Barnes "X" bullets question....

[sakofan]

Just shot some Barnes "X" bullets out of the ol' Sako last nite, and WOW what accuracy!!!
I was told by several people, that they wouldnt shoot out of their rifle, or mine!!
Not measured, but looks like we are talking less than 1/2in, 5 shot group at 100 yds, with first time at bat using IMR 4831, 74gr....BUT, what can one expect as far as performance from this bullet??
My on going quest, to find a good mule deer bullet to shoot this Nov. has ended??? Or just begun???
This bullet has shot, far and away better than any "hunting" bullet in my beloved Sako.
I have no first hand knowledge of this bullets performance on anythig bigger than a tha local whitetail, here in South Carolina, (read, very small)
Will check archives, just wanted some fresh info...Thanks.....sakofan...

 

[Ian M]

Sako,
Last season we had kills with the 168 Barnes XLC on very large Sask. whitetails and a mulie buck, the bullet performed perfectly. Not sure which grain weight you are using but you can trust Barnes bullets for reliable performance. They do not always "mushroom" quite as large as lead-core bullets but they open up and kill. You will have no problem using them on mule deer, would be a great choice.
There are now three "X" bullets, the original Barnes X, the blue-coated XLC and the newest Triple Shock that has three grooves cut into the body to reduce the contact area (and eliminate the need to coat them). We are about to test shoot the Triple Shot, haven't had time to get to them recently.
I find that the 75 is one of the most accurate out-of-the box rifles on the market. Not surprised yours is shooting so well, I have also had exceptional accuracy with my .300 and it has never been bedded or tinkered with. Only change I did was switch from Sako mounts to Warnes as I believe the Warnes are much simpler and stronger.

 

[sakofan]

Ian, I have the standard, Sako Optiloc mounts and rings.
They are good, but not great.
The scope has never moved, but they are so darn high!!
I'm used to them now, and find no real reason to change, as of yet.
I HATE the hex screw set up too...bad, bad idea. Could you provide me w/ some info on the rings you use?? Website info would be nice....sakofan...Thanks for the encouraging review of the Barnes as well.
I shot a 168gr. "X" bullet, to answer your question of gr. bullet, as was recommended by someone on this board. The rate of twist, 1 in 11in, really seemed to perform well w/ this grain bullet.
Might have been your recommendation...LOL..Thanks

 

[Guest]

I have found that the barnes x will almost always pass through a deer size animal. Not the biggest mushroom and don't seem to knock them to the ground like the SST or Blistic tip. All depends what you want the bullet to do.
h

 

[Brent]

I've shot the .338 250XFB, the .308 150, 165, 168, 180 XLCBT's lately. The 168 in the 12 twist 308win did super. The 250's in the 338's always did super too. The 150 in the 308win did great too. I haven't had good luck with the 165 or 180 in anything so far, and they're so expensive to test with I don't have plans using the 165 or 180 unless I find something sweet with the bullets I have left. For some reason the flat base X bullets seem to yield better overall groups than the BT's.

Performance; They've always done the job well, can't say I've recovered one though.

My brother called me this morning and said Eric, a friend of ours was with him at the bait station last night and got a black bear with his 338wm and a 225XLC. They recovered the bullet in this one. It was shot facing away from him and between the shoulder blades, breaking the spine, dropping him without so much as a twitch. The bullet traveled up the spine to the base of the skull, stopping under the hide though. It mushroomed to the base of the HP and lost one petal. Eric's bbl is only 20" long and he isn't pushing them very fast, I think I remember clocking his 250 X bullets at 2350 fps is all. The 225's are probably only 2500 or so.

 

[Ian M]

Sako,
Thing I don't like (or understand) about SAKO mounts is why in hell they design them with that base you attach the rings to. That makes them so high.
The old Sako rings attached directly to the dovetail on top of the receiver and they were much lower. Anyhow, Warne has a neat base that fits directly to the dovetail on top of the receiver and it is very simple and in my opinion a great looking mount. Just a dovetail machined into the bottom of a set of vertically split ring halves, but it fits like a glove.
Check out www.warnescopemounts.com
or give them a call at 503 657-5590

You can also buy the mounts from Brownells, I loaned my catalog so can't give you the page or number but they are there.

I did a test of the 168's a while back and believe that they are very good killing bullets. We doubled on a mulie standing head-on, partner was shooting 168/XLC's and I had 165/Scirocco, bullets hit him at the same moment from 525 yards. He was fairly dead when he hit the ground. That was with .308's so your magnum will hit harder.

 

[Charles Garcia]

Sakofan,

I have been using the Barnes X for about 10 years now. I've only used the 180 grain in the 30 caliber exclusively. The bullet has performed flawlessly so far. On deer you never recover the bullet. The furthest the deer has traveled is about 30 yards. On elk I had finally recovered one, shot it at 410, hit the off shoulder or wouldn't have recovered it either. All of the deer and elk have been one shot kills. My only animal to drop in its tracks was with a Barnes X, the deer just folded with the legs under it.
The arguments about bullets staying in the animal and using up all the energy versus passing through I don't think matter. I don't think the energy kills them. The bullet has to perform. And I feel that an exit hole all the time bleeds more, and causes a quicker kill. The best kills on animals have always showed, huge amounts of blood on the ground and brush after a shot from the Barnes X. This is the only bullet I have ever seen this from, looks like a hose is running the blood out. The Nosler partition doesn't do this, but is a real good bullet too.
I think since your gun likes them, you have a perfect hunting combination for shots our to about 600 to 700 yards. Need higher BC to get further. Barnes says that they will expand down to 1600fps. I haven't shot them that slow on an animal yet. I have been trying to keep them at around 1800 to 1900 fps. Don't want the minimum and they don't expand, then the animal will run alot further before it dies.
I have a friend that has tried the 130's in the 30 caliber and they didn't penetrate. Acted more like a varmit bullet? Not sure why, but I wouldn't use that light of a bullet anyway. Never have, except in a 270. And the 130's in the 270 are great too. Penetrated from the chest to the off leg and almost went out the rear. Kind of messy, but my son had the shot and took it.

Charlie

 

[sakofan]

Thanks,Charlie....It's nice to have all these people giving Barnes their blessing.
Some have commented negatively, but thats the way it goes. If I ever have one bullet fail, I would never use it again, even if it's not the fault of the bullet...Looks like a mulie is going to get a Barnes X-perience this fall from me...sakofan..