Everything I read here tells me Barnes are made to hit bone, Bergers are for soft tissue.
Accubond is a good mix of both. I'm using 140 AB for Antelope and Elk this year. Elk only I would probably go 150+
Very well said!!! however I would like to add that an animal will still die even if the bullet doesnt expand much when hitting behind the shoulder might take a couple minutes but it WILL die soon. I have killed a lot of animals with Accubonds PT's and SMK's also so they all do it.Being an avid Barnes user, I do have some Bergers, Swift, Hornady & pretty much anything else...
The Barnes will never expand to the size of "more conventional" designs, i.e. Accubomb, PT, SST, Scirocco etc. Barnes weren't designed to do so. What they were designed to do is break bone & track straight. It is called the conservation of angular momentum. The larger the cross sectional area of the "mushroom" the more resistance the bullet encounters: the more resistance, the less penetration you will achieve. The increase in cross sectional area of the mushroom the larger the amount of rotational velocity required to retain appropriate gyroscopic stability to achieve a straight wound channel.
Think about the figure skaters you see during the olympic events. While spinning at obsene velocities (makes me dizzy just watching) the hands & arms of the skater are tucked tightly to the body, when they desire to stop they simply stick out their arms & leg.... voila! They stop VERY quickly.
No rotational velocity = no gyroscopic stability. Inadequate stability equates into a substantial increase in the possibility of events like tumbling or inadequate penetration or finding the bullet or exit hole in really weird places....
Berger brings a new pattern to the game, from what i've seen (VERY limited knowledge here), they don't mushroom to an enormous amount. They fragment, thus retaining an acceptable frontal profile. The caveat here being, the heavy for caliber Bergers being used offer 2 positive points to the shooter. One being the high increase in BC & we ALL know the merits of BC
Two being the extra weight necessary to a highly fragmentive bullet to retain enough weight to actually exit the animal. Sectional Density is a wonderful thing....
Barnesuser, the ad on their website is mostly marketing hype. the Berger will wipe the floor with Barnes on "hydralic shock". The Barnes will wipe the floor with Berger on Penetration, it's all in the characteristics of the bullets.
We ALL need to decide for ourselves, how much "deposited" energy & how much structural integrity is required to do the job for us on based on our INDIVIDUAL needs. As we all know, there is no "one bullet fits all". Which only enhances our knowledge as we all strive for perfection.
With the advent of the TTSX & LRX, I honestly believe Barnes has identified & improved upon the "questionable expansion" topics we all love to hash. The polymer tip WILL initiate expansion at lower velocities, but REMEMBER what most (if not all) Barnes shooters have learned (sometimes the hard way). Break bone, break bone, break bone. They were NOT designed to slip behind the shoulder at extended ranges, they WILL zip right through with minimal expansion "penny size or so" just as they were DESIGNED to do.
Just my .002 (yes thousandths) worth of diatribe.... Good shooting to all!gun)
Negative, they create very little of it and that is why you can eat right up to the hole. I've never had an animal shot with a Barnes have multiple organs broken that were not in the direct path of the bullets, they have a very narrow but long wound channel. And don't forget if you hit them hard enough to shear the petals of in the first couple inches all you have is the shank, which gets it done if it stays on path and does not deflect.
I have to chuckle a bit at people who complain that their dead animal isn't dead enough. Don't get me wrong, we're all able and allowed to choose a bullet based on our own personal parameters and everyone is free to voice an opinion.
However, dead is still dead and as long as I don't have to track an animal a long distance I'm OK with dead.
Poor results (that is, not dead for a loooong time), poor shot placement, those are things that aren't much fun.
Barnesuser, the ad on their website is mostly marketing hype.