EcoBullet Ammunition
- Graham Baates
- 4 hours ago
- 4 min read
The ammunition market is a wild one. As we know from What's For Dinner tests, there is a wide variety of choices out there, each one competing for our attention and each trying to offer something different. I was contacted by a new company, EcoBullet, who set out to be a more ecologically-responsible ammunition choice, and offered to send a few boxes for us to take a look at. Although I respect ecological efforts, I see other value in EcoBullet's load; protecting shooter health.
Ported handguns became the new trend in 2025 as casual shooters chased the performance enhancements enjoyed by competitive shooters. A properly-ported handgun shoots flatter, there's no denying that, but what also can't be denied is the health risk that comes from blasting lead particles upward that formerly were blasted away from the shooter. Shoot at an indoor range and this risk is amplified.
Making it worse is the fact that the risk isn't just to those who breath it. Lead particles on your hands can end up in your food, particles on your clothing can end up in your house where loved ones and pets cna be exposed, and when you wash those clothes who else's clothing is in wash?
I don't mean to be "doom and gloom" about lead and shooting, but it is a real risk and I personally know folks suffering from it. The lead isn't just in the projectile, but also in the primer. While there are completely lead-free loads out there, they are expensive and can be hard to find. EcoBullet has a more reasonable approach.
Rather than produce a completely lead-free projectile which has a hard chance of performing like a standard bullet, EcoBullet opted for total metal jacket projectiles. TMJ rounds completely encapsulate the lead core. This effectively eliminates the risk of lead bit being blasted off during ignition. It also performs more like a standard FMJ, and is less expensive per projectile than a truly lead-free round.
Ignition is another source of lead exposure. Standard primers include a small amount of lead. EcoBullet is using lead-free primers, further reducing our exposure as shooters.
None of this matters if the ammunition doesn't perform as predictable and reliable range ammunition. To test EcoBullet I gathered up:
4.25" Grand Power Q100 so the information can be compared against the 23 loads in the Range Ammunition Guide.
3" SAR 9 SC Gen 3 to represent all of the micro compacts and single-stack 9s of that size class.
4" Fusion Firearms / Ermox XP Pro as a SAAMI-standard 9mm barrel length
5" Bersa M2XI to look at what we get from the longest of the common 9mm barrel lengths
11.15" Century Arms Draco 9S so see what a potential maximum energy is from this load.
See the test for yourself in the video below. Rumble Link
How Did it Do? If we look at the Grand Power Q100 data to compare against the Grand Power K100 data from The Range Ammunition Guide we see energy levels very similar to Blazer Aluminum or Remington Range and standard deviation in velocity similar to TulAmmo and Federal Syntech. That's pretty good for an ammunition using recycled brass. In the end we also need to remind ourselves that this is not marketed as match ammunition, but as range ammunition. Consistency and reliability are the most important for range ammunition, and with consistency matching some of the best tested, I'm impressed.
Velocities are about what you'd expect from a range load of 115gr. This is a success in offering us an alternative that won't impact the way the firearm functions or recoil feels. The small differences in velocity tell us that we are getting fairly complete combustion by the end of a 3" barrel; fast-burning powder. I wonder if the slight loss between the 4" Fusion Firearms / Ermox XP Pro and Grand Power Q100 is indicative of a tighter bore on the Grand Power.
Standard Deviation of velocity gives us an insight into consistency of loading and how completely the powder burned. Here we can confirm that, like most 115gr loads, the ammunition still had some juice to it past the SAAMI standard 4" barrel. Again the Grand Power bucked the trend, indicating the bore may indeed be tighter as the use of a stepped chamber typically makes for a slight boost in velocity which we did not see.
What about the Eco? Aside from reducing lead exposure to shooters and environments, EcoBullet has also taken steps to ensure a carbon offset in their manufacturing through partnerships with conservation groups. Another step being used by EcoBullet is the use of recycled brass. This was a point of concern for me as not all brass is created equal, so there is potential for inconsistent results even if the powder and projectiles are carefully matched.
Other ecologically-friendly measures include an effort to move to non-plastic trays. Once accomplished it will simplify recycling of waste packaging.
So What Does It Cost? Pricing is likely to change in the coming months as the company settles on packaging, but at the time this was written a box of 50 is $19.99. That's more than your standard range fodder, but significantly less than lead-free ammunition which performs differently, and even less than Federal's Syntech which does nto use lead-free primers. While EcoBullet may not replace my basic "time to go do some shooting" ammunition, I think it's a smart choice and cheap insurance for times when ported guns are to be used, or any shooting at an indoor range, and especially if a ported gun is going to be used at an indoor range.