Barnes Bullet Concern

[BriarPatch99]

It's what I found for a really good deal. They are amazingly accurate in my rifle. I killed a bunch of deer and hogs and yotes with that box of shells, that was the only issue I had.

BUT ....it comes back to choosing the right bullet for the game we want to kill ....cheap or not .... the 180 grain TSX or TTSX is just too much bullet .... goes right back to folks picking too heavy bullet .....then it not preforming like it should have.....

 

[NCHillbilly]

BUT ....it comes back to choosing the right bullet for the game we want to kill ....cheap or not .... the 180 grain TSX or TTSX is just too much bullet .... goes right back to folks picking too heavy bullet .....then it not preforming like it should have.....

Yep, that agrees with everything I've heard about the Barnes bullets. But, a lifetime of hunting has put me very, very, very, very firmly in the heavy bullet camp over bullet speed in general. Force of habit, as 280 man said. That's why I want a bigger caliber, is to shoot heavier bullets.

How you feeling now, btw? Hope you're getting over that crap and back to normal.

 

[BriarPatch99]

Yep, that agrees with everything I've heard about the Barnes bullets. But, a lifetime of hunting has put me very, very, very, very firmly in the heavy bullet camp over bullet speed in general. Force of habit, as 280 man said. That's why I want a bigger caliber, is to shoot heavier bullets.

How you feeling now, btw? Hope you're getting over that crap and back to normal.

Making head way .....like the cat eating the grubbing hoe ...slow gnaw..

I know but gun big big bullet thinking .... It just doesn't work with Barnes ....

Just think how flat shooting a 130 grain at 3600/3700 fps would be ....AND just as deadly as any 180 grain bullet ....plus less recoil..... PBR of 350 yards never more than 3" high nor no lower than 3" . ...no dial turning deer hunting ....

 

[NCHillbilly]

Making head way .....like the cat eating the grubbing hoe ...slow gnaw..

I know but gun big big bullet thinking .... It just doesn't work with Barnes ....

Just think how flat shooting a 130 grain at 3600/3700 fps would be ....AND just as deadly as any 180 grain bullet ....plus less recoil..... PBR of 350 yards never more than 3" high nor no lower than 3" . ...no dial turning deer hunting ....

Yep, if I buy any more I'll keep that in mind. That was the only minor complaint I had with my experiment with them, as a dyed-in-the-wool cup and core softpoint man. Everything I shot with them died, so it wasn't much of a problem. I am very impressed with the accuracy of the TTSXs. <1" groups at 100 with my old tang-safety Ruger 77, and I'm not a very good precision shot at all.

 

[280 Man]

Unless my state mandates earth friendly bullets, which is a bunch of duck mud I will not use Barnes bullets again. I used them one season and they killed just fine and accuracy was good but neither was better than the other bullets I was using. At the time that was 150 gr NBT's.

 

[SakoL61R]

Have been using various Barnes X in .35, .30, and . 25 cal since ‘92. Have killed a bunch of NA critters over the years with them. My 300WM is wicked with original flat base 180X’s on big stuff. Going to change to 168 TTSXs at some point for a bit more speed and better ballistics.
The 25-06 with 80 TTSXs at 3500 FPS is deadly on deer and yotes.
Bottom line as many have said and almost 30 years of experience, run them light for caliber and as fast as possible for accuracy.
I’ve used 130 TTSXs out of my 308 at 3075 FPS mv the past few years. 9 deer with this load between 30 and 220 yds so far. Used 168s on a few years ago with decetnt results as well. 130s perform better, IMO.
This is the only Barnes I’ve ever recovered. 150 yds, quartering towards me, entry was the onside shoulder point. DRT. Recovered this under hide way down opposite flank. 95 grains retained.
Second is the exit from a 168 TSX over Varget from my .308. Doe at 75 yds, 2x high lung shot. She ran about 40 yds as I remember it with a spotty, but ok blood trail.
Believe that was the last one I killed with a 168. Switched to the 130 TTSXs over CFE 223.
Probably won't have any "Barnes terminals" this year. Having too much fun with the 99 in .300 Savage. 125 Accubonds over RL7 running over 3K mv are getting the job done quite well.

 

[Ray357]

Have been using various Barnes X in .35, .30, and . 25 cal since ‘92. Have killed a bunch of NA critters over the years with them. My 300WM is wicked with original flat base 180X’s on big stuff. Going to change to 168 TTSXs at some point for a bit more speed and better ballistics.
The 25-06 with 80 TTSXs at 3500 FPS is deadly on deer and yotes.
Bottom line as many have said and almost 30 years of experience, run them light for caliber and as fast as possible for accuracy.
I’ve used 130 TTSXs out of my 308 at 3075 FPS the past few years. 9 deer with this load between 30 and 220 yds so far. Used 168s on a few years ago with good results as well. 130s perform better, IMO.
This is the only Barnes I’ve ever recovered. 150 yds, quartering towards me, entry was the onside shoulder point. DRT. Recovered this under hide way down opposite flank. 95 grains retained.
View attachment 1051536

Light for caliber and fast is where they shine. Heavy for caliber and slow is where they suck.

 

[Roadwarrior]

Woukd there be any significant decrease in barrel life running these lite bullets at higher velocities?

 

[280 Man]

Woukd there be any significant decrease in barrel life running these lite bullets at higher velocities?

As you know, all barrels are under extreme heat and pressure when fired and will degrade over time. Some are just worse than other's, 264 win mag, 220 swift, 7mm RUM, 257 weatherby mag, among others. Anytime there's a large powder column and a smaller bullet diameter that's when the issues arise with the barrels.

There's two types of accuracy, target and hunting and each have a significant difference in what's called "shot out". Where a dedicated target rifle may be considered shot out around 1000-1500, or less hunting accuracy may double or triple that number. The vast majority of time those that think a barrel is shot out only needs to be properly cleaned or it has been improperly cleaned

IMO, about the only ones that need to worry about about a barrel being "shot out" would be target shooters and high volume varmint shooters. Very few people shoot hunting rifles enough to ever be called shot out.

 

[BriarPatch99]

Woukd there be any significant decrease in barrel life running these lite bullets at higher velocities?

280 man addressed part of your question ...I am gonna add a little more ....

Most of the "lite" bullets are of copper construction ...which are slightly softer than the common lead and jacket bullets .... any wear to the barrel would be less than lead/core.

Loads with lite bullets must fall under the normal peak pressure limits for that cartridge... So pressure is not a wear factor over lead/jacket bulkets.

The amount of powder(while it may be a different powder) is not more than you would use under a lead/jacket powder ....so nothing as far as powder that would cause wear ...

The actual time the bullet is in the barrel is milliseconds ...less than a jacketed bullet ... any heat would be less ....friction may would offset the shorter barrel time ... But that would be hard to measure the difference ...

My Opinion ....there would be no noticeable difference in barrel wear ...

I will add that the lighter copper bullets allow you to do the same damage as a much heavy lead/jacket bullet and provides penetration and in most cases less recoil.

 

[Roadwarrior]

Thank you

 

[Jester896]

My Opinion ....there would be no noticeable difference in barrel wear ...

you only get 6 or 7 seconds of use anyway