Sako has announced an upgrade to their well-known Powerhead blade lead-free bullet in .308 Win. The result of the research of alternative materials to lead, the lead-free Blade bullet has been developed to overcome inadequate performance problems in hunting, in particular not expanding for small game/long-range impacts or fragmenting down on close situations/bone hits.
The Sako Blade is 100% unalloyed, pure ductile copper and features a terminal ballistic three-blade Blade tip that, together with a 5-stage expansion structure, ensures bullet expansion even with smaller expansion loads (longer shooting distances, smaller game), ensuring functionality even in high-velocity big game shots.
In detail, the upgraded Powerhead Blade bullet in .308 Win. caliber now boasts better ballistic capabilities, improved penetration, bone resistance, decreased muzzle velocity deviation, and a new tip material for heat and impact resistance. With a weight of 10,5 g/162 gr, the “new” Blade is an updated version of the 656A bullet.
According to the manufacturer, the tip expansion sensitivity is fast, as before, but thanks to a redesign the bullet has improved its ballistic performance with a BC of 0.415 (originally it was 0.390) and bone hit resistance capabilities.
The smooth guidance profile, together with the added polishing, also improves consistency when entering the rifling, makes the bullet less sensitive to bullet jump, decreases velocity deviation and improves accuracy.
Watch the video below to learn more:
Upgraded Sako Powerhead Blade: video introduction
“During our testing phase it has proved to deliver good penetration at all velocities and is still capable of delivering energy to target at low impact velocities. Its provides the hunters with consistent ballistic performance, even when compared to cold formed lead core open tip match bullets,” they say at Sako about the upgraded Powerhead Blade bullet. Contrary to lead based bullets, another key benefit is that it is non toxic, of course. Moreover, the excellent bullet weight retention helps preserve the meat with very limited risk of fragmentation.
