Barnes bullet expansion problems

[Jon Glajchen]

My Experiences with Barnes bullets have always been positive. If they shoot accurately out of your particular rifle they are fantastic for plains game. The only negative is that a few of my rifles don’t shoot particularly well with them when compared with other bullet offerings.

I will go as far as to say that in the 300 Magnum calibers the advent of monolithic bullets has turned them from specialist longer range rifles into great all rounders for the bushveld as well as plains game hunting. Twenty years ago the 300 Win Mag with cup and core bullets was well known as a great destroyer of meat at bushveld distances. Today with the correct bullet choice it’s is highly regarded by hunters and PH’s alike.

Here are two Sellier & Bellot factory loaded Barnes TSX 180 gr bullets recovered from a Red Hartebeest and shot from a 308 Win at approximately 120m. The first shot hitting the animal in the center of his chest although a bit low and the second from a quartering shot into the rear flank of the antelope as he started to walk away and was given another round for insurance.

The second image is of a Barnes Vort-tx 180 gr TTSX bullet also shot at a Hartebeest at approximately 80m from a 300 WM. Despite the close distance and the increased velocity there was surprisingly very little bruising and meat damage. Note how the increase in velocity has changed the way the bullet has performed. Retained weight was over 90%.

 

[Ray B]

About 25 years ago I did some research for an article in Handloader's Digest, testing every type of 180 gr 308 bullet I could find. the bullets were fired from a 30-06 @ 2700 fps and a 300 Wby @3100 fps into a line of water filled milk jugs set 15 feet from the muzzle. Included in the test were some then new Barnes X bullets. The main problem was that the petals opened at different rates turning them into rudders, causing the bullet to veer off course to the extent that to "catch" the bullet I had to make a pile of 30+ milk jugs so that whichever way the bullet turned it could be caught.

I haven't tested them since that time and I understand that the problems have been corrected. If so, they would be a good bullet.

 

[Velo Dog]

For proverbial deer bullets and / or dreaded African “plains game”, use old fashioned round nosed softs, such as Hornady, Remington Core-Lokt, Sierra (220 grain .30) and/or Norma “Oryx”.
The Oryx is actually a semi-spitzer but nonetheless, extremely effective on “deer sized” animals.

If for some reason you must use pointed bullets, the Nosler Partition is a real peach.
If you plan to shoot larger critters such as eland, zebra, N. America bison and moose (especially with 7mm and 30 caliber cartridges), I recommend that you always use the incredibly reliable Swift A-Frame.
You’ll thank me later.

 

[Frederik]

Bullet construction and performance is not an exact science and a very good discussion to have among hunters and reloaders.
Everyone has their own personal views for personal use I enjoy a bullet that might exit or stay on the opositte side of the shot under the skin. this of course will be from tougher animals like warthog, wildebeest and larger. This way the energy is transfered and not wasted on the other side of the animal. Please note that this is when I hunt for myself and the fridge.

When it comes to guiding clients which I use to do there is very little to beat a Swift A Frame and Barnes TSX or TTSX.
Perfect combination for me would be a 338 win mag loaded with 225gr Swift or Barnes it hits hard and penetration is more than enough. When hunting trophies you are not concerned about the meat and angled shots can be taken to secure your once in a lifetime trophy. There is a PH yourself and normally a tracker so tracking is much easier if needed.

The old Barnes X did have issues back in 2000 I had a client come out with a 300 Ultra mag hunting north Eastern Cape so longer shots were the norm but most of them less than 300 yards. The bullets failed on 80% of the shots they imploded or did not open up. Took 6 shots on a gemsbuck that just didnt want to die as the bullets acted like solids. Back home he contaced Barnes and they replied that the impact velocity was too high. How did we know this by checking or struggling to find the very small exit wounds and found one or two bullet unopened in the game. They did however open up nicely on the big eland bull.

I love the packaging on the Woodleigh bullets on the side it tells you exactly what impact velocity is needed for the bullet. Maybe all bullet companies especially premium bullets should have that on their packaging.
We have seen a fail on a swift A frmae as well out of a 338 win mag with a 225gr bullet my suppose to be perfect combo. It was on a waterbuck bull range around 120 meters hit square on the shoulder a sure kill. 8 Hours later found it and finished him, the bullet hit the sharp piece of bone on the shoulder blade diverted and turend left towards the neck followed the pathway under the skin and exited in front of the neck. Sounds impopssible, but I have a Swedish hunter who saw it happen on his trophy. There is no perfect bullet but there is bullets that can be relied on to act like they should 99% of the time.

 

[Clodo Ferreira]

Hello,

I used 5 boxes (yes, 250 bullets) starting in 1996 until recently, of 250 grs .375 in my Pre 64 M70 375 H&H.
They were the original BARNES X without any groove on them. This lot I used had a very thin nose, unlike other lots of the same 250 grs 375". I used them mostly testing its behavior in different media. The best and cleanest recovered expanded ones was the ones shoot into snow! Perfect textbook expansion.
I use a few to kill some BIG Red deer down here. NEVER recovered one from an animal. Period. But the effect on their bodies showed, to me, a perfect work: Lot of damage with a BIG exit hole. Nothing not to like!
Still have 5 (five) loaded cartridges: WW cases, F215 primer, R15. For 2850 f/s. Very accurate load.

CF

 

[ChrisG]

This was a 120 grain TTSX recovered from a whitetail deer shot with a 6.5x55 at a MV of around 2,750 fps. I should mention that this was only recovered because it went right up the spine (it was a followup on the kill shot because I keep shooting until I don't have a shot or the animal goes down). So all-in-all this bullet punched through 18-20" of deer, of which about 12" was solid bone in the spinal column and came to rest between the shoulders.

I have seen pictures of swift a frames, nolser partitions and every other premium under the sun that have failed in one way or another. It happens to the best of 'em.

A lot of Barnes "failures" are from anecdotal or negative evidence (there was no gaping hole) and not a recovered bullet. Penciling through to some people means "I can't fit my head into the exit wound, so it must not have expanded". The game I have recovered that have been killed with a Barnes bullet usually have about a quarter sized exit and the internals are liquified.

I will continue to use them because they are accurate and penetrate well and, most importantly to me, they penetrate in a straight line where I pointed them.

Other's mileage may vary.