Barnes = Copper Fouling ?

Pathfinder

Pathfinder

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Ive had two people here local that tell me that they wont use Barnes bullets because

a) they are hard/bad for their barrel
b) because of the copper fouling

What is the deal, was this ever a problem (fouling) ?

I was gonna call BS but didnt have all the info

:bsFlag:
 
Maybe the old Barnes, not the TSX...

Even if they fouled badly I woudl still use TSX bullets because they are so accurate and kill so well. I rarley even bother cleaning the barrel, anyway:p
 
Copper fouling was a problem with the original X Bullets. The rings cut in the TSX bullets seemed to have solved the problem with the original design. The only Barnes bullets that I have shot have been the TSX line, and they don't seem to foul worse than any other bullet. My observations have been like Gathouse's... the TSX bullets kill well and are accurate.
 
^X2

If you have a decently smooth bore copper fouling shouldn't be an issue TSX's. My Winchester .280 featherweight had a rough bore from the day it left the factory and it will pick up copper no matter what bullet you feed it. I really need to get around to fire lapping it!!
 
I have shot lots of Barnes over the years from their "originals" to Tsx and had no problem with excess barrel wear or fouling...use a good copper solvent and it will melt like butter any copper fouling in you bore.. Hoppe's and shooters choice are just a couple of makers of copper solvent
Jim W
 
If you go to Barnes website you can see clearly they say to remove all traces of old copper fouling before switching to barnes bullets.
See Barnes bullets are actually a bit softer copper alloy then convetional bullets, therefore left over copper from the harder copper alloys will strip the softer Barnes copper and excellerate the fouling.
read before you leap.
 
Pathfinder said:
Ive had two people here local that tell me that they wont use Barnes bullets because

a) they are hard/bad for their barrel
b) because of the copper fouling

What is the deal, was this ever a problem (fouling) ?

I was gonna call BS but didnt have all the info

:bsFlag:
Click to expand...


a) they are hard/bad for their barrel
- I never heard this one before.

b) because of the copper fouling
- They foul less in my rifles than accubonds
 
Lefty #### said:
If you go to Barnes website you can see clearly they say to remove all traces of old copper fouling before switching to barnes bullets.
See Barnes bullets are actually a bit softer copper alloy then convetional bullets, therefore left over copper from the harder copper alloys will strip the softer Barnes copper and excellerate the fouling.
read before you leap.
Click to expand...
\\

I have found this to be true, start with a super clean barrel and TSX's work great on both game and barrels.
 
In three of my rifles, firing the original Barnes X bullets, I had serious copper fouling problems. One of them only took NINE ROUNDS before accuracy started to go south in a large way.

As Jim Webster mentioned, you do need to become acquainted with copper solvent if you use these bullets.

The only deer I ever shot with a Barnes X bullet (from a .280 Rem) dropped like it had been struck with the hammer of Thor. EXTREMELY impressive!

I have not loaded or shot the TSX bullets yet, but I have some to try out.

Doug
 
+1 on what Doug said. My 270 does great with them, my 7mm-08 got shotgun patterns and a bore that just about had no rifling left to see after 20 rounds or so. And this is a rifle that will shoot into 1/2" with Hornady 139 gr bullets all day long. Everything else just kind of falls between these extremes. Barnes has certainly done a lot of work on reducing the fouling, and the coated bullets and TSX bullets are two prime examples of this. - dan
 
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If you can, get the Barnes dvd "Bullet Myths Busted" from their website. It is very informative, and visually disproves the Myths commonly associated with Barnes Bullets. Copper fouling can happen with all jacketed bullets, after all thats whats in contact with the lands and grooves. Even for the one on Barnes bullet length, TSX of the same weight are no longer than Accubonds,Scirocco, Interbond, etc. Reasearch and education, the more....the better
 
back to .338 Lapua.........

If you think that copper fouling with Barnes X bullets is a myth, and you wish to accept the Barnes Company's own testimonials as proof, that's fine by me.

But my own PERSONAL experience, with hundreds of rifles and thousands of bullets, has given me conclusions that Barnes might not like. :cool:

Doug
 
I have shot hundreds of TSX through at least 20 different rifles and found no more copper fouling in those bores than I do with jacketed bullets--partitions, accubonds, or hornady RN.

YMMV of course, and it could be that your friend's bore just doesn't like them.

I do recommend you try them yourself before making up your mind: they are an excellent bullet for accuracy and performance on game.
 
Barnes has all the answers to your questions on their web sight . I have founf they have the best custumer service going . Even when you call the 1--800 - number a person answers and talks to you , and they even know what their talking about .
 
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