Barnes Banded Solids

crazy_davey

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Has anyone tried or played around with Barnes Banded solids? I am intersted in hearing your opinions and experiances with these. Looking at the .375 300g and the .458 450g.

Thanks!
 
I haven't tried any of the new banded solids, but I did try some of the older non-banded solids in my .416. Because the bullet is monolithic, it tends to be longer than a lead core solid. For this reason, in the case of the .375 anyway, the lighter 270 gr solid might be the better choice due to it's shorter length. Unlike soft points, the longer the solid, the greater the likelihood that it can be turned off coarse during penetration. I have a number of 286 gr mono solids made by PMP, which are short enough to penetrate in a straight line. Virtually no penetration is given up to the lighter weight solid due to the higher velocity of the lighter bullet.

By the way, I discovered that short range practice on steel plates with these things is a bad idea. The bullets are brittle, and when they hit the plate they shatter leaving numerous small wounds upon one's person.
 
By the way, I discovered that short range practice on steel plates with these things is a bad idea. The bullets are brittle, and when they hit the plate they shatter leaving numerous small wounds upon one's person.

I think I might just keep that in mind :eek:
 
My experience is limited to shooting paper with 400 grain banded solids in my .416 Rigby.For what its worth they shoot into the same group as the 400 TSX with the same RL22 load.
I don't really expect to use them, but some PHs want the magazine full of solids when buffalo hunting. It might be prudent to at least have solids along when hunting in an elephant area. As exotic (and unlikely) as that use might be, the most likely use I'll put them to is swatting a duiker or steinbuck without mangling it any more than necessary.
Dogleg
 
Thanks guys! I am going to pick up a few boxes and do some testing myself just for sh!ts and giggles.

Boomer, thanks for the PM and the great info you sent my way. Your experiance was what I was looking for.
 
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