Any Barnes fans out there?

[ERSS]

I have worked up several loads with Barnes Bullets, and been real happy with the performance at the range, punching paper. When headed out hunting, I usually revert back to the Nosler Partition.

We recovered two Barnes TSX 140 grain bullets from my sons elk yesterday and I am pretty impressed with thier performance on game. However, there was virtually no blood trail due to no full penetration/exit wound.

They seemed to retain almost 100% of thier weight ( have not weighed them yet )

Interested in anyone elses experience with Barnes TSX bullets on game, blood trails, and exit wounds

 

[mtmiller]

I have not tried the Barnes, but have been thinking about it.

...but, I have a hard time leaving the 140 NP's.
So far this year,
Mule deer 380 yards, pass through, went 5 yards.
Mountain goat 65 yards, pass through, went 15 yards.

 

[ERSS]

I have usually had pass throughs and easy retrieves with the Noslers too.

I am usually shooting the NP's with a 300 Win Mag, and these Barnes were out of a 7mm-08. But I would still think at 200 yards the 7mm-08 should have enough power to push on through.....

 

[BuzzH]

I dont like the looks of those...they did the job, but.

Not enough expansion IMO.

 

[noharleyyet]

ERSS, your pic looks like the 30 cal. Triple Shock 180 grainers I recovered. The elk piled at about 10 yards from lung impacts to each side. No exits.

 

[JoseCuervo]

My hunch is the little .308 case doesn't hold enough powder to push that bullet fast enough, far enough to be optimal on elk. I shoot Nosler Partitions in the .308 and Ballistic Tips in the .243 on that same case, but would not use either of those on elk.

It did a great job in that it expended 100% of the energy inside the animal. An exit wound is evidence of excess energy or inefficient use of the energy.

My take is the caliber/cartridge was more of a factor than the bullet construction/design.

 

[elk_hunter]

Sorry if this detracts from the 'Barnes' theme, but like the others, I run Nosler Partitions and they (knock on wood) have yet to fail. Complete pass throughs from of my 7 Mag and 300 Mag and no issue with finding blood.

 

[thecrittergitter]

Well, i have been shooting Barnes TSX pretty much exclusively now for the past 3-4 years. Most all deer and elk were killed with .257 Weatherby or a 7mm Rem Mag. I haven't recovered many of the bullets but the ones i have have been as picture perfect as yours above. Two bull elk the last two years and 1 mule deer buck that between all three we had to track a total of maybe.....60 yards Mostly because they fell that far. As far as blood trails, guess i have never really looked for one considering every one we shot pretty much hit the dirt.

I would say probably the best bullet out there. My only issue is price............they get expensive to work loads up with

Also, my experience shows that when hunting smaller game (antelope, deer) that a smaller caliber performs better than a big caliber. The expansion of that .257 on a deer with the 100 or 115 TSX was substantially better than that of the 160 grain in the 7Mag. My buddy shot a whitetail with his 300 mag and 180 TSX and dropped the deer but the bullet didn't appear to expand too much.

i'm now shooting the tipped triple shock which has slightly better ballistic Coef. and the tip should help a little more with the expansion.

Just my 2 cents plus a few more

 

[krshunter]

I switched to Barnes bullets about 6 years ago on a recommendation and I won't shoot anything else for big game. There are some good bullets out there, but these have been more reliable than anything I have used to this point. I shoot an 85 grain TSX out of a modified .243 Win case and have recovered one bullet out of 16 antelope and deer my hunting partner and I have taken with it. I shoot a 168 grain TSX from my .300 WSM on an occassional deer and elk and have yet to recover a bullet from 5 animals.

Based on my understanding of the bullet design, it is doing exactly what it is supposed to do. You're seldom supposed to recover the bullet and there isn't usually much of a blood trail because the internal shock it creates is supposed to drop the animal. I haven't had to put a second bullet into an animal yet and not one has taken more than two steps with the majority dropping in place. I don't care for having to track blood trails and so far I haven't had to track a single animal. To be the best result is an animal that falls right where he was shot. The other thing I've found that I like about the Barnes bullets is that I've experienced less blood shot meat without the bullet fragments going everywhere in the animal.

They've provided the results I like more consistently so I'm very happy with them.

 

[GatoMan]

I witnessed what a 165 gr. tsx pushed out of a 300 ultra with 92 grs. of H1000 will do to a whitetail at 70 yds yesterday...... graphix, horrific, devestating, just a few words that come to mind, yikes

 

[Calif. Hunter]

On my recent deer hunt, my friend was disappointed with the performance of the 130 gr Tipped TSX from a .300 WSM. It has been touted as being great by many of the gun rags and writers. but he had to shoot his buck 5 times, 3 of which should have killed it pretty quickly. He did not, however, hit any major bones until the final shot. It seems from my admittedly limited experience viewing the performance of the TSX from others' kills, that hitting bone makes them much more effective.

Previously, I had thought they were the greatest thing since sliced bread - I am no longer quite so sure about that. They are a good bullet, no doubt. Are they the best? Maybe, maybe not. I will have to watch additional kills.

 

[Calif. Hunter]

I weighed the bullet that killed my buck, having found it just under the hide. It entered somewhat center of the chest, base of the neck, quartering towards me. It was found just behind the far shoulder. It started out at 150 gr, and ended up at 136 grains - 90.6% weight retention. Pretty good performance, in my opinion. I'll post a picture tonight or tomorrow.

It was a .308 150 gr Hornady Interbond, fired from a .300 Win Mag at 3250 FPS, impacting the deer between 100-125 yards.

 

[noharleyyet]

I'd say that's effective performance Cali. I shoot the similarly constructed Accubond 160's in a 7 ultra Long Action & have no complaints re: performance or accuracy.

 

[shoots-straight]

I started shooting the Barnes bullets 3 years ago, good results and great accuracy. So far so good. Oh, little or no signs of pressure in a .280 rem running a 140 grain TSX at 3100 fps.

 

[krshunter]

On my recent deer hunt, my friend was disappointed with the performance of the 130 gr Tipped TSX from a .300 WSM. It has been touted as being great by many of the gun rags and writers. but he had to shoot his buck 5 times, 3 of which should have killed it pretty quickly.

Not sure what happened here and I'll offer what is only an opinion about it. Not hitting any bone may have something to do with it, however the TSX bullets are supposed to function by body fluids entering the cavity at the front of the bullet and forcing it to peel backward and causing tremendous internal shock to the vitals. I have had a couple of kills since switching over where I didn't hit any bone. I have yet to fire a second shot and have yet to not have one drop in place.

What I think may be a factor is a light for caliber and velocity bullet. We're talking about velocities approaching 3500-3600 fps possibly with a harder than average bullet. I have heard from a 7mm Rem Mag shooter that these bullets have simply drilled small holes in a few of his animals and he was approaching similar velocities. Can the bullet be traveling too fast? Does that mean there is a potential flaw in the design? Not sure. I get similar velocities out of a a modified .243 Win cartridge, but don't use a particularly light bullet for this caliber. I have had fantastic results.

Like to hear others input. I'm 100% sold on them, but maybe there are limitations.

 

[Calif. Hunter]

Yes, it was being driven pretty fast, but his shots were a couple hundred yards, not that close, so velocity would have dropped at least a little. I have always heard that the TSXs like to go fast. Maybe the tipped versions perform a little differently?

In any event, I was happy with the Interbond's performance and will use them again.

 

[1_pointer]

CH- Did the TTSX's exit? Did it look like the expanded? If so, I see it more as operator error or why a sample of one means nothing...

 

[Calif. Hunter]

had to shoot his buck 5 times, 3 of which should have killed it pretty quickly.

The autopsy was pretty conclusive. A sample of 5 shots, not one.... The bullets expanded and exited. So as far as that goes - they worked. I wasn't with him - maybe he could have waited and the buck would have gone down in a few more yards? I agree about the sample size and that is why I said

my admittedly limited experience

. However - I do place credence on what I see with my own eyes and not just on what I have read somewhere. Besides, Chris has shot dozens of deer and larger game with several different calibers and many different bullets, so he has some basis for comparison.

I haven't sworn off TSXs or TTSXs, especially having to hunt in CA's condor zone. I have had good luck with them from other rifles on javelina and deer - which is one reason I was surprised upon skinning out Chris's deer.

 

[1_pointer]

We're on the same page then...I think!

 

[Calif. Hunter]

I think so, too.... I was simply relating one experience/sample, as anecdotal info. Surveys are made up of many single instances/circumstances. Between Chris and I, we have shot over a 20 animals here and in So. Africa with Nosler Accubonds, Hornady Interbonds and Swift Scirrocos. They have impressed both of us as having better weight retention than partitions, albeit a little less penetration due to the increased diameter of the mushroomed bullet. I'll get a picture of the Interbond from my deer posted in the next day or two.

Perhaps "two or three steps down" in bullet weight is too far? He was using the 130 gr TTSX - would a 150 have been better from a .300 WSM? Maybe the 165-168 TSX is the "perfect weight" for a .300 mag? Good questions!