Copper Bullets: Can Monolithics Monopolize the Hunting Game?

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I was still in elementary school when Randy Brooks introduced the hunting world to his X Bullet. At the time the concept of an all-copper expanding bullet seemed preposterous, and there were many shooters who simply didn’t believe that the Barnes concept was going to succeed. However, a couple years after the X Bullet arrived, U.S. Fish and Wildlife outlawed toxic (lead) shot for hunting migratory birds. Big game hunters wondered if perhaps they might face similar legislation some day, and suddenly Randy Brooks’s concept of an all-copper expanding bullet didn’t seem so far-fetched.

It wasn’t just fear that made the X Bullet a success. The things worked. It retained virtually all its weight, penetrated well, expanded reliably, and killed game quickly. I still remember an article by John Wooters in Guns & Ammo’s special Big Bore Edition in 1995 lauding praise on the X Bullet and describing how Coni Brooks (Randy’s wife and co-owner at Barnes) had gone on an extended African safari and killed 62 animals with her .338 WIn Mag and the company’s X Bullet. 61 of those were one-shot kills.

Barnes is still the oldest name in the monolithic bullet market, but they’re hardly the only company to offer all-metal bullets these days. In fact, most major bullet manufacturers now offer at least one lead-free hunting bullet, and monometal bullets continue to improve. The fear of a nationwide ban on lead rifle ammunition has, at least until now, not come to pass, although some jurisdictions in states like Maine and Minnesota have banned lead bullets and California banned the use of lead bullets statewide in 2019.

Though they haven’t been legislated into popularity, monometal bullets have a loyal following that prefer them to leaded bullets even in areas where copper is not required. Indeed, today’s copper bullets are better than at any time previously, and you don’t sacrifice much when switching from leaded to monometal bullets. In fact, copper bullets (or copper alloy bullets) have some advantages.

Monometal Bullets: The Good and the Bad

Monometal bullets have certain undeniable benefits, but they haven’t completely replaced lead-core bullets. They likely won’t unless some legislative action is introduced that requires the use of non-toxic bullets, either, because there are some hunters who will always prefer leaded bullets over monometals.

And with good reason. For one thing, lead bullets are cheaper than copper. Lead is widely available and the bullet-making process is cheaper than forming monometal bullets. Federal’s 140-grain 6.5 Creedmoor Fusion Tipped bonded ammunition costs $58.99 a box while the company’s Copper Impact costs $66.99 a box. Those savings are one compelling reason people prefer lead, and another is that, because it’s softer than copper, lead expands more easily at lower velocities, and that’s a particularly important consideration when shooting at long ranges. Some monometal bullets require velocities of 2,000 feet per second to expand. With some loads, that 2,000 fps cutoff might be under 400 yards. Lead bullets tend to expand at much lower velocities and therefore expand reliably even at greater distances, and because copper is less dense than lead, monolithic bullets are generally longer than lead bullets of the same weight, and that can lead to feeding issues.

Monolithic bullets certainly have benefits over lead as well. Chief among these is that copper bullets are legal everywhere, while certain states and localities have banned lead bullets altogether. The biggest advantage of copper bullets is that they stay together. Yes, they require substantial velocity to expand reliably, but copper and copper alloy bullets do not fall apart or separate which can lead to erratic performance or a failure to penetrate deeply enough to reach vital organs. Jacket/core separation has been an issue as long as modern lead core bullets have existed, and various companies have tried methods to secure the jacket to the core to prevent this from happening (Hornady with their Interlock ring, Nosler with their Partition, et al.). Bonding copper jackets to the lead core of hunting bullets has become popular, but it’s also an expensive process and bonded core bullets are rarely match accurate.

Since monolithic bullets are constructed of one metal type (the Greek translation of monolithic is “single stone”) there is no risk of jacket and core separation. Copper bullets have hollow cores and are sometimes skived (pre-cut) to initiate expansion. Polymer tips are also added to improve ballistics and initiate expansion. Not surprisingly, copper bullets reliably expand within the appropriate velocity range. They typically hold together well at high velocity (which cannot be said for all lead core bullets), and even at low velocities and long ranges modern monolithic bullets perform well.

This high weight retention, reliable expansion, and deep straight-line penetration is why so many hunters prefer monolithic bullets—even those who hunt in areas where lead core bullets are still legal. Today’s monolithic bullets are better than ever and their designs are backed by decades of field experience. The hard part can be choosing which one is right for you.

Modern Monolithic Bullet Options

Randy and Coni Brooks at Barnes deserve credit for bringing monometal bullets to the mainstream, and Barnes offers a broad range of monolithic bullets suitable for everything from coyotes to cape buffalo.

For smaller game like varmints and predators Barnes offers lead-free jacketed bullets like their Varmint Grenade. If you’re of the opinion that only lead core bullets provide dramatic expansion I can assure you that the Varmint Grenade bullets will change your attitude. They feature a gilding metal (copper-zinc alloy) jacket and are available with a frangible copper-tin powdered core, and the ones I’ve shot in .22 Hornet expanded fully in small game and shed their energy without exiting or damaging pelts extensively. Barnes’s Multi Purpose Green (MPG) big game bullets are designed much the same way, offering rapid expansion and 100% energy release in the target much like you would expect from a traditional cup-and-core jacketed hunting bullet.

At the heart of Barnes’s big game bullet lineup is the TSX, successor to the original X Bullet. The TSX bullet, which arrived on the market in 2003, featured concentric rings cut into the shank to reduce fouling and pressure. The TTSX is the tipped version of the TSX bullet, and the addition of a polymer tip makes the TTSX more aerodynamic and helps maintain that velocity which is so critical to reliable expansion with monolithic bullets. Barnes recommends the TSX bullet for hunting big game to 300 yards or so (depending on cartridge), but the company says that the TTSX expands reliably at greater distances–up to 500 yards or even more depending on caliber. I recently harvested a blacktail buck at Steinbeck Winery in California using TTSX ammo. The Mossberg Patriot test rifle held groups under an inch while testing and the bullet performed extremely well in the field. I hit my buck at 137 yards and he took just one step before piling up.

In 2011 Barnes recognized the growing interest in long-range hunting and designed a true long-range monolithic bullet, the LRX. The LRX looks like a match bullet with its long ogive and sleek profile, but the bullet has been designed and tested to expand reliably at lower velocities, making this the ideal choice for hunters who might need to take a shot in excess of 500 yards. It’s ideal for mountain hunts on tough game like sheep and goats and shots in long country on game like pronghorn antelope.

Getting In On The Action

In 2007 Nosler released their first monolithic bullet, the Expansion Tip. More commonly referred to as the E-Tip, the Nosler bullet was designed to expand reliably at a wide range of velocities. It featured a polymer tip from the outset as well as a dual expansion chamber inside the bullet that prompted expansion at velocities down to 1,800 fps. The E-Tip features a signature OG green polymer tip and aerodynamic profile, and it is available in calibers from .22 to .375 to suit all big game hunting needs.

Hornady was a bit later to the game, releasing the GMX (Gilded Metal eXpanding) bullet in 2009. The GMX was (and is) a tough bullet that handles big game and high velocities well. I killed a whitetail in Nebraska with a GMX bullet, a big buck that took only a few steps after the impact and fell into the fresh snow. I also sat alongside Petersen’s Hunting editor David Draper when he shot a Texas aoudad with a .25-06 using GMX bullets. The 90-grain GMX bullet was certainly light for an animal as notoriously tough as an aoudad, but Draper sent the bullet right through the ram’s boiler room and after a dramatic downhill run the aoudad piled up. Hornady revised their bullet design so that it was more aerodynamic and expanded at lower velocities, creating the CX bullet that, in 2021, replaced the GMX. Today the CX bullet anchors Hornady’s impressive Outfitter line of ammo.

Winchester’s first lead-free hunting bullet was the Power Core 95/5 that launched in 2011. The “95/5” moniker indicates that it’s a gilding metal bullet made from 95% copper and 5% zinc alloy. Next in the line was the Copper Extreme Point bullet in 2018, the same bullet Winchester uses in their Deer Season Copper Impact line. As you can see when the bullet is viewed in profile the oversized polymer tip covers a large interior expansion chamber. As a result, Copper Impact bullets expand reliably at moderate velocities and a mid-sized game like whitetails.

Barnes has long held the top position in the monometal market with regards to bullet and ammo options, but in recent years Federal has become a primary player in the monolithic bullet category. They offer hunting ammunition loaded with Barnes’s TSX and LRX bullets as well as their own Trophy Copper and Copper HP bullets. Trophy Copper bullets tend to shoot accurately and the polymer tip and internal chamber are designed for high weight retention but consistent performance. One of my favorite factory loads is Federal’s .300 Winchester Magnum 180-grain Trophy Copper load. At 2,960 fps it’s fast and flat-shooting, packs plenty of energy and I know that it is powerful enough for really large, tough animals yet it isn’t grossly overpowered for deer-sized game. I’ve also had great success with Federal’s Trophy Copper 6.5 Creedmoor load.

Remington Ammunition now falls under the Federal banner of brands, and Remington also offers a rugged monolithic bullet. It’s known as CuT (the name is derived from the periodic symbol for the element copper and T for “tipped”) and it performs extremely well on game. On the California hunt where I shot my blacktail fellow writer John Geiger harvested a blacktail as well, and he used the 6.5 Creedmoor 120-grain CuT load. Not surprisingly, it proved to be very effective. Also new to the Remington line is their Core-Lokt Tipped lead-free ammo which uses the Copper HP monolithic bullet.

Fiocchi’s Knock Down is the newest monumental load to hit the market. It utilizes a Copper Hollow Point bullet (CHP) and is available in eight different chamberings from .243 Winchester to .300 Win Mag. I used this ammunition on a pronghorn hunt last fall and everyone in camp saw good results with the Fiocchi load.

Your Preference

Which monolithic bullet is right for you? That depends on your needs and budget, but there are so many good options available today that using a lead-free bullet instead of a traditional lead core bullet is no great sacrifice. The evolution of monometal bullets has made them more accurate and improved overall performance, even at lower velocities. Best of all, these bullets are only likely to improve further in the future.

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