Barnes bullets performance on game?

[Drop Port]

Agree with jimbries about this type subject matter. No conditions are similar I once shot a doe at 25yds through both lungs with a .270WBY using a 130gr Nosler Partition at about 3300fps. She continued to run for another 75yds or so and didn't even appear to be hit. So, is the Nosler ineffective? I don't think so.
Most hunters do not have controlled conditions for fair comparisons. Bigngreen does have the experience and his advice is worthy of consideration.
Bill

This wouldn't surprise me at all, a lighter fast partition at close range will often shed the front half leaving a solid to continue on through. I hit a deer at close range with a light partition out of a 264 Win at warp speed and it looked like bullet failure on the shoulder. The nose opened fast and came apart but the rest of the partition continued through. Not ideal conditions but dead deer none the less.

You just need to know your bullet and its characteristics and apply it the best you can, most appropriate bullets will get the job done.

I've killed many animals with Nosler B-Tips with great results including Africa just put them where they belong and if your not comfortable just pick another bullet.

I cull a lot of deer at long range and my criteria for a bullet is adequate performance with superior accuracy. But hell what works great for me might be considered a poor choice for someone else.

 

[wboggs]

Where is the shock effect of a bullet traveling 3300fps? The lungs were destroyed and bloodshot.

 

[swampshooter]

I've had bullet deflection problems using 160 gr. AccuBond bullets three times in a row on elk. Last year I hit an elk running at about 50 yds. It was a terrible shot as I hit the elk in the paunch, but the bullet turned 90* and penetrated up through the liver and into a lung. I wouldn't have taken the shot but follow up shots would have been possible. The previous elk were shot broadside at a little over 300 yds. Hit right behind the front leg the bullets were recovered in the opposite ham., having turned almost 90*. Loaded to 2950 fps out of a 7 RM. I'm done with the plastic tipped bullets, probably going back to a 30/06 with 180 NP. If I try the 7 mag again it will be with 175 NP.

 

[wboggs]

All these long spire point bullets have a reputation for deflection. The African hunters have noted it for years and several members with extensive culling experience have mentioned it. The current rage is long distance shooting with emphasis on a high BC bullet. Expect more reports as these bullets are used in the real world of hunting. Target shooting is another game.
Bill

 

[Changeling]

Bill that was really well said. I do believe that high BC bullets can be designed to go straight through "better", they are just not there yet.
My first High Power rifle was 270 Winchester, it was a wonderful flat shooting rifle. My choice was based on a well known author of hunting books and articles in magazines.
At the time I was 18 and had never owned anything but a single shot Stevens .22, single barrel 16 gauge shotgun, and a double barrel 12 Parker shotgun. I had killed many, many squirrels/turkeys/varments to the point that I actually wore out the barrel on the .22, even the action was leaking!

With the 270 I listened to current wisdom and used 130 gr Sierra boat tails ( I was not a target shooter) that were considered the fail-safe bullet of extraordinary properties!
It didn't take very long for me to find that those Sierras shed there jacket fairly often on deer and left me (with dog) some long tracking jobs that sometimes lasted overnight!

Jumping ahead in time, I shot out that barrel and replaced it with a 6mm AI with some very high velocities and Nosler Partition bullets. Never had any more tracking problems except for 1 deer that jumped in the Potomac River and sunk!

There are a multitude of reasons why I only use Partition bullets to this day, the main one being they usually give me complete pass through, little to no tracking unless I screw up, then I have a good blood trail. Not bad for almost 200 deer.
By the way, many of these deer were in the 150 to 200+ lb dressed weight.

 

[wboggs]

In my hands, Sierra boattails have frequently shed their jackets, worse than the flat base. They tend to squirt the core forward. In the old days, Rem CL and Nosler Partitions were the best form me in the .270. I didn't shoot it much since I also had a 30-06 with a wonderful selection of bullets. The new partitions are much more accurate than the old lathe turned ones and the .270 gives up very little to the modern hotshots. Good hunting
Bill

 

[swampshooter]

I've been having problems with 160 NAB deflecting when I've shot elk with my 7RM. Last year bullet deflected 90* and no bone was struck. I'm changing rifles and bullets this year. I think it has something to do with the twist not stabilizing the bullet after impact. This year I'm using a 30/06AI with 180NP or 200NP. I don't really need to know the cause, as long as I solve the problem by changing caliber and bullet.

 

[wboggs]

I've taken several elk with both the 180 and 200NP in the .300WM. Very effective 25-350yds.
Bill

 

[swampshooter]

I've taken a couple of bull elk with the 180 NP out of a 300 WM. No problems. I'm quite a bit older now and looking to get by with less recoil than the 300 WM. I think that the 30/06AI will do fine. No more plastic tipped bullets for me though.

 

[wboggs]

Just drop you range down a bit and you can't tell the difference. Same bullet traveling a little slower. Used an AI 06 for about 10 years on deer. Only lost one of about 100 and that was a really poor shot.

 

[nosualc]

By no means an exhaustive study, but I just returned from an Alaska moose hunt (my first trip to AK; amazing is an understatement).

I shot a very large 64" moose with a Barnes 175gr LRX at 3350 fps (.300 Jarrett) from approximately 300 yards.

The first shot was broadside, just behind the front shoulder and passed through with about a 1" exit hole through a rib on the opposite side. The moose barely flinched.

My guide yelled "keep shooting!". I agreed.

The second shot was also broadside just a little further back than the first. It also passed through the opposite side with a 1" exit hole. The moose flinched a little more this time and turned to face us.

The third shot went through his left front shoulder, and the moose fell over dead in slow motion. We found this bullet on the opposite rear quarter. It passed through approximately 5 feet of moose, and weighed 120gr.

I am quite sure that the first bullet killed the moose, he was just taking his sweet time dying. The 2nd and 3rd shots were merely insurance shots.

I settled on this bullet as it shot very well out to 600 yards with quick and easy load development.

FWIW, my buddy shot a similarly sized moose with a 6.5x284 at a similar distance with 2 Nosler Partitions and a Berger hunting VLD. His moose behaved almost exactly as mine and immediately collapsed on the third shot (VLD) to the chest. AFAIK, none of his bullets exited.

In both cases I think good shot placement was the key and the rest academic, although I was very impressed by the seemingly straight line penetration of the Barnes through all that meat and bone.


-nosualc

 

[swampshooter]

That's what I'm looking for. I think that I will try the Barnes in my 30/06AI this year for elk.. I already have some 168 gr. Barnes TSX.

 

[wboggs]

Very nice moose. You are lucky he didn't go in a lake with those lung shots. Placement is the first, second, and third most important things.

 

[Rustystud]

Don't have a picture of an Elk shot with a Barnes bullet. Here is a large whitetail and the Barnes dropped it in it's tracks.

Shot with a 308 Win, 150 Tipped Triple Shock, over 45. grains of Varget, running 2875 fps.

 

[Trapper243]

Beautiful buck. One of these days I am going to need to go east and hunt them for myself.

 

[Trapper243]

Almost forgot, the Moose is quite impressive also. .

 

[oldhoward]

This is just an observation from 55+ years of hunting. For larger game I have had good luck with heavy for caliber bullets at moderate velocities. For lighter game, deer class, medium weight bullets at higher velocities work well with a good bullet provided it penetrates the shoulder. Lung shot with pass throughs and the deer will run. Different environmental conditions, heavy woods, open plains, .. require different approaches, bullet load combinations, to anchor the animal. I normally shoot a 300 WM with a 165 Nosler Partition at about 3000 fps with good results. This rifle doesn't like Barnes bullets, however other rifles seem to work just as well. For larger game I use 200 grain partitions at about 2500 fps and maybe a less in heaver cover. In general the only bullet that has failed me was Nosler BT's in deer calibers, that is 7mm, 30's, no blood trail deer just run off, your results will vary.

 

[MLC]

I started using the 120 TSX in 6.5x55 with a stout charge of H-414 after having a few negative experiences with the 120 Nosler ballistic tip.
All of the deer I've shot have been inside 200 yards.
The bullet has performed very well on lung/shoulder shots.
I recovered one that had continued through a doe into the ground and it looked like the promotional photos.
I realized that at the range I shot a 6.5 was overkill and switched to the 53/62 TSX in my 223AI.
Again, no shots over 200 yards.
They are very impressive on deer and easily punch through a shoulder/rib and the offside.
I have yet to recover a 223 TSX and have shot chunky 180+ pound deer with it.

 

[Coleridge]

I started using the 120 TSX in 6.5x55 with a stout charge of H-414 after having a few negative experiences with the 120 Nosler ballistic tip.

I would like to hear specifics on the "negatives" of the 120gr Nosler in the x55. Unless you just wasn't getting an exit, I couldn't imagine it not being *as good* as a 53grain 22cal bullet...

I realize a .22 centerfire kills deer just fine, I've been there done that.. I have also killed over 20 deer with the specific 120gr Nosler out of a 6.5x47L (should be very similar ballistics to the Sweede) and only one has traveled farther than -to the ground-

 

[MLC]

Sent you a PM as I don't want to sidetrack the discussion.