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词条 Monolithic bullet
释义

  1. Differences between lead and monolithic bullets

  2. Modern development

  3. Applications

  4. References

  5. External links

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Monolithic bullets are solid metal bullets that do not have a jacket. They are instead a solid block of metal, typically copper or a copper-zinc brass alloy, although historically any bullet made of a single type of metal can be referred to as a monolithic bullet.[1] Monolithic bullets depart quite dramatically from the better known lead- or jacketed bullet, and offer a more environmentally friendly alternative to the toxicity associated with lead bullets. As a result of increasing environmental concerns over the toxicity levels found in lead-based bullets, some areas in the United States of America have banned the use of lead bullets for hunting purposes.[2] This increasing awareness of the dangers of lead bullets has led to the development of the modern monolithic bullet, which now provides a viable and accurate alternative to the use of lead for shooting.

Differences between lead and monolithic bullets

Besides the fact that monolithic bullets are typically less toxic to the environment, humans and animals, there are a number of additional differences between traditional lead bullets and modern day monolithic bullets [3]

  • Monolithic bullets retain their weight and shape far better than lead bullets. Lead bullets often break apart once they hit their intended target (if traveling at high velocities) which implies greater meat damage to the hunted animal. Lead bullets are also less kinetically efficient (and therefore, less lethal) at energy delivered to the target {{Citation needed|date=February 2017}}. This makes well manufactured monolithic bullets preferable for hunting purposes {{Citation needed|date=February 2017}}.
  • Monolithic bullets are lighter in weight than lead bullets. As a result, monolithic bullets are able to achieve or exceed the velocities of lead- or jacketed bullets at the correct powder loads {{Citation needed|date=February 2017}}.
  • Lead is a much denser material than copper. Lead also tends to mould itself better to the shape of the barrel, whilst monolithic copper bullets tend to retain their shape in the barrel.[4] Due to the soft nature of the copper in monolithic bullets, copper barrel fouling has been a concern amongst hunters in the past. New generation monolithic bullets, such as those manufactured by Peregrine Bullets in South Africa, are designed in such a way that copper fouling is no longer a concern {{Citation needed|date=February 2017}}.
  • Accuracy achieved when using monolithic bullets is much higher than accuracy obtained by using lead bullets {{Citation needed|date=February 2017}}. This is due to the precision manufacturing process of monolithic bullets.
  • Lead bullets are typically more affordable and easier to manufacture than monolithic bullets. Quality monolithic bullets need to be put through a process of precision manufacturing of very tight tolerances in order to achieve high levels of accuracy. This makes the bullet more expensive, but also more effective than lead bullets.

Modern development

Although many attempts have been made throughout the years to develop a successful monolithic bullet, numerous difficulties with the use of copper as the bullet material have hampered progress in this regard. These difficulties included the following:

  • Increased bullet length to achieve similar weights to lead bullets.
  • Increased pressure on the chamber and barrel of the rifle (due to longer length bullets).
  • Decreased barrel life due to copper barrel fouling.
  • Inflexibility of the monolithic bullet in the barrel of the rifle.

As a result, monolithic bullets were never developed on a large scale, as no one was really able to overcome the difficulties associated with the copper bullet. It was only when Adriaan Rall, a famous South African hunter, started working alongside the late Louis Nel, that serious attempts were made to develop a monolithic bullet that would provide a viable alternative to lead bullets.[5] Louis Nel had been the owner of Goodnel Bullets, a South African-based bullet manufacturing company. He assisted Adriaan in performing numerous experiments with monolithic bullets, although the results of their experiments were never manufactured for public consumption. Adriaan had identified various difficulties in using lead bullets effectively for hunting purposes and wanted to create a monolithic bullet that would overcome not only the difficulties associated with lead bullets, but also the typical difficulties that had been found with monolithic bullets.

When Louis Nel died, Adriaan needed to take the development of his designs elsewhere. Together with Corno van Rooyen, Adriaan launched Peregrine Bullets, a South African-based company, in 2009. At Peregrine Bullets, the design and development of a marketable monolithic bullet began in all earnest. Adriaan was determined to develop the best bullet in the world. Following on Adriaan's earlier work with Louis Nel, and through the use of highly advanced computerized software along with high quality international equipment in their developmental phase, Peregrine Bullets was able to launch their first copper monolithic bullet, the VRG-3(Bushmaster) towards the end of 2010, thereby formally entering the market of monolithic bullets. In a relatively short time, Peregrine expanded on its product line, offering various copper and brass monolithic bullets to the market. In addition the company became the only manufacturer to develop and hold patent rights to the world's only expanding monolithic bullet to make use of the pneumatic force of compressed air to cause expansion in their bullets. Since its inception, Peregrine Bullets has addressed all the aforementioned difficulties with copper based monolithic bullets, a task that had proven to be nearly impossible in earlier years. As a result, Adriaan claims to have developed the world's first monolithic bullet to overcome any and all aforementioned problems.

Applications

By nature, modern monolithic bullets are very effective for hunting particularly larger game. This is due to the fact that these bullets retain their size and shape far better than lead alternatives and therefore often penetrate more deeply. With larger animals, this gives a better chance of penetrating to the vitals and deliver kinetic energy to disrupt them. Not only does this mean that the thicker, tougher skin of larger animals can be more effectively penetrated, it also makes the bullet more adept at breaking bone and delivering a terminal impact. As a result, monolithic bullets are particularly useful when hunting larger game such as moose and bear, or to take on hunting trips to Africa, where very large game, such as elephants, have often successfully been hunted with monolithic bullets.

Yet, penetration is not necessarily the end-all, and can actually result in delayed kills.[6]

As a result of the monolithic bullet's feature to retain their mass so well these bullets have also gained popularity for hunting smaller game and even varmints. As a bullet that retains it shape the monolithic bullet will not break apart and cause meat damage to downed game of any size. This is a big benefit when hunting small targets that generally have little meat.

Finally, monolithic bullets have also gained popularity in the world of professional competitive shooting. Due to the precision manufactured process by which the bullets are produced, the high accuracies achieved make for ideal target shooting bullets. When purchasing high quality, well designed monolithic bullets with low trajectories and limited drag through the air, these bullets provide a massive advantage to the competitive shooter, especially over medium to longer ranges.

References

1. ^http://www.gunsmagazine.com/monolithic-bullets/
2. ^http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/hunting/lead-free/
3. ^http://www.peregrinebullets.com
4. ^http://gunsmagazine.com/monolithic-bullets/
5. ^http://www.peregrinebullets.com
6. ^See http://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/8mm-06.html for example.

External links

1 : Firearms

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