Don't stand in front of the rifle when you are shooting it...

Guys,
Okay sounds good, seat about 50 thou off the lands, make sure barrel is clean and don't pull the trigger whilst standing infront of the gun.!? Noticed the Barnes projectiles are long for their weight, does that mean that velocity wise (and assuming safe pressures) a load using a 200gr Barnes wont match an identical load using say a 200gr Partition?
Cheers...
Con

Con,
I've been loading the 225 grain X in my 338 Win Mag since 95' or 96'. There are two things to consider. The first is bullet seating depth. The Barnes manual recommends seating .50 thousandths from the barrel lands.

Up until this year I ignored their advice and seated mine 10 thousandths from the lands and got really good accuracy. I chose this depth because Noslers shot best at it. A couple months ago I ran out of powder and decided to experiment with different types of powder and seating depth. I actually followed the instructions in the Barnes manual ;-) and tried seating depths from 10-70 thousandths from the lands. Wouldn't you know it, 50 thousandths shot the most accurately with both powders. I might add my group size shrunk by more than 1/2.

The second thing is barrel cleaning. I recommend you totally clean your barrel of all copper before shooting them. I do this anyway but again the Barnes manual suggests it due to the differences in bullet jacket hardness.

Other than that you should be good to go. Good luck!

My advice is DON'T DO IT. Use a plain old Hornady I-lock or Sierra Game Kink, they'll perform better.

Con,
Which X bullet are you shooting? The regular, triple shock, or XLC (blue coated)? I have a 26 inch barrel on my 338 win mag and I have no problem exceeding factory velocities without excessive pressure using the regular X bullets. I've read the triple shocks and XLCs will get you more velocity. I don't think you'll lose any velocity over the Partitions. Here's some of my load data with 225 grain Partitions vs 225 grain X bullets:

225 grain nosler partition, RL19, seating depth 3.930, CCI 250 primers
67.5 grains average velocity 2672 extreme spread 78 fps
68.5 grains average velocity 2730 extreme spread 70 fps
69.5 grains average velocity 2757 extreme spread 28 fps
70.5 grains average velocity 2800 extreme spread 31 fps
71.5 grains average velocity 2842 extreme spread 30 fps

225 grain Barnes X-bullet, RL19, seating depth 3.930, CCI 250 primers
69.0 grains average velocity 2806 extreme spread 44 fps
70.0 grains average velocity 2826 extreme spread 34 fps
71.0 grains average velocity 2875 extreme spread 67 fps

Hope this helps.

Sep

Check their (Barnes) manual. I switched from matchkings for fun, to xlc's for hunting and the barnes manual listed a way higher charge for the xlc's due to their coating then their x bullets of the same wieght. And sure enough up I went though I stopped 2 grains short of their listed max, but I had thier same velocities and accuracy started to suffer.
I've had really good luck with the xlc's in a couple of guns. Have fun

Pancho,
Ran into a bloke today that shoots an 8mm Rem Magnum and he highly recommended the Sierra 220gr GameKing and an appropriate Hornady projectiles when matched to the weight of game. After an hour long discussion on the 8mm Rem Magnum and its use on local game including water buffalo, his only advice was DONT EVER use the 200gr Nosler Partition! Seems the noses blow off and the remainder fails to penetrate deeply. In my case I think I'll stick to a premium like the Barnes unless accuracy is unacceptable.
Cheers...
Con

sep,
At this point the rifle came with a box of regular Barnes XFB 200gr projectiles. I've checked the online catalog and can't find them listed anymore, there's a 185gr XFB and the 200gr XLC. Once exhausted I'll be buying the 200gr XLC coated projectiles. If the Barnes projectiles prove accurate then the 200gr XLC will be the only load used, and I'm hoping to get somewhere in the vicinity of 2900+fps.
Cheers...
Con

Guys,
Never reloaded Barnes X projectiles before and am about to try the 200gr BarnesX in an 8mm Rem Mag. Any tips or tricks specific to the homogenous bullets I need to know about?
Thanks...
Con

Con,
I took a look at the Barnes reloading manual and it looks like the 3 recommended powders for the regular 220 grain XFB 8MM Mag are:

81.0 grains RL22 at 2858 fps
79.0 grains H4831 at 2794 fps
81.0 grains IMR7828 at 2872 fps

Their test rifle had a 26 inch barrel and these are their maximums. With the XLCs and a 26 inch barrel you should easily be able to get 2900 fps. If the X bullet doesn't shoot acceptably you've got some other premium bullet options too. BTW, is the 338 Win Mag popular "Down Under"?

Sep

CON
any body who says dont use a NOSLER PARTITION does not know what they are talking about ...they are one bullet i have always used and will continue to use ,....i have used it on alaskan moose caribou mongolian elk and a plethora of other small game animal with no problem in fact next year it will be used on an kampchatka brown bear all things being equal
regards daniel

Con & M98,
I didn't say not to use Nosler Partitions. I said don't use Barnex bullets. While I love the old copper jacket Barnes Origionals, I've seen too many failures with the Barnex bullet. Bad design resulting in worse terminal ballistics can not be improved by superior marketing hype, IMHO.

Sep had it right, about 50 thou. I've been using barnes for a good while, they will foul a barrel, but they get the job done from a hunting stand point for me. I use other bullets besides barnes, but it ranks up there with my favorite.

Get a barnes book and get after it.