Barnes LRX in .270 & 6.5

[sealgair]

Hello,

Here in Scotland we're being pushed by the government to change to lead free ammunition, and so to get ahead of the curve a little I'm doing quite a lot of research and testing of different bullets and loads. The two main calibres I use are .270 and 6.5x55, and the vast majority of bullets are being fired at red deer weighing between 70 - 250lb (we shoot calves in the season for female deer) between 30 - 300m.

If conditions are good I will shoot further (especially with the .270 which is built for it) and so I'm also ideally looking for bullet to perform out to a maximum of 700m. I'm realistic in that that might just be too long a poke for a copper bullet in these sizes, and plan on having a .280ai built soon to shoot 160-180g bullets anyway which will hopefully fill a void if needed.

I have so far had reasonable results shooting the TTSX (110g in the .270 and 120g in the 6.5), but their lack of weight and BC has got me more interested in the LRX. I've also found that if you shoot behind the shoulder rather than the 'pinning' shoulder shot they can struggle to get the kills that we look for. Last season in 56 stags shot with the 110g TTSX 20% of them reacted poorly and didn't drop quickly to well placed shots, and that's obviously something that I'd like to bring down if possible.

Thought you guys might have some experience of using them in these calibres or worthy alternates, keen to hear what you think! Photos always helpful too!

Thanks,

Sam

 

[DonBogaerts]

Hello,

Here in Scotland we're being pushed by the government to change to lead free ammunition, and so to get ahead of the curve a little I'm doing quite a lot of research and testing of different bullets and loads. The two main calibres I use are .270 and 6.5x55, and the vast majority of bullets are being fired at red deer weighing between 70 - 250lb (we shoot calves in the season for female deer) between 30 - 300m.

If conditions are good I will shoot further (especially with the .270 which is built for it) and so I'm also ideally looking for bullet to perform out to a maximum of 700m. I'm realistic in that that might just be too long a poke for a copper bullet in these sizes, and plan on having a .280ai built soon to shoot 160-180g bullets anyway which will hopefully fill a void if needed.

I have so far had reasonable results shooting the TTSX (110g in the .270 and 120g in the 6.5), but their lack of weight and BC has got me more interested in the LRX. I've also found that if you shoot behind the shoulder rather than the 'pinning' shoulder shot they can struggle to get the kills that we look for. Last season in 56 stags shot with the 110g TTSX 20% of them reacted poorly and didn't drop quickly to well placed shots, and that's obviously something that I'd like to bring down if possible.

Thought you guys might have some experience of using them in these calibres or worthy alternates, keen to hear what you think! Photos always helpful too!

Thanks,

Sam

In the netherlands and germany we got the same problem. I use the 120gmx in 6.5 and the LOS 140gr in 7x64.... the gmx needs speed but also enough resistance after impact. Otherwise it will pencil trough (eventhough lungs will be soup like) animals tent not to drop. On wildboar i've not seen this even without hitting any legbone or ribs. Therefore i shoot the 6.5 on the front leg with roedeer and head/neck and legshot with boar. For the LOS 140 (handloads) the nock down effect is better. Also on smaller deer. This is a bullit with open nose. I think this kills the BC but deff helps the shock effect. In my old mauser they still shoot small groups at 300 meter so with a rifle like yours i expect no issues at longer ranges. Unfortunatly not in 6.5 or .270 only .284 and .308 available.
both bullets dont do much damage to meat even when hitting bone. They dont explode like leadbullets on bone.

 

[Stiltsville]

Killed 2 deer w/the 140 TSX in 6.5x55, dropped within sight. One with a 270 WCF 130 TSX DOA. All under 300. Our tests with Barnes find reliable expansion down to 1500 fps. Building a 6.5-300 to try with the 127 LRX.

 

[DonBogaerts]

Killed 2 deer w/the 140 TSX in 6.5x55, dropped within sight. One with a 270 WCF 130 TSX DOA. All under 300. Our tests with Barnes find reliable expansion down to 1500 fps. Building a 6.5-300 to try with the 127 LRX.

Have you tried the gmx? If so how do they compare?

 

[DonBogaerts]

Hello,

Here in Scotland we're being pushed by the government to change to lead free ammunition, and so to get ahead of the curve a little I'm doing quite a lot of research and testing of different bullets and loads. The two main calibres I use are .270 and 6.5x55, and the vast majority of bullets are being fired at red deer weighing between 70 - 250lb (we shoot calves in the season for female deer) between 30 - 300m.

If conditions are good I will shoot further (especially with the .270 which is built for it) and so I'm also ideally looking for bullet to perform out to a maximum of 700m. I'm realistic in that that might just be too long a poke for a copper bullet in these sizes, and plan on having a .280ai built soon to shoot 160-180g bullets anyway which will hopefully fill a void if needed.

I have so far had reasonable results shooting the TTSX (110g in the .270 and 120g in the 6.5), but their lack of weight and BC has got me more interested in the LRX. I've also found that if you shoot behind the shoulder rather than the 'pinning' shoulder shot they can struggle to get the kills that we look for. Last season in 56 stags shot with the 110g TTSX 20% of them reacted poorly and didn't drop quickly to well placed shots, and that's obviously something that I'd like to bring down if possible.

Thought you guys might have some experience of using them in these calibres or worthy alternates, keen to hear what you think! Photos always helpful too!

Thanks,

Sam

https://jagareforbundet.se/contentassets/7099893fd13b45b98e1900d2ea165fee/65x55_se.pdf interesting piece on 6.5x55 and leadfree ammo. (From sweden but in english)

 

[jcc]

I shot the 129 grain LRX out of my 270 WSM for a number of years. The attached image is of a LRX recovered from the far shoulder of elk at 580 yards. Bullet was still traveling at 2062fps at point of impact. The most up close shot with this same load was an antelope at 50 yards which was completely devastating. Complete passthrough and the bullet was not recovered. I never had expansion failures with the LRX.

On the down side there was a fair amount of discrepancy between bullet weights and in sorting them out there would always be 5-8 out of the box that were .4 grains either side of 129.

 

[Stiltsville]

Have you tried the gmx? If so how do they compare?

The GMX is a bad copy of the Barnes, different metal. Never found them to be as accurate.

 

[Hawkeye Pierce]

I hear good things about hammer hunter bullets, and plan on trying them myself in the next hunting season.

 

[BEEMAN]

Reach out to Hammer Bullets as they are shipping internationally now.

 

[Aussie Hunter Steve]

I've used LRX on fair amount of animals, but in bigger calibres. They worked really well for me but too expensive for ordinary use, especially when culling ferals.

 

[Battering Ram]

SP- I have a lot of experience with Barnes TTSX and LRX in the .270. I've been present when elk and deer Have been killed at 500 plus yards, but all the bullets were pass through. Terminal perforce is good in my opinion. I have some pictures of a recover 06 bullets from about two hundred yards and a 300 ultra mag round from 760 yards if you're interested. As Don said shooting bone seems to work better and these bullets don't cause as much meat damage as traditional bullets seem to. From my experience, the game you are hunting and distances you are shooting should be just fine. The 129 LRX in the 270 is devastating in deer and elk size game.

 

[RWThurston]

I have killed several hogs with the 127 lrx out of my 260, all have passed thru completely and all have been bang flop. They have been inside of 400 yards so far

 

[Ronald W Schaefer]

I love both TTSX and LRX. My wife killed three big animals in Africa, one shot kills from 100-300 yds with 145 gr LRX in 7mm-08. I'd say try the heaviest bullets your rifle will stabilize...that seems to increase the lethality (in my observation).

 

[ralphjunius]

I shoot the 129LRX with my 270 Win at 3100fps. I find the bullet to be devastating. I shoot deer on the shoulder and they drop instantly with no recovered bullets so far. I shot a red deer cow well over 300 lbs at about 90 yards. Bullet went thru both shoulders and cow tried moving on hind legs momentarily when I put her out of her misery. So far, no long shots though jcc's post above of 580 yd elk harvest and pic of expanded bullet is comforting.

My custom 270 Win puts 3 shot groups into 1.5 inches or less at 200 yards driven by IMR 4451.