One the one hand, I don’t give an assfull of ashes for the idea that shooting lead-free bullets will do the planet one iota of good. We get lead from the ground and we return it to the ground, albeit at very high speeds, so BFD. On the other hand, mandated lead-free zones have given us some dandy new homogeneous bullets by Hornady, Nosler, and Barnes, so it’s not a total waste.

The most recent of this genre is from Nosler—a lead-free Ballistic Tip for varmint hunters. The batch I tested is .224-inch and 35 grains, but there will be lighter and heavier slugs out shortly. These new Ballistic Tips are made with a disintegrating copper core, an alloy jacket, an extra-large expansion cavity in the nose, and an attractive polycarbonate tip.

To test them, I fired ...... a batch in my supernaturally accurate .223 Savage Model 12 Long Range Precision Varminter Dual Port (try saying that in one breath). I found that, with the same powder charges I used for 50-grain Ballistic Tips, I could get 3,600 fps as opposed to 3,400 fps. Accuracy was not as good as with the conventional Ballistic Tips, although the average was a half-inch, and I got some groups quite a bit smaller. The Model 12 Etcetera has a 1-9 twist, and I suspect that is a bit fast for these short, light, bullets; I think I might have done much better with 1-12 or 1-14.

Are the Lead-Frees frangible? Rest easy. They frange just fine. Small rodents being in short supply, I shot apples, and they disintegrated in a cloud of apple juice. You can read more about the new BTs at nosler.com. Buy lots and save the environment.

A note to all you Gun Nuts: The photo below (and three more, which you can see by clicking here) came into my inbox attached to the following caption:

"For those of you who load your own ammunition...
 
A guy came into our department the other day to ask a favor. He had a Smith & Wesson Model 629 that he wanted to dispose of after a mishap at the range. He said there was a loud bang when he tested his new load and the gun smacked him in the forehead, leaving a nice gash. When the tweety birds cleared, this is what he saw..."

Rather than comment on these photos myself, I decided they were serious enough that they deserved something intelligent said about them, so I sent them to my friend and ace pistolsmith John Blauvelt. Here's what he had to say.  --David Petzal

Begin forwarded message:
From: JC Blauvelt
Date: October 30, 2009 8:09:43 PM EST
To: Dave Petzal

Subject: BANG

Dave, Well you asked for it. I hope you find this useful. Thank you for the opportunity.

A graphic reminder of the art of home pressure testing. What I see here is typical of a vastly over-pressure round fired in a revolver. The in-line round of ammunition blew out the top of the cylinder, both adjoining chambers, and removed the top strap.  Most of the destroyed revolvers I have seen usually have the top strap of the frame still attached at the front, above the barrel, and it is peeled forward. The weakest point of an adjustable sight revolver frame is the back end of the top strap were the rear sight cut is. In this revolver the whole top strap is gone and most of both adjoining chambers. This points to a very strong pressure spike. How did it happen? One clue is the reloader’s quote that he was “testing his new load.” So, it is most likely the reloader's fault. He was either trying to make a “Super Magnum” load beyond the recommended loads or used the wrong powder - i.e.  grabbed a can of 231 instead of 296 or possibly changed powders and forgot to change the settings on the powder measure. A barrel obstruction from a squib round? I do not believe so. I do not see any indication of a bulge in the barrel. Unless it was a bullet from a squib round stuck just forward of the back end of the barrel.  In any case, these are sobering photos. Look at the amount of shrapnel that let loose. It could have caused grave injuries to the shooter and/or bystanders on either side of him. An expensive lesson learned, and fortunately no one was injured.

For all the millions of rounds of ammunition reloaded each year, it is rare to see this happen. That's why it makes news when it does. Always remember to check, double check, then check one more time that the recipe you are using is correct, wear your safety glasses, and ear protection.  Also, in this guy’s case, he likely needed a half of a bottle of aspirin for his headache. 

JC Blauvelt Gunsmith, Inc.
www.JCBgunsmith.com

In 1987, Don Allen a retired airline pilot from Sturgis, South Dakota, and his wife Norma, founded Dakota Arms, a company that produced high-grade hunting rifles based on a design worked up by him and ace metal man Pete Grisel. The Dakota Model 76, the company’s basic model, was an immediate success, and was soon joined by other variations.

In 2003 Don Allen died, and not long thereafter Norma sold the company. The new owner brought other lines under the Dakota roof: Miller Arms (single-shot rifles), Dan Walter (aluminum cases) and Nesika Bay Precision (rifles and actions). But for whatever reasons it all went wrong, and this past summer Dakota was about a week away from closing its doors forever.

Enter Remington Arms, which bought the enterprise and is now engaged in bringing Dakota back. The man in charge of this is Carlos Martinez who, a year ago, was given control of the Remington Custom Shop and told to breathe new life into it. He did, in spades, but now he has a more difficult job.

Dakota has always built beautiful rifles (even the plain ones) but from my own experience, which is pretty extensive, they have been plagued with quality-control problems and have not been as accurate they should be.

We will see what Mr. Martinez can do. In the meanwhile, Dakota is on sound financial footing once again. If you have a rifle on order you will get it. If you want to order one, you will get it. I wish them well. Don Allen was one of the all-time nice guys in the business, and his creation is worth keeping alive.

A few weeks ago a friend of mine went out West with a .338 and collected both a nice elk and a mule deer, and while the elk succumbed without a struggle, the muley made a point with his passing. The critter was shot in the shoulder, downhill, at 265 yards with a 225-grain Barnes TSX bullet at 2,750 fps. I know all this because I loaded the ammo myself.

Rather than dropping like a stone because his shoulder was smashed and his innards were pureed, as indeed they were, the mule deer did his level best to get away and required three more shots to convince him that it was time to call it quits.

None of this is detracts from the .338, or the Barnes TSX, or the shoulder shot. Almost always, when a critter is struck there and the bullet does its job, the beast goes down right away or within a few steps. The shoulder shot is the way to go if you have a bullet that will break bone reliably and if you are shooting something big that may object to the proceedings.

The lesson you can take from this incident is that shot placement is an inexact science; it’s a matter of going with the percentages. There are no guarantees handed out. Whenever you shoot, always be ready with an immediate second shot. Or a third. Sometimes, no matter how hard you hit them, they just don’t cooperate.