I am preparing for a hunt and wanted to use the new Barnes banded solids and X bullets. I attempted to load the X bullet today using 4895, the powder used to develop my previous "non-banded" Barnes' loads.

I could not come close to seating the bullet deep enough into the case with 73gr of 4895 to chamber the cartridge. I was at least one annular ring away from where I needed to be, and according to their data, I might need 1.5 or more grains of powder over the 73gr to equal the velocity with the old Barnes bullets.

Has anyone else encountered this problem?

Did Barnes ever consider starting with the "old" bullet, cutting the bands/rings, and just loosing the weight? Or using a slightly more dense metal for the bullet?

Has anyone hunted elephant with the 350gr Barnes solid?

I have some very old 400gr original Barnes 423 bullets, and the old 400gr solids. Does anyone have experience with them?

I have given some thought to turning a small amount of the metal off the bullet in front of the X bullet such that the front part of the bullet would be very slightly undersized. It would make the first band in the neck a "cutting" band, and permit chambering without jamming the bullet into the rifling. Comments??

Finally, does anyone have any load data for some of the ball powders in the 4895 range?

I leave in six weeks. Please help!!!Kudude

PS: Current solution is to try some SR 118 powder which I had experimented with years ago and which at least "fits." K-d

North Fork 380 grain soft, FP solid, and Cup Point Universal bullets of .423 caliber are what you need.

If you could get them soon enough, a simple switch.

They will do it all in your .425 Express.

Anywho, a friend of mine shortens the points on .474/500gr XLC's to make them fit the magazine box of his M70 .470 Capstick. He also drills the hole bigger in the nose to be sure they open better.

You will be O.K. in reshaping your noses if you are as good with a lathe as he is.

Not good to mess with the bases of the bullets, but plastic surgery to the noses is O.K.

Those Barnes TSX's are very long in .423/400gr, over 1.5" IIRC, and you can see all 5 of the cannelures on my .423 Lapua (center) flanked by the .423 Dakota on left and 500 Mbogo on right: