going lead free?

[ducksoup]

I'm thinking about trying some of the solid copper bullets from Barnes in my .243 and my 7mm/08. Any thoughts or suggestions on loads, best bullet weights etc.? Mainly will be used on deer and antelope. Unfortunatly I think the libs in Washington will soon follow the nuts in California and ban all lead for hunting in our state. I just want to stay ahead of the curve.  ;)Thanks for any help.

[C-Money]

I might look at the Nosler E tip as well as barnes. I have no experience loading the all copper bullets. Guess when that day comes for me, I will just get a load out of the reloading manual. Keep us posted on how thngs go for you . I am interested, thx!

[Skinnyman]

I dont know how much you have looked into these bullets, but depending on the gun, they will either shoot incredibly or terribly. My 338 shoots well under a MOA at 100 yards with the Barnes TSX, but my 30-06 shoots about a 6 inch group at 100 yards with them!!! Do some experimenting, your gun will either love or hate them. I think Barnes are great bullets and wish my 30-06 would shoot them, but no luck.

Another thing to look at as well, copper is lighter than lead, so the overall length of the bullet is longer than the same weight in a lead core bullet. The longer the bullet the harder they are to stabilize in flight. So if you try a heavy for caliber bullet and it does not shoot well. Get a lighter bullet and try that, as it will be easier to stabilize.

Barnes claims that you can drop a bullet size (i.e. a 165 grain instead of a 180 grain, in a 30 cal) because they retain 95%+ weight instead of 60 or 70 percent in a normal lead core bullet. The thought being that the retained weight will bve the same.

[ducksoup]

Bought a box of Barnes TSX 85 grain and so far results have been a little inconsistant. Tried 3 different powders, IMR4007ssc, IMR4350 and IMR4064 and groups have been all over the place from under an inch to over 3 inches. It's not the gun because with 70 grain Speer TNT's it's shooting 5/8" groups. Went back to an old standard of H4831 and the 100 grain Nosler Partitions and it's right at 1 inch. Guess I'll stick with that until I'm forced to switch.

[S.O.B]

Bought a box of Barnes TSX 85 grain and so far results have been a little inconsistant. Tried 3 different powders, IMR4007ssc, IMR4350 and IMR4064 and groups have been all over the place from under an inch to over 3 inches. It's not the gun because with 70 grain Speer TNT's it's shooting 5/8" groups. Went back to an old standard of H4831 and the 100 grain Nosler Partitions and it's right at 1 inch. Guess I'll stick with that until I'm forced to switch.

Go with RL19 or RL22 work your way up to max tsx's like to go fast and dont like to jump so kiss the lands or close to it.