There are two types of expanding big game hunting bullets. The first is conventional copper cup bullets, and the second is premium or controlled expansion bullets. Premium shots are considerably more costly than traditional bullets. At what point does the extra cost become justified?

Copper Jacket Conventional Bullets For Hunting

The lower-cost conventional hunting bullets have a lead core encased in a copper jacket. This copper jacket is supposed to keep the shell intact during the expansion process as it’s being driven at high speed into the vitals of the game animal. The challenge for bullet companies is to produce a bullet that will remain intact and retain a high percentage of its weight over a vastly different velocity range. The impact velocity of the shell can vary from as high as 3400 fps for a shot fired from a magnum cartridge into a game animal at close range to as low as 1700 fps for a bullet from a smaller cartridge striking the game animal at 400 yards away. This scenario can be compounded by the fact that the close shot from the magnum could hit the shoulder bone of a large, brutal animal like a moose or buffalo, and the long-range shot may be placed in the softer behind-the-shoulder area of a small-bodied deer or antelope or test firing in gun range. A conventional bullet cannot be made to perform perfectly or even satisfactorily under every situation. The bullet maker is left to produce a shell that is, in many cases, a compromise. This leads to less than satisfactory results at times. The bullet in the close shot may disintegrate and fail to penetrate sufficiently, while the bullet in the long shot may fail to expand correctly, resulting in minimal tissue destruction.

Generally, a conventional bullet will perform reasonably well for an impact velocity of up to about 2700 fps. Beyond this point, the performance can become erratic. There are plenty of stories of how the bullets from high-velocity cartridges, such as the Weather by Magnums, disintegrated on impact and failed to penetrate, resulting in long tracking jobs or lost game. These bullet failures led to the creation of controlled expansion, or premium, hunting bullets.

Maximum Velocity Premium Hunting Bullets

Premium bullets have revolutionary designs that allow them to be driven to magnum velocities while delivering outstanding terminal performance. The first to arrive on the scene is the Nosler Partition bullet, which has a copper partition at around the midpoint of the shell. The bullet tip is designed to start expansion quickly at lower velocities. Still, once the development reaches the cell, it is stopped, resulting in a large portion of the bullet remaining intact, therefore driving deeply into the animal’s vitals. The Swift A-Frame bullet improves this design by adding a bonding process, which fuses the jacket to the core, resulting in even more retained weight. It’s this included weight that ensures outstanding performance, especially on very large game. The Trophy Bonded Bear Claw bullet is another very good design, which has a lead core only in the forward portion of the bullet, while the rear part is solid copper. Like the Swift, it is also bonded. Once the expansion reaches the solid back part, it is progressively stopped, ensuring the bullet retains most, or in many cases, all of its weight. The Barnes TSX bullet is perhaps the most revolutionary premium bullet of all. The whole shell is pure copper and has a hollow nose cavity, promoting expansion. The TTSX and MRX versions use a plastic tip to facilitate growth and increase their Ballistic Coefficients. These bullets expand to form 4 sharp petals, which slice as they spin and travel forward, creating immense tissue destruction. They often retain 100% of their weight and are proven to be highly deadly. Other premium bullets from various bullet companies with bonded cores are vast improvements over conventional bullets. Some of them are Woodleigh Weld core, Nosler Accubond, Hornady Interbond and Remington Premier Core Lok.

When does the extra cost of premium bullets become justified? They do so whenever using a high-velocity cartridge where the impact velocity of the shot will exceed 2700 fps, especially when hunting large games where deep penetration is needed. Also, use premium bullets when using light-for-caliber bullets or any smaller than normal caliber, such as a.223 Rem on deer. Also, anytime dangerous game like grizzly, cape buffalo, or lion are hunted, a premium bullet is always the best option, regardless of the cartridge used.

Considering the costs of the various expenses that go into any hunt, the additional cost of premium bullets is negligible. Some well-informed hunters use excellent bullets for all of their big game hunting. I am one of those hunters.

As the name suggests, bullet-resistant glass can prevent bullets from penetrating the glass when fired at it. Bulletproof glass uses a transparent and robust material like polycarbonate thermoplastic.

How is the bullet-resistant glass made?

A layer of polycarbonate thermoplastic is sandwiched between two layers of glass. When a bullet is fired at the bulletproof, the bullet only manages to pierce the exterior layer of glass. The bullet is stopped by the very strong and protective layer of polycarbonate thermoplastic.

The interior layer remains unaffected, and the people on the other side of the bullet-resistant glass are safe.

• Bulletproof glass is also made up of several layers of laminated glass. A special type of liquid rubber is used to glue the layers of laminated glass together.
• There has been a constant effort to create something better to protect man. As weapons are becoming more advanced, the means of protection are also being upgraded. The bullet-resistant glass has been developed to make more muscular defensive structures and better protective gear. Prevents not just a single bullet but a series of shots.
• That glasses prove beneficial in places more than one. The use of bullet glass is not just limited to areas of law enforcement but also a variety of other sites. With the current state of affairs, places can only be termed as safe. Even a house or a commercial establishment can be at risk.
• Besides the military, the police also need a protective covering in the form of bulletproof glass. One of the best ways to employ bulletproofing is using bullet windows in police cars. The use of bullet-resistant windows can prevent sudden attacks.
• The increasing number of bank robberies has prompted banks to use bullet-resistant glass. The dangers of a firearm can be minimized by using bulletproof glass in banks. The banks can use these kinds of protective glass to ensure the safety of their workers.
• Schools have also become targets of terrorist attacks and shootings. The school authorities must make sure that the children are adequately protected from such dangers. Bulletproof glass can be incorporated into the school structure to infiltrate a gunman’s bullets.
• Bulletproof glassware is used in shopping malls, movie theatres, filling stations, hotels, and restaurants to ensure the owners and customers are safe.

Few homes also use bullet-resistant windows and glasses to get a good night’s sleep. The number of criminals breaking into houses has made even the home unsafe. One of the ways of feeling protected is by using bulletproof glass.

Classification Of Bullets

We all know of the bullet as that little thing used to power up firearms and ammunition such as guns, rifles, and pistols. With a shot, firearms can unleash their defensive or destructive mechanism; without a bullet, they are generally deemed useless. The caliber of the gun determines the size of ammunition. That is why when we say, for example, that it is a 0.51 caliber pistol, we mean firearms that require 0.51-inch ammunition sizes for these guns to be able to work.

All About Bullet Size

So, why are the sizes of the ammunition we use for each firearm model so important? For one, it is basically because each firearm or ammunition has one specific size of a bullet for them, so knowing the sizes of ammunition would guide them to finding the set that will fit their gun. Another thing, the dimensions of shells could also tell most of the time just how much damage a particular weapon will be able to make. Bigger bullet sizes will, of course, tend to incur more damage to the victim than the smaller-sized bullets.

Generally, three basic types of ammunition are classified according to their shape. These are the rimless and bottleneck type of ammunition, rimless, and rim fire and straight firearm bullets. The rimless and bottleneck shells are often used for the guns used in sharp shooting exercises of the police officers and military, as well as for specialty rifles such as the short action rifles, sniper rifles, and M-16 assault rifles. Rimless and bottleneck bullets are also widely used in machine guns. The standard caliber or bullet sizes of rimless and bottleneck ammunitions is 0.51 inch, 0.308 inch, and 0.224 inch. These bullets are explicitly used for sniper rifles and machine guns, short action rifles, sharp shooting, and M-16 rifles.

1. The second type of bullet is the rimless bullet. This type of ammunition is commonly used for standard rifles. Rimless shots typically have a size or caliber of 0.312 inches or an equivalent of 7.92 millimeters.
2. The third type of bullet, on the other hand, is the rim fire and straight ammunition. This is the type of bullet that is most commonly used in revolvers as well as in pistols. The size or caliber of rim fire and straight ammunition are typically pegged at 0.223 inch or an equivalent of 5.7 millimeters.
3. Hand-loading or Reloading Bullets

First and foremost, you have to decide if reloading is for you. Safety and detail are first and foremost. You are keeping a clean and organized workstation, only having the components for the cartridge that you are loading on the bench at one time. This becomes increasingly important when working up experimental loads. Hand-loading is time-consuming, but it is one of the most relaxing hobbies I’ve ever tried; that being said, you have to decide if you will have the time to reload or if factory ammo is the best route to go.

The first thing to look at is the press. There are single-stage presses and progressive presses, the former being my recommendation for the beginner or even the person who only reloads a few hundred rounds a year. The advanced is more complicated and needs every step carefully watched. Anybody who has ever used one can tell you that the slightest misalignment or friction where there should be none will cause problems. I started with a single stage and still use it even though I have two progressives. They are worth their weight for experimental loads and small batches.

Cases must be cleaned before reloading, which can be accomplished in the following ways: tumbling, sonic, or by hand with a dish soap and vinegar mix. My preference is the tumbler, as there is no drying time; however, if you are cleaning cases that were fired with black powder, the soap and vinegar mix is the best way to go. The points can then be dried in the oven on a cookie sheet at the lowest setting.

The cases must be lubricated if they are bottleneck, such as most center-fire rifle cartridges. This is done with either a wet or dry case lube, with care being taken not to leave more than a light film on the shoulder. This will need to be wiped off after resizing.

A good micrometer will also be needed to ensure that case length is within specs, depending on the number of times the particular case was reloaded. Brass will stretch to varying degrees with each resizing. When it reaches the maximum length, it must be trimmed with a case trimmer. These vary from hand turning to machine turning.

Shell holders to fit the caliber and press are also a must. In some instances, one shell holder will fit numerous calibers. Here is an example, The RCBS number three shell holder will provide the 22-250, 243, 6mm284, 240 weather by mag, 250-3000 savage, 25-06, 6.5×57, 270 win, 7x64mm, 280 rem, 284 win, 300 savage, 308 win, 30-06, 7.65 Belgian Mauser, 7.7 jap, 8mm Mauser, 8x57mm, 8mm/06, 358 win, and the 35 Whelan.

Caliber-specific dies are also needed. Depending on what bullet is being used, what the round is for, and the caliber will determine which die set is needed. With carbide pistol dies, no lubrication is needed, which is a plus, especially with a progressive press. Dies can come in two, three, or four die sets. Again, it depends on the caliber and personal preference as to which is necessary.