I have been a big fan of Barnes bullets for quite some time. I have used them in my Marlin Guide gun in 45 70, shooting the 300 grain X bullet. I have also used the 200 grain x bullet in my win model 70 300 win mag extensively for the last 12 years.

I have used them in my 458 and 375 H&H and a 243 and a 338 win mag also.

What P$**&s me off is now the TRIPLE shock comes out and the reloading info changes entirely with some calibers.

I expected the loads to change, particularly I expected the powder required to duplicate previous loads to be increased.

WHY I CAN NO LONGER USE THE SAME POWDERS JUST BECAUSE THEY CUT GROVES IN THE BULLET IS A MYSTERY TO ME?????

Any advice (except to stop crying and start over and load development)

THANKS

when you buythem, buy alot--- that way they can go through 2 or 3 different versions before you have to buy more. I'm still shooting the XLC version in most calibers.

Yea, I hate Barnes for changing their bullet design so often. Once Hornady and Nosler lead free bullets become available, I'll shoot them instead if they shoot well.

As for loads, I refer to the older Barnes manual frequently when working up TSX loads. The older manual had some pretty hot loads though. I doubt you'll need to change your loads much.

I just got some 300 gr. 405 and 350 gr. 416 X bullets on a closeout from Barnes. They were really discounted. less than 20 and 29 dollars per box. Shipping was free if you spent over 75 bucks. Along with the order came a company video discounting some of the alleged problems that have followed Barnes bullets in the past. It was interesting to note that the new grooved version was the "Myth Buster" bullet used in the CD.

Loading X-bullets has used up more of my time and cash than most loads I've developed. On the positive side I learned some advanced reloading methods and the loads eventually did a nice job on game. However, now that at least 3 generations of that bullet are obsolete do I start over with the TSX or with another bullet altogether?

The solid copper 'soft point' seems like a good idea, and I appreciate the fact that Barnes did some of the R&D to bring that design to market. I have to wonder why Barnes brought a product to market that has the obvious flaws of the X-bullet when there were commercial examples of solid bullets that did what the X-bullet did without all of the complications. I think at this point I should cut my losses and quit loading Barnes planned obsolescense X-bullet.

Thats the problem in a nutshell..

QUOTE
Loading X-bullets has used up more of my time and cash than most loads I've developed. On the positive side I learned some advanced reloading methods and the loads eventually did a nice job on game. END QUOTE

These bullets are

1 EXPENSIVE (most premium bullets are)

2 A PAIN IN THE ASS TO DEVELOP A GOOD LOAD WITH
(sometimes)

3 THE DEADLIEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN ON GAME

So that is why I'll stick with them untill I find something better...

Hey Honkey, I don't use Politically Correct Bullets(PCBs) and Kill everything just fine.

And Kill EVERYTHING just fine.(Message for your subconscious .)

I'm not saying they are poor Killers at all. I used a lot of the original Fred Barnes Bullets when Mr. Barnes was making them with a good old piece of Lead inside, the way Bullets should be made.

There are plenty of excellent Standard Grade Bullets and other Premium Grade Bullets that have Killed well for a long time. All the PCBs are leading us down the road that will result in Shooting and Hunting being too expensive for most folks. I can see where people that don't shoot a lot would think it does not affect them, and they will eventually discover they are totally and completely wrong. Regardles how well the PCBs perform, the Antis see them as a way to reduce Shooting and Hunting, simply due to cost.
-----

The reason they changed the Powder - get ready - is because they determined the other Powder worked better with the new Bullet Design - TaDaa!

They changed their published Ballistic Coefficient values because - get ready again - they were Full-of-Beans - Ta Daaaaaa x 2!!
-----

I don't need any stinkin' PCBs.

quote:

Originally posted by Honkey:
I have been a big fan of Barnes bullets for quite some time. I have used them in my Marlin Guide gun in 45 70, shooting the 300 grain X bullet. I have also used the 200 grain x bullet in my win model 70 300 win mag extensively for the last 12 years.

I have used them in my 458 and 375 H&H and a 243 and a 338 win mag also.

What P$**&s me off is now the TRIPLE shock comes out and the reloading info changes entirely with some calibers.

I expected the loads to change, particularly I expected the powder required to duplicate previous loads to be increased.

WHY I CAN NO LONGER USE THE SAME POWDERS JUST BECAUSE THEY CUT GROVES IN THE BULLET IS A MYSTERY TO ME?????

Any advice (except to stop crying and start over and load development)

THANKS

Hey Honkey,
Why can't you continue to use the same powder that you always used???????? Just because the powder is listed in a reloading manual does not mean that it is the ONLY powder that can be used in that particular load. Just like changing any component, back off your load 5-10% and start working back up to where you want to be. You don't have to switch powders simply because they are not in the book. Some manuals list relative burn rate charts of different powders so you can get an idea of how much to use if you are substituting powders. Just be careful and always start conservative and work up your load.

I'm a barnes fan and have felt the "rapid change" pain a few times. BUT, why in the heck wouldn't we want them to continue to improve? The tsx is an awesome bullet and so is the ttsx.
Many people report they have found loads very quickly because the accuracy is much better with them.
I've been buying nosler e-tip blems but they have been a bit more fussy for me to get to shoot like the tsx's but they are priced nicely.
Like someone said above....if you like what you got....get some extra boxes...barnes are too expensive to plink with so for hunting applications a couple boxes should go a long way. The way component prices keep going up a small stash could be a good thing.

quote:

Originally posted by Honkey:
What P$**&s me off is now the TRIPLE shock comes out and the reloading info changes entirely with some calibers.

The Triple Shock bullets were on store shelves long before Barnes issued their #4 load manual. If you were smart enough to sign up for their free monthly email newsletter, they went into detail how to use the old X bullet load recipes from #3 when using the newer TSX's.

At least Barnes changed the name of their improved bullets. I don't know how many times I've bought Sierra bullets with the exact same name and product # on the box, but the new and improved bullets were inside...with a different ogive shape. I can't tell you how many got wasted trying to figure out why this new batch didn't group as well as the old ones. Having shot all the old ones, I finally resorted to pulling an old bullet from a dummy round to do a side by side comparison. When I called Sierra asking why they couldn't at least put a piece of paper in the boxes stating that these were shaped different but the same weight, all I got from their customer service guy was, "Oops." They're doing quite well without my business so, no harm, no foul.

I learned the hard way why they made some changes when I loaded the 130 TSX for my 6.5x55. I followed the instructions to the letter, but ended up having some serious pressure issues. Finding accurate loads was very easy, and I believe the Barnes bullets can't be beat for on game performance (perfect expansion just like the ad photos with 100% retention). However, the pressure problems (blown primers, locked bolt, etc) showed up after 6 or more rounds (not temp related in my case), and I believe they were due to copper fouling. Initial rounds showed no problems, which was misleading. This was with H4350 at .5 g below the book max. Now the newer book is much more conservative for this caliber, with no significant velocity advantage over other bullets. Now I use 140g partitions with R22 with no pressure issues whatsoever. I still use Barnes bullets exclusively for ML and shotgun sabots.

When the tsx came out alot of people somehow dreamed up that they would be magic and make less pressure than other bullets. They really didn't or barely so if that.
It's been my experience the tsx doesn't foul anymore or less than other bullets.
It's been my experience you still have to bounce back and forth a bit on load data sources to make sure the load you are picking to start with is in good reason.

"There were some problems early on with high pressure and with barrel fouling. The technological evolutionary process eliminated or vastly reduced those problems over the years, but it was a struggle to recover from the damaged reputation." Link to above Quote

Honkey, Rarely do I use a load listed in the manual for the bullets I am using.....there are many, many, choices and the manuals obviously can't list them all.....

Mac

I like TSX bullets and have been able to work up accurate loads with them easier than most any other bullet I've ever tried.

My gripe is with the Barnes pistol bullets. In the .44 Mag. I've always used either 296 or 110 for lead core bullets. They don't seem to recommend those powders for the 200 or 225 gr. .44 bullets. Probably because the bullets are so long it's hard to get enough in the case to meet the minimum powder charge.

When they first came out I tried them on game and was disappointed with BOTH poor penetration AND poor expansion. Now in this area if we want to carry a hunting handgun they are the ONLY choice so I'm back fooling around with them again but I wish they worked better. Hopefully they'll keep working on them or someone else will come out with a line of politically correct leadfree pistol bullets.

Kyler

I make up my own loads for the triple shocks.

I have done 130 gr in 308
I have done 160 gr in 7mmMag
I have done 180 gr in 300WM

The 300WM will shoot 1.5", 3000fps, 63 gr IMR4895