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. 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. 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.
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Differences between lead and monolithic bullets
Besides the fact that monolithic bullets are entirely non-toxic to the environment, humans and animals, there are a number of additional differences between traditional lead bullets and modern day monolithic 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:
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. 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.
[This article probably ought to link to a discussion of Barnes family of X-bullets, Hornady's GMX, Nosler's E-Tip, and other manufacturer's efforts . . . . A discussion about the relationship with Nosler's Partition and RWS H-Mantel designs is probably appropriate, because of concepts these designs share, and their having developed more than 65 years ago.] http://www.hornady.com/store/GMX-ammunition/
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.
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.