speed vs expansion
- Thread starter daniellybbert
- Start date
I'm not sure at those vel. levels but , I have picked both types of Barnes bullets out of the sand bank at the range and some showed absolutely no expansion...Ithink you could load them and use them again....I think it may depend on the orientation of the hollow point when it strikes...if it strikes at an angle that hollow may close...just a guess....I know one of the found bullets was from a .338 Win. Mag. and still weighed 225 grs....Barnes should advertise them as reusable, I bet they'd sell!!
Republic of Alberta
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- ,location, location
The bullets need something like a liquid to enter the hollow point and hydrolicly open up the nose. Put some grease in the hollow point then fire them into the sand I bet they open up every time, just like they do on game. I have wondered how these bullets do on head (brain) shots where bone is struck first.
- Location
- Hillbilly shack in the boonies
Fast close up , max expansion, Slow far away less expansion 
I always wonderd why Barnes put the wet hide on the ballistics gel in there promo video, if there was no expansion problem the tsx would not have been made or the mrx. And problem is probably too stong of a word but it does seem that if the barnes bullet does fail it's usually lack of expansion.
It's almost a throw back to the perenial handgun hunting argument of Kieth vs. HP type bullets. HP's when they work are fine but they do fail every once in a while. I bet that is one of the reasons the mrx has a plastic tip along with a better bc.
It's almost a throw back to the perenial handgun hunting argument of Kieth vs. HP type bullets. HP's when they work are fine but they do fail every once in a while. I bet that is one of the reasons the mrx has a plastic tip along with a better bc.
I've shot animals with a 168 tsx several times now - big as moose and small as sitka. They're coming out at about 2850, so impacts were from about 2750 to about 2100.
Both opened and expanded exceptionally well. The slower long range shot was actually recovered - excellent petal, and the mess it made inside the chest cavity was exceptional. Bone was hit admittedly.
The closer shots (short as 30 yards, long as just over 100) shots opened up whether bone was hit or not.
I talked at length a couple times with a tech at barnes - he said barnes will perform very well between 3000 and 1800 fps. More than 3000 and you could start losing petals, tho it'll likely still do a number on the innards.
Both opened and expanded exceptionally well. The slower long range shot was actually recovered - excellent petal, and the mess it made inside the chest cavity was exceptional. Bone was hit admittedly.
The closer shots (short as 30 yards, long as just over 100) shots opened up whether bone was hit or not.
I talked at length a couple times with a tech at barnes - he said barnes will perform very well between 3000 and 1800 fps. More than 3000 and you could start losing petals, tho it'll likely still do a number on the innards.
I think alot of bullet failures are guys not understanding the performance envelope of the bullet they have selected.
There have been reports of caliber sized exit holes while using barnes bullets. Now some where with the old x bullet which did seem to have a problem. But then you hear the odd story I hit it with a X mag at 50 yards with this high impact velocity and still got a small exit wound. They almost always seem to attribute that small exit wound to non expansion and not petal loss.
Same sort of issue happened with nosler BT's push them past 2900 and they turn into a varmint bullet. Impacts velocities under that and they work fine.
There have been reports of caliber sized exit holes while using barnes bullets. Now some where with the old x bullet which did seem to have a problem. But then you hear the odd story I hit it with a X mag at 50 yards with this high impact velocity and still got a small exit wound. They almost always seem to attribute that small exit wound to non expansion and not petal loss.
Same sort of issue happened with nosler BT's push them past 2900 and they turn into a varmint bullet. Impacts velocities under that and they work fine.
