performing and more accurate bullets will emerge, we just need to be patient.
Regards
JCS
 
Won't be buying anything made outside of USA, even with supply chain worries, the likes of Hornady, Nosler, Barnes etc. are not shutting their doors tomorrow. They also provide pressure tested load data and in some cases a reliable ballistic model instead of a vague figure.

In the case of 'boutique' manufacturers, they could shut their doors tomorrow and the scramble for scraps is not worth it. Look at GS Custom from South Africa.

Also, if something is imported from halfway round the world and is still cheaper after shipping and tax than a UK made product, something has gone wrong.
 
caberslash said:
Won't be buying anything made outside of USA, even with supply chain worries, the likes of Hornady, Nosler, Barnes etc. are not shutting their doors tomorrow. They also provide pressure tested load data and in some cases a reliable ballistic model instead of a vague figure.

In the case of 'boutique' manufacturers, they could shut their doors tomorrow and the scramble for scraps is not worth it. Look at GS Custom from South Africa.

Also, if something is imported from halfway round the world and is still cheaper after shipping and tax than a UK made product, something has gone wrong.
Click to expand...
Barnes load data is very good.
 
I agree with most of what the OP says, but there is a big difference in the types of Non fragmenting copper. At one end are hard tough bullets such as the RWS HIT, at the other are rapidly expanding types such as the Peregrine VLR4. Challenge is actually knowing how they expand cos very few are recovered.

I personally think the fragmenting types are probably not as good. We should try and leave as few foreign metallic fragments as possible in anything we shoot.

And as @jcs has said above we are still in the first wave of monolithics and there has been huge progress in the last five years.

But no one bullet or bullet type will serve every use. Indeed in the UK “deer” encompasses everything from delicate Chinese Water Deer and tough little Muntjac that are hardly bigger than a medium sized dog, right large red stags which are the size of a small horse. Add in wild boar which have thick tough skins and i reckon are here to stay, this debate will continue as long as there are hunters.

And I suspect that over the next 20 years our game shooting will move away from commercial driven phaesants to much bigger game on European style driven hunts, as I suspect Wild Boar will follow the path of Muntjac.
 
caberslash said:
Won't be buying anything made outside of USA, even with supply chain worries, the likes of Hornady, Nosler, Barnes etc. are not shutting their doors tomorrow. They also provide pressure tested load data and in some cases a reliable ballistic model instead of a vague figure.

In the case of 'boutique' manufacturers, they could shut their doors tomorrow and the scramble for scraps is not worth it. Look at GS Custom from South Africa.

Also, if something is imported from halfway round the world and is still cheaper after shipping and tax than a UK made product, something has gone wrong.
Click to expand...
Well blow me like a £5 hooker , something we agree on, shite the bed!
 
Last edited:
Too Deer said:
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?
  1. Bi-metal
  2. Fragmenting Copper
  3. 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.
Click to expand...
now its all too much like hard work, too much selection, people want a not lead projectile to not allow the beast to run, must not do any bullet damage must cut and pack and sell for maximum price as well

When really its the block behind the stock is the problem not the bullet.

Way back when i started it was barnes, hornday GMX or a bit later the nosler Etip and lapua naturalis that was it.

Out of those 4 only the barnes and the lapua are any good in my opinion
 
Heym SR20 said:
But no one bullet or bullet type will serve every use. Indeed in the UK “deer” encompasses everything from delicate Chinese Water Deer and tough little Muntjac that are hardly bigger than a medium sized dog, right large red stags which are the size of a small horse. Add in wild boar which have thick tough skins and i reckon are here to stay, this debate will continue as long as there are hunters.
Click to expand...
130gn Barnes TTSX in .270win problem solved!

I stand by what I have always said, that I would stand up against anything apart from dangerous game with my 270 and 130 grain barnes bullet
 
caberslash said:
Won't be buying anything made outside of USA, even with supply chain worries, the likes of Hornady, Nosler, Barnes etc. are not shutting their doors tomorrow. They also provide pressure tested load data and in some cases a reliable ballistic model instead of a vague figure.

In the case of 'boutique' manufacturers, they could shut their doors tomorrow and the scramble for scraps is not worth it. Look at GS Custom from South Africa.

Also, if something is imported from halfway round the world and is still cheaper after shipping and tax than a UK made product, something has gone wrong.
Click to expand...
Just adding my ten pence here, conscious that as a new member my opinion may not be as well received however:

I think this comment massively misses the point, and there is one point that I really have an issue with, namely the last sentence. There is a reason Virtus bullets (a relatively new company yes, but with more bullet making experience even than some of the bigger names mentioned in the bullet world), are the price they are. I would look at this the other way around, how can a US based company afford to make a quality product (in comparison to the Virtus bullets) so cheaply? I feel that whilst new on this forum, I’m in a good place to offer an informed opinion on this subject as it’s something I’ve been directly involved in for many years.

The load data piece is almost irrelevant. If you are confident enough to load your own ammunition, it’s not difficult to work a decent load out fairly quickly. For anyone interested here’s one I know works: (will happily share photos):
6.5 Creedmoor: Lapua small primer brass, Magtech primer, 41.1gr of RL17 and a 130gr Merlin loaded at 2.225” CBTO. ES over 5 rounds of 5fps, 2735fps MV on a 24” NEW Bartlein match barrel. 100m group at 0.309 MOA. I expect that to settle in around 2760ish once the barrel is up to speed, it had 20 rounds on it when I threw the first 5 Merlin’s I’d loaded in it.

From experience there is a reason why things cost what they cost. In the last 3 months alone I have personally fired around 3,000 Virtus bullets over the course of some very in depth ballistic testing, and NOTHING on the market in any bullet category comes close to either the terminal or Ballistic performance of Virtus bullets. Having been lucky enough to work with and be exposed to “industry leaders” such as Appllied Ballistics, Capstone LLC, Accuracy 1st etc, I feel I can talk with a level of confidence about the subject of External rifle ballistics.

So to finish, I’d say whilst yes, on the surface Virtus appear to be a small “boutique” company, scratch a little deeper and you’ll discover that actually, they are at the absolute forefront of GLOBAL bullet development. Not a single US bullet company (trust me- I’ve tested a LOT of bullets) has come even halfway close to the performance of these things both from a ballistic consistency point of view, or a terminal Ballisitcs performance point of view.

More than happy to expand on anything I’ve said above, share data etc. NOTE: This post was sent to me yesterday by a friend, and I felt so strongly about it I decided to register an account on the Stalking Directory, just to add some hopefully impartial Objectivity to the comments section and hopefully to add some value on all things ballistics going forward!!!
 
PhilRS03 said:
Just adding my ten pence here, conscious that as a new member my opinion may not be as well received however:

I think this comment massively misses the point, and there is one point that I really have an issue with, namely the last sentence. There is a reason Virtus bullets (a relatively new company yes, but with more bullet making experience even than some of the bigger names mentioned in the bullet world), are the price they are. I would look at this the other way around, how can a US based company afford to make a quality product (in comparison to the Virtus bullets) so cheaply? I feel that whilst new on this forum, I’m in a good place to offer an informed opinion on this subject as it’s something I’ve been directly involved in for many years.

The load data piece is almost irrelevant. If you are confident enough to load your own ammunition, it’s not difficult to work a decent load out fairly quickly. For anyone interested here’s one I know works: (will happily share photos):
6.5 Creedmoor: Lapua small primer brass, Magtech primer, 41.1gr of RL17 and a 130gr Merlin loaded at 2.225” CBTO. ES over 5 rounds of 5fps, 2735fps MV on a 24” NEW Bartlein match barrel. 100m group at 0.309 MOA. I expect that to settle in around 2760ish once the barrel is up to speed, it had 20 rounds on it when I threw the first 5 Merlin’s I’d loaded in it.

From experience there is a reason why things cost what they cost. In the last 3 months alone I have personally fired around 3,000 Virtus bullets over the course of some very in depth ballistic testing, and NOTHING on the market in any bullet category comes close to either the terminal or Ballistic performance of Virtus bullets. Having been lucky enough to work with and be exposed to “industry leaders” such as Appllied Ballistics, Capstone LLC, Accuracy 1st etc, I feel I can talk with a level of confidence about the subject of External rifle ballistics.

So to finish, I’d say whilst yes, on the surface Virtus appear to be a small “boutique” company, scratch a little deeper and you’ll discover that actually, they are at the absolute forefront of GLOBAL bullet development. Not a single US bullet company (trust me- I’ve tested a LOT of bullets) has come even halfway close to the performance of these things both from a ballistic consistency point of view, or a terminal Ballisitcs performance point of view.

More than happy to expand on anything I’ve said above, share data etc. NOTE: This post was sent to me yesterday by a friend, and I felt so strongly about it I decided to register an account on the Stalking Directory, just to add some hopefully impartial Objectivity to the comments section and hopefully to add some value on all things ballistics going forward!!!
Click to expand...
Thats all very lovely, if you have shot 3000’of them you will have shot a lot of paper or a lot of deer, paper interests me about as much shutting my finger in a car door but -

How many of those 3000 are on deer?

whats the carcass damage like?

Whats the bullet weight retention like?

And no bollocks If you please 🙏

I am actually quite excited, someone who has shot a lot of copper and actually 1 specific bullet, this has the potential to be incredibly interesting!
 
Norfolk Deer Search said:
Why?

Shot only 1 rifle and 1 brand of bullet for 13 years, the last 2 years shot fox 130’s factory and now 7mm and guess what - barnes bullet again.

When it works why try to fix it
Click to expand...
But he who has most toys wins :)

Some of us like rifles and enjoy using a number of them. Others simply want a rifle and bullet combination that works. Their focus is more on the deer management side of things. And as far as I am concerned that is absolutely fine.
 
The virtus team have some severe ballistics expertise at their disposal, this I know to be 100% true.

They also have members who shoot a lot of deer ,in Scotlan anyway.

I want to like these bullets along with yew tree, but I do have fears over long term availability (slash covered this).

8
 
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