American Shooting Journal – August 2019

(Sean Pound) #1
72 American Shooting Journal // August 2019

to the depth of the lead core, which
would change how much and how fast
the bullets would expand – but his
choice of a pure lead core and a pure
copper jacket made for a sound design.
Carter’s bullet wasn’t cheap, but those
serious about safari happily paid the
price for his product.
Carter sold his company as he got on
in years (staying on as a consultant) and

the investors licensed the design to the
folks at Federal Premium Ammunition.
With the volume of ammunition that
Federal produces, there was no way
that the orders could be met on the
machines Carter used, so production
moved to the Federal facility. The pure
copper/pure lead formula didn’t stand
up well to the high-speed machines
Federal was using, so a bit of zinc was
added to the jacket. The result was
a bullet that had different terminal
properties than the original design;
the jacket fragmented and premature
breakup and poor penetration was an
issue. The bullet went through some
redesigning – being produced at the
Speer facility – and actually left us for
a while, but it is back now, strong and
consistent as it ever was.

ONE OF THE BEST features of the Trophy
Bonded Bear Claw is the lead core’s
position: it is located in the front of the
bullet, with the rear of the bullet being
homogenous gilding metal. This does a
couple of things, both of which are equal
parts of the success of the Bear Claw.
First, it limits the amount of
expansion possible, because the core
only runs so deep; the solid shank
behind the lead core will not expand.
Secondly – and this is something I
greatly appreciate in a bullet to be used
for dangerous game animals – it keeps
the bullet on a straight course once it
strikes hide, bone or flesh by keeping
the weight forward. Historically, the
round-nose bullets from a century
ago earned their reputation by giving
straight-line penetration; the center of
gravity was located midbullet, and the
wound channel was – more often than

bullet bulletin


The modern Trophy Bonded
Bear Claw, shown in profile,
cutaway and in upset form.
Note the forward position of
the lead core, as well as the
copper shank.

The previous
Trophy Bonded
Bear Claw design,
before the grooves
and nickel plating
were added.
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