.22 LR Lead Free Ammo

[Chris Hanson]

Okay, So I'm a law abiding citizen, and the state of CA says we gotta use the new non-lead ammo for rabbits and i've been doing that for the past couple of days and been noticing a huge difference between the CCI Copper .22LR 21 Grain and my old Aguila Super Extra .22LR 40 Grain ammo. After shooting some bunnies and being fairly successful, I found that the CCI Lead-Free doesn't have that take down power of the old school lead. Obviously better shooting would help, just curious if anyone else has noticed this? And if so, what distance, circumstances, etc. Thanks!

 

[DanSanDiego]

Non-lead is only required for shotguns so far. Here is a link to a description of the CA lead-free law.
https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/hunting/nonlead-ammunition
*note the part at the bottom where it says rimfire rifles must use non-lead ammo on CDFW properties.

So go ahead and use lead for now (for the better take-down and to use it up before it can't be used anymore).

But I'm like you and wanted to switch to lead-free in my rifle early in order to get the feel for the new material (in my case it's a .243 for the upcoming deer season). However, maybe I'll limit my copper use to the range this year.

 

[Chris Hanson]

That's what I thought cause i read it too but just to be sure i called CA Fish and Game and the guy on the phone informed me it was in effect for .22 Rifles as well, not a big deal but definitely a difference. I'm super curious how it's gonna affect my .270???

 

[ilovesprig]

.22 copper sucks....Just make your shots closer....Shoot lead till 7-1-19

.270 copper will be fine.....My SIL Jacob has killed his last 3 bucks with .270 copper.....No problems.

.

 

[Gspman]

I've been hunting the stupid condor zone for years so it's been lead free for some time. I switched to lead free for everything so I did not run into confusion with me green jeans. I've had no problem with the cci lead free on jacks and cottons out to 100 yards and like steve said lead free in deer/hog guns works great.

 

[SurfNHuntSD]

I haven't messed around with nontox .22 yet.. I'll wait til 2019. I did buy a couple boxes of nontox .17HMR though (15.5 gr vs 17 gr lead) and they have no noticeable difference within 100 yds really.. it still knocks 'em dead.

 

[pchen911]

I tried the CCI Copper .22.

Didn't notice any problems with knockdown power.

Accuracy is not nearly as good as the old lead bullets though. Especially at distance. Anything past 20 to 25 yards it's very iffy. So much so that I think I might reload some low velocity .223 with Trail Boss in lead free just so I can take rabbits further out. I bought myself a jug of Trail Boss power just for this purpose.

I also tested the bullets for meat damage and made a video of it.

 

[Bowman]

I tried the CCI Copper .22.

Didn't notice any problems with knockdown power.

Accuracy is not nearly as good as the old lead bullets though. Especially at distance. Anything past 20 to 25 yards it's very iffy. So much so that I think I might reload some low velocity .223 with Trail Boss in lead free just so I can take rabbits further out. I bought myself a jug of Trail Boss power just for this purpose.

I also tested the bullets for meat damage and made a video of it.

great video

 

[Bowman]

I wonder how fast these non lead ammo will wear out our barrels. bronze is very abrasive.

 

[ilovesprig]

p911,

Very nice how to video......Thanks for sharing

 

[soctblaze]

Thanks for the video and info about non lead emmo, I been trying to find an area to hunt rabbit but I wasn’t informed about the lead emmo issue,
Any area you guys recommend for jacks?


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