Barnes Performance, the picture say it all!!!!

[Desert Fox]

My friend just brought me the bullet that he recovered from an A-zone deer that he shot this weekend. I loaded this round for him using Barnes 168 grain Triple X, 67 grains IMR 4831, CCI large rifle primers on a virgin Remington Brass. The velocity is around 3150 fps. He took a frontal shot on a deer at a distance of 200 yards, hitting the deer square on the chest. He found the bullet below the skin of the left ham after traveling the whole lenght of the deers body, tearing everything inside and then shattered the thigh bone before resting just below the skin where he found it. After all that, the bullet still weigh 167.1 grain. That's 99.1% weight retention. WOW!

 

[JD338]

D F,

Pretty impressive performance for sure. What cartridge?
Thank you for posting the picture and report.

JD338

 

[DrMike]

Well, that would put a deer down with authority. Thanks for the report and the picture. As Jim asked, what cartridge?

 

[Desert Fox]

Well, that would put a deer down with authority. Thanks for the report and the picture. As Jim asked, what cartridge?

Oops! sorry guys, it's 300 WSM Model 70 Winchester .

 

[Guy Miner]

Impressive!

I've only shot a couple of mule deer with the Barnes TSX, the little 100 gr bullet from my .25-06, and both times the bullet blasted right on through, causing instant death. Couldn't recover either bullet.

Am looking forward to more reports about Nosler's E-Tip as well...

Thanks for that post DF!

 

[tjRoberts]

that is out standing.
I took a mule der buck with a 100 grain tsx from a .257 roberts at about the same MV. The results were about the same except i did'nt recover the bullet.
The buck died within about 10 seconds and about 5 ot 10 feet from where I shot him.
...tj3006

 

[wildman]

Seems like people either love the Barnes X ts bullet or hate them ,but that is performance second to none ... :grin:

 

[Desert Fox]

Seems like people either love the Barnes X ts bullet or hate them ,but that is performance second to none ... :grin:

Barnes has a lot of detractor. It's like love and hate relationship. A lot of it were perpetrated by people who never really use the bullet that much. Sometimes hunter put the blame on bullet when poor shot placement is the real culprit. I have a friend who had been using these bullet since they first came out and he swears by them. My African experience was an eye opener for me and I started to really like these bullet a lot. My friend who shot the deer this weekend told me that the deer dropped as if the rug was pulled from underneath it. When you dumped one and a half ton of energy on the deer's body, What do you expect? I asked him. What really impressed me was the bullet penetration. I figured at least twenty four inches. Maybe more. That's sick!

 

[JD338]

Similar to the Nosler E-Tip-
Pictured below is the 338 cal 200 gr E-Tip recovered from water jugs at 100 and 300 yds.

JD338

 

[Powerstroke]

DF,
That is phenominal ! Like you say, it's a love hate relationship..... I've purchased one box of them years back and used about 15 of them out of the box and that was it.

Certianly don't have anything negative to say about them, and seeing that performance only quanifies a top performing product.
Thanks for the eye opener.

 

[Desert Fox]

DF,
That is phenominal ! Like you say, it's a love hate relationship..... I've purchased one box of them years back and used about 15 of them out of the box and that was it.

Certianly don't have anything negative to say about them, and seeing that performance only quanifies a top performing product.
Thanks for the eye opener.

Likewise, I tried Barnes on my 280 and 6MM briefly and gave up on it. Pick it up again when California passed their lead ban BS. These newer Barnes are a much improved version of the earlier bullet. For one, they toned down their listed B.C and then added a band on the bullet shank that really improved bullet performance significantly. Bullet uniformity also improved dramatically. I weigh a couple of bullet and they're within 3/10th of a grain. That's better than any leadcore bullet except match bullet. As for the performance, the picture say it all, shreading only .9 grain after punching through all that mass. I was impressed then with the performance of these bullet in Africa, but I am even impressed now after what this bullet did to the deer this weekend. :wink:

 

[JD338]

DF,

I think the love-hate goes back to the original x bullet. The newer TY bullet is a better design. I have only used Barnes in 44 cal 200 gr for my 44 mag and muzzle loader.

I do like the Nosler E-Tip but since I can use lead, I am staying with the AB and PT bullets.
Having said that, the recovered x bullet you posted is perfect performance.

JD338

 

[DrMike]

As long as lead bullets are permitted in BC, I'll use a lot of ABs and PTs. I have used a fair number of Barnes TSX in my 300 WSM and in my 7 mm RM. I am using the 200 grain TSX in my 350 RM this fall and in my 358. I just worked up my first loads with the E-Tip in my 270 WSM, and I hope to use them this fall and winter. I'll be able to give a report at that time. And I just received five boxes of Hornady GMX bullets in .277 and .308 this morning. Hopefully, I'll do some load development at that time. However, there is no question but that the TSX bullets do work. Having said that, I'll conclude as I began, as long as this province permits the use of lead bullets, I'll undoubtedly use a lot of ABs and PTs. They work.

 

[hardpan]

I am trying my first box in a very long time, but having a lot of trouble getting them to group. They look great, but groups are still around 2 inches. For now, I can use them in 1 gun, but for the rest, I don't have a solution for leadfree.

For performance, I think it depends on what you want. A zone deer are usually pretty small, so I tend to want a bullet that expands like the ballistic tip. But that is not legal anymore. For larger game, I tend to go with stronger bullets, but read the thread on the BT for elk with a lot of interest. Still, I use a bonded bullet like the AB or the older Partition for elk. My first elk was out of a .300 wby mag with a Partition. Shot was from below the animal and facing away. Bullet with about 3.5 feet into the elk and ended up in the heart. Shed over 1/2 of its weight, but the elk was dead. Liked the Partition ever since.

This year, I am hunting either pigs in Ca or deer in texas. So, leadfree is not an issue or on a pig, I am not as concerned about accuracy.

Hardpan

 

[hardpan]

Also, I think that was very good performance from the Barnes. Should have stated that first!
Hardpan

 

[FOTIS]

When they decide to expand they expand well.



From another forum.....

.338 225 XFB - caribou. There is another virtually identical bullet in my collection, the first X kill I made which leveled a moose at impact by taking out both shoulders.

6mm 85 XBT - caribou

Another from game

 

[DrMike]

Interesting, POP. Very Interesting.

 

[FOTIS]

Just to clear thing up. I am not an anti Barnes guy. On the contrary I use them. But in my experience (and vast reloading for many others also), I have seen 4 different cases that look like the aforementioned.

240 Wby
300 RUM and 7mm RUM. So velocity was not an issue.

 

[SJB358]

I have used the Barnes X bullets for awhile. My first experience with the is the old style X bullet in a 7mm Rem Mag (160gr). I used it for a hunt in BC. I took two shots, one at the rear end (strongly quartering away) moose. The bullet penetrated all the way from the rear of the rib cage all the way through to the front end of a 47" Bull Moose. I also used it for a caribou at about the same angle. Again, it penetrated all the way through the animal, killing them both quickly. Ranges were about 200 for the moose and 100 for the caribou. After that, I used the same load for alot of deer in NY, and they died instantly, and I never even came close to finding one in a deer.

After that, the next time I used them was with my 300 Win Mag and a 180gr XLC. Those blew right through a 5x5 mulie, and a 5x5 elk, broadside at around 150 a piece. The next one was a 225gr TSX out of my 35 Whelen. That elk died as if he was hammered on the head. It was a shot in the rib cage, and the bullet also went all te way through and did alot of destruction. I also shot a bear on the same trip, and the bullet hit the bear on the front leg and came to rest under the hide in the rear after breaking the hip.

Overall, I am pretty impressed with the performance I have recieved. I used to have the bullet from the moose, but lost it since it was so long ago, but I still have the bullet from the bear. It is a perfect mushroom, only missing one petal after breaking all of that bone. I like Noslers alot and will probably use them from here on out, just cause I like the value of using 2nds, but if Barnes had the same thing, I would probably use just as many of them. Scotty

 

[Desert Fox]

I still think that was an impressive performance considering the size of our deer here in Kalifornia. I believe this are a much improved bullets than the Barnes of yesteryears.