Kev,

I have used and am still using Bitterroot bullets in my .375 since 1978.

I have killed many american bison with the 200 and 225 grain .338 at 2975 fps and 2800 fps.

As a long time freind of Mr. Steigers, I appriciate the kind words you all have said. He is truly a pioneer. Bill begain making bonded bnullets in 1962.

With only very minor changes, they are the same as then and still have features no immitator has copied or figured out.

He even developed the style used by TBBC and NF and abandoned it as they expanded less than his original tube bullets, and tended to tumble in heavier calibers. Jack Carter immitated this and took credit for it 20 years later.

The Bitterroot is not at all like a North Fork or Rhino which are solid base designs. The Biterroot jacket, which is pure copper and highly annealed, has an internal V shape to it that allows the bullet to open up at normal velocity and completely stop expansion at point blank range once it has expanded back toward the heel.

this design requires the use of more copper than other bullets, and an extra step swaging the inside dimensions.

Kodiak is closest to a Bitterroot in design. A woodleigh has a straight tapper (no tapper), and the Kodiak justa 5 degree according to the folks in Alaska, who do make a decent bullet.

This design may sound like a subtle point but r4eally makes a huge difference. I have shot bison and elk at PB with 300 weatherby at 3340 fps muzzle w 180 grain Bitterrroot and it still retains 95% weight and expands as large as most other .338-.375's.

It is not a high penetration bullet until about 400 yards when lower expansion increases penetration but I could shoot side to side on any bison or even exit with a .300. Dont need more than that.

The large frontal area for caliber with high velocity just turns the chest cavity into a five gallon wash tub of bloody jello.

They are stout! A 180 grain nosler partiion will disintigrate on head shot on bison buit kill the guy. A Bitterroot remains intact at 3340 fps impact!

The Handloader article did iinclude them by Gary S. but he did not do right by Bill by not testing the 180 grain bullets above 3000 fps. That is where you really see the difference between the Bitteroot and other bonded bullets. Even a NF or TBBC will blow off front end if you drive them too fast.

Bill has not made bullets for the last two years, but still acts as a clearing house for those of us who have hoarded his bullets and may have changed calibers and want to swap bullets. He does have many calibers still in stock.

These are the most reliable bullet ever made. I have shot them through trees and posts to get them to tumble and they survive better than a FMJ. Amazing for a soft point. That thick ductile jacket is the real secret of its success.

Andy

The address and link mentioned above for Mr. Steigers is still accurate.



He sells bullets in a plastic pack of 20.



I was always able to buy them by planning a year ahead. It took him about that long to rotate through the calibers. Availability was never a problem but getting free samples like most "gun writers" expected was.



After testing 20 premium 458's, which will be published in Saeed's "On-Line" magazine soon, I am convinced the North Fork is the best of current crop of bonded bullets. But they are nothing remotely like Bills. His bullets expand much more than a TBBC, NF, or Swift, but retain as much or more weight.



Considering a Woodleigh, Scirroco, InterBond, and Acubond, which lke the Bitterroot are bonded but without a device to halt expansion other than the jacket, only retain about 70% weight and have to be chosen like a conventional bullet based on their SD, and have a deffinate velocity envelope you have to be aware of, they really are an amazing bullet and if you have them by all means use them!



They are certainly the only 200 grain .338 I would use on bison! (Thats how good they are).



I have met or spoken with Bill's customers who have killed cape buffalo with 250 grain .375 at 2,900 fps and 335 grain .416 at 2,800 fps. One shot stops or kills, including non CNS hits like pelvis or heart/lung.



Since there are some bullet makers on this thread, I can tell you that one of Bills customers, Joe Abrahms from Alaska figured out how to mak his bullets and exactly reverse engineered them. He was a retired state policeman who had alot of experience killing brown bears on duty. As near as I can tell Joe told Corbin how it was done and the rest is history.



Then along came Swift and Trophy Bonded.



Many of the top names in premium bullets made the pilgrimage to Lewiston trying to pry informatin out of Bill and never got anywhere, but Joe did it on his own. I think the Grizzly bullet, Joe made, got the Kodiak folks interested in bonded bullets. Kodiaks are good but still use a 95-5% jacket and have alot less tapper than a Bitterroot. Without even knowing I knew Bill they also gave him credit for inventing them, thoe only bullet maker who does as far as I know. Good people.



The jacket on a Bitterroot is up to 0.065 inch thick near the heel, and that is what stops expansion. I dont know why no one else figured this out!



Bill Steigers was also the first man to correlate case head expansion to pressure, a technique he developed while working for Vernon Speer. Bill wrote the first few Speer reloading manuals.



Well, this sounds like an obituary and hes not dead yet!



Interesting history you wont read about on the Swift or Trophy Bonded web site or reloading manual.



Andy

Andy, others,

I am so glad to hear that Bill Steigers is still going strong. I've been so lax in my old age in staying in contact with him. I finally amassed basically a lifetime supply of Bitterroot bullets and lost touch with Bill. Please give him my regards next time you're in touch.

I've been using Bitterroot bullets since 1973. The only problem that I ever had with them was in getting them. As has been said, Bill is a one-man shop and he made bullets pretty much to order. He would tool up for a particular weight and caliber and produce all that he had orders for, plus a small surplus. He would then retool for the next caliber and weight. From the time he retooled until he got mack to making that same caliber and weight again would be about five years. I know this to be true as at one time I wrote Bill for some 130 grain .277 bullets. He wrote me back and told me that he had just finished making that exact bullet and it would be from five to six years before he would make that same bullet again!

Today's bullets are by and large much better than they have ever been, but none, in my experience, are as good as the Bitterroot.

As but one example, I shot a Montana mule deer squarely in the chest as he stood looking at me at about 200 yards. I was using a 270 rifle and a 130 grain Bitterroot bullet loaded to 3130 fps. When the bullet struck the buck, he collapsed where he stood. I dug the bullet out of the gut pile. It weighed 127 grains and had penetrated about three feet of mule deer.

I have enough Bitterroots in the weights and calibers that I use to last me the rest of my hunting days. Unfortunately, as an outdoor writer, I don't always get to use the bullets of my choice. When I'm making the decision though, I always use Bitterroots.

Tom

It always struck me that if you were going to build projectiles that were part homogenous and part lead/jacketed , that the solid part should be at the front as in Failsafes. There are advantages to lead/jacketed projectiles but the traditional problem has been the core and jacket seperating. If you are going to make a combined design why not avoid the core seperation from the jacket by putting it at the rear. The Bitteroot solution is the best followed by the partitioned projectile with lead both sides of the partition. Just a few thoughts.
Mark

John,

Call or e mail Bill.

He does have some bullets still in stock.

I can post some photos once I learn how!

Also, you can ask Bill for a copy of my 375 test which has dozens of photos of Bitterroots expanded from Point Blank out to 500 yards.

Ask for his Bitterroot Bulletin, 375 test. Think it costs $5 but well worth it, 18 pages of photos and data.

Andy

quote:

The jacket on a Bitterroot is up to 0.065 inch thick near the heel, and that is what stops expansion. I dont know why no one else figured this out!

Andy,

Could you be so kind to share a few photos with us on Bill's bullets.

Thanks
warrior

Andy,



Two more derivatives of Bill's bonded bullet - the Woodleigh and the Stewart that is being made here in SA by Ken Stewart. Ganyana is using Ken's bullet extensively with great success. As can be seen in the above photo, the Stewart bullet has thicker jacket walls and at the tip it tapers sharply to ensure expansion. Also the jacket material of the Stewart bullet has some tin in it.

It would be interesting to see a sectioned view of a Bill Steiger's Bitterroot bullet.

Much apreciated.
Warrior

Warrior,

the photos you published of the Stewart show a straight taper. (no taper). Probably 0.032 inch thick jacket of uniform thickness.

The Kodiak has a 5 degree taper. I dont know what the Bitterroot is but alot more to measure 0.064 at the heel.

Also pure copper vs 95/5% zinc.

Thining the meplat as shown on the Stewart is done on many bullets, including Rhino.

Not the same thing but it helps, esp on a bullet like the 425 grain Rhino that closes up the meplat almost entirely otherwise.

I am out of town until mid april. will post some photos then, I will have to scan some old B/W photos.

Or contact Bill and buy a package and disect it for yourself.

Andy