Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Going all copper on bullets?

How many of you use only copper bullets?

I mainly deer and turkey hunt. Deer make up the majority of the meat my family eats throughout the year, we buy very little meat at a store. Yesterday while eating sausage made from a deer taken this past fall a small piece of grisle got caught in my teeth....I finally was able to dig it out and found it to be lead instead of a chip of bone/cartiledge. My wife found a small piece of copper jacket in the same batch. I'm feeding myself, my wife, a 7 year old, a 4 year old, and a 6 month old will be eating before long....... Finding the lead bothered me more than a little bit. I process 2-3 of my own every year and send 2-3 more to a processor for things like sausage which I guess is more likely to end up with fragments.

I only use copper bullets in a .223AI right now. I've no doubt that regular cup/core will take deer cleanly and efficiently...it's self evident. All copper isn't needed but I may move everything to copper. I could process all of the deer and play it safe but honestly I don't have the time. It's "cheaper" (considering time) just to have some of them processed (although I do enjoy doing it).

Again, not an argument that all copper premiums are needed for deer, but I'm interested in what others have found in regards to lead and processed meat(?).

JCM

I think the data shows that lead in game meat isn't a big deal, but if I were feeding it to my kids I'd use monometals. They work well and the risk is zero.

I use Barnes TSX and TTSX almost exclusively on stuff I'm gonna eat....and lead contamination isn't even on the list of reasons for that choice...

I am rather picky when it comes to butchering my deer.I dont"eat up to the hole",as some put it,and really strive to place my shots in the lungs,where the meat usually isnt eaten.
That said,I have never got any lead in my meat,at least that I have noticed.

I use TSX's and GMX's almost exclusively for hunting.

I also like to have a Hornady Interlock load that shoots to the same POI. It serves two purposes, cheaper shooting practice and a solid back up load just in case.

I'm pretty sure the batch this came from was from a buck I shot head on while still hunting. It was chasing a doe with it's head low...bullet hit the left side of the neck, through inside of the shoulder, skidded along the inside of the rib cage, and ended up with at least one piece of the core in the hip that I found when gutting it...so there was ample room for it to shed lead from the neck to the hip.

Going copper means working up a lot of new loads and the extra cost for bullets, but it seems like a small $ to pay....

As stated by others, I use the ttsx allot. The lead free design is not s reason fir this though

Starting to use them more often. I suspect the day will come when lead bullets are banned in more and more areas, and may as well be ready for that eventuality. I have no issues with either lead or unleaded. Placement trumps construction IMO. Put most any decently constructed hunting bullet in the right spot, and stuff will die. There is no magic bullet!

Jeff

I think the issue is another trojan horse by liberals to restrict our hunting rights. Now there is undoubtdly some merit where waterfowl are shot and consumed in the same location for decades. A lot of lead accumulates in the ground and some has to have been injested by birds. I do not believe this issues has any revelency in 99.9% of big game hunting. There are greater health issues in the fish you catch. Just my .02

The CDC doesn't even list game meat as a source of lead but does list the firing range. I'd never heard of candy from Mexico being a problem but it's listed.

http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/tips/sources.htm

Candy
The potential for children to be exposed to lead from candy imported from Mexico has prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue warnings on the availability of lead-contaminated candy and to develop tighter guidelines for manufacturers, importers, and distributors of imported candy.

Lead has been found in some consumer candies imported from Mexico. Certain candy ingredients such as chili powder and tamarind may be a source of lead exposure. Lead sometimes gets into the candy when processes such as drying, storing, and grinding the ingredients are done improperly. Also, lead has been found in the wrappers of some imported candies. The ink of these plastic or paper wrappers may contain lead that leaches into the candy.

People selling these candies may not know whether the candy contains lead. You cannot tell by looking at or tasting a candy whether it contains lead. Consuming even small amounts of lead can be harmful. There is no safe blood lead level. Lead poisoning from candies can cause illness.

What to do if you believe you or your child may have eaten candies that contain lead
See your health care provider. He or she can perform a blood test to see whether you or your child has been exposed to lead, and if so, recommend treatment options. Most adults and children with elevated blood lead levels do not have any symptoms. As blood lead levels increase, so does lead�s effects on health.

How to tell if your candy contains lead
You can tell for sure only by having the candy tested in a laboratory. If you have reason to suspect that you may have consumed lead in candy, see a healthcare provider for a blood test.

How to get more information about lead in candy
The FDA advises that parents, care providers, and others not allow children or pregnant women to eat candy imported from Mexico at this time. More information and advisories on lead in candy can be obtained from the FDA at www.fda.gov or 1-888-463-6332.

I several of my rifles get only GMX or Barnes TSX bullets. More for terminal performance than lead issues.

North Dakota did some work on ingesting lead from big game a while back.

We always mark individual packages of venison with information on the deer it came from. I cut and wrap my own venison. I also do not eat to the bullet hole.

You can have your children tested for lead.

I've begun working up loads with the monometal bullets for every rifle I own, but only to be a step ahead of government intervention.

I've tried my best to live off wild game animals for more than 40 years. I had my blood tested when lead poisoning concerns caused one of the Dakotas to throw out tons of donated venison a few years ago.

When the results came back my doctor told me that my lead levels were too low to measure and would have been higher from residual atmospheric lead if I lived in a major metropolis.

Not exclusively, but I use TTSX a lot and have some GMX sitting on the reloading bench.

Have found the TTSX to be very accurate in every rifle I've tried them in and terminal effectiveness has been excellent in every case.

I use lead roundball and lead paper patched bullets. No probs so far. I've said it before and I will repeat it,there were multiple MILLIONS of heavy lead bullets used on the Great Plains killing buffler. By the "common wisdom" everybody and every critter in that region should have a third eye in their forehead and be dripping mucus from their nose along with being mentally deficient. Now as far as "bullet bans" go, a Barnes slug at 300 winchester mag operating velocities would likely hole the boron carbide armor plate and Dragonskin right nicely and easily. How long do you think it would take for the [bleep]-at-large to regulate THAT state of affairs out of existence? Lead paint-serious risk. Lead dust-VERY serious risk. That said, there isn't much of anything that doesn't present a risk under the right circumstances.

Ain't that the truth ET. If I had all the #8 shot I have ingested from eating birds I have shot I bet I could load a box of shells.

I still got all my fingers and toes and my kids were born normal.

The county that I live in was part of the lead mining district of Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. Between 1825 and 1955 tons of lead came from surface and underground mines. To this day you can find "float" lead on the ground surface and along spring and stream banks. Livestock are grazing on some of this land and drinking from the streams. People catch and eat fish from these streams. I have done the same for 55 years.

The area has not been determined a health risk and no abnormalities have been found in humans, livestock, birds, reptiles, fish, etc.

I don't use all copper bullets but I'm certainly not prejudiced against them.
I do think most of the concern regarding lead bullets is a red herring as far as humans go. As stated in other posts above, the primary danger to children comes from exposure to lead oxides, especially lead paint dust or chips.
Metallic lead is not near as big a deal provided some common sense is used. Accidentally swallowing a bird shot doesn't pose near as much risk as handling an old piece of lead painted board and then not washing your hands before eating.
I often take deer to be processed as well but I do go ahead and cut away the blood shot meat and try to remove bullet fragments while field dressing.
Since your family eats game often, just make sure your game processor is on the same page as you. Talk with him or her outside of game season.

Until they discover something toxic about copper.

Copper toxicity is well past the discovery stage.

I'm pretty much going the opposite direction nowadays, avoiding all copper bullets since I tend to shoot calibers that don't benefit as much from the increased penetration they offer. Also like the added fragmentation and perceived quicker deaths offered by jacketed bullets.