While I was at an NRA Regional Long Range F-Class match in Missoula, MT I met a man named Stephen Damron with Dynamic Research LLC. He was shooting a 308 Winchester with an unusual bullet. I asked him more about it and found that he was shooting a monolithic lathe turned projectile that he is producing from a proprietary copper alloy. It was designed by a man in Australia named Bruce Wellington. Dynamic Research has bought the rights to produce and manufacture his design in the US. It weighs 176 grains and has an advertised BC of .590.
A major feature of these bullets is an extra boat tail like shape protruding from the bottom. You can see this in the picture below. The concept of this feature is to add stability and help alleviate any back draft behind the bullet so that it flies through the air better and has a higher ballistic coefficient.
The bullet is made from a copper alloy that is slightly harder than most bullet jackets. Because it is a monolithic bullet it is longer than lead based jacketed bullets that are the same weight. This means that the bullet has a longer bearing surface which should increase chamber pressures when it is fired. To alleviate this Dynamic Research has added a relief groove to the bullet at about the middle of its bearing surface. This makes the bearing surface of this bullet about the same as most conventional bullets of the same weight.
Steve sent me some bullets for testing. I received 25 of his Predator Projectiles and 25 of a new bullet they have not begun advertising yet. The new bullet is a 190 grain projectile with a broader point on it and a hollow point. The 190 is a hunting bullet they are introducing that should have a similar BC as the 176 grain Predator.
I have been in the process of testing these bullets and so far they show promise. I backed off my standard match load of 44 grains of Varget with a 178 grain Hornady A-Max to 43.5 grains with the Predator bullet and Russian primers. Out of a 30 inch barrel this load was shooting an average velocity of 2770 fps. My standard match load shoots right at 2800 fps so the drop in velocity correlates very close to the .5 grain drop in powder charge. These bullets seem to be producing pretty close to the same pressures as conventional bullets of the same weight. The point of impact at 100 yards was almost exactly the same as my match load so testing the ballistic coefficient differences between the two bullets at long-range should be straight forward.
I have not had the chance to shoot these bullets at long-range yet because of weather and time. I have 3 feet of snow around my house. They do seem very promising. If the BC of .590 tests out correct; which from what I have seen so far I think it will, these bullets will make the 308 a lot more effective at long-range. I will have more information to report in the coming months on these bullets.