Barnes Bullets in the 45-70?

[James B]

Has anyone here tried the newer 250 gr X bullet in the 45-70? Or the 300 X bullet? The 250 might make a good deer load.

[Riflemanz]

REM 405gr bullet or hornady 350gr fp or nosler 300gr bullets are great deer bullets.

[oso45-70]

James B.
I have some 300+  barnes loaded and have shot them for accu. and they do good, Don't know how they will perform, but i bet they will do great on deer or any thing else.  Joe

[MSP Ret]

I'll second those 350  Hornady's, they are sweet shooting and hard hitting bullets....I know they are not cast lead but they work great!!!....<><....

[big medicine]

I have tried to shoot seveal types and cals of Barnes bullets and have never been able to get real good groups out of them. So I have never bothered to hunt with them. I shoot the Hornady 300 grain JHP (rejects) and they will pretty much shoot clover leafs. as far as how they work on deer.... well there has not been one that has lived to tell a tale. I have shot several deer the longest shot at about 175 yards. It was a large Mulie, he took one step and fell dead. That was the most a deer has traveled after getting drilled with that pill. Never have recovered a bullet, they leave a thumb size hole in and out.

[James B]

I have always used the 350 Grain Hornady Round nose. I put one of those through the top of the head of a 500+ Black Bear in Sak. It went down through the neck and through the chest and we found it under the skin between the front legs. Perfectly mushroomed and it wighted 325 grains. I had it loaded to 1850 fps in my Marlin Lever gun. 22 inch barrel. Barnes shows the 250 grain X bullet loaded at just onder 2200 fps. I have never had real good accuracy from Barnes bullets either. They shoot ko in a few of my rifles but never great in anything I have tried.

[jackfish]

I could not get the 300 grain Barnes XFN to shoot worth a darn with a box of 50.  I started with a very clean bore, after hearing that they would not do well if any previous copper residue was present.  It didn't take long shooting them for copper fouling to become apparent.  The 250 grain Barnes XFN may work well on deer, but in my opinion it is not necessary.  The Hornady or Sierra 300 grain hollow points loaded from 1800 to 2200 fps are excellent performers on deer.  Those bullets are far cheaper and will do just as good a job.  The new 300 grain Speer UniCor is also a good bet.  On close shots when driven fast the 250 grain and 300 grain XFN will sometimes lose their petals.  They are an interesting idea, but can be hard to get to shoot well and won't kill any better than any number of cheaper bullets available.

[Doc RD]

I've used the Barnes x350 in my Browning and get very good accuacy.  I used it to take a free roaming bison up here in AK in March of 03.  It went down with one round through the upper chest and lower spine.  I like them. :-)  I didn't use the flat point so I chambered one and had lead FP 405 gr round in the tube.

Later, Doc RD

[muslmutt]

I also keep looking at those bullets thinking they would make a good deer load. Then I look at the price and grab another box of sierra 300g hps, and a lb of reloader 7.

[jaycocreek]

In penetration test by Rick Jaimeson the 300 Barnes XFN outpenetrated all other bullets other than the 300 Nosler.That included the 400 A-frame and 350 Hornady.Not bad for a 300 grain bullet.One of the guys from Alaska swears by them for penetration on game over there in his 45-70.Well worth the money if your hunting large game and want a reliable bullet.They will take anything in North America with ease.For Deer sized game there really not needed,but for Elk and moose and Bear they would be worth alittle extra money in my opinion.2100 fps(41,400PSI) out of the Marlin Guide gun with 1.2 inch groups at 100 yards.Not to shabby.The 250 XFN at 2383 fps(41,700PSI) got 1.00 inch groups at 100 yards.

Best of luck.Jayco.

[big medicine]

I guess I have never really put much stock in all the penetration test ect. It is nice info, but theory doesnt kill animals, large chunks of lead do. If a bullet will hit the vitals and kill an animal what more do you need? The buffalo herd was nearly wiped out with soft lead bullets, as were the bear, elk and moose populations. My $5.00/box of Hornady (Rejects) 300 grain JHPs have never failed to kill what they hit. I shot a bear with the 444 using the Hornady 265 grain JFP and it left the heart and lungs looking like jelly. I could spend 3-5 times more for bullets but have never felt the need. No matter how you look at it animals dont fair well with big holes through the vitals. :shock:  I like to shoot a lot so I cant afford the real expensive bullets esp when I have never gotten them to shoot as good.

I dont mean to down play the importance of the test, but shooting into jelly, or wet news paper ect is not the same as shooting an animal. I think the test would be more valuable if they were done under real conditions with real animals over a period of time. But many an animal was killed before high tec expensive ever came along.

[jaycocreek]

I guess I have never really put much stock in all the penetration test ect. It is nice info, but theory doesnt kill animals, large chunks of lead do. If a bullet will hit the vitals and kill an animal what more do you need? The buffalo herd was nearly wiped out with soft lead bullets, as were the bear, elk and moose populations. My $5.00/box of Hornady (Rejects) 300 grain JHPs have never failed to kill what they hit. I shot a bear with the 444 using the Hornady 265 grain JFP and it left the heart and lungs looking like jelly. I could spend 3-5 times more for bullets but have never felt the need. No matter how you look at it animals dont fair well with big holes through the vitals. :shock:  I like to shoot a lot so I cant afford the real expensive bullets esp when I have never gotten them to shoot as good.

I dont mean to down play the importance of the test, but shooting into jelly, or wet news paper ect is not the same as shooting an animal. I think the test would be more valuable if they were done under real conditions with real animals over a period of time. But many an animal was killed before high tec expensive ever came along.

Big Medicine-I agree on penetration test on News papers-Water jugs etc etc and how the Buffalo herds were wiped out.But when serious Elk Hunters useing other calibers like the .06-.300 and even .338 seem to prefer a Premium Bullet for there task,I don't see why the 45-70 should be any different.If I were in Alaska and using a 300 grain .458 bullet it certainly would not be one designed for the old 45-70 velocities but maybe the Barnes or Nosler.They are up to the task.Premiums have there place and are not needed for Deer size game but they tend to shine on Elk-Moose and Bear where penetration is important on different angle shots on large thick critters.If I was hunting Interiour Grizzlies the Barnes or Nosler would be good choices in 300 grain bullets.I would opp for a larger bullet but the Barnes is hard to beat for penetration and expantion.

To each his own and if a few dollars more on an Elk or moose hunt is not worth it to others,then by all means use what ever you wish.There not for shooting paper,there for hunting.Use the cheapies for plinking and a good quality bullet for hunting as so many choose to do with other calibers and the 45-70 is no different.

Best of luck.Jayco.

[BNoz01]

Yesterday, I loaded up some Barnes 250 X bullets for a buddy's 45-70 Guide Gun.  I used IMR-4895 powder and started below the minimum powder load because I was using Fed 215 primers instead of 210M's.  

What in incredible surprise!  That gun, with a Leupold 2.5 Scout scope, was a one inch to one and one quarter inch shooter with all the loads at 100 yards.  Moreover, pressure wasn't a problem as I suspected.  We ended up coming back to the house and loading all the way up to the max listed in the manual with those magnum primers.  Again, no pressure signs.

This particular Guide Gun was without any porting on the barrel.  Recoil was about one-half of what my Encore rifle generated in 500 S&W.

My buddy wants to try the 350 grainers next.  I don't know why because you're not gonna get any more accurate than we saw yesterday.

B. Noz.

[pc]

Woodleigh make a 405 gr flat point especially for the 45/70 and it is an excellent bullet IMHO...you 45/70 buffs are missing out if you do not give it a go !!

[Coyote Hunter]

James B -


I tried the 300g bullets but could not get the velocity I was looking for the best I could do was 2101fps and a 0.3" (2 shots) group at 50 yards.  After that I switched to the 350g North Fork (bonded) which leave the barrel at 2183fps.

No experience with the 250g load, but if the velocity doesn't match the 2247fps that I can do with the speer 300g UCHP (and that was the accuracy load - I've pushed it to 2399fps), I really don't see the point.

[muslmutt]

Anybody try the 300g Barnes Original bullets in a 1895? I hear the Sierra 300g hp destroys alot of meat on whitetail deer.

[pc]

I have used the 300 gr sierra extensivily and found it to be soft and expand violently on 75-200 pound thin skinned stuff.

[1GLOCK]

In the higher velocity calibers like 338s,06s,270s ect.. premium bullets can make the difference between the bullet penetrating or fragmenting on bone, however, i have personaly tested the 300gr rem hp through my 45-70 gg on cement blocks at 70 yards. After crushing the block the bullet still weighed out at 240 grains. My conclusion is that in the large slower moving calibers bullet construction isnt all that important. The real reason for the expensive fail safe type bullets is large game at close range at high velocity (over 2500 fps) thats where good bullet construction really comes into play, you want the bullet to hold together at close range high velocity not come appart on impact. If a junk bullet scrubs off 3/4 its weight on impact velocity really dosent mean anything. If the bullet holds together and keeps driving thats what really matters, so in my oppinion velocity has to be factored in with the bullet construction of choice to ensure it will do its job at a variety of ranges when called upon. In large slow calibers its not an issue.

[jaycocreek]

The Barnes bullet is not inaccurate if we know what were doing.Here is a target from a friend that uses the 300 Barnes XFN in his 45-70.No Names please.


Just a little work and knowledge and it is a very accurate bullet with awsome killing power....

Good luck.........Jayco.