Gerard,

For various reasons I've never been a great fan of monolithics. I saw a chamois take multiple hits and fail to expire from a nameless competitors 6.5mm monokupfer and I don't like huge over penetration.

With the move to lead free being touted by various European countries, what will happen to us hunters who like the more expansive bullets (BTs, sierras etc) and are not so concerned about complete penetration all the time?

In my moderated 19" 243 I currently run a bullet for roe (currently an 80gr BT at 3,000fps under a moderate charge fast powder) in the smaller areas and a bullet for large reds (currently a 105gr speer hot core at 2,800fps under a large charge of slow double based powder)

I really don't want to shoot something that is hard and retains a lot of weight!

1894mk2,
As lead is phased out, bullets will be developed to replace them. It is no problem to make a frangible mono. There are other materials that can be used as well. The biggest stumbling block, in my opinion, is that I have personally experienced great difficulty in introducing a different concept in bullets. The majority of reloaders and shooters simply will not believe it, when told that something is a departure from that which they have become accustomed to. In this game everyone is an expert and actually, some are and some are not.

What will happen, without any doubt, is that the new generation of leadless bullets will be more application specific and, as a result, prone to failure if not used as directed. As it is, there are bullets in the market where the manufacturers have been advising on the correct use for more than a decade and they are still not used as recommended.

It is going to be a big learning curve and some will reap the benefits quickly and some will die (from old age) fighting it.

Right now you should continue using what works for you. It will be a while still.

Now that's a real gentleman's, honest reply to your question, 1894mk2.

If I were you I would've learned all I could about premium grade monolithic bullets (like GSCHV's) and start using them strictly according to the manufacturers' directions given and I can assure you, you will never look back again.

That's what I did and it works perfectly for me each and every time!
What's more, far better than the old age stuff you are now worried about.

quote:

With the move to lead free being touted by various European countries, what will happen to us hunters who like the more expansive bullets (BTs, sierras etc) and are not so concerned about complete penetration all the time?

Lead containing bullets will be gone in the next few years. Not my choice at all, but that is reality, especially in the EU.

What an ingenious solution to a non-existent problem.

Sigh. There should be a bounty on do-gooders.