Fragments in Meat?

[Chris_in_Idaho]

The Garrett Carrot is probably the best hand held metal detector on the market but there are other makes that are less expensive. One would be surprised how useful a Carrot can be.

Sounds pretty cool.

 

[UPThunderbolt]

I appreciate all the discussion. Nothing will vaporize my wife's support of my hunting faster than her or one of my boys biting a chunk of bullet. So while toxicity of lead is an important topic, it's not exactly what I was trying to ask about in this thread. Also I've seen how some of the other lead toxicity discussions have devolved into name calling and willful ignorance...

But since the worms are mostly out of the can at this point I might as well jump in as well:

I'm not super concerned about the acute effects of lead making me sick, as in "lead poisoning." But I do definitely have concerns about long term effects on my sons (8 & 11) both on their cognitive abilities and also when they have kids I don't want my grand kids to be a little slower because I fed lead to their dads.

Life is hard, it's harder if you're stupid. I don't want to set them up to be more stupid.

I'm not saying I know whether these effects would happen or not or that I'm making a decision based only on this possibility, but it is a factor in my thinking.

As mentioned before, a solid chunk of bullet in the meat would be catastrophic for my hunting. Most likely I'd catch them all while butchering, but that's another factor I'm considering.

If I decide to go with fragmenting lead bullets, I get the benefit of being able to use very small calibers and be able to spot my own impacts.

If I decide to go with monos, I need to bump up to a bit bigger to make up for the less violent terminal performance. This means a bit more recoil and probably not spotting my own shots.

So as I see it I'm choosing between eliminating the possibility of toxicity and solid fragments in food on one hand or being able to spot impacts on the

I’ve found small pieces of lead in ground venison killed with an 140gr AMax from a 6.5 Creedmoor. Heart/lung shot placement.

John

I quit using Nosler Ballistic Tips because I didn’t like the fragments I was finding away from the point of impact. One example I remember clearly was a heart shot that produced fragments in the backstraps.

 

[Dom186]

I quit using Nosler Ballistic Tips because I didn’t like the fragments I was finding away from the point of impact. One example I remember clearly was a heart shot that produced fragments in the backstraps.

Helpful thanks

 

[112Savage]

I have used and use both copper and lead-cored bullets. In typical hunting cartridges 6ARC to 9.3x62 I have not noticed a difference in effectiveness with copper vs lead. I’ve used lead as far as 430yds in 300WSM and copper at 286 yds in 9.3x62. I realize this isn’t super long western distances but it would represent 90%+ of most animal kills in NA.

I have found copper jacket and lead fragments in loin that I have butchered myself. It definitely travels further than we think. I use both without really thinking about “lead in the meat” honestly I have thought about going copper only for hunting but I’m always looking for the best mousetrap when reloading.

I know this post is really a net “0” from argument's sake but really the point is that at less than 400 yds I’ve not seen significant difference in effectiveness but neither that nor the bullet fragments I’ve found sway my bullet choice. I will say the CARROT thing sounds interesting.

 

[Chris_in_Idaho]

I have used and use both copper and lead-cored bullets. In typical hunting cartridges 6ARC to 9.3x62 I have not noticed a difference in effectiveness with copper vs lead. I’ve used lead as far as 430yds in 300WSM and copper at 286 yds in 9.3x62. I realize this isn’t super long western distances but it would represent 90%+ of most animal kills in NA.

I have found copper jacket and lead fragments in loin that I have butchered myself. It definitely travels further than we think. I use both without really thinking about “lead in the meat” honestly I have thought about going copper only for hunting but I’m always looking for the best mousetrap when reloading.

I know this post is really a net “0” from argument's sake but really the point is that at less than 400 yds I’ve not seen significant difference in effectiveness but neither that nor the bullet fragments I’ve found sway my bullet choice. I will say the CARROT thing sounds interesting.

I appreciate you sharing your insights. 9.3x62 is a cool round!

 

[ozyclint]

How long until we see a thread? -

Which fragmenting bullet fragments the least?

 

[ozyclint]

My good friend is a falconer. He fed some game meat to one of his birds and killed it. He sent it in for a necropsy and found it died from lead poisoning. Birds are much more sensitive than humans but the bullet fragments are there regardless of if you can see them.


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Might just be a default response to a dead raptor.

 

[cuerro viejo]

My good friend is a falconer. He fed some game meat to one of his birds and killed it. He sent it in for a necropsy and found it died from lead poisoning. Birds are much more sensitive than humans but the bullet fragments are there regardless of if you can see them.


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Not all birds, but raptors are especially sensitive to it

 

[Shortschaf]

Have you found fragments in your meat?

No. None of my family has either

What bullet?

Bullets are cup and core copper/lead bergers, hornady, and speer. Have eaten from at least 40 different dead animals myself.

What shot placement? What cut of meat?

Behind shoulder preferred, but animals have had injuries ranging from the back heel to the jawbone we process everything ourselves and throw ruined muscle.