Bullet failure

dlbleak · Nov 25, 2017

Dennis, I was getting almost the same results with Hornady A-Max. Could barely see an entrance wound and there would be no exit wound. Almost zero blood to trail. The deer I shot with them didn't go far, literally no where. The insides would be liquefied though. They were also taken in the open and were easy to find BUT, if I had a shot that was in the thick stuff and a deer that could make it a ways, there would be no trail to follow.
I also could not even find the bullet or fragments. Switched to Sierra GK's with no issue after that.

dennishoddy · Nov 25, 2017

beastep said:
I may have just got a bad box but it was horrible. I was excited because I never loaded any barnes before and I noticed there was a length difference before I even measured them. So I started weighing them and they were terrible. Like a couple of grains difference in a .224 70gr bullet. But if your gun shoots them good it dont even matter.

Your report got me wondering about the Barnes 168 gr. TTSX in .308 diameter that I use in my 30-06 for elk loads. I’ve killed 6 elk, some in their tracks with that bullet at some long ranges, so I know it’s performance is very good.
Measured a sample from two lot numbers for length using calibrated Brown & Sharpe digital calipers, the variation in length was less than .002.
Hornady digital scales showed the same sample bullets to vary .03 of a grain max with the majority being .01 variation.
For a control, I used some .308 dia. 180 grain Sierra matchking bullets, length and weight.
The results were about equal to the Barnes.
Don’t have any of the smaller .22 or .24 caliber bullets yet to try, but I will.

beastep · Nov 26, 2017

dennishoddy said:
Your report got me wondering about the Barnes 168 gr. TTSX in .308 diameter that I use in my 30-06 for elk loads. I’ve killed 6 elk, some in their tracks with that bullet at some long ranges, so I know it’s performance is very good.
Measured a sample from two lot numbers for length using calibrated Brown & Sharpe digital calipers, the variation in length was less than .002.
Hornady digital scales showed the same sample bullets to vary .03 of a grain max with the majority being .01 variation.
For a control, I used some .308 dia. 180 grain Sierra matchking bullets, length and weight.
The results were about equal to the Barnes.
Don’t have any of the smaller .22 or .24 caliber bullets yet to try, but I will.

Well thats pretty interesting. The bullets I had are just TSX I do believe. If I have enough left that arnt loaded Ill have to take a sample of those and see what they really measured and weighed out at. I may have just got a bad box.

turkeyrun · Dec 3, 2017

You didn't say how far the deer was, when shot. I'm guessing, not far. A 6mm caliber bullets, at that speed, will be frangible, at short distance.

I have seen jackrabbit shot with .22-250, at 20 yards. Bullet did not have full penetration. Though the rabbit was utterly destroyed.
I shot a doe at 70 yards with 7mmRemMag. Took out 2 ribs, heart, and right shoulder, leaving a fist size hole. Doe ran 100 yards before dropping.
Can't call bullet failure, when critter is recovered, 20 yards away.
Unexpected performance? Maybe. Jacket desperation at that speed, I would not be surprised.

dennishoddy · Dec 3, 2017

turkeyrun said:
You didn't say how far the deer was, when shot. I'm guessing, not far. A 6mm caliber bullets, at that speed, will be frangible, at short distance.

I have seen jackrabbit shot with .22-250, at 20 yards. Bullet did not have full penetration. Though the rabbit was utterly destroyed.
I shot a doe at 70 yards with 7mmRemMag. Took out 2 ribs, heart, and right shoulder, leaving a fist size hole. Doe ran 100 yards before dropping.
Can't call bullet failure, when critter is recovered, 20 yards away.
Unexpected performance? Maybe. Jacket desperation at that speed, I would not be surprised.

Post #12, 60 yds, so yes your probably correct using this old style of bullet. At longer ranges it most likely would have worked just fine and even made a full pass through because it retained enough kinetic energy and additional bullet weight because it wouldn't have shed so much weight on its passage through the deer.
I shot a beer can full of water with a .22-250, 45 grain varmint HP at 20 yds once with some cardboard behind it. After the shot the cardboard looked like it had been shot with a .22 RF rat shot load. Nothing but tiny holes.
Gotta have the bullet for the job. I think that's why I'm moving to Barnes. I've never seen one fragment to date.
Look for a report in the future.

Wormydog1724 · Dec 5, 2017

Look at Cavity Back Bullets Dennis.

dennishoddy · Dec 5, 2017

Wormydog1724 said:
Look at Cavity Back Bullets Dennis.

Thanks. I’ll give them a look. I was at Cabellas yesterday and picked up a box of Barnes 80 grain TTSX bullets which is the heaviest they make in 6mm.
Soft point bullets don’t fare well in the magazine. Recoil blunts the tips.

CHenry · Dec 5, 2017

Shoot em in the neck and thats a perfect bullet!

deerwhacker444 · Dec 5, 2017

dennishoddy said:
Gotta have the bullet for the job. I think that's why I'm moving to Barnes. I've never seen one fragment to date.
Look for a report in the future.

FYI, I found a Barnes fragment yesterday cutting up my dad's deer. He's shooting 85gr. TSXs @ a meager 3000fps. Shot was 40 yards or so, clipped the back of the front leg, hit a rib or two, took out the lungs and nicked the heart. Full pass thru.

Was trimming up some odds n ends for grinding and hit it with the knife. Was the first time I've ever seen a TSX fragment after cutting up quite a few deer that have fallen to those bullets. Had to be one of the petals. Even with the petal loss, it still punched on thru.

Wish I'd taken a picture of it in detail, but I was in a rush to get finished and forgot.

Bullet failure

dlbleak

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beastep

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turkeyrun

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dennishoddy

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CHenry

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