Older Barnes X bullets

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Hirsch_Creek

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So I found these for 90%(not a typo) off reg price at a little store that's closing down in my town. Great find. I literally paid 5.99 for the box. Too bad that was the only one I thought. I knew they were a bit older judging by the dust on the box but price wise I didn't care. Now, after opening and inspecting first thing I realized was no cannalure on these bullets. Did some research and to my dismay the cannalure apparently helps with recoil issues and maybe accuracy. My intent is to load these into my bolt action 30-06 for hunting, but now I'm not so sure...don't want to waste precious Varget on outdated bullets that won't give me good groups. Apparently these don't compare to Tsx/TTsx because Barnes bullet technology has come a long way. Any of you experienced loaders have any suggestions if I should bother loading these for hunting? Has anyone used them? If so did you bother with crimping?

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Thanks in advance for everyone's help.
 
Original X bullets either worked in your gun or didn't. Accuravy was great or poor. Often seating depth was the answer or culprit.

They might foul your bore more and pressures may be higher. Seat them .050 off the lands if you can, and work up.

Aim for bone. These suckers penetrate.
 
If you try to crimp a bullet that does not have a cannelure, you will get a bulging case mouth that will most likely fail to load into the chamber.
 
wanos said:
If you try to crimp a bullet that does not have a cannelure, you will get a bulging case mouth that will most likely fail to load into the chamber.
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I don't crimp anything for a bolt action but I've crimped lots of bullets without a cannelure using a Lee factory crimp die without bulging the case mouth.
 
I had a bunch back in the day and in the 4 rifles I tried them in they all shot very well. Give them a chance. Because of their resistance in the rifling it is imperative to seat those old X bullets at least .030 off the lands. Make up a dummy round and seat to contact then go for the final push. Do not go for maximum loads published for other bullets. Get some data specifically for pure copper bullets. As far as the performance on game they are legendary. They had an ad showing expansion in a half inch thick slab of bacon. I have many perfectly expanded old style X bullets in my collection! I have never heard of a genuine failure with these. They are almost invincible on tough game.
 
Gatehouse said:
Original X bullets either worked in your gun or didn't. Accuravy was great or poor. Often seating depth was the answer or culprit.

They might foul your bore more and pressures may be higher. Seat them .050 off the lands if you can, and work up.

Aim for bone. These suckers penetrate.
Click to expand...

What he said.

I used them until the TSX came out in a 30-06. I used H4350, worked up and also had them .050 off the lands. They were sensitive to seating depth, the TSX much less so, if they shoot for you you have just bought some of the deepest penetrating bullets ever made for $5.99.

A note, those were somewhat sensitive to copper fouling in your barrel as well. With your load development, start with a nice clean barrel.
 
i had bullet failure to expand on the very first X bullets that came out.I talked to Randy Barnes and he admitted they had had some problems with uneven copper hardness, but it has been sorted out long since.Had this on a big horn ewe,a WT buck and a MB.No blood trail,pencil sized entry and exit and animals getting well over 100 yards before expiring.I recovered one that went lengthwise through a large MB and never expanded.Harold
 
Barnes X, I would use them but for target only, EXPANSION on game would be my concern. Why did Barnes quit making them???
Just my opinion, a hunter pays all that money for equipment and travel to hunt so why not use handloads you are confident in.
Enjoy
 
I wouldn't bother developing a load for one box. I had poor results with the original x-bullets, with poor accuracy, and extreme fouling. They also built pressure early, and could not be driven as fast. The original x bullets also suffered from inconsistent expansion on game animals.
 
why on tagets only?. i use them in my 338 and 243 and 2 of my shooting buddies use them, well down to one now as he ran out, they use them in 300 win mags, and never once had a problem with expansion, only one guy had an issue with it in our hunting group, but that was with a 7mm rem mag that he used to shoot a grouse that made him crap his pants while bear hunting..
 
I got mine at the same place you did and for exactly the same price. My concern is all about their reputation for miserable fouling. As for performance on target-they are supposed to excellent
 
I found the 140 grain 6.5mm x bullet are almost the same exact length as the 160 grain bullet the Swedish mauser was designed around .
in other words it will fill the entire throat and can be seated right to the lands .
 
yodad 2 said:
I got mine at the same place you did and for exactly the same price. My concern is all about their reputation for miserable fouling. As for performance on target-they are supposed to excellent
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Interesting! good to see someone else here reaped some benefits from that great sale. Too bad it was closing down sale, loved dealing with the wakitas. I suppose barrel fouling is another main issue I haven't looked at yet. Question, would my older Barnes X's be any more likely to foul my bore than let's say newer TSX/TTSX bullets?
 
Hirsch_Creek said:
Interesting! good to see someone else here reaped some benefits from that great sale. Too bad it was closing down sale, loved dealing with the wakitas. I suppose barrel fouling is another main issue I haven't looked at yet. Question, would my older Barnes X's be any more likely to foul my bore than let's say newer TSX/TTSX bullets?
Click to expand...

I personally have no experience with the original X bullets, but I do know a few guys that swore Barnes off because of the lack of terminal performance. I do know that Barnes recognized there were issues with them and developed the TSX. The canalures reduce the bearing surface in contact with the barrel bore which in theory reduces fouling and recoil.

All that said, you paid $5.99 for them! That's like $0.12 per pill!

Enjoy!
 
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