Everybody is going to something like it, and 10 years from now they will be the predominant bullets in law enforcement. You get them whether you want them or not. The same will be true of ammunition because that is what the manufacturers are producing. Without a doubt, ballistically speaking, lead is the best material to make bullets, which is why we ve been using it for more than 200 years. But the tungsten-tin composite bullets unquestionably are more difficult, expensive and profitable to manufacture.
Critics say the problems with the new tungsten bullets have even more far-reaching implications.
One twist, explains Sanow, is that the tungsten is outrageously abrasive. Normally the barrel life of a weapon is 20,000 rounds, but with the new tungsten composites the rifling life of the barrel is much shorter. It literally gets sandblasted away to a point where it doesn t function correctly. Furthermore, there is discussion about the shelf life of the lead-free primer. With lead bullets we know that the shelf life is almost infinite, but with lead-free bullets it can be surprisingly short.