Are Lehigh bullets really over priced?
 

Lets look at the facts about premium priced ML bullets. I know, those pesky facts sometimes get in the way of other agendas or newly found loyalties.

Parker BE $21.99/12 with sabots
Parker Match Hunter $117.50/50 without sabots

Barnes Expander MZ $16.95-$19.95/15 with sabots
Barnes TMZ $15.95-$17.95/15 with sabots
Barnes T-EZ $17.95/15 with sabots
Barnes Spitfire MZ $15.95-$19.95/15 with sabots

Precision Rifle Dead Center $11.95-$16.50/12 with sabots
Precision Rifle QT $13.50-$15.50/12 with sabots

T/C Bonded Shockwave $15.95/15 with sabots

Hornady Monoflex $22.00/20 with sabots

PowerBelt Aerolite $24.00-26.00/15 no sabot needed
PowerBelt Platinum $24.00/15 no sabot needed

Thor conical $26.00/15 no sabot needed
Federal BOR-Lock $24.00/15 no sabot needed

Lehigh Controlled Fracturing $23.00-25.00/25 without sabots
Lehigh Xtreme Penetrator $22.25-23.50/25 without sabots

Knight Bloodline $19.59-$24.99/20 with sabots

NOTE: Parker, Lehigh and Bloodline pricing is full MSRP directly for their websites. All others were from common online retailers which are less than full MSRP. In some cases those prices were sale prices. PR bullet pricing was from muzzleloadingbullets.com and EABCO which is slightly less than full MSRP.

Considering all Lehighs and Bloodlines are machined and not swaged by a press. Cost to manufacture is higher but so are tolerances.

Lately Barnes has put out no less than one batch of very poorly made 40cal 195s. The base of the bullet is causing blown sabots and accuracy issues. They have still not corrected this issue but will refund your money.

While i still shoot mostly Parker BE's because they are wonderfully accurate, i will be the first to tell you they can be a bit fragile at high speeds and high shoulder shots.

I like the PR bullets but lets face it. They are a swaged lead bullet with a tip added. Quality control is excellent but calling them a premium bullet is a bit of a stretch. Their one saving grace are the heavy 40cal offerings. No one sells a 40cal ML sabot compatible bullet in that weight range besides PR.

After looking at the facts, i cant say the data supports that Lehighs or Bloodlines are overpriced. They appear to work as advertised for the most part. They are in a similar price range as the other premium offerings. Cheaper than many of them even if you include the cost of buying sabots.

Sincerely
Another 5%er

No, I personally think they are about in line with other premium bullets. And if I were going on a hunt of the life time, I would probably be using Lehigh if they were legal. I mean why take chances. It would be Lehigh or Barnes for me. Then Parker after that.

Personally, I like the upper end bullets...especially for hunting. Right now I have Lehigh, Barnes, PR's, and Bloodlines on my bench. Sure, I'll shoot cheaper bullets all day long at targets, but when it comes to what is in my rifle on a hunt, I don't care if it cost $5 per round. I need 1...and want it to be superb.

Penny wise and dollar foolish are the folks that use cheapo bullets for hunting, imo. That 1 component is the least expensive part of the hunt. Hunting isn't a cheap sport...even if you own your own land. Guns, clothes, licenses, lease, atv, etc..you name it - it all costs alot. Don't skimp on what's important.

Price of bullets only matters when you are shooting for fun. Come hunting season, buy and use what works best for you.

My round balls are super cheap for both targets and hunting but man, they are deadly on deer and elk.

Just for a bit more perspective. These are from an online retailer that sells some of the premium bullets in bulk without sabots.

Parker 275GR Ballistic Extreme (50 pack)--$70
Parker 275GR Match Hunter (50 pack)--$117


Barnes 40 cal 195gr Expander 75 pack--$75
Barnes 250 Gr TEZ -- Tipped/Flat Base (75 pack, no sabots)--$80
Barnes 290 Gr TEZ -- Tipped/Flat Base (75 pack, no sabots)--$80

I actually bought a package of the 350gr federal BOR Lock bullets today at cabelas. They were $21 for 15 of them.

There are certainly cheap bullets that will work just fine. Ive got tons of 325gr FTXs. I think i paid around $36/100 at the gun show. Even full retail isnt too bad.

When you have someone that promotes a bullet like the PR bullets and PB Plat yet calls the Lehigh way overpriced, i find that opinion to be greatly flawed and not motivated by the facts. I doubt the motivation had anything to do with cost considering the cost is so similar. The quality of the Lehigh certainly has not been challenged or any proof provided they failed to perform as advertised.

If a bullet performs as designed and that design meet my needs, $1-2 a pop is certainly within reason while hunting. Its still cheaper than a highend slug.

Lead or copper?

I thought just recently MidwayUSA had a clearance on ML stuff. IIRC they had some lead BOR-Locks for around $1 each.

Lead.

Ive shot the 270gr copper before and they shot excellent. Figured I may as well try the 350s even though I hate a slug that big lol.

I have tried almost all of them and I like the blood line they are beyond the rest in terminal ballistics shoot with fine accuracy in all my inlines with both the heaviest load I use and the lightest as well as the normal 110 gr. I have not tried the new Lehigh bullets yet but they would really have to go some to be better than the Bloodline.
My personal opinion is that the Parkers and the PB are the most overpriced bullets on the market.

Success over shadows price :D

Not For Shooting Trees
 

Judging from the testing done last summer, the Lehigh Controlled Fracturing Bullet may not work good on trees. Tests done with carpet faced plywood placed in front of water jugs, indicate the petals did not fracture until they encountered the water. The bullets appeared to pass right through the carpet and plywood, before they started the fracturing process. This seemed to occur using both the 50 grain powder loads, and the 80 grain loads.

This summer I am going to be playing more with my Accura and BH209. I will be trying the Barnes MZ and the Lehigh Bloodlines. Whatever one gives me the best accuracy that is what I'll be shooting. I know both will work well on whitetail.

Bronko, 125 yards and in you will want that Bloodline. 125+ that Barnes will have a little more umph because of a little better BC unless you mean the "expander" MZ. The spitfire MZ and the TEZ have the tips. Those TEZ's shoot dang fine out of my PH holding a little over an inch at 150 yards. The 220gr Bloodlines (.458 with orange MMP) shoot very nice out of my daughters Impact but that little rifle has one TIGHT bore. Getting them started was a task.

Plus 1 on the Bloodlines. Shoot great, devastating terminal performance, no lead if you care about that.

I shoot inexpensive jacketed bullets for fun and sight in, switch to the Bloodlines when it's time for business. I'm sold after last years hunting inspections.

Lehigh is working on new packaging and supplying bullets with sabots as well. I'm gonna suggest they offer with out sabots as well. I'm also gonna suggest a bulk price on 50 or 100 bullets.

Bulk pricing or a volume discount would be a good idea.

Good to hear! :biggrin:
Any update on the 215?

Yes, the changes haven't been made yet. I'm hoping soon!!

My goal this year is to use my guns full bore, w/Lehigh and Barnes bullets, as knurrelled conicals in .50 cal. For distance shots, I will see how the 270 copper Bor Loks do.

I'll be trying the Bloodline bullets this year. I have faith they'll work good.

You got another inline?

I'm testing one for a friend and will hunt with it as part of the test.

Perhaps if the price was XTP-like, even 75 cents, more volume sales would occur and the same 4-5 posters wouldn't be plugging/promoting this bullet so much.

Lets shoot for 125 threads on Lehigh in 2016. Heck, lets have one new Lehigh thread every day. That'll help chase more new members away for sure. Then you-Lehigh lovers can have the entire board to yourselves.

Just because you feel you can't afford a certain bullet, doesn't mean others automatically line up with you. I think GM did a pretty good job of explaining how they aren't at all out of line with the pricing of many premium bullets. The fact that they perform extremely well makes them that much more worth the money.

Maybe if your candidate Hillary wins, the price will come down to your ideal price range - FREE, as I'm sure you would want it.

Quit whining. Why do you click on a Lehigh thread if you aren't interested in them?

Maybe because he gets free bullets from Cecil.

The really funny part is i shoot very few Lehighs or Bloodlines. Only one of them will even shoot in my NULA (twist is too slow) and i prefer jacketed bullets or conicals when i shoot my 45cal sabotless.

You should look at Cutting Edge Bullet. They are another CNC machined bullet maker. Pricing is higher than Lehigh.

It appears that the myth of Lehigh being way over priced has been debunked so now the person that made that claim has changed his reason to "losing new members". I really cant see how posts like Ron's or Sabotloaders will "ruin" it for new members.

Maybe instead of complaining about Lehigh posts he could show pics or videos of HIS range sessions, groups and expansion tests. I cant say ive ever seen a single picture posted by him anywhere. No chrono data or anything actually.

I have not seen any pics either. Range, hunting, or pine tree tests.

He changed his screen name from Triple Se7en to GoexBlackhorn, but the M.O. is still the same. :violin:

You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes, well you just might find
You get what you need

Hey Lee, I guess you get what you pay for:



This is why I buy Parker bullets. I shot these three shots at 100 yds. To me they are the most accurate ML bullet I have ever shot. Must admit though, I have not shot any Lehighs.

While my groups do not average that good I occasionally get one that good with either Lehigh or Shock Waves Especially the 200 grain 40 caliber versions but the reason I like the 250 Lehigh is because it has dropped both deer and hogs with in 10 feet of where they were hit with out fail.
I wanted to put some pics on but when I hit advance the attachments it does not bring up my stuff, not sure what the problem is.

The price of the Parkers from Luke at Arrowhead is about the best around although i haven't checked directly with Parker for bulk pricing. I still have a fair amount of the Traditions branded version i got much cheaper.

They shoot so well sabotless, its hard not to use them. My NULA loves them too in sabots. I swap out to the Harvester Scorpion PT Golds for fun shooting. At around $22/50 they are one of the best bargains for a tipped bullet.

My favorite Lehighs are the 40cals and the .458 275gr. Im hoping Lehigh will make a run of 220gr .451s instead of .458s. The 458 sabots are tighter than i care to use and don't shoot as well for me in the NULA.

That is a great group for sure! :biggrin:

I think the think with Lehighs..they may not be known to be the ultimate in accuracy, but they ARE known for darn good performance on game. And they are certainly quite accurate in their own right. Personally, for typical hunting distances (under 200yds) I'll give up a smidge in overall accuracy for top level terminal performance.
Now if I was shooting 500yds... the game changes. A smidge can end up being alot at that range.

I would have jump in there with you Mr. Hunter. I pretty much know that Lehigh hunting bullets are not designed and are not the most accurate shooting bullet on the market - but from my experience they have proven their 'terminal performance' to me.

While I would not the open nose Lehigh's for competition target shooting - they are very accurate in the work of hunting big game. Plus a better shooter than I am could certainly tighten the groups up from what I am able to shoot.

I have total confidence in their ability to harvest what I pull the trigger on. There have been occasions when I have not made the best shot possible. On one occasion when I did not make the best shot on the animal at all. After the shot and when I got to the animal I found I was low in my shot placement - so low - I am fortunate I was using the Lehigh. With other bullets even with the more expensive ones - I really could have lost that animal. In this case the animal did make it about 100 yards with only a bubbling spot of blood here and there along the way.

They may be expensive as compared but for the performance I am willing.

IIRC one of the best groups i ever shot past 100 yards was with the Lehigh 185gr 40cal. They are solid accuracy performers in the more common twist 45cals. I almost used them this year for the regular season but i didn't have time to work up a load in the Super DISC.

I got tag soup anyway. :(

I'd shoot the tag. :biggrin:

You would probably try to field dress it too :D

Nah, mt man muley would just eat it whole and raw :biggrin:

I have never lost a deer or had them go behond 50 or so yds. But being a perfectionist as i am, I must admit I'm gonna go ahead and give these Leihighs a try. I always jump at the chance or excuse for a range trip!!! ;)