When it comes to impressive bullet performance, those Barnes 110 and 120 grain TAC-TX bullets intended for sedate Blackout/AAC speeds have certainly piqued my attention when used at 30-30 rifle velocities. Most of my usage has been with the 120 grainer at just over 2600 fps MV, but as of late, I've been shooting the 110 grain version and have been no less than impressed.

I recently adjusted my recipe with the 110 grain Barnes and am now loading a full grain less Re-7 than the book max Speer lists for its 110 grainers. Surprisingly, it is leaving the 24" Van Horn barrel at a sizzling 2859 fps. My Hornady 110 grain GMX load registers 2805 fps.

And I got to put that load to use again early this morning.

Somewhere around 1 a.m., I stepped outside to enjoy the beautiful moonlight and cool temperatures and soon was greeted by frantic snorts from a deer. My Contender 30-30 was already on the shooting rest, so I stepped behind it and scanned the pasture with the Docter Basic 2.5-10x50, which was set on my preferred 8x. I soon saw what had the deer concerned: a large, dark blob was pacing the treeline behind a feeder.

I cocked back the hammer, and as soon as he stopped, I put the red dot of the Docter scope low on the shoulder of the 180-yard hog and tripped the trigger. The shot felt good, and the sound of impact in the night air was quite distinct. But I didn't see anything through the scope --and didn't see anything when I looked through my thermal monocular, either.

There was a good explanation for that. The hog simply dropped in his tracks, and the height of the grass was just enough to hide his presence from the thermal. Hogs rarely go down instantly unless the CNS is impacted, but this bullet -- and its heavier 120 grain brother -- have resulted in instant drops quite a few times now.

The 110 grain Barnes Blackout bullet performed as well as it possibly could have, driving through the thick shoulder, breaking two ribs, shredding the heart and passing through the opposite ribcage before being stopped by the heavy hide.

Although it lost a portion of one petal, the bullet still retained 101 grains and measured 0.752" at its widest point. The petal that sheared off veered to the right, damaged a lung, sliced through the liver and impacted the stomach. There was only a single hole in the stomach, so I assume it was somewhere in there with corn, hedge apples and pecans, but I did not find it.

Bobby:

Mighty fine shooting, pictures
and impressive performance from
those light bullets.

Dandy hog too. Lots of nice colors there.
Looks like you gave it a bath being so
clean. Must have been out in the rain the
other night.

That much velocity has me wondering what
the 110s turned in my 26" '06 with a full
case of 4895. Shot many hundreds of prairie
dogs with them. From where they stood, there
was a fan shaped triangle of sprayed red til
it ran out. Almost never any parts could be
found. They'd blow a coyote mostly in half.

Thank for sharing and the great reports.
Do you send the bullet makers your reports
and pictures? I'd bet if you did, they'd keep
you in bullets to test.

George

I thought I had read this and commented. Anyway I came back and would say it looks like fun. I need a 30-30 barrel for my Contender. But at this time it is getting into some moon light at night for this month. The quarter or a bit less moon tonight would be OK with a good bright Euro scope. Let us know when you get another Bobby. I always enjoy hearing more proven data for your various calibers and bullets. Be Well, Packy.

Bobby, you continue to give me the Contender itch with your fine hunting reports.
Haven't ever owned one in carbine/rifle configuration.

Good stuff Bobby.

Many years ago I bought a 13" .30-30 AI barrel for my Contender. On Bobby's sage advice, I worked up a load using 125 grain NBTs. They were so accurate and worked so well on game that I bought a bunch of them, probably more than I can shoot in a lifetime. Now he comes along and tries to convince me that these Barnes are better! Boo! I'd love to try them, but I'm gonna have to find more things to hunt with this Contender to use up all those NBTs first.

.

Solid pig, solid rifle, good bullet and good story. Thanks Bobby!


.

Ive used the 150 monolithics both factory and Barnes fp HPs handloads on deer, and observed them used on elk, the sure penetrate well and kill fairly quick..good bullet in a 30-30 and the 97 gr 25-35 GS Custom bullet will shoot thru an elk broadside most of the time, and thru a deer lengthwise for the most part..I will be trying the 110 as soon as possible..

Ray-

Keep in mind these two Barnes Blackout bullets (110 and 120 grain) perform completely differently than conventional monos. They open fast, do lots of damage early on and don't always exit as their large frontal diameter limits penetration to an extent. They do, however, retain most of their weight.

The tips aren't soft like the Hornady flex-tip series and thus are not safe for lever actions unless loaded singly or one in the chamber and then only one in the tube.

My son took a nice buck this past weekend with the 120 grain Barnes Tac-TX from his 14" .30 Herrett Contender pistol, which has a muzzle velocity of just 2225 fps. The range of the frontal quartering shot was 130 yards. The bullet entered the front portion of the shoulder and exited the second-to-last rib.

I generally don't like traditional monos in moderate velocity cartridges, but these along with the Hornady 110 grain GMX sure make me smile.

This is the entry on the buck:

That's impressive. That looks precisely like my preferred bullet performance. I have used quite a few of the old standard 150 gr non-tipped Xs out of 308 guns. Be Well, Packy.