I am new to reloading and just picked up the barnes reloading #3 manual. Can u guys give me you experiences with the barnes bullets? is it worth switching from nosler partition factory loads? I wanna shoot 160gr. pills, and my range will be no more then 250yds. How do they work with close shots 50yds or less? Is accuracy good? wich bellet, X or XLC? If u could answer any of these questions it would very much appreciated. thanx
P.S. I was given some imr4064 and reloader22. Any of these good in the 7mag??
Redneck, You did not mention what game you intend to hunt so I am assuming deer. I have tried all the .284 "X" bullets and also both the 140 and 160 Nosler Partitions and I can not fault any of them in the area of terminal performance. I'd give an edge to the Partition in regard to quick kills and to the "X" for penetration, regardless of the shot presentation. Which of these areas is the more important, only you can decide. In my rifle, I settled on the 150 Grain "X" Boatail for all round use. 67.5 Grains of IMR-4831 gives 3,260 & 10 shot 5/8" groups. This loading has worked well on large mule deer at ranges from 35 to 375 yards with very consistent bullet upset.
I have heard others say they can't get X's to shoot but I have found loads for both a .338 and a .257 that shoot good enough that theres no arguments. I to have some 150gr. Barnes X bt's but haven't loaded them for the 7 mag yet. I think they perform great and if shooting Elk they're tough to beat. You may want to check out www.slatesafaris.com/7mm.htm there is data available and it's dedicated to the 7 mag.
I have used all of the barns x in the 7 mag. I found the best of the bunch to be the 150 gr xbt. I did not like the molycoated x bullets as I found that you had to sometimes fire up to 6 or more fouling shots. The 160gr was a little to long of a bullet and as a result took away from powder capacity and ended up lower velocity.
Happy Hunting
Posts: 182 | Location: Okotoks, Alberta | Registered: 23 September 2001
Gonzolas, That was my exerience, exactly (above post,)which doesn't happen everday in regard to handloading. I'm shooting a 26" Browning Stainless Stalker, how about yourself?
RN7mm - Stick with the Nosler bullets unless you have lots of time to invest attempting to get the X bullet to shoot accurately. There are no worries with Nosler and almost any gun can shoot them accurately. For 60 + years Partitions have been killing every animal on the planet without problems.
Poor accuracy is the biggest complaint about Barns bullets. Your guns either loves them or hates them - there is no middle ground.
Posts: 10780 | Location: Test Tube | Registered: 27 February 2001
Gonzolas, Sounds like a fine huntin rifle! I'll bet it would shoot the Ballistic Tips extremely well too. A good shootin 7 Mag sure covers the bases for much of the worlds game animals at all ranges.
quote:Originally posted by Nickudu: Redneck, In my rifle, I settled on the 150 Grain "X" Boatail for all round use. 67.5 Grains of IMR-4831 gives 3,260 & 10 shot 5/8" groups.
Nick...this load sounds a bit overly warm. Is it necessary to drive the "X" this fast to get it to shoot these amazing groups? Throat erosion in 7mag is definitely a consideration...how far off the lands are you seating your bullets using I-4831? ...and what primers are ye using? I'd entertain attempting to duplicate this.....thanx, Sparkman
Sparkman--be careful working up to that load of i4831. It's about 3 grains over Barnes reloading manual and quickload puts it right at 70,000 psi. I'm not saying it isn't possible in the right gun but, it would be a somewhat lucky combo.
My experience with X bullets for deer out of a 7 MM Rem is not very good. I've shot several, and the X bullets are just too good a bullet for a whitetail. I prefer either Hornady Interlocks or Partitions. If you're going after bigger game where penetration is key; then the X bullets come into their own.
Redneck, I would also vote for the Partion over the X.My rifle (Weatherby Vangard) likes 175gr bullets best and RL22 is hard to beat as well. Good shootin'!
Sparkman375, Sorry not to have come back to this thread and respond to you. Don Krakenburger has given you good advice in suggesting you work up to this loading. Perhaps I should have done so. I use the same 67.5 grain load for the 150 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip and it is also quite accurate in my 26" Browning. The Browning Stainless Stalker I owned previous to my current rifle shot the 150 Nosler BT at 3,200 in <.5" groups with 67 grains of IMR-4831. I like this powder above all others because it is highly predictable at the top end and does not "suddenly arrive" at too high a pressure. I know where I have to stop with a given bullet. With each new lot of powder and/or bullet, I back down to 64 grains and work up again but, thus far, have returned to the same MAX loading. Molycoating changes things and I maintain separate data for all such loads. I have been using the Federal 215 Gold Match primer.
[This message has been edited by Nickudu (edited 01-03-2002).]
