Reloading lead free ammunition

With lead-free shooting in Britain being inevitable, it’s important to realise that reloading non-lead centrefire bullets need some thought before you start your load. How non-lead will actually affect the rifle’s performance in terms of accuracy and terminal ballistics is crucial.

Fundamentals

Bullets with a copper construction are usually longer than the same weight lead-cored bullets and this has implications when it comes to barrel twist rate, stability and accuracy. Also, when seated to the same seating depth as a lead bullet, the lead-free option seats deeper, taking up powder capacity and increasing pressure. This has implications for bullet stability in flight, so seating depth within the cartridge case becomes critical and thus pressure levels and powder capacity has to be altered if you intend to just swap a reload from a lead-cored bullet to a lead-free bullet.

For instance, with .30 calibre, say a normal 125-grain and 150-grain Nosler Ballistic Tip, they measure 1.060” and 1.280” in length respectively, whilst the same weight GMX measure 1.123” and 1.350” respectively. This ultimately means, in the case of the Hornady GMXs, that the longer bullet’s stability in a 1:12” twist rate barrel can be touch and go, but a 1:10 is fine.

Same for the smaller .224 calibre bullets, where a 55-grain ballistic tip will shoot fine in a 1:12 twist rate barrel, but try a Barnes 55-grain TTSX equivalent, and this needs a 1:10 to stabilise.

Not all lead-free bullets are the same and the Barnes TSX tend to be a tad shorter, so can work better in some slower twist barrels. My advice is to really check the dimensions of the bullet and suggested minimum twist rates by the manufacturer before you buy any.

With 6mm/.243, you really need a 1:8 to stabilise any of the heavier bullets (100-grain), as there are only a couple of lead-free options. Edinburgh Rifles offer a 100-grain round nose and the new Norwegian NPB is an option as well.

Pressure

This is the result of the different hardness levels of the bullets directly in contact with the rifling, as there is far less ‘give’ in a non-lead bullet than there is in a lead-cored projectile, which has a softer, outer copper jacket. Thus, diameter is a critical factor in lead-free bullets and it is why most of these bullet types have a cannelure or multiple cannelures/driving bands to reduce friction and thus alleviate some of the pressure issues. These grooves also help to minimise copper fouling, which is prevalent in a barrel with a lead-free diet. Some bullets, like the E-Tips, have no cannelure but use a softer copper alloy that has a differing surface hardness and therefore fouls less anyway.

Also, measuring like-for-like weighted lead and non-lead bullets, I found that the diameter of some non-lead bullets tended to be slightly less, in order to further stop fouling and minimise pressure issues.

Again, take a normal .308 load with a 150-grain lead cored ballistic tip bullet and 45.0-grains of RL15 powder at the standard 2.800” COAL. Fired through a 1:10 twist rate barrel measuring 21”, I achieved 2731 fps and 2484 ft/lbs (over chronograph) with 52716 psi pressure (from Quickload). Load the same weight 150-grain E-Tip to the same seating depth and now I had 2778 fps | 2570 ft/lbs and 56500 psi of pressure. Loading the Hornady 150-grain GMX bullet and we had a jump to 2816 fps | 2641 ft/lbs and 59330 psi. All safe, but you can see the increase with the longer non-lead bullets.

This is why you have to rethink loading non-lead. I use the Quickload Ballistic program to virtually load a round and then shoot that load to get real results. They are always very close to the predicted, so I know when the pressure is getting high.

Seating depth

As stated, due to increased pressure issues with non-lead bullets, it is very important to correct your seating depth accordingly. All these parameters are intertwined, so when you are substituting your favourite lead-cored bullet, you need to have a rethink when it comes to the powder load, seating depth and bullet weights with non-lead.

Most lead-free bullet manufacturers state that their projectiles need to be seated deeper into the case and therefore farther away from the rifling in order to maximise accuracy. This means standard rifle throats are not best optimised to perform well with lead-free.

Manufacturers either state to start reloads with the minimum load and not exceed the mid load from their reloading manuals or recommend that you seat the bullets much farther off the rifling lands than is normal. This is counterintuitive to usual reloading practises, where usual lead-cored bullets (VLD types are different) tend to shoot better the closer they are to the lands, as the small jump into the lands on firing minimises any bullet wobble that could cause inaccuracies. That’s a general rule, but copper bullets usually have to be seated at 0.050 to 0.100, that’s 50 thou to 100 thou off the lands. In ballistic terms that’s miles!!

Using a .308 Barnes TTSX at different depths shows how the accuracy improves when the bullet is seated deeper but the pressure goes up, so the powder capacity needs to be addressed also. These can lead to you ‘chasing your arse’ to get that perfect blend of seating depth and pressure, and non-lead bullets are not cheap!

Compare an E-Tip to a ballistic tip in 6mm for their measurements in ogive to base. This is where the rifling will touch the curved forward section of the bullet to the bottom of the bullet base. The E-Tip is 0.7245” long, that’s 61% of the total bullet length, while the Ballistic Tip measures 0.6055”, which is 56% of its total length. This means that when loaded to the rifling, the E-Tip will have to be seated further back into the case. Add to this that you have to seat them a further 50 to 100 thou off the lands and you can see why pressure and powder capacity is affected when loading copper bullets.

To crimp or not

Because non-lead bullets can have defined cannelures, it is very tempting to seat your bullets so that the case’s neck is lightly crimped into one of these. This may not be the best seating depth and neck tension from the case neck to the bullet shank can be an important factor.

Using the same load on a 6.5 Creedmoor 127-grain LRX (1:8 twist required) with a load of 45.0-grains of RL17 powder, I crimped on the driving bands with 1, 2 and 3 thou of neck tension using different neck sizing bushes. I achieved velocity differences of 2920, 2933 and 2941 fps. I couldn’t tell any pressure differences though. When I crimped/ tensioned just below the band in the groove (yes OAL has changed very slightly), I got a bigger increase in velocity of 2940, 2948 and 2955 fps, so a bit more pressure behind the bullet with a more secure neck tension.

Conclusions

We are suffering from a global supply shortage are the moment, so even trying to get non-lead bullets is very difficult. Plus, the prices are very high! The choice is still very limited, although new bullets from Peregrine, Fox and NPB are easing the pressure, literally!

To me, the cons far outweigh the pros, as copper bullets are expensive and they over-penetrate on British species, unless you drop the bullet weight by 25%. Over pressuring issues with bullets can be dangerous for inexperienced reloaders, plus the stability issues and reduced compatibility in some rifles are making some calibres obsolete.

Contacts

JMS Sporting - Quickload Ballistic
Program – www.quickload.co.uk
Norman Clark - Reloading Supplies - www.normanclarkgunsmith.com
Raytrade UK Ltd - Barnes – www.raytradeuk.co.uk
Edgar Brothers - Hornady – www.edgarbrothers.com
Highland Outdoors - NPB bullets - www.highlandoutdoors.co.uk
Edinburgh Rifles - Fox & Peregrine
bullets – www.new.ersg.com