Choosing bullets Berger's or Barnes

[North Idaho Hunter]

Barnes LRX Exit hole from a coyote @ 429 yards....

 

[North Idaho Hunter]

Here's another elk w/LRX. Notice the large entrance hole.

they leak real good with holes like that!!!!

 

[Alibiiv]

We recovered the deer, so don't give me that song and dance, but any bullet could've killed it better.

I'm relating the bear story wasn't there but it clearly somehow missed vitals because of it's narrow wound channel that it lived a whole year.

My son shot two black bear this year, one with 225gr Barnes TSX (35 Whelen) and a second with a 200gr TTSX out of a .358 Winchester, and.....we didn't recover either bear; my son is a wreck over it. There was a tremendous blood trail (through and through), and then the trail went cold for whatever reason on both bears. But because we never recovered either bear, we didn't consider it bullet dysfunction, but did consider the circumstances bullet placement; maybe hunter dysfunction. With the first bear that he shot, the bullet drilled through the edge of a 2 inch maple tree before it hit the bear. With the very first bear that I ever shot, it was not one of my proudest moments in marksmanship by any means. The bullet entered in front of the left-rear leg and exited just behind the right-front leg, that means going through approximately 40 inches of tissue; large entry wound and even larger exit hole. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this topic. I still want to try the Hammer bullets in my .270Ai, but I'm still working out a load and really cannot afford to work up a load with the hammers.

 

[North Idaho Hunter]

A friend that guides up north had a customer shoot a bear in the shoulder and they never recovered the bear. The following year they shot that bear, it had scars on both shoulders. That tsx blasted through both shoulder and never killed the bear.
I guess which bullet failure happens determines our selection

I've seen bears run off on shoulder hits. I always aim middle of the body on bears. They carry their vitals further back then deer & elk. Regardless of bullet, shoulder shooting bears can result in a long track if you don't hit the spine.

 

[Alibiiv]

I've seen bears run off on shoulder hits. I always aim middle of the body on bears. They carry their vitals further back then deer & elk. Regardless of bullet, shoulder shooting bears can result in a long track if you don't hit the spine.

Shoot the "Middle of the middle!!"

 

[Canhunter35]

I've seen bears run off on shoulder hits. I always aim middle of the body on bears. They carry their vitals further back then deer & elk. Regardless of bullet, shoulder shooting bears can result in a long track if you don't hit the spine.

That makes complete sense, even a pin hole through vitals should eventually be fatal, but if you miss the important stuff, not good

 

[Canhunter35]

My son shot two black bear this year, one with 225gr Barnes TSX (35 Whelen) and a second with a 200gr TTSX out of a .358 Winchester, and.....we didn't recover either bear; my son is a wreck over it. There was a tremendous blood trail (through and through), and then the trail went cold for whatever reason on both bears. But because we never recovered either bear, we didn't consider it bullet dysfunction, but did consider the circumstances bullet placement; maybe hunter dysfunction. With the first bear that he shot, the bullet drilled through the edge of a 2 inch maple tree before it hit the bear. With the very first bear that I ever shot, it was not one of my proudest moments in marksmanship by any means. The bullet entered in front of the left-rear leg and exited just behind the right-front leg, that means going through approximately 40 inches of tissue; large entry wound and even larger exit hole. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this topic. I still want to try the Hammer bullets in my .270Ai, but I'm still working out a load and really cannot afford to work up a load with the hammers.

It sucks you lost them.
For the op, I would shoot a heavy soft bullet, stick it behind the shoulder in the ribs, no meat damage and from a 28nos it'll absolutely crater an antelope. And if he hits the shoulder it'll still crater them

 

[PartsJr.]

.280 AI shooting 145gr LRX @ 3075fps.
Mature 200 pound whitetail shot straight on at 100 yards. DRT!

 

[PartsJr.]

.280 AI 145gr LRX... Fox
.270 Win. 130gr TSX... Coyote
Haven't had any pin holes even on thin skin critters.

 

[Bill28]

@Tom Erickson i would pickup a pound of H1000 and retumbo for your 28.

Run the numbers w/a 145 grain barnes LRX @ 3300 FPS.

Vs.

berger 195 @ 3100 FPS.

both achievable with given powders.

you'll find out to 600 yards wind drift is only about 1 MOA difference w/a 10 mph cross wind. the berger will retain a bit more velocity (not much)

I like the less recoil and flatter trajectory of the Barnes myself. Given the great results I've had with the Barnes LRX they get my vote!

For my 28 I have 2 loads 400y and up I use 180 Berger vld with h1000. 400y and under I use 175 Nosler Partitions with h1000. I couldn't get the 195's to shoot as good.

 

[Wolf76]

View attachment 164263

Here is a representation of a Barnes LRX impact @ 100 yards.

people say these narrow wounds delay the killing time. I watched with my own two eyes this elk was dead in seconds.

sure it doesn't show the wounding of a lead cup n core bullet like this:

View attachment 164264

However I cannot see a difference in killing. Bore a big hole - or shotgun the lungs with lead, the result is the same, with a well placed shot the animal is down in seconds!

Here is another shot with the Barnes LRX @ 701 yards, just clipped bottom of lung and took out a chunk of the heart. If I listened to everyone on the internet this deer would've been alive for days because I didn't get the extra wounding from a lead core bullet.....the result after impact?? Deer dead in seconds!

View attachment 164266


I just don't see these issues others are having with Barnes. They produce excellent blood trails. An absolute MUST Where I hunt. The Berger's killed just as fast, but we could never reliably get exit wounds! Same with the ELDX.

I Have had great success with lead bullets as well! For someone to boast about how Barnes bullets will not kill effectively, I just don't see that as being relevant to the subject especially when the guys saying barnes don't work well —— don't always have first-hand experience.

here is my experience with em' hopefully the OP gets some intel from my experiences.

Those are some great pics.
I work in the OR and have been part of countless surgeries, so my anatomy knowledge is fairly strong. I have to say the Barnes pics are fairly underwhelming. When a bullet hits a lung, it should pop like a balloon and liquify. Maybe that's why a lot of Barnes shooters aim for shoulders (need bone fragments to do extra damage). I'm glad the animals died quickly, but I'm not impressed with the pics. I do shoot Barnes bullets in a couple of my rifles - so I'm not married to any particular bullet.
I like to open an animal up and have the internal organs come pouring out. Bergers, SSTs, accubonds, partitions have all done that with regularity.

 

[Rich Coyle]

When a bullet hits a lung, it should pop like a balloon and liquify.

I have no idea how many deer I've killed along with a few elk, bear, caribou, and sheep. In my seventy-five years I have never seen evidence of a lung "pop like a balloon". Maybe people react differently from gunshot wounds than wild animals.

 

[North Idaho Hunter]

Here's another one - 610 yards. Notice the clots, she came a pouring out! This is Barnes LRX. This one made it 9 feet before dying. Another quick death.

notice the large hole the bullet bored through then taking out the top of the heart. (Pictured next to thumb in picture)

Underwhelming to the eye I can understand, I thought the same when I first started using them - however - let me tell ya if you'll believe me - they sure expired quick! I'm not sure how you could ask for better performance, QUICK death, great blood trail. Very dead animal.



happy hunting all!

 

[North Idaho Hunter]

I too must say I've never seen lungs liquify -


that bright pink oxygenated blood along with clots mixed in that comes running out when you gut them does make ya think they could be organs though!