Well, a while back I asked for first hand stories of your experiences with lead-free ammunition.  I didn’t get a lot of responses, but I did recently get the following email from Josh Stark, a regular contributor/commentor on this blog, and host of his own great blog on sporting ethics. 

Anyway, Josh is just starting to feel his way through the non-lead ammo maze, and starting with a tough one… a .30-30!  Not many choices of ammo for that caliber, but Josh was able to get his hands on some of Corbon’s loads, topped with the Barnes TSX-FN (Flat Nose).  Here’s his initial report:

Dear Phillip,

Well, after telling you I was going to shoot last Wednesday, I finally got out to the Rancho Cordova Shooting Center today, Sunday. 

First, I must say that I’ve not shot my 30-30 in over five years.  I have been bow hunting and shotgunning for the last few years, and so it’s been put away.  However, having missed my bow chance this year, I took down the old Winchester Ranger, and tried it out. 

As you know from my comments to your blog, I’m okay with the non-lead requirement, but I had never shot them before, and so I wanted to make sure I was okay with the ethical nature of the ammunition, esp. in light of your friend’s post about his troubles with the .270.

I took it to the range today, and was very happy with my results.  I’m not the best shot on Earth (far from it), and my Winchester’s trigger-pull is about six inches long, but I have shot since I was seven, and I was on rifle team in high school for four years, so I am comfortable behind a gun.

I gotta say, a 3″ group at 100 yds. is a happy shock for me (I’d forgotten how far 100 yards is), but that’s what I got.  Granted, I only took three shots at the 100 yd. target (so it could be a fluke), having spent most of my time on the 25 yd. target getting my scope aligned, and I couldn’t shoot more at the 100 yd. range because the ammo. is prohibitively expensive, which is a drawback worth noting.  However, I am comfortable with shooting this ammunition at an animal, and that is what I’m going to do (hopefully) this Saturday.

My hunting this weekend will all be inside of 60 yards (it’s the nature of the hill I’m hunting this time, not a self-imposed limit), so I’m not as worried about really reaching out to hit a deer.

I’ll keep you posted as to my hunting success.  I don’t know anybody else who has shot Barnes bullets out of a 30-30, probably because nobody has been loading them except Corbon, and then I’ve only been able to buy them online (I got them at Midway, which had really good service, by the way).  This is another problem needing mention. 

Thanks for listening, and if any of this information helps, I’m glad. 

Sincerely,
Josh

 Well, first of all I have to say that a 3″ group at 100 yard with a 30-30 isn’t bad shooting!  I know a lot of folks talk about shooting 150 yards or more with a 30-30, but in my opinion this rifle is a 100 yard or less gun.  If a hunter can put three shots into a three-inch circle at 100 yards, then there’s not a lot to complain about.

Of course, as we’ve been hearing, accuracy is only part of the story.  Terminal performance is pretty critical too.  Best wishes, Josh, on your deer hunt this weekend.  I hope to hear (and see pictures) of a successful trip and top-notch bullet performance.

If you’d like to share your own, (not second-hand,or a “friend-of-a-friend”) lead-free ammo story with me, please feel free to do so in the comments, or even better, in an email.  Please provide as much detail as you can, by the way, including the caliber and weight of your bullets, where you hit the animal, the range of the shot(s), and your personal opinion of the terminal performance based on what you see when you disassemble your animal.  Pictures are welcome and appreciated, although I’ll reserve the right to decide if something is appropriate for display on this blog.    

Meanwhile, have a look at the poll.  Haven’t had a ton of responses so far, but the majority of respondents appear to be pretty happy with the performance of the non-lead ammo.  Is this accurate?  It sure isn’t statistically significant, considering we’ve only had 12 responses so far… but compared to other surveys, this is actually pretty close to the norm. 

I’ll leave the poll up for a while, and as the CA deer seasons get fully underway over the next few weeks, maybe those numbers will evolve into a better picture of what’s really going on out there. 

 

 

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