AZGFD Ammunition Testing Event Today

[lancetkenyon]

I had never witnessed first hand a ballistic gel test. To be able to be the one shooting it was a blast (no pun intended).

[PowellSixO]

Pretty interesting test. Call me old school, but I'm still not a believer in the solid copper bullets. 2 years ago my father and brother both had 12a West tags, and received their free boxes of ammo from G&F. They sighted their guns in with the ammo, and everything looked great (little bro had a 243 win, and dad had his old trusty 30-06). During the hunt my brother shot a decent buck at 75 yards, and it just pin holed the deer and it did not die. We found no blood no nothing. We hunted that deer hard for 2 more days, and jumped it up about a mile from where he shot it. It was wounded, but definitely not dead. This time my brother was able to get another shot, but with a lead core bullet, and it dropped in its tracks. When we cleaned the buck we found a perfect pin hole straight through the buck right above the heart. It had missed all the main arteries, nicked both lungs and had done very minimal damage. The good old fashion lead bullet absolutely destroyed both lungs. On the last day of the hunt my father shot a small buck with the solid copper bullets, and it dropped rolled over got up and ran off. Just before dark we found it bedded. When it stood up my dad shot it right through the heart and it ran 200-250 yards. When we cleaned it, it had a perfect pin hole through both lungs, and a pin hole right through the heart. If he wouldn't have hit it in the heart, I don't think we would have ever found that deer. Since that hunt, I've been scared of ever trying the solid copper bullet ever again. My personal favorite bullet is the Berger VLD. They kill with authority, and drop them in their tracks. Until they can come up with a newer design for the solid copper bullets, I won't be shooting them. My two cents.

[ctracingraptor]

Sorry for the bad luck with the coppers, i myself havent had any issues. I've shot two deer in 12A with the Barnes coppers, with no issues, one year 60 yard shot, severe trauma, not one step taken. Other shot was about 115 yards, quartering towards me, bullet entered behing the right shoulder, exit would was in front of left rear leg, he ran about 25 yards. This was the most trauma i personally have every seen, their was not one identifiable organ inside, it was like it all got thrown in a blender. This was done with a 270 mind you. I still have the pics of the carnage, but i dont want to ruin such a great post.

[Whitesheep]

Thank you for the nice detailed write up. I believe non lead ammunition has a place and I use it when on the Kaibab. However, my experience with this bullet shows it is a different animal.

 

I Shot (at) a small mule deer with a Barns out of a .243 at about 100 yards. He went back to feeding so I figured I missed. When he turned 180 degrees while I was setting up my follow up I saw blood pouring out of his side. I shot him in the neck (was much closer by then) and that ended his day. I am sure he would have eventually passed out and died from blood loss from the first shot, but he was not DRT right now. I contacted Barnes and they indicated what I experienced was by design. Go figure.

[lancetkenyon]

Similar experience when I shot a buck with my .25-06 Ackley. 100 TTSX @ 3580ish. Buck quartering on. 488 yards, bullet entered right shoulder, passed through both lungs, exited left rear hip. I thought I had missed too. Deer didn't evn move. I chambered another round and deer went over backwards without another kick.

[KaibabHunter]

Would you trust Barnes 165gr TTSX out of a 300 Win Mag on a Az desert bighorn tag for shots up to 500?

[PRDATR]

Seeing the amount of lead dispersed really makes an impression and makes me rethink the use of similarly constructed bullets for use on edible game. When Barnes first came out with the X Bullet I loaded up some 120's for my 7 Mag at around 3350. I shot a 3x3 in 29 at about 200 or so yards, way before people had rangefinders.

He was feeding away from me and facing uphill at about 20 feet lower in elevation on an opposite hill. The bullet entered just below the shoulder about 3" from the spine. He collapsed like a sack of potatoes and there was only a brownie sized piece of meat that was damaged.

[IA Born]

I started loading my own Barnes in my .30-06 after taking a bite of breakfast sausage from a south Texas doe. Having grown up processing deer with my dad, I expect the occasional broken piece of bone. I bit down on something that felt like that, but it was a piece of bullet lead the size of my pinky fingernail. That was the last time I used non-lead bullets. I've shot several deer and pigs with them and my daughter has shot two north rim does with TTSX from her 7mm-08. I've only ever had one deer drop in its tracks. I've spoken with Barnes a few times about it when I was shopping for what cartridge to get for my daughter, especially after my BIL in Texas said he hated 7mm-08 because he had to shoot a Hawaiian black ram 5 times because it didn't DRT, even though the first shot was in the vitals (he wasn't using Barnes, either). I've not had a deer run more than 100 yards and most are less than that. Every animal I've cleaned had its insides turned to mush and I was surprised at how far the farthest runners made it considering what their insides looked like.

[lancetkenyon]

Would you trust Barnes 165gr TTSX out of a 300 Win Mag on a Az desert bighorn tag for shots up to 500?

I would.

 

I am in the beginning stages of load development for my 7RM pushing the 168 LRX, and my .260 Rem & 6.5 SLR pushing the 127 LRX. All will be contenders for closer shots on game (out to 500 for the 6.5s, and maybe 600 for the 7RM). Beyond that, in all honesty, I want a heavier bullet with better BC to hold more downrange energy on game.

[lancetkenyon]

So I have found my .260 Rem and 6.5 SLR load for the 127 LRX.

 

Here is the .260 Rem pushing the 127 LRX @ 3017fps. .335" 5 shot, 100 yard group. Pretty acceptable for accuracy doing nothing but charge weight testing.

 

 

And here is the 6.5 SLR pushing the 127 LRX @ 3050fps. 5 shot 200 yard group...shot by Taylor. .383" @ 200 yards.

 

 

Still working on the 7RM load pushing the 168 LRX, but yesterday, I had 3 different groups that were under .750" 5 shot groups @ 3040-3080fps.

[firstcoueswas80]

Would you trust Barnes 165gr TTSX out of a 300 Win Mag on a Az desert bighorn tag for shots up to 500?

Without a second of hesitation, assuming the accuracy is where it needs to be.

[firstcoueswas80]

I've killed a ton of stuff with TTSX, antelope, deer, elk (that was my brother), javelina, kudu, impala, Springbok, baboons, reedbok, Hartebeest. Fantastic experiences for me. One deer took a couple of rounds, but that's because of poor shooting on my end.

[lancetkenyon]

Bringing this back up after the new thread brought the subject back to light.

 

Taylor wound up killing her muley on her hunt at 637 yards using my 6.5 SLR pushing a 127 BArnes LRX @ 3050fps. The deer litterally dropped in his tracks. DRT. Not even a twitch.

 

The bullet entered the onside shoulder and broke it, shattered a vertebra, and existed the offside shoulder. Lungs were mush.

 

 

 

[Cell4soul]

I am working with the Cutting Edge Bullets to see if I can find some accurate loads. The CE Bullets don’t give up much in BC’s and they are an all copper bullet. I’m all for not having lead fragments in my meat if there is an accurate, high BC option. I have a really accuarate load in my 7 SAUM with the Barnes 145 LRX. That bullet performed amazing on one antelope at 322 yards and another at 533 yards last year.

[lancetkenyon]

You can look into Hammer bullets too. They are supposed to be very accurate, and have some heavier offerings, but they require faster twist rates than standard.

 

https://hammerbullets.com/shop/