Barnes vs Hornady CX for precision

coleur

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I have used Barnes bullets for almost 30 years. I love their power of penetration but I always deplore their lack of precision. I have no doubt that the Hornady CX bullets have identical penetration but have you noticed greater precision than the Barnes?
 
Precision on target
What kind of groups are you trying to achieve or are getting?

Just curious as I’ve never had issues getting accuracy from many Barnes loads and rifles over the years. They’ve always been super easy to get an accurate load with. I usually just pick a load that produces the velocity I want with a powder I have or can get easily and load them up. I might not be as fussy with accuracy as some tho since I don’t have to shoot at game at any really long range.
 
What kind of groups are you trying to achieve or are getting?

Just curious as I’ve never had issues getting accuracy from many Barnes loads and rifles over the years. They’ve always been super easy to get an accurate load with. I usually just pick a load that produces the velocity I want with a powder I have or can get easily and load them up. I might not be as fussy with accuracy as some tho since I don’t have to shoot at game at any really long range.
When I develop a load for the target, I do not accept anything greater than 0.5 Moa. For a hunting bullet, I could tolerate 1.0 Moa but I am not satisfied with a result between 1 and 2 Moa or even more.
 
When I develop a load for the target, I do not accept anything greater than 0.5 Moa. For a hunting bullet, I could tolerate 1.0 Moa but I am not satisfied with a result between 1 and 2 Moa or even more.
Ah. Gotcha. Yeah I’m generally happy with 1.5 or smaller for hunting. I have no need for anything more accurate. I would guess that 75% of the loads I try are well under that. Pretty rarely have I ever had a Barnes load shoot worse than that.
 
Pretty much right at 1.5" for 6 to 8 shot groups with the 127gr LRX in 6.5 Creedmoor. I know people shooting them better but that's good enough for the girls I go out with

It would result in some great 3 round groups if I cherry picked! haha
 
A roll of masking tape for muh “called fliers” and a cherry picked 3-round group keep me a “ sub-MOA all day” shooter.
My ego will not settle for anything less.

Joking aside I have loaded many different tsx/ttsx bullets over the years and have found them easy to tune accurately, provided I started with a whistle clean barrel. This is a good thing as I wrestle with price of them and shudder when I have to shoot more than a few, and I feel raped at over a buck a bullet.

I have to say I was never satisfied with on game performance of monometals until I tried the Barnes black-tipped 30 cal Tac-tx. The generous cavity gives wicked expansion at 308 speeds, the four petals shear off causing extra tissue damage and the shank just keeps on trucking.
 
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I’m playing a lot right now with Barnes LRX and TTSX bullets in my 7 PRC and my 30-06 - accuracy is varying with different powders - seating depths etc just like with cup and core and Bonded bullets . Dont have any CX yet but I just loaded some GMX - so we will see 🤷🏼‍♂️😀 RJ
I'm doing the same thing right now with 7PRC and 168 LRX. This is the touchiest combo for seating depth I've ever seen. Looking like a 0.070" jump is the winner. I've got some 150 TTSX I may play with at some point too
 
I've always had good hunting accuracy (1 to 1.25moa 3 shot groups, or better) with Barnes TSX, TTSX & LRX bullets. I haven't tried a lot of Cx offerings, but the 6mm 90gr & 7mm 160gr both have shot very well for me, and a friend gets good results with the 7mm 150gr in his 7mm RM
 
Barnes TSX, TTSX, LRX are hunting bullets and I've never had a problem getting around MOA or better with them, which is more than adequate accuracy for any hunting application you may use a Barnes bullet in.

Even if your load is 1.5 MOA that is still in a kill zone of a deer at 500 yards. If you are shooting at animals past 500 yards you don't need a mono bullet.
 
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