Copper VS Lead - Meateater & Modern Day Sniper - MDT Mention

The debate between copper and lead bullets continues to rage, so the MeatEater crew, Janis Putelis and Garrett Long took three popular bullets, one copper and two lead, and fired them at ballistic gel. After the shooting was done, Caylen Wojcik from Modern Day Sniper was brought in to analyze camera footage and the gel results. After an introduction, the MeatEater team explains their testing methods. Copper, bonded, and cup-n-core projectiles will be shot at ballistic gel targets with and without a 4' wide whitetail scapula bone from 140 Yards, 300 Yards, and 500 Yards.

For the testing, the Meateater crew used a copper 120-grain federal Trophy projectile. The cup-n-core bullet was a 135-grain federal Berger Hybrid Hunter projectile, and the bonded lead bullet, a 130-grain federal Terminal Agent. The three 6.5 Creedmoor projectiles were fired from Garret's competition rifle. While the weights of the bullets are slightly different, the hosts aimed to compare them using the most realistic round offerings possible for those hunting, ensuring that the results are practical and applicable to your own hunting scenarios.

For testing MeatEater used gel with and without a deer scapula bone. Photo courtesy of MeatEater.

After shooting at each distance, high-speed camera footage is provided, and the hosts and Caylen discuss each round's performance as it travels through the ballistic gel blocks with and without scapula bones.

For testing MeatEater used Copper, Cup-N-Core Lead and Bonded Lead bullets from Federal. Photo courtesy of MeatEater.

The cup-n-core bullet, upon impact, exhibits violent expansion. On the other hand, the copper round punches through the targets with less expansion than the other two projectiles and tumbles after impact at further distances, losing its dynamic stability. The bonded lead round, however, provides the performance of both previously mentioned bullets while maintaining nose-forward, stable flight and expanding more than two times the size of the copper round at distances past 140 Yards to create a larger primary wound cavity. The detailed analysis of the bullet performance gives the audience a wealth of knowledge on the subject.

MeatEater got some fantastic footage of the rounds interacting with the ballistic gel! Photo courtesy of MeatEater.

After finalizing their experiment, the hosts discussed their findings. Inside 300 yards, the copper bullet provides the largest wound cavity upon impact. At 140 yards, the copper bullet is the proper choice, but the bonded lead round consistently provided more damage from 300 and 500-yard distances. As an all-around hunting bullet, the hosts prefer the 6.5 Creedmoor bonded lead bullet.

Joining Janis Putelis and Garrett Long was Caylen Wojcik, owner and founder of Modern Day Sniper!Photo courtesy of Modern Day Sniper.

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