What Brand & Weight Bullet?

[BarnesX.308]

Whether you handload or buy factory loads, what brand bullets and what weights are you shooting? Any particular reason? Price, accuracy, trajectory, knock-down power?

All interesting points to discuss.

For all my 30 calibers from 308 Win to 300 Weatherby, I use a 150 grain X bullet. Specifically the XXX since they came out. Reason is that they are accurate out of my gun, expand nicely, hold 99% weight retention and penetrate anything. If I was hunting bear only, I would use the same bullet in 180gr. Since I'm doing all my bear and deer together this year, the 150gr X bullet will do both. With the excellent penetration and weight retention, I feel I can get by with less weight than I could with a lead bullet.

[Eastern Shore Slayer]

remington corelokt(or something like that)

150gr in 270
170gr in 3030

always have, good and cheap never hit a deer and lost it
why fix it if it aint broke

[BarnesX.308]

Yep. Corelokt. Yellow and green box. Very accurate for as inexpensive as they are.

[Pagrizz]

In my 308 and 06 I use a 165 gr boattail .I get the speeds of the 150's , but I get close to the knock down power of the 180's. In my 300's I have load's for them with the 180 gr nosler part.I have shot the x bullets and have found them to shoot very good groups and expands great on the game I have used them on, but I have shot them out of the same guns as my lead bullets and the X bullets do not shoot as flat. Has anyone else found this out?

[BarnesX.308]

I have shot them out of the same guns as my lead bullets and the X bullets do not shoot as flat. Has anyone else found this out?

Are you loading them to the same velocities? The first X bullet you couldn't because they caused more pressure. The newer Triple Xs do not have this problem and I can get my 300 Wby to shoot the 150grs to 3456fps.

The X bullets don't have quite as good a balistic coefficient (more drag) than some of the really pointy bullets (like Ballistic Tips). They would probably show more drop when you get out to the 300+ yard mark.

[maine_sport]

For my Browning .308 WIN Model 91 BLR:

Deer = Federal Premium 150 GRAIN NOSLER BALLISTIC TIP (P308F)

Moose = Federal Premium 180 GRAIN NOSLER Partition (P308G)

[Pagrizz]

Are you loading them to the same velocities? The first X bullet you couldn't because they caused more pressure. The newer Triple Xs do not have this problem and I can get my 300 Wby to shoot the 150grs to 3456fps.

The X bullets don't have quite as good a balistic coefficient (more drag) than some of the really pointy bullets (like Ballistic Tips). They would probably show more drop when you get out to the 300+ yard mark.
I shot 140gr sierra bt and 140 triple x with the same load at two hundred yards in my 280.I had about the same group, but the x bullets were five inches lower.In my 300 ultra mag I shot 180's at 300 yards. the x bullets had a better group , but they were four inches lower.I shot these a couple of times to see if I got the same results and I did.The other 30 cal bullets were nosler accubonds.

[BarnesX.308]

5 inches lower seems like a lot. I would have thought more like a 1-2 inch difference at 300 yards. I could be wrong, though. I don't do too much long range shooting. Best bet would be to compare the ballistic tables in each bullet's reloading manual. See if that kind of difference in drop is normal.

[Makoman]

I put my 30.06 away several years ago and switched to a .243 for PA deer hunting. Have never lost a buck. I reload with the Barnes 85 grain XLC bullet over 46 grains of 4350. Good accuracy and excellent performance on game. I like the .243 because you can shoot it all day at the range and not come home with a sore shoulder. Couldn't do that with the 06.

[BarnesX.308]

Makoman - if you like the XLC (blue coated, right?), you'll love the new TSX - triple shocks.

[Pagrizz]

5 inches lower seems like a lot. I would have thought more like a 1-2 inch difference at 300 yards. I could be wrong, though. I don't do too much long range shooting. Best bet would be to compare the ballistic tables in each bullet's reloading manual. See if that kind of difference in drop is normal.
i thought it was a lot to, but i tried it a few more times and they were all very close.i do alot of long distance shooting.i shoot out to 500 meters with the 300 ultra.the x bullets seem to group as good if not better than the accubond . They just do not seem to fly as flat.

[BarnesX.308]

Well, you could just hold over more. They bucking the wind as good or worse?

[Pagrizz]

5 inches lower seems like a lot. I would have thought more like a 1-2 inch difference at 300 yards. I could be wrong, though. I don't do too much long range shooting. Best bet would be to compare the ballistic tables in each bullet's reloading manual. See if that kind of difference in drop is normal.
I have tried the same loads a few other times and have had the same results. I showed Ty from Barnes my targets the last time I saw him and he said the same thing you did, but they do it every time out of my guns.

[HUNTIN-NUT]

I used to reload allot but recently have not had the time for either reloading or shooting much. When reloading I used Nosler Partition and B-tip, Sierra Game Kings, Barnes Triple Shocks with great success. I have recently for factory ammo on deer size game gone with the Federal Fusion primarily due to the price being right but also because over about 6 different calibers it was the most accurate factory ammo I tested shooting sub moa in all my guns. I shot a couple whitetail out of state last year with that ammo and it performed flawlessly,

[BarnesX.308]

A box of factory ammo for my 300 Weatherby ranges from $57 for the cheap stuff up to around $75 for the premium stuff. I HAVE to handload. :D

[WoodsHunter]

Hey Barnes X .308,
Where do you shoot ? ? What range, N.J., Pa. ? ?
Ron
http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/12/12_1_201.gif (http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=_undefined)





http://www.smileycentral.com/sig.jsp?pc=[object Object]&pp=ZSYYYYYYMNUS (http://smiley.smileycentral.com/download/index.jhtml?partner=ZSzeb097_ZSYYYYYYMNUS&utm_id=7925)

[BarnesX.308]

Don't belong to a range. We have a bench set up in a big field. The back stop is a huge pile of sawdust.

http://www.myfishpix.com/gallery/data/500/Keg_Can_Pre_Shoot.jpg

[BuckHammer43]

I tip-toed through the Barnes and Nosler web sites and may have found the answer to the greater drop of the 3X's.

Barnes 150 / B.C .369 // 168 / B.C. .404
Accubond 150 / B.C. .435 // 165 / B.C. .475

With those numbers, it’s reasonable to have greater drop with the 3X of the same weight – but they can be loaded 150-200 fps faster than the Accubonds, which will help with the drop. The Accubonds have some awesome B.C.'s, but any deer shot with any of the four will not be able to tell what killed him/her. Also, because of the construction of the 3X, you can drop down a weight and have similar killing power [3X 150 vs Accubond 165] with resultant higher muzzle velocit/flatter trajectory.


I love this stuff!

[RUSS0079]

I will have to agree with BuckHammer. The TSX can take down larger game with less weight in the bullet. The weight retention I found on recovered rounds from game was 100%. A solid Spine shot on a Greater Kudo, shoulder shot thru a Gemsbuck and a shoulder shot on a Blue Wildebeast. All 100% weight retention. I shot 180 grn bullets, when all the other manufactures were screaming go to 200 and 220. Only problem with some of the TSX's especially if you reload the 150 grn in a .270 Win, you can't take advantage of the lessened pressure, because the bullet is too long and it compresses the powder.

Sorry, when it hits a deer it blows through. I guess if you shot it with a texas heart shot you may find it, but I doubt it. TSX is the best bullet so far and you wouldn't believe the accuracy. Oh, you have to clean that barrel with copper solvent really good, till there aren't any signs of copper. If not your groups will widen...

Check out the Barnes web site. They have some cool slow motion footage of the TSX hitting ballistic gelatin....

[BarnesX.308]

Sorry, when it hits a deer it blows through

True, but field dressing and butchering will tell you all you need to know. ;)

The copper fouling on the new TSX bullets aren't bad at all.

[BuckHammer43]

Pagrizz / BarnesX.308

I did some further research. Most of the 5 inch drop is most likely due to sighting in the TSX. [They don't all shoot to the same zero.]

For comparison with the 150s in the ’06, the difference looks like this, when sighted at 200:
..............100...200...300....400....500
Barnes.___1.6__0.0__-7.2_-21.4_-43.9
Accubond_1.5__0.0__-6.8_-20.0_-40.5

Resight for the TSX and get these results. I doubt you'll miss with 1.4" difference at 400 yards.

Scott - In Jersey, your 'range' would be 18 McMansions, which explains why I can't get a range with a 200 yard butt.

[BarnesX.308]

Scott - In Jersey, your 'range' would be 18 McMansions

There is only one traffic light in all of Sullivan County. It's in the middle of Dushore. Not too many McMansions. Just woods, swamps, woods, swamps and more woods. ;)

[BuckHammer43]

BarnesX.308

Sounds like the place to be if you're a rifle hunter with time on your hands.

When I lived in Perry, we had no parking meters, one blinker light and two elevators [one in a condemed building]. Left there in '78.

[Barrell]

I use the best deer bullet on the planet earth. 165 grain Sieara hpbt in 308Max load of Vitoroy n140 gives me the tightest groups. I use only the one bullet because deer sit down and roll over on there backs like a puppy wanting its belly rubbed. Havent tried any Barnes but to be fair Ill pick some up and see how they group out of my stainless model7.

[MattG]

I used those sierra's for years, shot many deer with them in just 100 grains out of a .257 Roberts and never lost one. I also loaded the nosler partition with good success out of that gun. The only bullet i've ever seen problems with were the ballistic tips at close range, had one blow up on a deers shoulder at 15 yards, just too much energy/velocity for those bullets to hold up at such close range. No time to re-load these days so my Dad customized a Rem in 7mm for me that shoots factory loads better than any of my other guns ever shot any of my handloads. I'm shooting the Rem Core-lokts ultras the jacket is bonded to the core, at 140 grs in Rem's loaded down managed recoil loads which leave the barrel at about 2750 fps and the bullet is designed for reliable expansion and weight retention at that velocity. I'm shooting sub inch groups at 100 yards and I get plenty of penetration and expansion as all the deer I've shot in the past 6 years that expired before they knew what hit em would attest to. The key is, downloaded, I can shoot the 7mm as accurately as my trusty ole .257 as the kick is just as manageable. Accuracy/shootability is way more important than velocity/bullet grain/and weight retention if you ask me. If you can't hit em..right, it don't matter what you're throwing at em.

[Barrell]

The Sierra 140g hpbt in 270 and the 165g hpbt in 308 where designed from the ground up for deer hunting. The 140g in the 270 is even more impressive then the 308 hollowpoint. The caliber I have struggled to find the right bullet for is the 6mm. Ive shot a few does with different bullets and they all turned into long tracking jobs with little blood. The Nosler balistic tip was the worst exploding on the deers shoulder. Does anybody have a proven bullet in mind for the 243/6mm?

[MattG]

Yeah barrel, I will never shoot a ballistic tip at game again after that fiasco..tracked that buck..and it was a good one for miles, over 2 days...to no avail just didn't penetrate thru the shoulder, it blew apart. I did shoot a buck once with my dad's model 88 .308 loaded with those Sierra 165gr hpbr's, it was running good and I hit him a little back, got the liver...they usually go a ways when you get the liver..not this deer, dropped within 30 yards. I couldn't beleive the size of the hole that bullet made while dressing that deer. I've put many 100 grain Sierra btspitzers thru deer's shoulders out of my .257 didn't always get complete pass thrus but would find the remains of the bullet in the deers hide on the other side upon skinning...that's pretty good penetration for a 100 gr at 2850 thru all that bone..plus those deer all dropped right in their tracks. Might want to try those out of the .243 in 90 gr or the partition or some of the more expensive, newest bonded bullets i'm sure you'd get great penetration with, i just worry about adequate expansion at "normal" velocities with them?

[BarnesX.308]

In the voice of Quint, from Jaws:

"You all know who I am.....what I shoot" :D:D


I use 150gr for our 30 caliber rifles,140gr for the 7mm and 100gr for the 25s in the Barnes TSX. This is mostly for deer. If I was going for only bear, maybe the 180gr TSX.

[Rickhem]

Does anybody have a proven bullet in mind for the 243/6mm?

While I can not relate any personal experience with it on game, the Sierra 85 grain HPBT bullet shot some very, very tight groups for me with a box-stock Winchester Coyote in .243 Winchester. I've read a lot of good reports on that bullet's performance on game, but all I've ever shot with it is paper and some steel silhouettes.

[IMR]

I use Sierra 2125-150 gr. SPBT with 4064 in a Pre64 M-70 308. Very sonsistent in that arm. And the Nosler 130 gr. BT in a Pre64 M70 270. In the 270 I'm using 4831SC modest 55.7 gr. Took a while but the best and most consistent recipe in this is with either Fed or Win cases and Win std primer. Rem cases just would not do it.

PS: anyone try or own the 338 Federal ? I'm thinking of getting a TIKKA.

[BuckHammer43]

barrel

My 6mm groups the Sierra 100-gr into 1/2 - 3/4 of an inch and makes the cutest mushrooms under the off side skin that I don't intend to change at this stage of my life.

I loved the looks of that Sierra 85 BTHP, but it would not group in my barrel.

[Barrell]

barrel

My 6mm groups the Sierra 100-gr into 1/2 - 3/4 of an inch and makes the cutest mushrooms under the off side skin that I don't intend to change at this stage of my life.

I loved the looks of that Sierra 85 BTHP, but it would not group in my ballel.
Whats the powder and load you use with it?

[BuckHammer43]

Barrel

41/4350 worked well in my 721 with the Sierra 100 gr.

42/4350 for the 85 gr BTHP.