The 19 Badger has piqued my interest; however, California's ban on lead bullets presents a serious problem as there are NO lead free .198 caliber bullets. As far as I know Calhoon is THE one and only source for bullets, and after talking to him, there doesn't seem to be a plan to add a lead free bullet to the lineup. What are those of you with the 19 Badger planning on doing? I've heard of people swaging .204 bullets down to .198 caliber, but I don't know if this would even be possible without a lead core to compress.
19 caliber bullets for California
- Thread starter jobaca
- Start date
AWS
Custom Accessory Maker & Retired PM Staff
Sounds like a business opportunity, you could make bullets just for the three of the California shooters with 19 Badgers.
All you can do it is try swaging them. One of the big problems with swaging bullets down IS the lead core. Once you go much beyond .005 the lead core stays small and the jacket springs back. I swage .264 bullets to .260 for on of my obsolete European cartridges.
Too bad they are so small or another thought might be to paper patch them up a size. I'm working on paper patching a .358 bullet up to .364 for another old Euro caliber.
All you can do it is try swaging them. One of the big problems with swaging bullets down IS the lead core. Once you go much beyond .005 the lead core stays small and the jacket springs back. I swage .264 bullets to .260 for on of my obsolete European cartridges.
Too bad they are so small or another thought might be to paper patch them up a size. I'm working on paper patching a .358 bullet up to .364 for another old Euro caliber.
derbyacresbob
Well-known member
If you are planning on hunting in California get a 22 caliber rifle with a 1-9" or 1-8" twist so you can shoot 35 gr to 62 gr Lead Free bullets.
In California if you want 22-250 performance buy a 243 Win so you can shoot 55 gr to 62 gr Lead Free varmint bullets and 80 gr to 85 gr Lead Free big game bullets.
In California if you want 22-250 performance buy a 243 Win so you can shoot 55 gr to 62 gr Lead Free varmint bullets and 80 gr to 85 gr Lead Free big game bullets.
DiRTY DOG
Well-known member
I sold my custom 17Rem 3 years ago because there weren't any .177 LF options at that time. There are a few options now but they're still not economical or proven for accuracy or effectiveness on predators/varmints, and supply is spotty. I wouldn't consider LF .177 a serious option yet.
22 cal has the best selection and supply of LF bullets by far.
20 cal has pretty limited options and doesn't seem impressive to me. I've seen several hit with 24gr NTX. I could hear the *thwaack* impact but they all ran at least 100 yards and one was not recovered.
I chose to step up to a custom 6mm cartridge with 55gr LF bullets for coyotes and they work great at anchoring coyotes and are easy on the fur not that it matters.
22 cal has the best selection and supply of LF bullets by far.
20 cal has pretty limited options and doesn't seem impressive to me. I've seen several hit with 24gr NTX. I could hear the *thwaack* impact but they all ran at least 100 yards and one was not recovered.
I chose to step up to a custom 6mm cartridge with 55gr LF bullets for coyotes and they work great at anchoring coyotes and are easy on the fur not that it matters.
AWS
Custom Accessory Maker & Retired PM Staff
I would second what DD said, I built a 6mm-204 a number of years ago just to work with LF's and there are any number of them including solid coppers and composite bullets. For coyotes I find the 55gr NBT LF to work very well, easy on pelts and accurate the 62gr VG's have wrecked pelts for me. Plus there are a number of bulk lead options for inexpensive paper punching or out of state hunts.