My Barnes interest ended with the early versions and I mean versions. If they had made a better bullet in the beginning and had not changed the design yearly I might still use them but I wasted far too much money chasing the "ideal" mono metal bullet. I find the light for caliber partitions and the heavy for caliber Ballistic tips perfect deer medicine.
From what I have read, the early X bullets soured a lot of people on the Barnes line. Many could not get them to shoot accurately. I have never tried those, so I cannot comment on them.
But the bullet I used was the 168 grain Tipped Triple Shock and it gives me MOA groups at 160 yards out of my Kimber 84M Montana in 308 Winchester. Unfortunately, in the county where I hunt the New York State Senate failed to legalize rifle hunting but the good news is that my load also performs well out of my Encore pistol.
Bulk Remington Brass from MidwayUSA, CCI BR2 primers, and a charge of Varget powder 0.3 grains under the listed max on the Barnes web site. Of course every rifle is different and this load is tuned for mine.
Having said all this, I am a believer in "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." If you have a load that shoots accurately in
your rifle, there is no reason to change as long as the components remain available. Shot placement is the biggest factor in a successful hunt.
Tom
Tom
