Are copper bullets primarily due to California restrictions or are they a better bullet? Reason I ask, when I use Federal’s site to help me pick a bullet for medium size game, they recommend premium bullets for the most part but in most cases, also incl the power shok copper bullet, not the fusion or less expensive bullets. Makes me wonder if the copper is really superior to core lok type bullets. I know Barnes vx bullets have an outstanding reputation, are they copper too?
I believe copper bullets are the result of a few things, but mainly: Manufacturers worry about other States going the way of California, to appeal to potential customers that are very "environmental friendly" types, and to include California hunters in their potential customers base. I wouldn't call copper bullets "superior". I don't think they're horrible, but manufacturers are in the business to make money and the all copper offerings are more expensive. In reading about them, some say they didn't get great accuracy with them, some said they copper fouled their barrels much faster than a copper plated lead core bullet, and some have said that their performance is risky at longer ranges. For the first possible issue, all rifles tend to like some factory ammo and not like some factory ammo. It is always best to buy only one box of factory ammo for your rifle and then see how they shoot before buying more. You don't want to buy several boxes and then find out your rifle won't group them well. The second issue wouldn't concern me at all. I don't tend to shoot a ton of rounds before cleaning, and I use a copper solvent type cleaner about every fifth cleaning or so. I will say that something like Hoppes does have a bit of copper solvent ability but doesn't compare to using a cleaner that is specifically for copper fouling. Copper fouling solvents are fairly harsh, so I don't use them every single time I clean unless I just can't get clean patches. The third issue would be the most concerning to me if shooting animals at much more than 350-400 yards. They lose enough velocity that the pics I've seen of ones from long range testing show that the whole tip of the bullet just bends rather than actually opening up and peeling back. That was with the older Triple Shocks, I don't know if newer versions of copper bullets have been improved in this regard. I have a Remmington 700 in 7mm/08 that I have tried Federal loaded Barnes Triple-Shocks in. It shot them around 1" at 100 yards if I remember right. I did shoot one deer with that ammo, the shot was around 70 or 80 yards. I hit it behind the shoulder and it dropped on the spot. I can remember that when I looked over the damage it had done after skinning out the deer I found it to be a pretty volatile bullet at that range, it had very obviously really opened up . Fusion's are know for causing quite a bit of damage and I found the Triple-Shock to be a bit more than that even. So if you're the type that likes to "eat right up to the bullet hole" you may not care for how much damage they do. I personally would choose the Fusions over any of the all copper offerings. Fusions are a bonded bullet and have a decent ballistic coefficient. They're cheaper than the all copper offerings. If Federal still offers ammo loaded with a Nosler Partion then I'd choose that over the Fusions, I'm simply a fan of those. If you're just shooting deer and the lead jacketed Power Shocks shoot well in your gun then I'd have no concerns about them either. But if elk is a possibility then I'd go Fusion or Nosler Partition.
I won't talk about full copper bullets in rifles as I have never used them. However, in shotgun use, they are damn good. Wife shoots a 20 ga copper sabot hollow point. Blows right through deer. Leaves an UGLY exit. Her longest kill was 79 yards. Still when through. Not many lead slugs will do that. And with a copper slug, there is no worry about lead contaminated meat or any animal eating lead tainted meat.
From what I've seen they have better weight retention because there isn't any separation from the jacket and the newer ones expand just as well and in some cases better than cup/core bullets. The down side is price
