New Barnes Grenade bullets

[sporty]

Has anyone had a chance to try the new Barnes Grenade bullets that come in 36 gr 22cal & 62 gr 243? I plan on trying them out with my 22-250AI & 243AI on prairie dogs in June. It appears this design will vaporize critters.

 

[chino1969]

Has anyone had a chance to try the new Barnes Grenade bullets that come in 36 gr 22cal & 62 gr 243? I plan on trying them out with my 22-250AI & 243AI on prairie dogs in June. It appears this design will vaporize critters.

I have been looking at them for the same reasons you are; loading them in a .22-250 A.I. or a .243 A.I.. Let us know if you use them how they perform. Based on what I have read and with the velocities either of those two calibers is capable of, they should blow up shortly after contact. Several years ago I was pushing the Hornady SX's in a regular .22-250 to the point of where they detonated when they connected with a groundhog. That combination literally turned the critter into a gelatenous mass of tissue, hide, blood, and internals. Sometimes they came apart before they hit the target; they were right on the edge. This bullet was actually designed for the .223.
Chino69

 

[sporty]

I will report back how they work. I have been impressed with the displays that I get with the v-max and Noslers. Are the Sierra Blitz bullets as volatile as the v-max and Noslers? I also use 80 gr Bergers in my 243AI. I have a switch barrel gun with a new 20BR barrel and will be tossing a 50 gr Berger out of it.I want to see the prairie dogs disappear when I touch the trigger. I don't think the Bergers will do the job of the other bullets that I mentioned. I hope the Grenade bullets will satisfy me. Comments?

 

[tripcrow]

I was thinking on these too. But the BC negates them for long range use. The 22 is only 149 & the 6MM is only 199. Things will drop like a rock.

 

[MrMister]

So what do you think the "max effective" ranges will be for the 223 and 243?

 

[sporty]

I will let you know what I find out when I try them out in June. I like to shoot at all ranges just for experience to see what certain loads and bullets will do. I do lots of shooting. I don't care about shot per kill percentages. It does look like they will be better for close range.

 

[tripcrow]

A BC of .14 with muzzle velocity of 3700fps at 400 yds. yields 3.73 ft. lbs of energy per grain. So that’s 134 ft. lbs of energy at 400 yds. with a 223. A regular 55g 223 is around 400 ft lbs at 400. I like 500+ ft. lbs. for a groundhog. So that limits the new bullet to less than 200yds. as compared to 350 or so with a good varmint bullet.

A BC of .19 with a muzzle velocity of 3600fps at 400yds. yields 6.43 ft. lbs of energy per grain. So that’s 398 ft. lbs of energy at 400yds. with a 243. A regular 75g 243 has 800+ ft. lbs at 400 yds. So the new bullets would cut down my 243 from 600+ yards to around 350yds. if I want 500 ft lbs.

Then there’s the big difference in wind drift that these things add on. My math ok?

 

[Savage99]

I shot the 62 gr version from my 243 this week with a reduced load. They grouped about as well as other bullets do. I see them as an effort by myself to try some non lead bullets.

Due to the large hollow point the BC is not all that high but up to 150 yds they should be ok.

 

[tripcrow]

Wonder why they didn't put a plastic tip on them to up the BC?

 

[Savage99]

These red metal bullets are new, again, and development is underway. I for one don't shoot X bullets but it's on the horizon.

 

[Bobs243Ackley]

I'm betting that these bullets will work like crazy for those of us that are shooting the Hornet & Bee class cartridges! They should also work well for the larger case .22's for use in short range applications and for the folks that want to "zap" them out there like a laser beam within the shorter ranges. I am waiting to get some of these bullets in to try them in my L-46 in .218 Bee. These should work great at one farm that I hunt woodchucks since the longest shot that is presented to me on the farm is no more than 225 yards. This should be perfect! I'll bet the 20 plus houses around this farm will appreciate the fact that if I would happen to miss, these bullets will simply come apart, if they even hear the report.

Cordially,
Bob Blaine

 

[zeke06]

Anybody see the video on barnes website. They show the VG bullet hiting a seedless grape at point blank with high speed camras. The bullet is compleatly desinagrated about 2 in. past the grape. Just check it out.

 

[smokin243]

I just saw the video, it is unreal. You guys need to check it out, they also have the barnes bullets with the plastic tip on them for better bc.

 

[x_semperfi]

A friend tested the expansion of the 22cal 36 gr varmint grenades against VMax bullets. He fired the bullets thru 2x4 spaced about 6 inches apart. The Barnes penetrates 2 2x4's before it starts,clean bullet hole) to expand, while the VMax expanded after penetrating the first 2x4. The Barnes varmint grenades were fired with a 221FB. Barnes seems to have good penetration but it doesn't expand as quickly as the VMAX.

 

[lbenson]

Tried the Barnes 36 grainers this past week on prairie poodles in my 223 rem 700.They shot every bit as well as my 40 grain Noslers.The majority of my shooting was out to 250 yards and an occasonal 300.When switching to the Barnes immediatly after shooting the Noslers I did not need to change any scope settings.However,the expansion factor was not there as is the Nosler.Blow ups and triple gainers where not there.I shot thru an empty 55 gallon drum and made a nice hole straight thru.Didn't try the Noslers so results may have been the same.I had 6 doubles with the Noslers and a triple with the Barnes.I think it's a good accurate bullet but not good enough to switch from the Noslers,maybe,if they were $3.00 a box cheaper.BTW,pushing both bullets around 3600 fps with RL-7.

 

[sporty]

I tried out the Grenades in both my 22-250AI and 243AI on prairie dogs. I had more wounds than the v-max and noslers. It seemed that if you did not have a direct center hit then the bullet would glance off and leave only a wound whereas with a v-max or nosler shot that just clipped the edge of the body would still blow up and instantly kill the dog with authority. I was not happy to see that all my wounded shots were from the Grenades. I shot about 550 prairie dogs and about 30 - 40 were with Grenades of those were the 8-10 wounded ones. Out to 150 yards they worked great. The 243 was better than the 22 but will not use them for prairie dogs again. I will try them in my 22 Hornet & 223.

 

[chino1969]

I tried out the Grenades in both my 22-250AI and 243AI on prairie dogs. I had more wounds than the v-max and noslers. It seemed that if you did not have a direct center hit then the bullet would glance off and leave only a wound whereas with a v-max or nosler shot that just clipped the edge of the body would still blow up and instantly kill the dog with authority. I was not happy to see that all my wounded shots were from the Grenades. I shot about 550 prairie dogs and about 30 - 40 were with Grenades of those were the 8-10 wounded ones. Out to 150 yards they worked great. The 243 was better than the 22 but will not use them for prairie dogs again. I will try them in my 22 Hornet & 223.

Thank you; that's the feedback I was looking for!
Chino69

 

[chino1969]

I went to the range on friday to try the 62 grn. Barnes Varmint Grenades in my 6mm BR. I've already developed a pet load with 65 grn. Hornady V-Maxes with 34.5 grn. Varget and a CCI Small Rifle Mag primer. I loaded on either side of 34.5 grn. using the Barnes bullet and couldn't hit a piece of 36" long X 18" wide paper when aiming in the middle. I then sighted 1" up from the bottom of the paper with no impact and 1" down from the top with no impact. All 18 rds. were fired and no holes on paper at 100 meters. I can't quite figure out what is going on as the 65 grn. V-Maxes will cluster into a one hole group at 100 & 200 meters. There is nothing wrong with the rifle, bedding, scope, trigger, etc. as this rifle will shoot 65 grn. V-Maxes, 68 grn. Fowlers, and other bullets consistently. The only thing that I can think might be happening is that they are coming apart before they even get downrange but they are advertised as being high velocity. The 65 grn. V-Maxes with 34.5 grn. of Varget chrono at 3400 ft/s. and the Barnes should be somewhere in that velocity range.
Chino69

 

[Craiger5658]

Just tried the 26 gr 20 caliber Grenades out of my Savage LRPV in .204 Ruger. Fastest load was 32 grains of BLC-2 at right around 4300 fps,about 300 fps faster than my reloads with the Sierra's). Worked extremely well on close in digger squirrels,under 50 yards), but at longer ranges we didn't see the same results we get with 32 gr Sierra BK's. Maybe it has something to do with body mass/size. We also shot the same bullets,plus some 30 gr Berger's) into two copies of the yearly Midway catalog,taped together) and the Seirra's/Berger's bored some large holes through the first catalog and then lodged in the cover of the 2nd. The Grenade went completely into the 2nd catalog, but never really seemed to open up much or cause the same amount of "damage",I know, hardly a scientific experiment and I totally forgot to take pictures too!).

So, in our informal testing, we concluded for a .204 Ruger the best light weight bullet for shooting small varmints,diggers)was the 32 gr BlitzKing. Extremely impressive results at all ranges!

In order of preference of 32 gr bullets: Sierra BlitzKing, Hornady V-Max, Nosler Ballistic Tip, Barnes Varmint Grenade, and then Berger.

 

[CatShooter]

"... in my L-46 in .218 Bee.

Cordially, Bob Blaine

Now THAT has me drooling,I have a weakness for classy .218 Bees)




.