Looking for a bonded 180 grain 7mm bullet

[the444shooter]

Like it has been said, the POI is most likely going to change if you switch bullet types, regardless if they're the same weight. It's a rare case that a gun shoots two different bullets in the same POI.

 

[Deleted member 25294]

Thanks guys
I ordered some Barnes 175 TSX bullets to try out, I like the idea of lead free solids so I'm hoping they shoot.

 

[Timber338]

Barnes bullets have all shot very well out of my rifles. I know you want to keep the same weight, but remember that copper is stronger than lead and deforms differently than lead. Barnes bullets shine with very high impact velocities and are just average at lower velocities. So don't be afraid to drop bullet weight to keep your impact velocities up.

 

[Timber338]

I almost forgot... The Bergers I've shot that have failed to expand on game...
They held their weight just as well as the misses. 100% weight retention. Even the Dall's ram was trying to sort it out, like a dog with head canted to the side... Say what???

Now is it really fair to say this based on real-world experience? I thought Berger's were untouchable based on popular opinion.

The only elk I've lost was to the fabled 215 Hybrid that penciled, and after the 300 EH out of my 338rum banana'd on a bear a couple years ago I was done hunting with Bergers. The bear did die after about 20 minutes of moaning out of sight in the bushes.

They are accurate as all hell but I can't stomach making another animal suffer unnecessarily.

 

[RockyMtnMT]

Your twist rate is key with all bullets and needs to be paid close attn to with the mono's. For a lead free copper bullet to get to 175g it will be longer than a 175g lead core bullet and need more twist to be properly stabilized. This is much more important when it comes to on game performance. 7mm is one of the calibers that have a wide range of factory twist rates. They range from 9" to 10" and there is a huge difference in how they will perform. If you have a 9" twist i suspect that you will still be marginal in stability with the 175g Barnes. I'm not sure of the length of them but would be worth checking this out before you head out hunting with them. Added elevation will help with ballistic stability but does not add the rpm's needed for good terminal performance after impact. It doesn't seem to matter to most bullet manufactures whether or not they are marketing a marginally stable bullet for common factory twist rate rifles. It is buyer beware. After all the testing that we have done in media and on animals, I have come to the conclusion that many of the stories that we hear about bullet failures may not be due to poor bullet quality but due to marginal stability. The smaller the hp the more that marginal stability can cause poor terminal performance. Same for tipped bullets.

When it comes to mono's the copper alloy makes a huge diff in terminal performance. We thought that we would get some good pure copper and make bullets. If we did not care it would have ended there and we would have marketed there. We wasted thousands of pounds of copper looking for a copper that would do what we wanted on game. When we found the copper that we currently use is made a dramatic diff on game. Our copper is super soft and reacts the same at high or low vel impacts. We were worried about copper fouling when we custom ordered a couple thousand pounds of this copper. Turned out to be an unwarranted fear. Our PDR design leaves almost zero copper fouling. Less than any other bullet that I have used.

Blackaj, I hope all goes well for you. If we can help at all feel free to contact me.

406-261-0010

Steve

 

[DocDoc]

If you try Barnes, remember they need to jump a lot for accuracy and lower pressure.

 

[Deleted member 25294]

Your twist rate is key with all bullets and needs to be paid close attn to with the mono's. For a lead free copper bullet to get to 175g it will be longer than a 175g lead core bullet and need more twist to be properly stabilized. This is much more important when it comes to on game performance. 7mm is one of the calibers that have a wide range of factory twist rates. They range from 9" to 10" and there is a huge difference in how they will perform. If you have a 9" twist i suspect that you will still be marginal in stability with the 175g Barnes. I'm not sure of the length of them but would be worth checking this out before you head out hunting with them. Added elevation will help with ballistic stability but does not add the rpm's needed for good terminal performance after impact. It doesn't seem to matter to most bullet manufactures whether or not they are marketing a marginally stable bullet for common factory twist rate rifles. It is buyer beware. After all the testing that we have done in media and on animals, I have come to the conclusion that many of the stories that we hear about bullet failures may not be due to poor bullet quality but due to marginal stability. The smaller the hp the more that marginal stability can cause poor terminal performance. Same for tipped bullets.

When it comes to mono's the copper alloy makes a huge diff in terminal performance. We thought that we would get some good pure copper and make bullets. If we did not care it would have ended there and we would have marketed there. We wasted thousands of pounds of copper looking for a copper that would do what we wanted on game. When we found the copper that we currently use is made a dramatic diff on game. Our copper is super soft and reacts the same at high or low vel impacts. We were worried about copper fouling when we custom ordered a couple thousand pounds of this copper. Turned out to be an unwarranted fear. Our PDR design leaves almost zero copper fouling. Less than any other bullet that I have used.

Blackaj, I hope all goes well for you. If we can help at all feel free to contact me.

406-261-0010

Steve

Thanks Steve
Sounds like some quality bullets that you guys are producing.
When are you going to make a heavy, super high BC 6mm bullet
My 7mm is an 8 twist but I will be going with a 7 twist if I ever burn it out.
I really think heavy solids are the future..

 

[RockyMtnMT]

We have the 110g Hammer Hunter that requires a 6" twist to be fully stable. In our hunting line of bullets we will not go with a hollow point smaller than the 1.5mm that we use in our Hammer Hunter line. We have tried 1mm hollow points and had good success in media, but when used on game (elk) we were not happy with the results. You can mess with the form of the bullet and make some small gains in the bc but our decision to stay with the 1.5mm hp costs us about 10% in the bc department. The 110g Hammer Hunter has an estimated g7-bc of .266. If we eliminate the hp and take that bullet with no change to the form other than the point the bc would end up about .3 g7.

We have begun working on a target line (non hunting) with no hp that will have higher bc's.

Steve