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In some other threads there is discussion of Barnes bullets failing to expand. The TSX bullets are supposed to be better but some of these have tiny openings in the front end. Now the question. Has anyone taken a small drill and opened the hollow point up a bit to ensure expansion? Although cartridge selection is important there is nothing that will substitute for proper first shot placement. Good hunting, "D" | ||
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I consider the X bullet designs as gimicks to sell expensive bullets. Soo many variations and still people talk of them failing to expand. Leftists are intellectually vacant, but there is no greater pleasure than tormenting the irrational. | |||
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Well I must dis agree rick the Barnes x's are no gimmick they really work. Tell me of any other .224 bullet that you can drive completely through a deer and get the kind of damage to heart and lungs that a Barnes x can deliver. There are none to compare and I've tried a lot of them. The Barnes bullets make a small rifle like a .223, 22/250 or .243 into a much more capable rifle on deer and antelope sized game, consistantly. Back to the topic and sorry to stray but I've not personnaly seen a failure of the Barnes bullets although I've read of and seen pictures of two on this forum that failed to open. Not knowing the particulars of each I think they are a small cross section of the hundreds of thousands of Barnes bullets that have been successfully fired into game. I also think that it is peoples perception that Barnes "fail to open" because of the smallish exit wounds I too have seen the small exit wounds but when I've opened these animals up they are very much dead on the inside, lots of damage in every occasion. So all that aside I'm sure a small drill bit used to open up the hollow point would cause them to open faster, so would some heavy "scoring" from the existing hollow point running down the bullet. I wouldn't do either myself as I've been exceedingly happy with every performance on game. Saying all that you would think that all I use is Barnes but I see them as a bullet with a "place". I really like them in the small calibers I also see a need for them in some of the faster magnums, I've found the 300 gr. TSX to be very accurate in my .375 H&H mag too but haven't tried them on game yet. In my other rifles I use a lot of Sierra bullets, 180 grain Sierra's have worked so well in my 30/06 that I won't use anything else. | |||
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The Tipped TSX bullet due out next year will hopfully adddress some of thes problems, as Barnes are re-designing the cavity along with the insertion of the tip Verbera!, Iugula!, Iugula!!! Blair. | |||
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Might get used to the idea of buying those lead free bullets. If the rumors are true about the possible future banning of lead bullets. While I agree with you that there are reports of them failing to expand, there are probably just as many reports of the various competitors having problems of some kind or another. Maybe it is a gimick, I don't know. But I personally have never had an issue with a TSX or a Btip, partition, fail safe, speer, scirocco, aframe, power point, or corelokt. I have had one problem with one accubond, and one sierra. Most of my kills (outside of archery), were with btips and tsx bullets. So, naturally, I would without a doubt, recommend either. Ted Kennedy's car has killed more people than my guns | |||
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When the X bullets came out I used a 225 grain X from my 338 magnum on a big elk and it went over a mountain and up the other side before it laid down. No expansion but good hit. Lucky we had snow. Velocity was only around 2650 fps. The next elk killed with this rifle was with a 250 grain Sierra at the same velocity and this one dropped on the spot. Nearly the same placement in the lungs. The bullets have been coated blue and redesigned several times. I'll put my faith in bullets that have been around a while without all the tinkering. Leftists are intellectually vacant, but there is no greater pleasure than tormenting the irrational. | |||
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I've never been a fan of the original X bullet. I heard so many horror stories, I just didn't bother with them. But I was also told to always aim for bone to assist the expansion. When the TSX came out, I was still very reluctant to try those but my curiosity got the best of me. Glad I tried them. It is smart to trust your instincts. I'd probably dismiss the Barnes line also if I had the experience you had. Ted Kennedy's car has killed more people than my guns | |||
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Snellstrom Keep your head down as soon there will be an attack on you for suggesting that the .224 Barnes helps .223 and 22/250 to become better takers of deer and antelope!!!!!! I have taken mule deer at a lazered 345 with a Barnes X in a 22-250 and it was bangdrop! I will be going forth this next month here in Idaho with that same 22/250 load and the Barnes X. Good luck to you. | |||
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Yep. Gotta help the anti's all we can. Yep, give up while it's still rumor. What a joke. Rick is right. Monos are just a fraud by those who can't be bothered to make a decent bonded core bullet. In 40 years of hunting the only true bullet failure I've ever seen was a Barnes X. Barnes got out of the bullet business when they started making it. ---------------------------------------------- "Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder." | |||
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Well the scheming little jerks could lull us into the no lead thing and then ban FMJ's which is what all the X designs are. The TSX might just be the perfect bullet for high velocity small caliber rifles but I only use them on varmints not game animals. Leftists are intellectually vacant, but there is no greater pleasure than tormenting the irrational. | |||
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Even if the "X" bullets, and their derivatives, are just a scam to sell expensive bullets, we need to figure out ways of making them do what we want as more and more jurisdictions start to decide to ban bullets with lead in them, like they have with shotgun pellets! However, I don't think fooling with the holes in the nose is a good idea. I suppose if all bullets start acting like solids, we'll just have to PLACE THEM BETTER! "Bitte, trinks du nicht das Wasser. Dahin haben die Kuhen gesheissen." | |||
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I have done a fair amount of testing of triple x's in wet phone books, newspaper. When the tip on a .270 caliber XXX is peened over, it penetrates very deeply, but does not open in almost every case, and in the 2 that it did open, it wasn't all the way, as when the tip was clearly opened. I think using something like the Sinclair meplat trimmer to insure all the tips were uniformly open is probably a good practice. I am very anal about insuring that the tips on the XXX's in my hunting loads are crisp, clean and clearly open. Good Luck--Don | |||
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I just don't care for small hollow point openings. The early X bullet I tested had a prety good sized opening but I think the metal was too hard. Considering the way Heat treating varies I just don't want to depend on it for expansion. Leftists are intellectually vacant, but there is no greater pleasure than tormenting the irrational. | |||
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I have never been a big Barnes X bullet user. The 10 or so animals I have killed or seen killed performance was good to great. My wife used the new MRX in a factory Federal 308 180gr to take 2 kudu, and I shot a bushbuck with it. It performed perfectly. The MRX just may be the best X bullet, as the plastic tip allows it to have the high BC that so many people like... yet the actual X opening is the largest of all the X bullets. I fell into some Federal factory 150gr Triple Shok X bullets in 308, I have not shot anything with them yet [I have not shot them at all], but I plan on trying them on some wild pigs. Also in a couple of weeks I may get to hunt a black bear in Calif. I was going to take my 300 Win Mag as the hunt is in open country, but I just might take my Blaser in 308 and use either the 150 TSX or the 180 Barnes MRX depending on which one shoots the best. Some of these bears have been "reported" to be in the 400 to 600 lb range [I say again "reported"] we will see. One thing I have seen with the X bullet is that even when shooting into rocks, the bullet never breaks up. Other bullets may turn to dust, but not the X. Not that "rocks" is a fair test of a hunting bullet... And I will say an X ,or any other bullet, that does not open up in game can cause you some drama. DOUBLE RIFLE SHOOTERS SOCIETY | |||
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Hey D, I've not done it to a Barnes Bullet, but I'm fooling around with some old(really old) Win Power Points with similar thoughts. Have you decided "how" you will hold the Bullets for the Drilling? | |||
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We have been using Barnes X bullets for years on our hunts in Africa. We have shot literally hundreds of animals with them. Ranging in size from duikers to buffalo. Some failed to expand - very few - but, they did kill the animals shot. I have seen this non expansion happen in other bullets as well. Still, I would rather have more penetration than expansion any day. | |||
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I like expansion and penetration in a perfect blend and I like large exit hole if I can get them. Leftists are intellectually vacant, but there is no greater pleasure than tormenting the irrational. | |||
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I don't thing drilling the noses is a good idea, unless you have a very good method of control. I think you would do more harm than good, injecting more variations in weight, drilling off center, changing the centerline of the weight, changing the weight balance from tip to base, etc, etc. I've only shot a few game animals with Barnes original X bullets. All were instant kills. The only reason I stopped using them was the meat damage was extremely high in my opinion. I wasn't unhappy with their accuracy or performance on game. Si tantum EGO eram dimidium ut bonus ut EGO memor | |||
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