Going back to lead, giving up on copper

[TringSaint]

Thanks, that's a really useful tip, I'll give him a ring.

I was basically about to start reloading, albeit begrudgingly because I couldn’t find factory ammo of the right bullet weight for my 6.5se, and he quickly realised that I really didn’t know what I was doing so offered up his custom ammo services.
That was 4-5 years ago and I have not looked back.
When he did my 6.5 it came back with a 3 shot group at 150m of c0.5moa! The ammo outshoots me!!

I will be getting Paul to do a normal stalking mix in copper for my swede and also a shorter range ‘woodland’ mix for my 308.
For my 243 he uses 85gn ballistic tip sierras (I think - tbh I don’t know and aren’t bothered because they work really well!!) and when I have used up all of my remaining 243 lead rounds then I will switch that to copper also.

 

[Utectok]

Home load as suggested yew tree tlr bullets have never grouped over an inch in 5 rifles and two calibres. With any load…. Terminal performance outstanding .

 

[cjs66]

Just load your own, it’s very satisfying and gets you out the way of everyone else in the house
But I’m a miserable git..

cjs

 

[paulbshooting]

With lead, it's dead. Useful to experiment before we have to switch.

 

[NigelM]

3 shots @ 100yds 6XC Yew Tree 80TLR last night. Roe buck went 5 yds to a chest shot. Have been very reliable for me.

 

[Utectok]

View attachment 324717

3 shots @ 100yds 6XC Yew Tree 80TLR last night. Roe buck went 5 yds to a chest shot. Have been very reliable for me.

Nice roe buck at 250m tonight never moved a step from a chest shot yew tree tlr 114gn 6.5 mm

 

[Heym SR20]

I've thrown in the towel on copper, having tried and failed to find any that will group in my Rem 700 .243 as well as the 1" at 100 yards I get with my trusty Geco 105g softpoints (at £33/ box).

I've tried Winchester Extreme Copper Impact, Federal Trophy Copper and Sako Powerhead II - all at around £50 or more a box I may add - and none grouped better than 2" at 100 yards. Plus my RFD told me yesterday that they've had notice from the Gun Trade Association that there's going to be at least a 5 year grace period before lead is banned, and even then under 6.5 may be exempt (and airgun pellets will be apparently also, unsurprisingly).

So I'll just have to stick with lead. A pity - if they sort out copper rounds that can group in a .243 1:9.25 twist I'd be happy to give them a try, but at present there don't seem to be many options - I enquired about Edinburgh Rifles's 100g Peregrine, but there are no stockists down here (Oxon) and it would have been costly just to send some down.

The easiest way to sort out copper bullets that stabilise in 1 in 10“ twist is to use an 80 gn bullet. Barnes, Fox and others all do factory ammo in these bullet weights.

An 80 gn monolithic will punch through pretty much any deer dropping them quickly if you shoot correctly.

And whilst tiny little clover leaf sized are wonderful for your vanity / bragging rights, for 90% of deer stalking even a 2” group at 100m is more than good enough.

I loaded up some fox 80 gn using the factory load data. It shot a sub 1” group with 3 shot. Adjusted the sights shot a 3/4” group, and rest of the box will be used for hunting.

 

[pazmino]

The easiest way to sort out copper bullets that stabilise in 1 in 10“ twist is to use an 80 gn bullet. Barnes, Fox and others all do factory ammo in these bullet weights.

An 80 gn monolithic will punch through pretty much any deer dropping them quickly if you shoot correctly.

And whilst tiny little clover leaf sized are wonderful for your vanity / bragging rights, for 90% of deer stalking even a 2” group at 100m is more than good enough.

I loaded up some fox 80 gn using the factory load data. It shot a sub 1” group with 3 shot. Adjusted the sights shot a 3/4” group, and rest of the box will be used for hunting.

Ah, thanks for that. In the end I sold the Remington and bought a Browning X-Bolt in .243 off a member on here - it's fluted, stainless, thumbhole stock and shoots both Winchester Copper Extreme and Federal lead ammo very well - I love it!

 

[JonC]

Hi Pazmino, I'd suggest dropping Richard an email at Yew Tree Bullets? Another thought - how clean (I mean, really clean) is your barrel? If you haven't already tried it, I would look at giving it a clean with IOSSO, or JB Bore Compound or Thorroclean...... see if that makes a difference!!