Frangible copper ammo

[Donjuan]

Does anyone have copper bullets that cause damage similar toa Berger VLD or ELD M? Most of them seem to stay intact and have high weight retention. Looking for DRT kills on whitetail without spraying lead all over the meat

 

[6.5Express]

In my experience, they don't go far with barnes lrx when put through their shoulder blades and meat loss is minimal most of the time.

 

[cubdriver84d]

DRT Ammo – Dynamic Research Technologies

drtammo.com

 

[Macintosh]

I think the “controlled chaos” bullets are also supposed to come apart but virtually zero info on them anywhere. Have never tried drt…they dont seem to be available every time I look, but on paper sounds intriguing.
For what its worth, Ive never had a problem getting drt kills on whitetails with barnes factory-loaded ttsx. Granted, thats out of a 30-06 or 7mm08 and its all roughly 200 yards or less, but out of a dozen or so deer only one has gone more than about 4 feet from where I hit it, and that one went all of 40 yards with a big hole in its heart. I know the whole “killing bullets” thing here and Im certain youd get a deader deer that way, just saying that if you are using a mid-sized cartridge and hunting at moderate ranges and you havent already experienced a problem that you are trying to solve, there may not be an actual problem to solve in the first place.
this is a closeup of the exit wound on an antelope my wife shot with a barnes ttsx 120gr from a 7mm08 at just under 200 yards (approx 2500fps impact velocity), animal was quartering away and shot from a slightly elevated position
Terrible photo but you can clearly see the “slightly larger than pencil-sized” exit hole…exit is at least 4” across. Antelope are easy to kill, but from a wound-size perspective arent all that different than a whitetail, and ime this sort of a 2-4” gaping exit hole is pretty typical performance I have seen of a ttsx at this velocity. This animal ran about 30 yards after the shot. Frankly, I dont want bullets that do more damage than this.
Id love to hear and see more firsthand experience with DRT both with regard to performance and reliability especially as velocity gets low for a traditional mono, but also meat damage relative to fragmenting lead and bonded lead and traditional copper monos at close ranges. I like my copper mono bullets specifically because the wound channels are a bit narrower to save some meat on the few deer I get opportinities at, yet I dont seem to have any issues killing effectively with them.

 

[ElPollo]

@SouthPaw is the only person I’ve seen post results on the DRTs. Perhaps he can weigh in if he’s done anything else with them.

6.5 Creedmoor/260 for Deer, Elk, and whatever else.....

Are any of the cup and core traditional deer factory ammo worth a dang in 6.5 cm? Look to set up a new rifle, something 0-300 that's a little bit more cost effective than eldm. The one deer I shoot with bondstrikes barely left any blood. American whitetail? Fusion? I suppose if I've had success...

rokslide.com

 

[H80Hunter]

I never killed anything but Norma has the EvoStrike line which I believe is a nickel jacket and tin core designed to fragment. They are light for caliber so not really long range hunting appropriate but they were accurate for me when it was all I could find in 2020 once.

 

[SouthPaw]

@SouthPaw is the only person I’ve seen post results on the DRTs. Perhaps he can weigh in if he’s done anything else with them.

6.5 Creedmoor/260 for Deer, Elk, and whatever else.....

Are any of the cup and core traditional deer factory ammo worth a dang in 6.5 cm? Look to set up a new rifle, something 0-300 that's a little bit more cost effective than eldm. The one deer I shoot with bondstrikes barely left any blood. American whitetail? Fusion? I suppose if I've had success...

rokslide.com

Nothing else yet beyond coyotes.

Does anyone have copper bullets that cause damage similar toa Berger VLD or ELD M? Most of them seem to stay intact and have high weight retention. Looking for DRT kills on whitetail without spraying lead all over the meat

I'd say if you want similar wound profile and low velocity performance to Bergers, the DRTs are worth a try. But if you adamantly don't want fragments in tissue, you won't like the DRTs (tungsten/copper fragments instead of lead). You can't have both, unfortunately. Pick your priority.

 

[roosiebull]

Nothing else yet beyond coyotes.



I'd say if you want similar wound profile and low velocity performance to Bergers, the DRTs are worth a try. But if you adamantly don't want fragments in tissue, you won't like the DRTs (tungsten/copper fragments instead of lead). You can't have both, unfortunately. Pick your priority.

How were they on coyotes? Still seeing evidence of good fragmentation?

 

[rideold]

From Hammer Bullets website: "DeadBlow Hammers are Hammer Hunters that are designed to retain 40%-50% on impact.". Sounds like maybe that's what you're looking for?

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

G9 Defense Long Range Hunter ammunition is that. 2 part solid brass. I have 2 kills with it so far and experienced a wide wound channel along with deep penetration. 6.5 CM is the caliber I’m using.

 

[Macintosh]

We take a different approach to terminal performance. Instead of a mushrooming bullet that peels back and creates a single would channel, all of our hollowpoint are designed to shed petals. After 1-2” of penetration, our bullets will shed 4-8 petals (depending on product line and impact velocity). These petals radiate outwards away from the main wound channel while the base continues.
We do not prefer to use the term “fragmenting” because this insinuates that the bullet comes apart into an unpredictable number of numerous tiny pieces. Our bullets are designed to be more controlled with the same number of pieces breaking off every time. We believe that larger petals carry more energy and produce substantial terminal performance in comparison to numerous small pieces.

Solid Copper Bullets Precision Hunting Bullets Accurate Match Bullets

Cutting Edge Bullets - Bullet Design

cuttingedgebullets.com

 

[Zork]

Sample size of 1: Cutting edge lazer on a whitetail at 150 -- double lunged. Didn't inspect the organs but large exit hole and lot of blood. Ran 50 yds as if it wasn't hit then fell over.

308 165 lazer loaded by UM -- most accurate round I've put through the t3x.

I'm happy but waiting to see what it does on an elk.

 

[elkguide]

Cutting edge here. 180 gr out of a .300 Win Mag @ 3100 fps muzzle.
Elk at 280. 4 steps to tip over.

 

[ElPollo]

I used monos for years. The one thing I learned is they all work when everything goes right. If you center punch the heart or have a CNS hit, they are dead right there. If it’s off just a little, not so much. The key factor is wound channel size. If you have enough speed to fully open them, most monos will give you a roughly 2” wound channel. The ones that are designed to shed petals can increase that, but generally you have four lightweight fragments that don’t penetrate a lot by themselves after they detach. They do cause tissue rupture from the temporary stretch cavity, but not to the level that a fragmenting lead bullet that will create a wound channel 2x or more the diameter of a mono channel. That bigger channel and increased tissue destruction gives you a larger margin of error if you are a little off on you shot and they generally open at lower velocities. The take home is that monos generally require more speed, shorter ranges, and more precision than a fragmenting lead bullet. The DRT non-lead bullets may be an exception to that, but only time and experience will tell.