california non leaded rounds

[ScottB]

Hi all

I want to go hunting on a millitary base close to where I live in california but we have to use non leaded rounds
Silly condor
Does anyone have info on anyone that makes commercial loaded rounds for the bushmaster?
I have orderded the die set from hornady to reload my own but any sugestions on best heads to buy
I ordered the Barnes® XPB™ Pistol Bullet - .460 S&W .451" 275gr XPB™-FB as they are all copper
If anyone has info and reloading data /info it would be greatly appreciated

scottb

[kottke_35]

Hello.

I'm not aware of any commercial loaded non lead ammunition.

A far as info on the barnes bullets go, there is a lot of info on this site for those bullets. Do a search on Barnes 275xpb.. Also the 200xpb is another good choice. Lil gun is going to do good for you. Start low and work up, be safe!

B.

[BillytheKid]

Could a non reloader like me just use a bullet puller on a standard factory round, and insert a non lead projectile?

[pitted bore]

Could a non reloader like me just use a bullet puller on a standard factory round, and insert a non lead projectile?

Mr. The Kid-
Short answer: No.

There are some possible mechanical difficulties with doing this. For example, after you pull the bullet, the neck of the brass will spring back to a diameter smaller than the bullet. Inserting another bullet will be a problem, and may require some neck expansion to accomplish. After you have inserted the bullet, there will be required some crimping operation to hold the bullet in place sufficiently to withstand the slam-bang of the loading cycle.

A possibly dangerous difficulty is that type and amount of powder used in the factory load may not be correct for the replacement bullet. The powder type is not something you can look up in a reloading manual, so adjusting the factory amount for your substitute bullet is not possible. Just plugging in another bullet may result in a dangerous overload, or a poor performing underload. Using bullets of equal weight may not avoid the problem, because pressures can be really different for different types of bullets even though they weigh the same.

There exist some possible solutions to your problem of obtaining unleaded ammo. You might contact some of the licensed, reputable custom loaders, and ask whether they can make what you need. It's likely not to be cheap. You can find the some of them online, or perhaps by inquiring locally. If they don't have the FFL that allows them legally to make and sell ammo, I'd avoid them.

For liability and other reasons, neither would I want to ask a reloading friend to assemble the lead-free ammo. An oopsie could destroy the friendship, not to mention a firearm.

--Bob

[BillytheKid]

Could a non reloader like me just use a bullet puller on a standard factory round, and insert a non lead projectile?

Mr. The Kid-
Short answer: No.

There are some possible mechanical difficulties with doing this. For example, after you pull the bullet, the neck of the brass will spring back to a diameter smaller than the bullet. Inserting another bullet will be a problem, and may require some neck expansion to accomplish. After you have inserted the bullet, there will be required some crimping operation to hold the bullet in place sufficiently to withstand the slam-bang of the loading cycle.

A possibly dangerous difficulty is that type and amount of powder used in the factory load may not be correct for the replacement bullet. The powder type is not something you can look up in a reloading manual, so adjusting the factory amount for your substitute bullet is not possible. Just plugging in another bullet may result in a dangerous overload, or a poor performing underload. Using bullets of equal weight may not avoid the problem, because pressures can be really different for different types of bullets even though they weigh the same.

There exist some possible solutions to your problem of obtaining unleaded ammo. You might contact some of the licensed, reputable custom loaders, and ask whether they can make what you need. It's likely not to be cheap. You can find the some of them online, or perhaps by inquiring locally. If they don't have the FFL that allows them legally to make and sell ammo, I'd avoid them.

For liability and other reasons, neither would I want to ask a reloading friend to assemble the lead-free ammo. An oopsie could destroy the friendship, not to mention a firearm.

--Bob

Thank you Bob, that explains a lot in a manner I could understand.

I'll see what I can do to find a lisenced custom loader.
Bill

[wildcatter]

Hi all

I want to go hunting on a millitary base close to where I live in california but we have to use non leaded rounds
Silly condor
Does anyone have info on anyone that makes commercial loaded rounds for the bushmaster?
I have orderded the die set from hornady to reload my own but any sugestions on best heads to buy
I ordered the Barnes® XPB™ Pistol Bullet - .460 S&W .451" 275gr XPB™-FB as they are all copper
If anyone has info and reloading data /info it would be greatly appreciated

scottb

The 275's are prolly better for Moose type critters and the 200xpb's might be better suited for deer size critters.

The difference in the 275's vs the 200's is just in length of the back half, which means the 275's are still great for deer and represent a one stop shopping proposition for me. I use the 275's for everything, as they have proven so completely accurate that, other than price, I have a hard time using anything else for long range work. I have on many occasions shot sub 1" at 200yds, using them.

I'll have to go up to the lab tomorrow to get you a load..

..t

[Weapon of Choice]

The 275's are prolly better for Moose type critters and the 200xpb's might be better suited for deer size critters.

The difference in the 275's vs the 200's is just in length of the back half, which means the 275's are still great for deer and represent a one stop shopping proposition for me. I use the 275's for everything, as they have proven so completely accurate that, other than price, I have a hard time using anything else for long range work. I have on many occasions shot sub 1" at 200yds, using them.

I'll have to go up to the lab tomorrow to get you a load..

..t

I'm in the same boat as ScottB. I worked on a load for the 275's awhile back but moved on to other interest. However, I would love to have some load data for this bullet so once quail season is over I could load some up. Love the performance of the Barnes bullets.

[bushmeister]

I noticed that COP copper only projectiles is offering an all copper in 225, 250, 275, gr. (bullets only, not manufactured ammo) Some are in stock at midway, others are listed as coming soon. Hopefully this will be good news. I hope the hollow point won't be too large to cause feeding issues!

[Hoot]

There's a plethora of information and additional links regarding my work with the 200 and 275 XPB in This Thread.

New guys. There's gold in these here hills. You just got to search it out.

Hoot

[wildcatter]

There's a plethora of information and additional links regarding my work with the 200 and 275 XPB in This Thread.

New guys. There's gold in these here hills. You just got to search it out.

Hoot

Once again, The Hoot-Man saves the Day!!

..t