It is a known fact that keeps the campfire talk burning, that if you shoot a deer with hyper-velocity 3000 fps plus, small lead core bullets, that there will likely be an explosion of damage on impact especially if a rib bone is struck on entrance, the bullet’s lead core will separate from the jacket and will fragment thus penetration will suffer and game may be harder to find lacking a blood trail. But there is more to this than meets the eye.
Further, that lead fragmentation is more widely distributed causing more loss of delicious venison suspected of metal and lead contamination. As a grandparent I want my grand-kids to eat the best venison I can provide so I shoot the best bullets that hold together.
Nosler provides one of the best bullet solutions among others but I trust Nosler. Simple as that! I have been shooting Nosler’s for decades when hunting.
To date, there have not been any cases of human illnesses linked to lead particles in hunter-harvested venison according to a study conducted by Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Connection and Minnesota DOE et al. But better hunting bullets ensure to prevent this.
I had this lead bullet conversation with a friend the other day whose brother owns a 25-06, a fine long range rifle for deer and antelope at far distances. What happened was that the deer was struck in the lung area but no exit wound occurred. The deer ran off, the shooter later followed looking for a blood trail and found not a drop. The only thing the hunter had was the visual direction of the animal after the shot. He knew he hit the animal well but it took him a few days of searching to find that deer not far, in fact, from the hit. It had no exit wound to leave a blood trail. This hunter, like me, reloads his own ammo and decided never to use that jacketed lead bullet for anything but punching paper. I can’t say that I blame him because we hunters want a clean kill and the meat for the table too. Lesson Learned!
Best high power 20 and 30 caliber hunting bullets on game are bonded with lead to the copper like the Nosler AccuBond and maintain a high percentage of weight and negligible fragmentation.
Full copper bullets too like the Nosler E-Tip are designed to create a petal like a flower instead of a mushroom and keep an even higher percentage of weight and no-lead at all.
Large calibers like .375 and 40 calibers with lead cores that are un-bonded will fully penetrate because of the bullets large size and its weight/momentum and will fragment little.
A blood trail is necessary in bow hunting and in gun hunting big game for a fast recovery. In order to have a blood trail to follow you need an exit wound. Now there are some out there who do not believe an exit wound is needed. Nuts! It is your best chance for a fast recovery and flavorful meat with less stress hormones in the meat which can make the meat taste less inviting. Keep the hunting bullets that are not bonded for paper punching unless they are sizable 150 grains or larger. On the further down side is the fact that lead bullets that can fragment often require more of the surrounding meat to be tossed out suspecting fragments in the meat.
In the many articles I have written, bullets like the Nosler E-Tip and AccuBond are designed not for the target shooter but for hunters who want to maintain bullet weight while mushrooming thus creating a large wound channel for blood to flow and full penetration with an exit wound and to prevent fragmentation.
Accordingly, the Nosler E-Tip is one of the finest hunting bullets available providing full Penetration and little or no fragmentation, a no-lead solution.
Further that the E-Tip is gilding alloy copper and leaves no appreciable copper in the barrel, and no one likes scrubbing copper out of barrels. Go buy some Nosler AccuBonds or E-Tips Today! You will be glad you did. © 2015