I'm considerng trying one of these for a 280 Remington. I'd like to shoot the 160's but may try the 140's since I've tried a few other 160 grain bullets that didn't do so well. Which would you chose and why? Does one tend to be more accurate than the other? Does one coating vs. the other have any real differences? This will mainly be a mountain rifle. Anything to help an undecided mind. Thanks

JAB: With any new rifle I try to let the rifle decide by test firing comparable premium bullets through it. I've come to really like the performance of the Fail Safe bullets. But don't rule out a Nosler Partition either. Load them to equal velocties and go with whatever one shoots best. Once a good load is found, be happy and don't second guess yourself. Spend time hunting with it.

------------------
"shoot 'em if you got 'em!"

I'm a huge fan of the X in general and the XLC in particular.

I shoot them in most diameters and have nothing but good things to say,in their regard. The blue coating is good for some added speed and is easier on fouling.

The 140grXLC in the 280Rem,is a fabulous combo..................

The Barnes X in the 160 grain shoots the best in my 7mm Weatherby than anything that I have tried.I tried the XLC bullet and it would not shoot nowhere near as good as the uncoated bullets in my gun.A lot of people do not like the Barnes bullets for accuracy,but they do well in my rifles and are awesome as far as killing ability.

I think the failsafe is a more predictable bullet than the Barnes X...I don't particularly care for the BarnesX, as I feel they have a quality control problem and I have seen them fail and have had them fail, when the work they are excellet, when they fail they fail miserably IMHO, Lots of learned folks love them however...

Never had a Failsafe fail..but I like the GS Customs and Northforks best of all...and the Nosler has allways been good to me.

------------------
Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

JAB,

The thing to do is to use Nosler Partitions if you feel the need for a premium bullet. I have had very bad fouling from X bullets.

I hope Barnes straightens this out. Maybe the new coating will do it. Or maybe the GS bullets with less bearing surface will prove to be the better way.

Just wait it out. The "partitions" are proven.

I've had poor luck in getting Xs to group well, I have just one that seems to like them. Their field performance in that rifle has been okay, but eight or ten head of game isn't enough to make any kind of judgement.
The Fail Safes have proven much more accurate, and none of my rifles have refused to group decently with them. They aren't the equal of a Nosler partition if all one measures is group size. They have performed quite admirably in the field, they penetrate deeply and always exit. I like that and have no qualms about recommending them to you or anyone else.

I loaded nosler partion bullets and barns x bullets with the same load, and at 100 yards the barns was 3" to right of center the noslers were right on. At 200 yards the barns x was 6 " to the right and the nosler was still right on target. maybe my gun just likes nosler bullets. Hope this helps.

I'm a big fan of both of them. If I were you I would get the 160grXLC and the 160gr FailSafe and then see which one shoots better. I've only had a couplof rifles that wouldn't shoot the Barnes well.

JMeier

JAB, the barnes-x bullets seem to have a tendency to lose their pedals alittle too often. They must be a bit brittle. I haven't heard that complaint about the fail-safes.

Hi,

I have do a lot loading with 160grs premium in .280.
The Nos Partition (1/2-3/4inch) have best accurancy with 52grs of Norma 204.
CT FailSafe and Rhino Solid Shank (around 1inch) with same load come in a second place.
And I have no succes with Barnes XFB/XLC.
http://communities.msn.se/280RemingtonSweden

Good luck,

.280Sweden

My.280 shoots 140 partitions better than anything else but have never tried barnes.This season have killed an antelope buck and a whitetail buck both w /140 partions one shot kills.Parts of the whitetails lungs were portruding from the exit wound when I rolled him over.w/regards

leo
I think barnes says even if the petals detach because of close range high velocity shots, it will keep 85% of its original weight. Under the same situation, a lead core bullet would severely fragment.

If you want to try Barnes do your self a favor and try the triple shock. I've had some rifles like Xs and most not, and always had fouling. In the two rifles with triple shocks I've had great accuracy, picked up 100 fps, less fouling (I think, although with Wipeout it's hard to tell) and the two deer hits at 424 and 100 yards were very impressive. The long one left a 2 1/2 inch exit hole and knocked the muley down and at 100, head on, found the perfect mushroom in the rear ham after scrambling the heart, lungs, guts, 121.4 grains left of 130 from a 270 at 3120 fps.

I've found that Barnes X shoot as well as any from a clean, smooth bore. Rough or fouled bores seem to give them some trouble.

I love the failsafes, particularly the 140 gr. 7mm. However, I would use which ever shoots best. All things being equal, I would choose the failsafe.

I've shot 45 animals, form Warthog to Kudu with 60 or so X bullets. Three diferent rifles, 300 H&H, 300 Weatherby and 9..3x74. I have found them terribly unreliable and if someone gave me a box I would throw it in the garbage rather than have it clutter up my reloading bench.

Why do so many people try to find something new and better when their is nothing wrong with what is already around? Is it just Fuckitis or are so many people really such pigeons for the advertising agencys?

[ 11-18-2003, 06:29: Message edited by: Mickey1 ]

I do not like Fail Safes and will never use them again. I have never used Barnes X's.

The Fail Safes aren't much better than solids on everything I've shot with them, absolutely no expansion and blew right through everything. That list of animals would include Eland, Kudu, Wildebeest, Zebra, Sable and Caribou. Pretty pathetic when you can't tell the difference between the entrance and exit wounds.

odie401, I can't disagree with you more. I have no practical game experience with Fail Safes, but I do with X's. Yes the exit wound is usually the size of a quarter, but the internal damage is terrific. Just gutted a white tail shot angling away and that X bullet ripped the liver in half kept on going a did considerable damage to the lungs. It also left a fantastic blood trail. I may be off base comparing these two bullets here, but I don't think so, and to those that say these things pencil through lighter game acting as a solid, that has not been my experience.

Chuck

I've used both, on tough game like Kudu, Wildebeest (blue and black), red Stag, Wild Hogs, etc, and while the Barnes X was my prime bullet... until I discovered the Fail Safe (by Combined Technology components) and suddenly I have the best of both worlds, premium performance and accuracy!

BTW, my cartridge is a 300 Win Mag, loaded with 180 grainers at 3180 fps

Failsafes have shot well in everything I've put them through. X's have only shot in one rifle. However, in various rifles owned by my friend Mark D. the new Barnes Triple Shoks are giving outstanding accuracy. I have some .338, 225 gr. TSX's on the way and .308, 180 's... we'll see.

Both the Failsafe and the X family are excellent bullets as well as the A-Frame. Use the one that shoots the best in your rifle. Personally I use the Barnes XXX. All will out perform the Partition. www.gun-tests.com/ Go to "tools and techniques". They have two comparasions of premuim rifle bullets.

[ 11-20-2003, 06:33: Message edited by: Losthwy ]