If lead was banned, which calibre?

I actually own larger calibres that I can use but are looking at this from a point of view of advising friends about calibre and the issue of FLDs pushing minimum calibres that may be useless if law/attitudes towards lead change.

thanks for the comments.
 
No worries mate. Interesting subject.

I see, well personally I always advise bigger than .243, with still low recoil, for a first rifle. The non-lead argument may just be an easier way of a new applicant getting something other than .243
 
I think 243 might prove a bit light if the lead ban comes in, for larger deer.

I have been using 100gn TTSX in 25 06 to good effect, no runners on some large red deer and several sika. I'm impressed. They are a bit fierce at close range but I think that's just the nature of the calibre if it's loaded hot.

Despite all I think we should be fighting the lead ban, but that's a discussion for another time.
 
I don't have personal experience with 243, but you have to take into account that people complaining 100gr traditional bullets won't stabilize in their rifle, will likely face the same problem with 80-90gr nonlead bullets.

E.g. 100gr Nosler Partition is 1.065" long, 85gr Barnes TSX is 1.058" and 80gr TTSX 1.081". Nosler 90gr E-Tip is 1.180" and requires 1-9" twist (as per catalog).
 
Personally I'd stick with my 6.5x55, and drop from 140gr in my regular round to 120gr.

Barnes, Hornady and Nosler all have 120gr lead-free bullets in 6.5mm, so it would need a bit of playtime at the range to find the best round and recipe to keep the accuracy I currently enjoy with 140gr SSTs
 
I don't have personal experience with 243, but you have to take into account that people complaining 100gr traditional bullets won't stabilize in their rifle, will likely face the same problem with 80-90gr nonlead bullets.

E.g. 100gr Nosler Partition is 1.065" long, 85gr Barnes TSX is 1.058" and 80gr TTSX 1.081". Nosler 90gr E-Tip is 1.180" and requires 1-9" twist (as per catalog).

Good point, my .243 doesn't like 100gn bullets so I would be suprised if it liked longer, non lead, bullets.
 
any lead ban is going to be the final nail in the coffin for shooting. how will people take to paying at least 3x the price for ammo be that shotgun cartridges or rifle ammo and that includes bullet heads. and what will happen to the calibres that lead alternatives are not available for ?. the lacs must be rubbing there hands together .
 
We always read about lead bans and how that will affect the shooters. But am i the only one to wonder what effect it has upon the birds and animals that we shoot ?

1st off as steel shot is used for waterfowl is it only me that wonders about steel shot pass through without giving up the energy that a soft lead pellet gives up with deforming ?
or will lead free bullets deform like lead core every time or pass through if home loaded with not enough MV ?

Just my thoughts
 
We always read about lead bans and how that will affect the shooters. But am i the only one to wonder what effect it has upon the birds and animals that we shoot ?

1st off as steel shot is used for waterfowl is it only me that wonders about steel shot pass through without giving up the energy that a soft lead pellet gives up with deforming ?
or will lead free bullets deform like lead core every time or pass through if home loaded with not enough MV ?

Just my thoughts

My experience is that Barnes copper.monumental can be very effective at normal sporting ranges providing the impact velocity is adequate and the projectile.is chosen with some care. It is fair to say that the optimal performance window is.likely to be narrower than with a lead core, however once this is.understood then the performance can be better than lead core.bullets
 
I have found that the projectiles like Barnes lift the performance of a calibre, not drop it. If you are using these then you can go down not up. I've started using some of the Hornady all copper 55gr pills on pigs in a 22 250. It can't be compared to a 270, but these all copper projectiles are much better on larger pigs than the 63gr speers I was using in it before. I havent shot any deer with them yet but I expect they will also be better than the standard jacketed projectiles when I do.
 
Personally I'd stick with my 6.5x55, and drop from 140gr in my regular round to 120gr.

Barnes, Hornady and Nosler all have 120gr lead-free bullets in 6.5mm, so it would need a bit of playtime at the range to find the best round and recipe to keep the accuracy I currently enjoy with 140gr SSTs

Seems sako have a factory offering one too, tempted to give them a go.

Dauntsey Guns: 6.5mm x 55 Swedish, SAK-P619093H, Sako - 6.5mm x 55 493H Gamehead Soft Point 120gr
 
Hi druid if your after a 100 Grain lead free round should the ban ever come into effect ive noticed that most of the big manufacturers arent making a 100 grain in .243 or .270 ive recently taken some rws evolution green in .308 and 6.5x55 i couldnt even tell you the difference they still perform bang on and its no more expensive than the regular RWS ammo maybe a quid here or there but i tend to be of the thought 2 to 3 quid a round is fine by me the experience of stalking and venison for the table make up for it.
 
cost
3x the price of copper before you factor in extrusion and cup production

so like at today's metal prices bismuth is £3.02 per LB copper is £1.44.... lead is 51p per LB

lets be honest without taking the urine chaps, the raw costs per bullet in difference between lead and bismuth excluding the copper which would be pretty must the same is:

per 125gr of core material (56 cores per lb)

lead 0.9p per core
bismuth 5.4p per core

So forget all this cost debate, the manufacturing process being basically the same, the bismuth costs 4.5p per bullet extra in materials to produce which is a massive £4.50 per 100 or 90p per box of 20. The truth of the debate is supply and demand v's political positioning within the production sector.
 
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