Barnes bullet performance

[eric2381]

Originally Posted by Dubious

Prairiekid, I also shoot 25cal and have a 300wm. The 300 usually stays home I’ve shot elk with both and piles of deer with each I just prefer my 25 it’s a sweet little rifle with lots of mustard and has a better scope. Are you running the 100gr or the 80gr ttsx? I’ve thought about trying the 80gr and just pushing plad speed with them but my 100gr sciroccos have just done so well on everything I haven’t made a switch. Would be interesting to see the performance of the 80gr ttsx at 25-06 speeds and see if they still hold up or if the pedals will just break off as I have heard online, who know was that one time and everyone talks about it or was it a bad lot? The barns bullets just like the Berger’s have a lot of misinformation from haters, it’s hard to get honest opinions from either cult when the bullets that start with B are named when terminal performance from shot to shot and animal size/type changes with every kill.

I’m pushing the 80gr Ttsx in my 25-06 AI at 3875fps and they’ve killed very quickly but I have not retrieved a bullet yet. My daughter shoots them at 3600ish and they work good for her too. But I used to shoot the 100gr Ttsx in my 257 wby at 3550fps and they worked very well too.

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by eric2381

I’m pushing the 80gr Ttsx in my 25-06 AI at 3875fps and they’ve killed very quickly but I have not retrieved a bullet yet. My daughter shoots them at 3600ish and they work good for her too. But I used to shoot the 100gr Ttsx in my 257 wby at 3550fps and they worked very well too.

If things are dropping well, whether a bullet is recovered or not is kind of a moot point , isn't it?!
I had a guy ask me years ago about the bullets I was loading in his 338 lapua ( 180 XLC's) and why he could never recover one, I said "If you find the danged moose is where he was when you shot at him with that cannon, who cares what the bullet looks like??"
It would be cool to know what my .311's look like afterwards but I haven't found one yet.
Cat

[eric2381]

You bet. I might not find the bullet, but I find the animal and find it right away. I am definitely a fan.

Those 180s must’ve been moving good in that 338 Lapua.

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by eric2381

You bet. I might not find the bullet, but I find the animal and find it right away. I am definitely a fan.

Those 180s must’ve been moving good in that 338 Lapua.

Yeah they were, I just checked my log book and they are actually a 185 not a 180 as I originally stated. I had them moving close to 3,200 FPS. and they were very accurate as well.
That rifle and ammo was lost inn the fire of 2016 up here.
I haven't seen any 3388 XLC's for a while, dunno if they are still making the XLC or not.
Cat

[M70]

I recovered this TSX from just under the hide on a Mule deer buck. He was quartering away from me and the Barnes passed through a lot of flesh to do the job. I’d have to go back and look up the details on this load but it opened up nicely at less than 200 yards. Most of the time the Barnes will pass through but I prefer double lung shots as opposed to the gut soup that results from bullets like the A Max.

If I didn’t have the Barnes I would go back to Sierra Game Kings even though they seem to get almost no marketing push and no loud fan support.

[Twisted Canuck]

That ^ is a perfect expansion. What's not to like?

[eric2381]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

Yeah they were, I just checked my log book and they are actually a 185 not a 180 as I originally stated. I had them moving close to 3,200 FPS. and they were very accurate as well.
That rifle and ammo was lost inn the fire of 2016 up here.
I haven't seen any 3388 XLC's for a while, dunno if they are still making the XLC or not.
Cat

They haven’t made the XLCs for years now. They were cool though. Bright blue bullets.

[ruger300]

Have never recovered a barnes bullet from an animal because I could never get one to shoot accurately. Mind you that was way back when they were called the X-bullet. Got better patterns with the 12 gauge. Never bought their products again.

[Pathfinder76]

Originally Posted by ruger300

Have never recovered a barnes bullet from an animal because I could never get one to shoot accurately. Mind you that was way back when they were called the X-bullet. Got better patterns with the 12 gauge. Never bought their products again.

It’s not 1995 anymore. :-). One of the allures of Barnes bullets is that they are so easy to get to shoot.

[brewster29]

Originally Posted by ruger300

Have never recovered a barnes bullet from an animal because I could never get one to shoot accurately. Mind you that was way back when they were called the X-bullet. Got better patterns with the 12 gauge. Never bought their products again.

I too stayed away from them for many years after having completely fouled a barrel beyond belief in the 1990's using the old X bullets- in just three shots.

But Chuck is right, it ain't 1995 any more. The modern day Barnes have provided me with some very tiny groups with very little fussing with charge weights and seating depths, especially in a couple rifles that did not seem to want to shoot any other boat tail bullets at all well. Basically it is just pick a load from the manual that gives your desired velocity and it will shoot very well. Fouling seems no worse than any other bullet. Performance on game has been excellent, and this comes after 40+ years of experience using partitions and more recently accubonds exclusively on game.

[scalerman]

My 325 WSM is called "Bang flop" and it is mostly due to the Barnes bullets I have been shooting out of it. I love those things for sure!!! Great penetration, big wound channel, minimal meat damage, pretty well everything you could ask for in a bullet.

[sns2]

Elk 11 and I got our goose hunting buddies to switch to TTSX. They were your normal cup and core guys, and let's be honest, they work great until they don't. Anyhow, I get a call yesterday from one of them who has taken an elk and a nice 5x5. He said, "Thanks so much for getting me onto these Barnes bullets. Both animals I shot, the bullet broke front shoulders, made soup out of the boiler room, and kept right on going. Never needed to follow what would have been great blood trails because they both dropped on the spot!" I said, "Yep. Told you so."

When you need em you need em.

[old dog]

My mountain rifle is a good old 308 in a kimber mountain ascent and I use a 168 gr TTSX. That gun loves that bullet and performs like a dream.

[sns2]

Recently shot an end of season freezer filler whitetail. 7 Rem Mag with 150 TTSX. Not a hard shot by any means. 200 yard broadside double lung. Shredded the lungs into jello soup. No pencil hole here.

Sent from my SM-A705W using Tapatalk

[DiabeticKripple]

What more could you want? Perfect shot placement, no meat loss, internals shredded and a dead animal.

[sns2]

Originally Posted by DiabeticKripple

What more could you want? Perfect shot placement, no meat loss, internals shredded and a dead animal.

I am super happy with their performance. Not even boredom will make me shoot another bullet if I am holding a gun that will give me 3000 fps at the muzzle or close to it.

[Jerry D]

We have shot many deer through the ribs. Some drop, some run about 50 yards... some go probably 150 yards max. How they do it, who knows. I used to shoot shoulders, now I tuck it in behind 4-6"

Blown up hearts, livers, deflated lungs. Its never the same. We have been hunting deer this way for years, on easily 50+ deer in the group.

Most bullets have been cup and cores, powerpoints and core lokts , 140 in 7mm08, 150 in .270 and 150-180 in .3006.

Ive shot a handful with the .25-06 as well and with a good shot, you will find them. We had 1 go 100 yards and no blood trail this year through a winter wheat field. Double penetration through the the ribs with a 140gr 7mm08 corelokt shot at probably 30 yards

[stob]

Originally Posted by M70

I recovered this TSX from just under the hide on a Mule deer buck. He was quartering away from me and the Barnes passed through a lot of flesh to do the job. I’d have to go back and look up the details on this load but it opened up nicely at less than 200 yards. Most of the time the Barnes will pass through but I prefer double lung shots as opposed to the gut soup that results from bullets like the A Max.

If I didn’t have the Barnes I would go back to Sierra Game Kings even though they seem to get almost no marketing push and no loud fan support.

Shhhhh...game kings..don't let anyone know

[stob]

Originally Posted by ruger300

Have never recovered a barnes bullet from an animal because I could never get one to shoot accurately. Mind you that was way back when they were called the X-bullet. Got better patterns with the 12 gauge. Never bought their products again.

X2..but cirling back the ttsx has best best of class

[Pioneer2]

Penetrates 40" of moose or deer and only loses the 1gr plastic tip.

[magoonpointboy]

I use the 140 grain TSX in my 7mm-08. Have had every deer (10 or more) drop within a stride, and zero meat damage. Love them!

[BC7stw]

Between the group I hunt with we use 300 WSM, 300WIN, 270WSM, 7MM STW, 30-06. All shooting TSX or TTSX.

Deer, bears, elk, moose, sheep, mountain goat. Haven’t failed even once from 30 to 450 yards.

Tough time recovering bullets, but we sure do recover a lot of animals

30-06. 150 gr
300 win. 168 gr
300 WSM 168 gr
270 WSM 140 gr, 120gr (reduced youth deer load)
7MM STW 140gr

Lots of other bullets work, but these are easy to load and just work, every time.

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by BC7stw

Between the group I hunt with we use 300 WSM, 300WIN, 270WSM, 7MM STW, 30-06. All shooting TSX or TTSX.

Deer, bears, elk, moose, sheep, mountain goat. Haven’t failed even once from 30 to 450 yards.

Tough time recovering bullets, but we sure do recover a lot of animals

30-06. 150 gr
300 win. 168 gr
300 WSM 168 gr
270 WSM 140 gr, 120gr (reduced youth deer load)
7MM STW 140gr

Lots of other bullets work, but these are easy to load and just work, every time.

Are you finding that they work best when seated deep?
I started seating all the Barnes I am loading really deep ( around .080) a while back , in three different calibers and four rifles and have found them very easy to get load work up and 200 meter accuracy is excellent.
Cat

[LongRangebugler]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

Are you finding that they work best when seated deep?
I started seating all the Barnes I am loading really deep ( around .080) a while back , in three different calibers and four rifles and have found them very easy to get load work up and 200 meter accuracy is excellent.
Cat

I agree cat for a couple of my rifles I started seating them deeper and have been getting better results especially for my old smith and Wesson 1500 , 7mm rem mag . However my old man has been seating his 338 win mag longer to the lands and was shooting better for him . I don’t know . Barnes are the way to go in my opinion . Shot my last day Whitey the other day on a 150 yard running shot heart shot . Dead .

[NayNay]

My wife shot her moose this year with her 6.5cm.
120gr TTSX
230 yards

Went through shoulder, ribs on both sides and found it against the hide.

Bang flop

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

[sns2]

Hard to argue that performance!

[Supermag]

I shoot the 140 gr TSX in my .270 WSM. Taken many deer a few elk and a few moose with it. They perform perfectly. Any that I have recovered have always looked like they were ready for a magazine ad. Perfect expansion.

[brewster29]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

Are you finding that they work best when seated deep?
I started seating all the Barnes I am loading really deep ( around .080) a while back , in three different calibers and four rifles and have found them very easy to get load work up and 200 meter accuracy is excellent.
Cat

My most accurate rifle is limited by magazine box length. I seat 145 LRX at 0.160” off the lands (280 Rem) and it shoots really small groups...
I have not had to fuss with much to get the Barnes to shoot really well in my rifles. Plug and play.

[prarie_boy1]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

Are you finding that they work best when seated deep?
I started seating all the Barnes I am loading really deep ( around .080) a while back , in three different calibers and four rifles and have found them very easy to get load work up and 200 meter accuracy is excellent.
Cat

I’ve found the similar results in 2 .30-06’s I have had. A factory Remington 700 which would not shoot anything overly accurately aside from 165 tsx over 4350 could get it hovering around 1moa. I had the gun rebarelled with a #4 taper shilen it shoots the same load aside from an adjustment to seating depth for new throat between .5-3/4 MOA depending on my shooting ability at the time. Both were seated about .050 off lands with a stout charge of 4350 at the upper limit.

[Pathfinder76]

They definitely show a preference for being seated deeply