Why lead is used to build bullet and not other, harder metals?
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Density and cost. Nothing else comes close. Special bullets can be made from other materials. Anti-armor projectiles are sometimes made of tungsten, which is very expensive, or depleted uranium. Depleted uranium is pretty cheap if you are a country enriching uranium for fuel or weaponry. A complication – high velocity bullets made of just lead will leave lead fouling in the barrel of a gun. High velocity bullets will have a lead core jacketed with copper or some other gilding metal. Small arms bullets made for the military must be fully encased as required by the Geneva Conventions. (Full metal jacket). Target ammunition is also full metal jacket because it is cheaper to manufacture than soft nosed bullets.
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