Federal Lead-Free TNT Varmint Ammo

[FWS]

Federal Premium® Brings Varmint Hunters the Lead-Free TNT® Green™


ANOKA, Minn. – January 1, 2008 – TNT® Green™ brings the latest in non-tox technology to the Federal Premium® V-Shok varmint hunting line. This is a totally lead-free bullet that couples explosive expansion with match-grade accuracy. It will be available in the spring of 2008.

These qualities make it a tremendous varmint round. Initial offerings under V-Shok will include .222, .22-250 and .223 options. This new bullet gives shooters the performance of today’s popular tipped rounds, but does so in an environmentally friendly bullet. It also adds yet another Premium® varmint option to V-Shok, one of today’s most complete varmint lines.

Varmint hunters tend to know what they want, and when they find the perfect load, they stick with it. However, this doesn’t mean they are afraid to try something new. Federal Premium® worked hard to create another product embraced by varmint hunters everywhere, and the result was the lead-free TNT Green™. “Varmint hunters need accurate, flat-shooting and explosive rounds that will be devastating on target,” said Director of New Product Development Drew Goodlin. “TNT Green meets these needs, all with a lead-free bullet. These environmentally friendly loads offer top-of-the line performance without compromise.”

Viable varmint rounds need to be available in a variety of calibers, but also must be fast, accurate and very disruptive. Varmint hunters looking for these characteristics will get all of this, and then some, with the new TNT Green. This lead-free bullet is explosive on impact and is very accurate.

Available in 2008:

[FWS]

Damn I bet this will be a good fur bullet. ;D

43 gr. TNT Green lead free made by Speer,

Federal Ammo/Ballistics on Speer TNT Green

Now if Speer will hurry up and put them on the market so's I can test them on paper, through the chronograph and on varmint flesh.

[Schrader]

Are those along the same lines as the Barnes Varmint Grenade? I believe that those are lead free, but not being marketed as such.

Schrader

[FWS]

Yes, similar to the Barnes Vmt. Grenade, copper jacket with a compressed powdered copper/tin core.

Barnes has marketed the lead free aspect, and they have included a .204 cal. bullet along with the .22 and .243 bullets they offer.

I used the VG's on cats this year at about 3400 fps out of a .222 Rem. and they kill em' just fine with no exit. No surface splash yet either.

Hopefully we'll see more lead free offerings from the other bullet and ammo manufacturers.

Like it or not we'll see more lead free mandates, so better to have the technology than not.

[trappnman]

banning lead shot fro small game, varments is just silly- there are no studies showing any toxic problems with anything.

shot over water- I can buy that.....

[FWS]

there are no studies showing any toxic problems with anything

The problem is that there are studies that suggest that the ingestion of lead fragments is a problem. There will be a conference at Boise State University in May focusing on this issue,

Ingestion of Spent Lead Ammunition: Implications for Wildlife and Humans

[trappincoyotes39]

I think these are p-dog and other critter loads, not for coyotes or cats. I agree this lead thing blown way out of line in the majority if the US.

[foxcatcher1]

It's just another way of the anti's back dooring us. Just like in the Maine/ Lynxe issue according to Seirge in this month's T&PC they can take unlimited Lynxe just across the border from Maine. What dos the Canadian Govt. know that ours don't??

Don

[FWS]

It's just another way of the anti's back dooring us.

There are certainly those who'll exploit the issue for those purposes, but there are others whose conservation concerns are genuine.

And they're producing the data to demonstrate the problem. The Peregrine Fund is not an anti hunting group, they've actually helped us on some issues in the past.

The studies they've done are pretty interesting, take a look at this one on bullet fragmentation on deer, scroll down on the NPS site to the link.

Peregrine Fund's Bullet Fragmentation Study: Supplementary Data and Images

It's a PDF file with radiography pics of deer taken with rifles, calibers are listed but not specific bullet type. I'd be interested in seeing how the bonded bullets hold up.

But the amount of lead fragments is disturbing.

[trappincoyotes39]

The problem is there study, I could get alot of fragmentation by using the wrong bullet and hitting game in the wrong area. You can get the results you want for this study by shot placement and bullet choice.

I don't keep the blood shot area of deer,antelope etc. Bullet choice can limit that greatly! Yes the accu bond is a bonded core bullet that has a very high weight retention and works really well, much better suited for solid mass hits than a thinner jacketed bullet for sure. The copper side they just showed you a bullet going mid rib, not near the mass hit as the neck and vertabrea.

The smaller- the faster the bullet, the harder it is to keep intact on a solid mass hit. This study is far from controlled and far from being a good indicator of what is possible with proper bullet selection.

[FWS]

This study is far from controlled and far from being a good indicator of what is possible with proper bullet selection.

It is what it is, a random sampling of deer taken by commonly used rifles and ammunition to reveal the amount of lead fragmentation.

The radiographs show there to be quite a lot.

I don't keep the blood shot area of deer,antelope etc.

Nor does anyone else and often those portions and the gutpile are left in the field where scavengers can and do ingest the lead fragments.

The radiographs also show that lead fragments extend beyond just what we consider to be bloodshot.

I have a stack of studies on this issue, and that stack will grow as this issue receives more focus.

I agree on selecting a proper bullet, but that's kinda what this is about. I'd like to have seen the exact bullet identified for each radiograph, my bet is that the vast majority was off the shelf factory promo ammo like Federal's blue boxed K-Mart specials. E hich are essentially thin jacketed fragmenting grenades.

[foxcatcher1]

I still can't see it as a major factor in the future of the condor. Even if the condor was the ONLY predator/scavenger out there I don't think they could consume enough to be lethal. Even in this area with hunter density greater then anywhere west of the Mississippi River (Not more hunters just higher density) we don't see scavengers dropping over dead from lead poisoning. Lead shot and water fowl I can see because they sampled water ways that were shot over for many, many years. The ducks were using the shot for gravel and there for breaking it down and made it more soluble and therefore entered the blood stream easier. OVER TIME the ducks built up enough lead to be lethal. I would find it hard to believe that their claim that on of those little frags of lead can kill a condor. But I'm not NPS employee either. Nor am I irrational enough to think that the hills of Cali. are covered in gut piles.

Don

[foxcatcher1]

.....and remember all "studies" are subject to interpretation.

Don

[trappincoyotes39]

Well until they come out with a far better studies and list bullet type and other needed info to compair they are swaying the outcome to fit there wants/needs. I agree Don why aren't we seeing a decline in Eagle or other birds of prey numbers with all the viscara laying about the west? The condor hum let's see on the list Eagles delisted? Seems like an agenda to me or we would have more than just one species in one state being effected by this.

FWS how many deer tags sold in CA each year?

[trappnman]

You can get the results you want for this study by shot placement and bullet choice.


so methods mean something?

[trappincoyotes39]

Not methods Tman bullet choice which is part of the tool/mechanism to achieve the result.

The method would be the shooter and range of the shot, the tool would be the bullet and gun used. By changing the bullet we can get varying results, we will still get see able trauma in the x rays what will change with bullet selection is bullet performance, meaning more or less bullet fragmentation.

That is why bonded bullets are used for big game, weight retention is a key to a big game bullet as you want it to pass as much energy into the mass as possible and hold together as much as possible. The denser the mass the more reason to use a bonded core bullet.

I wouldn't use a thin walled varmint bullet for deer hunting as your going to get more fragmentation over a thicker walled bullet, the method still is shooting the deer and shot placement, but a good bullet can make up for poor decisions to a degree.

[yoopersportsman]

The Speer Tnt's have been a great bullet. I've used them now for 4-5 years in my .270 @ 90 grain. I DID however just buy some discontinued Barnes Bonded bullet in 50 grain for my .223 and also ordered a box of the 120 grain bonded and banded for my .270 in 120 grain.

Those new reloads will be for the wolves! Can't wait! Come on HB-5686-5687!