Barnes X...just rename it "icepick".

130gr .270 Hornady SST. Scary accurate, but they blow up like varmint bullets. Hornady said they wouldn't do this, wrong. I've never felt bad about anything I've ever shot till I used these on a whitetail hunt. Standing over what was left of the deer I was surrounded by meat and fur.

I've used the 150gr .308 SST's for a .308WIN and they worked really nice. They just aren't as versitile as Hornady say's they are.

Terry

Tried some Sierra bullets that would go sub 1" on paper, but when I shot one at a deer standing broadside it missed completely. Had to be the bullet, right???

I shot six boxes of Barnes X bullets in various guns. My best rifle that shoots everything sub MOA would shoot then 1.5 inches in my very best ever Barnes X group. It went from there to over 3.5" using six rifles.

I've heard the bARNES X stories about accuracy. I go to the range a lot. I've never witnessed a good Barnes X group. I've heard oh they were shooting great last weekend. I don't know what happened. Never saw one group under MOA and most were no better than what I'd experienced.

So I no longer shoot any Barnes bullets. Not even the newer ones. Even though I’ve heard those stories again about what great shooters they are. The bullets I have are accurate cheaper and harvest my animals with no problems. No; got hyped by Barnes and Lost River Ballistics. Not ever going there again. Those are the same words that I heard from a lot of shooters that are in the know and I respect.

I got $50 dollars worth of Barne'S coated bullets. Pressure was through the roof before I was with in 3 grains of Barne's max load. They might be a good hunting bullet, I could not get them hitting the broadside of a barn. Same gun agg under 1/2 moa with 3 other bullets.

.375 cal 270 grain Failsafe in my 375 H&H.
Very accurate but poor bullet performance, either wouldn't expand or when it did the peddles sheared off and shank bent.

Every time I read a thread like this, it reminds me of the same truism "Some guns like some bullets, other guns like other bullets."

Although I sure haven't tried every bullet make in the world, I have used Barnes, Hornady, Kynoch, DWM, RWS, Norma, Prvi Partizan, Speer, ABC (Arizona Bullet Company), Herter's, Sierra, Sisk, Winchester, Remington, Nosler, Hi-Precision, GTB, Euber, Berger, Fowler, White, Stark, C.I.L., pull-down military bullets, and many, many, others.

I've had some rifles which liked darned near everything I fed them. I've also had some rifles which liked none of them.

Right now I have three rifles which will not shoot anything accurately EXCEPT the plain old Barnes-X (not the TSX or the XC). They are a Hart-barreled Mauser .280 Remington, a .404 Jeffey, and a .405 Winchester. All three, by luck of the draw, just happen to shoot the Barnes-X like a house-afire.

I don't condemn a bullet because a random assortment of guns didn't like it. That doesn't mean that in my next gun it won't be the very best thing going.

I have one 22" 30-06 that simply Loves the 165gr ballistic tips but won't shoot the Partitions worth a crap
And another nearly identical rifle that is the exact opposite.

The same two rifles one shoots the original Uncoated XFB's
to under an inch the other won't stay on the paper with the same bullets.
But switch to XLC's and either rifle shoots them to about an inch...

In another case My brother has a box stock late 70's vintage 270Win Rem700 that shoots to 5/8" with
either 130gr Partition, 140Gr Barnes XBTs or 150gr Ballistic tips, but won't shoot 130gr BT's worth a damn and can only get 150gr partitions to 1-1/8" or so... but does just under an inch with 140gr Ballistic tips...

Also even though IMR4350 is supposed to be the "go to"
propellant for the 270Win if there is a single bullet that'll shoot under an inch with any load of IMR4350 I couldn't find it. That particular rifle shoots best with RL22, infact it shoots well ONLY with RL22...

It makes no sense, but nowhere can I find it written down that it is SUPPOSED TO....

AllanD

Only gun I ever got to shoot with Barnes bullets was a Marlin 336 in .45-70. It loved the 300 gr jobs, grouping under .75" at 100 off the bench. Recoil was stiff, but they shot great, and did a number on feral hogs. Real ham slammers, they were.

Nosler Ballistic Tips. As unpredictable as a red-headed woman... One time they blow up like a hand grenade, the next time they pencil through like a solid. Never again!

quote:

Originally posted by Doubless:
Nosler Ballistic Tips. As unpredictable as a red-headed woman... One time they blow up like a hand grenade, the next time they pencil through like a solid. Never again!

Doubless I agree I'm swearing off on those red heads too.

NBT, for me just like hollow points.

I voted the Sierras because of the same reason Doubless had, one would do what it was supposed to and the next one acted like a solid copper ice pick. I shot a speed goat with the Nosler ballistic tip and it acted like a grenade. I swore off them too. I like partitions, although I don't like have the nose core go in a different direction than the rest of it. They still killed everything I ever shot with them, and accurate too. The Swift A-Frames perform just like they're supposed to but awful pricey. I haven't tried the Speer Hot Cores but they come highly recommended to me. I think I'll try them in my 9.3 X 62.

None of the above...

Remington core-lokt.

I saw a 180 grainer from a 30-06 (hardly a tough test of a bullet) into the ribs of a 75 lb feral hog shatter and fail to make a single scratch on the far side ribs/abdomenal wall. The pig took a good 4-5 minutes to die too...not pretty for sure! Several deer shot with the same rifle and loads had very erratic wounds, from small pencil woulds that would make a Barnes X user proud to more failures to exit.

I really dislike the ones that miss...Worst bullets I ever shot!!! lol


Oh wait that might be my fault....

I hate it when that happens

I have failed a bullet or two (by putting them in the wrong spot) but I have yet to have a bullet fail me.

TC1 I'm just curious, what velocity were you shooting the 130 gr SST's at? I've heard other people say that they opened very quickly, but they were being shot at high velocity. What was the difference in velocity between your 270 SST load, and your .308 SST load? (this might be the "critical" difference.

I'm curious as I've developed a sub moa load using the 225 gr. SST's in my .338 WM.

mike

I must say that I'm not surprised at the good showing of Hornady bullets.....they have been a mainstay for me for years.

The surprise however is the poor showing of Barnes.....I almost never read a negative post about Barnes and in this poll that are sucking hind teat big time.....interesting!!!

Nosler Ballistic Tips! Never again!

I'm not a fan of Nosler Ballistic Tips either.

Absolute worst bullet I've used was a 1" square drive nut in a wrist rocket slingshot. 4 in the morning, a damn woodpecker was going after the galvanized china hat on the stovepipe... missed it.

Have not tried Barnes. I have heard the same things I have here about some guns like them and some don't.

Ditto on the NBT's. I would only use on a varmit.

Swift A-frames, in my opinion, is the best bullet for game ever designed. Love them and my guns do too.

I use to use corelokts but when remington stop making them bonded, they did a few years ago, they were one of favorites. Now only the primier line is a bonded bullet.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:

The surprise however is the poor showing of Barnes.....I almost never read a negative post about Barnes and in this poll that are sucking hind teat big time.....interesting!!!

I think there should have been a separation between Barnes X and the new Barnes Triple Shocks. The Barnes X is the worst bullet I've ever tried (as far as accuracy goes) and the Barnes Triple Shocks are the best bullets I've ever tried (again, accuracy wise).

quote:

Originally posted by CDH:
None of the above...

Remington core-lokt.

I saw a 180 grainer from a 30-06 (hardly a tough test of a bullet) into the ribs of a 75 lb feral hog shatter and fail to make a single scratch on the far side ribs/abdomenal wall. The pig took a good 4-5 minutes to die too...not pretty for sure! Several deer shot with the same rifle and loads had very erratic wounds, from small pencil woulds that would make a Barnes X user proud to more failures to exit.

i agree with you and tc 1 on core lokts. my experience was with 150's in am '06. had deer burger. sorriest sight i ever seen. blood shot meat i don't like.

Probably the worst bullet ever sold was from Herter's...the Wasp-waste sonic bullet.

I bought a box for the .270...130 grain.

They acted like the jacket was only half the thickness of the ballistic tip. I think that was a few years ago.....maybe 40 or more.

Another vote for the CLs, softest I've ever used and I used a pile of them to take deer, hogs, and antelope. Many didn't exit or even make it to the off side.

I will say they work well at 30-30 velocity.

Good Luck

Reloader