I am wondering if anybody has any experience with the blue Barners XLC bullets? Did they improve the accuracy of your gun? Improve speed? How about terminal performance on game?

I am going to try some in a 257 Roberts. I am hoping to improve accuracy with them. My winchester featherweight roberts shoots .75" groups at 100 yards with 100 grain sierra GK's but when i shoot them at 200 yds the group is 3-4inches. I think my gun should shoot better than that. I am hoping to make this a 1 minute gun to 400 yards. Wouldnt mind shooting a sheep with it someday. Some friends have recommended the Barnes XLC's. Just wondering if there were any advantages or disadvantages to them.

Thanks

1" at 400 yds. with a big game bullet is a pretty big feat with a big game rifle and throw in does the shooter have the ability?
I'm interested in the 25cal. 100gr. XLC also because I pick them up on monday.
I hope you dont mind me piggy backing on this topic because I havent heard much yet.

Boiler Room, I believe Sharpshooter was refering to 1 moa, or 4" @ 400yds. Very possible with the right gun and load.

Of all my rifles, only one will shoot the X bullets well. I have a Tikka in 7mm-08 that will consistently shoot the 140gr XBT into 1" groups with @ 200yds. However when I switched to the 140gr XBT coated bullet, the holes were all over the target. Switched back to naked bullets and was shooting cloverleafs again. Go figure.
VH

Your right, my mistake.

I've never shot let alone loaded any Barnes products. Infact I tried to cancel my order of XLC and go with the XBT because the wallet has been skinny lately. Too late, they were on the way.

I loaded some XLC's for my wife to shoot her Elk with this past fall. Velocity was excellent and accuracy was sub moa. She made two nice shots at 200 yds both bullets were recovered just under the skin on the far side and looked just like the ones Barnes likes to show off. A great bullet provided your gun likes them.

I just ordered two boxes of the xlc's 100gr for 25-06 and 165gr for 300rum. Just want to see if they will shoot in mine. If I can't make them shoot i'll stay with gs customs if I can get my hands on some before next hunting season.

I tried factory Federal ammo loaded with the Barnes XLC. The groups were huge. One factory might have been my bore. It wasn't clean when I tried them and I've heard they do best with a clean bore. I'm sure you'll get some good feedback here but you might also post that question at www.24hourcampfire.com. There's a bunch of XLC fans there. They call 'em Blue Meanies!!!

I like the performance of the Barnes XLC. They tend to be a bit finicky on the accuracy side. If you can get them to shoot decently for you, use them.

Tried the Barnes XLC's in three rifles. One factory barrel and two custom barrels. Chamberings were 30-06, 270 and 264 Win Mag. All these rifles shoot Nosler Partitions into 1" or less [the 264 into .5"] I scrubbed all these barrels diligently before starting. I changed seating depth, starting at about .050" as recommended, and moved both backward and forward in .010" increments. The best group came from the 270 and it was just under 2.5" @ 100 meters. The worst came from the 264 at 5" even. After shooting up a couple of boxes of each, I just said the h*** with it and went back to what I know works. First group with the 264 after went .45" @ 100. go figure! No Barnes for me. I believe the concept is very sound, but I want a bullet that will shoot, and so far, Barnes has not been the one. Here's an interesting twist FWIW. The 30-06 shoots the Winchester 180 Failsafe into less than .75" Regards, Eagleye.

I am one of the X bullets biggest fans and even I'll admit they're not for every gun. If you can try'em and if they shoot decently youre all set.

I suggest anyone do the following, should they not already do so, in regard loading the Barnes "X" "XFB" or "XLC's). Full length resize all brass, even new brass, along with the usual regimen of flashole deburring and primer pocket uniformity checks and case prep. Inside bevel with a 60 degree bit, rather then the usual 45. Seat the ogive at least .050" off the lands. Utilize Federal Gold Match primers. Do not crimp unless necessary to curtail bullet setback in magazine rifles of heavy recoil.

sharp-shooter -- I am a Barnes XLC fan, when they shoot to my spec's in my barrels. I have a 7mm STW that loves the 160 grain bullet, and a .340 Wby that loves the 225 grain bullet. The only other premium bullet those rifles shoot with equal to or better than accuracy to the XLC is the North Forks. I also shoot a .257 Wby that will shoot the 100 grain XLC with great speed but the accuracy is not MOA consistently. I have killed Mule Deer with the STW with excellent results. I have also killed three Bull Elk with the .340, each with picture perfect performance. With the .340 in each kill I got complete penetration, even out to 250 yards. On one of those Bulls I found two shed petals in the off side hide. In my opinion that is excellent performance with the petals doing their job kicking and screaming while going through, then an excellent exit hole for more blood loss. I will shoot whatever premium bullet my rifle likes on the larger than Deer animals. I will try North Fork, Barnes X or XLC, Nosler Partition or Partition Gold, or Swift A-Frame, and then use the one with best accuracy. Good shooting.

I am definately NOT a fan of X bullets but I have shot quite a few in cartridges from .224 - .308. Like I said, they are very accurate in my Tikka but disappointing in many other rifles. PENETRATION is a whole differnt story. I have yet to recover one single X bullet that was fired at a whitetail. Every single bullet zipped right through.
Last season I tried some 150gr Failsafe bullets in my .308 win. Accuracy was good so I took them afield. Shot two average size whitetails and was very impressed with their terminal performance. One deer was shot at 150yds and didn't get 25yds before keeling over. The second deer was shot at 125yds while he was in his bed. He literally rolled over like a dog doing tricks and never moved again.
This is better terminal performance than I am use to seeeing with the X bullets. Yes, the X bullets killed them DEAD but the deer had a tendency to run before giving up the ghost. Most of them were shot broadside with a 140 XBT from a 7STW at 3,450 ft/sec.
Just my 2 cents

sharps shooter,

Do you have enough magnification in your scope to be able to hold precisely to 400yds.?

What do you intend to shoot at this distance?

George

Boilerroom, myself and otheres had a thread on 25 cal X bullets and others here http://www.serveroptions.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=25;t=000311 Some nice infor here including 25/06 chrono data and a couple of tricks.

X bullets people love or hate. Follow the guideline for loading them. As for fouling I never had a problem with that aspect. The Coated bullet didn't seem to increse speed for myself. I am going to try some of the tricks in loading these coated again. I have had the best accuracy with the 90 gr X-BT. In my 25/06 I tried 90 XBT, 100 XLC, and 115 X flat base. With X bullet they can like lighter bullet than normal. I belive it has to do with the bearing surface (which is longer than a similar weight standard lead usually) AS for preformance the coated vs not coated are the same on game. THe coating is supposed in increase the velocity and cut down on the fouling

Try a box or a couple of different bullet weights. That is the neat part about reloading trying to find the best load

Have fun

Hcliff

I'm using 180 gr XLC BT's in my 300 win mag and am getting excellent results. I had to do a little fiddling but got them to shoot under an inch at 100 yds. I found that trying different powders was the key to getting these bullets to shoot in my rifle. for example, RL 22 produced 2.5" groups while RL 19 produced 0.5" groups. I decided to go with H4831sc for my hunting load as they consistantly group into 0.75" and I like extreme powders. Interestingly enough, H4831 and RL 19 have similar burn rates. As far as seating depth I just seat them to the cartridges MOAL and call it good.

chuck

P.S. the boat tails and the flat base XLC's shoot the same in my rifle.

George, how much magnification do you actually need at 400 yds?

chuck

I use Barnes bullets in a few of my rifles and they take some playing around(adjust the seating depth) to get the best accuracy out of them. They penetrate almost like a solid but the exit wounds show they do open up. I've taken mule deer in the 250 lb. plus class using my .25-06 and have yet to recover a bullet even after hitting heavy bone. With the government clamping down on lead products I figured it would be a good idea to see what else was available. I did get a somewhat better velocity but no where near what Barnes clams. Accuracy wise I have found no difference. I like the XLC bullets and I use them in my .416 Rigby, .375, .308, 6.5mm Swede(wife’s) and will change over as soon as Barnes comes out with them in .458. Lawdog

I guess I have been fortunate. I have tried Barnes X bullets in three of my rifles. All gave MOA or slightly better accuracy.
.300 Wby 165 Barnes XLC
7MM Rem Mag 140 Barnes XLC
.270 WCF 130 gr Barnes X and XLC.
The only one I have tried for max velocity was the 130 gr X Not XLC. I was able to slightly exceed 3200 fps from the .270.

I do not think one needs such bullets for deer and antelope type game. I think the best reason for their use is for very large or dangerous game, and when the cartridge is "slightly overmatched" for the game. I place the .270 for elk in that category, and would use the Barnes X for elk if I used the .270 WCF.

I have found "standard" bullets very satisfactory as long as the cartridge and the game match. I don't remember ever having a bullet failure in the sense that the game did not go down, and I was able to get it. I recall back about 1959 shooting a running mule deer at about 75 yards with a .243 and the 105 gr Speer sp. The deer went down and stayed down so fast in the scrub brush that I thought I must have missed. The bullet hit the shoulder, and did not penetrate into the lung cavity, but the deer was killed instantly. I don't consider that a failure. I just want the bullet to kill the game with a good hit. I have always found Speer, Hornady, Nosler, and Sierra to do that.

I wouldn't even think of paying almost $1.00 a bullet unless I thought if would be needed on large dangerous game. Nosler has always done what was needed on the bigger game in my experience.

Jerry

[ 02-09-2003, 05:09: Message edited by: JerryM ]

First of all, I use several different bullets from a few diff manufacturers. Here is the low down. If you want the best chance of two holes (would suggest for big game hunted in or close to cover for a better blood trail) and you can get them to shoot, the Barnes is excellent. If you are not a firm believer of two holes (for example I don't think it is necessary for antelope on the open range and use ballistic tips for these), then others (notably the partition and for some game the ballistic types) will be easier for the average reloader. I have played alot with the coated and uncoated and found the coated to have significantly better accuracy and velocity. I have been able to get them to shoot minimum of MOA. Their BC's if not the best, are second to none meaning more energy and less wind deflection down range. You DO have to have a bore free from as much copper fouling as possible (use Barnes or Sweet's solvent and follow directions), then reclean after 10-uncoated or 20-coated. You do have to have a couple of fouling rounds through a clean bore to tighten the groups. I believe that almost all reports of bad groups for the Barnes come from average or less load development techniques.

Deke.

Hcliff..

Thanks for the link to the thread. When I got there I realized that it was my thread and we've had some 2 way there already.
Some pretty good tests I must say again.
Keep up the good work.

Say Deke-I want a two holes in my critters, so I generally use bullets that will do that. To date I've found that most all do. Not a huge trick to get that done for the most part. IMO

Now here is something to think about, the last two note I said last two-I don't and won't use them anymore for many reasons mainly accuracy and blood trail issues haven't left a blood trail.
The last couple of critters I have taken with X's were a whitetail out of a tree stand at 17 yards with a 6.5/06 and the 140, easy broadside shot 6" of fluffy white on the ground.
And then an elk at 100 yards broadside again, again new fluffy white on the ground with a 175 out of a 338. Again no blood trail whatsoever.

Personally and this is just me I do not want to use a X when I either want accuracy or a blood trail. Penetration yes they a re good for that but then again so is a butt load of other bullets. And those will give me accuracy and a blood trail.

Just my thoughts I know no one asked me for them but I blessed you with them just the same-grins!!

Have a super day

"GET TO THE HILL"

Dog

Mark,

Would agree that many bullets will give two holes, but the BEST chance is with a Barnes X type. Sharps-shooter is talking up to 400yrd shot from a .257 Roberts. I don't think you reliably get two holes w/a ballistic tip and some others in .30 caliber or less. I barely grazed the upper leg bone then the lungs on my deer this year w/a 150gr ballisic tip that hit it @ about 2885fps and it did not pass through. Since it tried to run uphill with a broken leg it did not get far, but I don't think it was what I wanted. I really think alot of folks are spoiled by the easy accuracy of ballistic tips and partitions (would say that I would hunt w/a partition any day) and they give up on the Barnes too soon. I believe that most can have both accuracy and the best penetration if they use the Barnes X and good load development techniques (and I don't mean load 5 of every combination and shoot away). As for the lack of blood trail I must say that I am surprised because I would expect a 1"-3" exit hole. Anyway, thanks for sharing your experiences. Appreciate your thoughts, we are blessed.

Deke.