I am loading some 85 grain Barnes tripple shock bullets in a .243 .. I have been able to get up to 3,400 and could go higher it seems. BTW this is in a 26" Hart barrel. My question; is there a point at which the tripple shocks fail or loose petals due to excessive velocity?

thanks

My limited experience with Barnes X's and TSX's over the last ten years is "the faster the better"... they open more reliably at high velocity...

I have a friend that has a 243 that I load for. He has a 24" PacNor barrel with a 1-9" twist. He wanted to stabilize the bigger bullets (100 Speer GS), but I just couldn't get a good group with them. About that time is when Barnes came out with their 6mm TSX bullet. Thank God.

We're getting just over 3300 fps. He shot a couple of coyotes at less then 50 yards and they worked just fine, decent exit holes. I borrowed it from him to take to South Carolina to try the load on some southern deer and shot a doe at 15 yards in the shoulder. All I can tell you is I do not know if the bullet petals were stripped or not but the backstraps were delightful. She dropped to the shot.

I shot a doe in KY with it also. She was about 60 yards away. The bullet broke her shoulder, she fell, the roast in the crockpot 3 days later was good.

I personally do not think the extra 100 or so fps you are getting will make much difference. These bullets send so much shock to the vitals I would opine that you'll be pleased with their performance.

But, please keep us posted if you have one pencil through. I'd be interested in your results.

Good question. My PH in Namibia had a handful of Barnes bullets and a few fail safes, they looked to be 165 or 180 grain, that had no "petals" on them, they looked like pencil erasers. He said that they were fired from a 30-378 and impacted large game, eland etc. at 40 to 75 yards.

Now obviously the animals shot did in fact die, the bullets were recovered. He stated that most required several more shots to bring things to an end, but admitted this was mostly bad shooting on the clients part.

I seriously doubt that any cup and core bullet could have worked at all given the impact speed. So, I'd say that given the caliber of rifle and such these were the best choice but far from ideal perhaps?

So, I guess the question is what ranges do you plan to shoot game at? Also, what is that ideal impact velocity for these type of bullets? My 270 likes 140 Hornady's at 3100 fps, 26in. tube. They work perfectly at 300 yds to 400 yds but make a real mess at 75 yds, though they still get the job done. Context makes a big difference.

HM,
That's sure a fair question... But I don't have a good answer. Presently I'm enjoying some neck problems so am limiting myself to a light recoiling rifle, hence the .243...
I will be shooting coyotes, small bodied deer and hogs, all in Texas.. The distances will vary from the muzzle to 300+ yards.. I'm a big fan of the Tripple Shock in my '06 and .375 so thought I'd give them a try in this .243. But I haven't shot game with this Barnes style bullet at 3,400fps.

what kind of neck problems?