atl5029
Well-Known Member
There is another thing I have been interested in and is somewhat related to my last thread about Lehigh defense bullets.
As I said, I like shooting non lead bullets for big game hunting for a number of reasons. I shoot the Barnes TSX or TTSX pretty much exclusively for big game. One drawback though, is that they have fairly high minimum impact velocities for reliable expansion.
I have talked a lot with Barnes technical staff and they gave me a lot of insight into how their bullets are made. I am also an engineer and have some knowledge about metals and how their properties are manipulated. Barnes swages their bullets, which work hardens the copper, making it harder to deform further. They design how they are work hardened for a certain minimum impact velocity depending on the caliber the bullet is designed for. Generally it is around 1800-2000 fps. For bullets that need to expand at lower velocities, they anneal the bullets which removes the work hardening. I know some of their muzzleloading and pistol bullets expand as low as 1000 fps.
Has anyone tried annealing a Barnes TSX bullet in order to get it to expand at low velocity? If so, what was your experience. I know all about annealing and how to do it. Just curious to see if anyone actually got really good low velocity expansion
As I said, I like shooting non lead bullets for big game hunting for a number of reasons. I shoot the Barnes TSX or TTSX pretty much exclusively for big game. One drawback though, is that they have fairly high minimum impact velocities for reliable expansion.
I have talked a lot with Barnes technical staff and they gave me a lot of insight into how their bullets are made. I am also an engineer and have some knowledge about metals and how their properties are manipulated. Barnes swages their bullets, which work hardens the copper, making it harder to deform further. They design how they are work hardened for a certain minimum impact velocity depending on the caliber the bullet is designed for. Generally it is around 1800-2000 fps. For bullets that need to expand at lower velocities, they anneal the bullets which removes the work hardening. I know some of their muzzleloading and pistol bullets expand as low as 1000 fps.
Has anyone tried annealing a Barnes TSX bullet in order to get it to expand at low velocity? If so, what was your experience. I know all about annealing and how to do it. Just curious to see if anyone actually got really good low velocity expansion
