Barnes bullets issue

[Rosebud]

Loading120 grain tipped TTX for Remington 700 custom shop gun , real shooter. But owner is in love with Barnes bullets, I've loaded for him before with older Barnes bullets with no issues. These are.264 in 6.5 CM will shoot sub half inch with143 ELDX . the Barnes shot everywhere. Four different powders, ladder loads with Barnes recommended seating depth. 15 thousands off the lands and work back. Nothing worked. Checked bullet diameter. Ranged from.258 to .263 being the best. He bought these from midway about three weeks ago, or there about. Not blaming midway. I just checked out and found that Sierra is making Barnes. But maybe not to well. Maybe it was a first run ,but they were not marked as such.

 

[Hespco]

I have several 6.5's. I shoot the Barnes 100gr, 120gr & the 127 gr LRX. They should be seated at least .050 off the lands to start. They may require being .070 to .080 off. Also use them in 7mm & 30 cal . They all shoot tiny groups. My personal experience with the ELD-X is that it is an extremely fragile bullet. In 2019 I shot a mature muley buck & experienced "extreme" meat destruction. The bullet blew up like a bomb. I will never hunt with one again.

 

[Rosebud]

I have several 6.5's. I shoot the Barnes 100gr, 120gr & the 127 gr LRX. They should be seated at least .050 off the lands to start. They may require being .070 to .080 off. Also use them in 7mm & 30 cal . They all shoot tiny groups. My personal experience with the ELD-X is that it is an extremely fragile bullet. In 2019 I shot a mature muley buck & experienced "extreme" meat destruction. The bullet blew up like a bomb. I will never hunt with one again.

That was the old maker of Barnes bullets, the new maker is Sierra, I did a ladder test per Barnes recommended seating depth of about50 thousands out. then 2.720 what is recommended in there manual. They shot terrible .If you have the old Barnes you better make good with them .I'm concerned about the new bullets.

 

[Raffy]

When did they change hands? I just bought some experimental barnes bullets for my 7mm and 6.5. Ive never shot a mono yet

 

[Rosebud]

Remington bought them out , then Remington went under and now Sierra owns them, Sierra makes a quality bullet, hope this isn't going to be the norm for the Barnes line.

 

[Rosebud]

When did they change hands? I just bought some experimental barnes bullets for my 7mm and 6.5. Ive never shot a mono yet

Barnes has made mono bullets from the get go. Only non mono was large caliber at the beginning. Still made some large non mono at the end also, I believe. Shot some three hundred grain ttx. In .458 that were awesome.

 

[schmi015]

Why make two threads about barnes? Usually you should give the rifle a good cleaning before and after switching to mono's. Where is the barrel life on that rifle(500, 1000)? Scope and mount good? If after shooting a three inch group with the barnes does it then shoot a half moa group with the preferred ammo?

 

[Rosebud]

My bad, new at posting , Thought I had put it wrong forum usually just gab on others post.

 

[redleg1013]

Loading120 grain tipped TTX for Remington 700 custom shop gun , real shooter. But owner is in love with Barnes bullets, I've loaded for him before with older Barnes bullets with no issues. These are.264 in 6.5 CM will shoot sub half inch with143 ELDX . the Barnes shot everywhere. Four different powders, ladder loads with Barnes recommended seating depth. 15 thousands off the lands and work back. Nothing worked. Checked bullet diameter. Ranged from.258 to .263 being the best. He bought these from midway about three weeks ago, or there about. Not blaming midway. I just checked out and found that Sierra is making Barnes. But maybe not to well. Maybe it was a first run ,but they were not marked as such.

A couple of things; yes, Sierra is the new parent company, but are not making their bullets in Sedalia, I spoke with them about two weeks back about Sierra incorporating TSX/TTSX into their load data, and was given a vaguely positive response Secondly, Barnes is pretty clear that they need to jump a mile for better accuracy, starting with .05 off the lands. For whatever it's worth, I've got a load that shoots ⅓MOA and is .065" off the lands. Give them more of a jump and see if those groups tighten up, I'm betting they will.

 

[Rosebud]

We have discovered that the diameter of the bullets are all over the place. Smallest is.258 best one we checked is .263 I've shot just about all the rest looking for a powder and seating depth. So i do not have info on them. Gun owner is going with hammer, should have them in couple of days. Very frustrating, maybe a bad batch. Or first run. never occurred to me to check diameter. All his other Barnes shot lights out.

 

[Hespco]

Strange. I checked several of my Barnes 6.5 . 100gr, 120, 127 LRX, 130gr TSX. 7mm 140gr TSX/TTSX, 30 cal 130gr & 150gr TTSX. Every bullet I checked was right on the money as to dia. All my Barnes are correct & produce excellent accuracy. Many are newly acquired. Just in the last month or so. Don't understand the problems.

 

[shinbone]

Gun owner is going with hammer, should have them in couple of days.

You will be very pleased with Hammer Bullets. Choose light-for-caliber, shoot them fast, and let the hydrostatic shock work its magic. You'll never use anything else.

 

[Hunterjones]

Doesn't matter what powder combo, jump etc you use if bullets are as much as .006 undersized. If they were .006 oversized you would have extremely high and dangerous chamber pressure……..
I am a HUGE Barnes fan but if you have bullets .001-.006 undersized, you have some bullets that should have never made it into the box for shipping