I have heard rumours have about a total lead ban in the UK at some point which would include rifle bullets.

My question is is it possible to anneal monometallics super soft to duplicate the sort of performance one gets with conventional bullets?

Why I hear you ask? Well in this cramped land it can be a big comfort to know that at certain shot angles a bullet will not exit and that on hitting the ground it is going to disintegrate or deform to such an extent that it will go very little distance. As well as the safety aspect with something like roe you can shoot them front on in the chest with a jacketed 243 and not damage a haunch, I suspect an X or HV would go through.

1894,

The simple answer is no, it is not possible to duplicate the hardness and strength of soft lead by annealing copper alloys. It would be possible to use design techniques to limit penetration, however. With CAD and CNC equipment you are only limited by your imagination. The cost will never be as cheap as lead.

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Warren Jensen

Warren@lostriverballistic.com
lostriverballistic.com

Sweden is going down the same path with lead being phased out completely by 2008.

One of the major drawbacks of annealing copper is the change that occurs in the way copper fouls the barrel. The softer it gets, the worse the fouling. The answer to the elevated performance available from monometal bullets is indeed in design as Warren said, and also to go to smaller calibers without giving away any reliability in terminal ballistics. Many of our customers no longer use their 243s for small to medium game, but have been shooting their 223 and 222 rifles. At the other end of the scale, many eland have gone down to 6.5, 308 and 30-06 rifles with HV bullets ranging from 110 grains to 160 grains. Technology will provide the means if the demand exists.

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Gerard Schultz
GS Custom Bullets

1894,
Hey, the U.S. military is phasing out lead to have environmentally friendly bullets. Is that an oxymoron?

The move seems to be to tungsten cored soft point bullets for sniper use, replacing the old Sierra type 308 bullets. The steel cored FMJ's and AP's are still O.K. for the environment, I guess. Depleted uranium is a no-no now, but stockpiles exist, with bin Laden's name on them?

Powell River Laboratories makes the tungsten stuff. Powdered tungsten is pressed into the jacket cup until the heat and pressure of the process forms a solid core. They are frangible and very accurate, from what I have heard. Plus, they are heavier than lead, so some ungodly heavy for length bullets with high BC and SD can be had with the right jacket shape. Target shooters are starting to use these more, and they are trying to branch out into hunting bullets. They are also ungodly expensive. $4/bullet.

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RAB

RAB,

Is PRL selling to the public now? I called about 6 months ago and was told they didn't sell "in the private sector," but the lady on the phone hinted that that policy might be changing.

Thanks,
Cannon

Cannon,
My gunsmith, Kevin Jenkins, can get them.

www.guntailor.com

He does a lot of gunsmithing work for them. Apparently they are going public or will be soon. They have mainly been supplying government contracts and a select group of target shooters.

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RAB

Thanks for the information, Ron. I don't have anything to shoot them in, but I've been wanting to get a few of the 87 gr. .22's for my brother to try in his 22/6mm Improved.

Cannon,
You are welcome. I don't think Kevin pays any attention to his website anymore...too busy gunsmithing. And his telephone has an answering machine, and he works late into the wee hours and sleeps late to avoid the distractions of people stopping by during regular hours while he is trying to work in the shop. (615) 904-1877 if memory serves. Murfreesboro, TN.

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RAB

Does this mean that if lead is banned long range foxing on flat fields is going to be a thing of the past? People over here generaly do this by lamp at night and from a car. The favoured rounds are 222rem and 22-250. It is generally the case that the bullet disintegrates on contact with the ground. No-one is going to pay $4/pop for fox, I suspect they'd go to say double a ballistic tip or so.

Thankyou for the information. I'm willing to offer my services as a test bed (firing that is) for a frangible monometal bullet.