Question on Barnes bullet weight

[jackD]

  I have never reloaded or shot the barnes bullets, but want to give them  try. I am wondering if there is any advantage to going to anything other than the lightest weight per caliber. I understand that heavier grain bullets will carry more energy, but with a bullet with a high weight retention, like the barnes, wouldn't you need the higher velocity for it to expand? These will be a deer load, but wouldn't the same hold true fro larger animals, as well? Thanks

[necchi]

FWIW, I'm trying some 7mm TSX, my gun usually likes bullets in the 140 range, I tried the 120 because the full copper is a longer bullet, and they are about the same length as the 140 jacketed. Reviews of the TSX generally show the lighter bullet at a good velocity are doing the job,
I tried a few different powders and found one that showed promise, then did a ladder test with that powder. By that time I was 35 rounds down the tube, when I went back to dial it in, they sprayed all over the place!!
I suspect copper fouling. I cleaned the barrel and it was quite dirty, alot of black came out with a copper solvent! Now I have to go back to a proven round, refoul the barrel for accuracy (it does like some dirty) and try the Barnes again. I only have 5 left, if they work I may try another box and mark it as a lesson, but it's been an expensive lesson.
As always, bullet choice, a loaders delema 

[Catfish]

With any bullets you should use the weight that gives you the best accuracy in your gun. As Necchi said, the all copper bullets are alot longer than a jacketed lead core bullet of the same weight so when switching you need to go to a liter bullet. The only Barns X bullets I have used have been in a muzzle loader. I did recover 1 bullet from a deer hit at 289 yrds, lazered, The deer had been hit or I never would have shot. But the bullet went in theright frount shoulder and was recovered just under the skin of the left hind quater and was the picture perfict mushroom. I have seen 4 or 5 others of these bullets that have been recovered and all were the perfect mushroom and all were from muzzle loaders. I have take 3 deer with those bullets and none of them had any blood shot meat.    I have no idea if this is normal or if I was just lucky. All of that said I don`t use them any more because of their price and I have no trouble killing deer with much less expensive bullets and dead is dead.

[Steve P]

  I have never reloaded or shot the barnes bullets, but want to give them  try. I am wondering if there is any advantage to going to anything other than the lightest weight per caliber. I understand that heavier grain bullets will carry more energy, but with a bullet with a high weight retention, like the barnes, wouldn't you need the higher velocity for it to expand? These will be a deer load, but wouldn't the same hold true fro larger animals, as well? Thanks

It really depends on the caliber and the bullet weights.  Lighter weight bullets in my .22-250 will go thru a brake drum at 100 yards.  Lighter weight bullets in my 7mm Mag will push the brake drum deeper into the gravel pile. Will your lighter bullet have time to expand and expend it's energy, or will it go right on thru whatever it hits?  Welcome to the grayest area of reloading.  You can write books trying to answer this question.

When I am working up loads for my hunting rifles I rarely use a light for caliber bullet.  I want the animal to expire in the most humane way as possible.  BUT, you have to consider your gun, the quarry, altitude, temperature, distances, etc.  A load I use for elk in E. WA may not be the load I would use for elk in N.M.  The bullet I use in my .30-30 may not be the bullet I use in my 30-06 nor the bullet I would use in a 300WM.

Necchi talks about using 120 and 140 bullets in 7mm.  For most of my 7mms, those are varmint weight bullets.  I wouldn't even load them in my 7mm Mag, period.  140 is lightest I would use hunting deer size game.  For some of 7mm caliber guns I hunt with, this is the bullet weight I would use for deer:  7TCU (150), 7x30W (140), 7BR (168), 7-08 (140), or 7x57 (150).  

So, it depends on the caliber you are going to hunt with, the bullets weight you are considering, the distance you will be shooting, the firearm, etc.

Steve

[carbineman]

I have used the .308 diameter Barnes X bullet for 30-30 loading in my single shot Topper and have used the same bullet at 3050 fps in a .308 bolt rifle. These bullets have killed Elk, Canadian whitetails, and not so big whitetails all over the US. I see no reason to go to a heavier bullet. The shots that were made have resulted in dead one shot kills and no bullets were recovered. I can't say enough about these bullets.
I have a lifetime supply of the older type X, item# 30808 and have not used the newer TSX type. The accuracy in the rifles I tried them in was the best of all bullets tried.

[Dances with Geoducks]

Barnes 45-70 bullets are the nastiest blood channels of any round out there.

[Clodhopper]

I hunt in the California no-lead areas so am required to use no-lead bullets.  In my 7-08 I use the 120 gr tsx and it shoots as good as any bullet I have ever used (3/4 inch at 100 yds).  I took a medium sized mule deer with it back in October and it worked well.  160 yard shot went in behind the shoulder, through the heart and out through the shoulder bone on the off side.  DRT.  Not as much meat damage as the Hornady 139s I was using and a little more accurate.  Tried the 130 grain in my 308 but it didn't like them so went to the 150s which work very well.  Using the 165s in the 30-06 and, on paper, they do very well in the accuracy dept.  Loaded the 130s in my 300 savage contender and it really shoots them well, of course, it shoots everything well.  All in all, I like the Barnes bullets, except for the price.