It was 1992 or ‘93. They were suggested to me by the guy that built my AI. He had done a bunch of bullet testing with Randy Brooks of Barnes.
I developed a load, and had an opportunity to use it the following fall on an elk rapidly departing the area @ about 80 yards. The young bull only offered an @$$ shot, which I took. The bullet entered just left of the “target spot”, shattered the pelves, continued on through the diaphragm, through the left lung, exited in the left foreleg “pit”, reentered the upper leg missing the leg bone, and stopped beneath the hide on opposite side. The path was end to end……giving a total of 3 hide penetrations, elk ham (large muscle) and pelvis, through the intestines (wet grass and all), continuing through the lung, and the large upper leg muscle.
The bullet lost one petal, retaining 95% of it’s original weight. The bullet path was essentially a straight line through the elk.This was the bullet performance that I was wanting……been using Barnes bullets ever since. As they improved their technology, I’d followed along! No disappointments thus far!
The original X Bullets were very sensitive to a bore of less than perfect condition and could not be shot behind typical cup and core bullets without thoroughly cleaning the bore of all fouling. I had a match grade barrel on my rifle, which I believe contributed to good groups and minimal (near zero) fouling!
This past summer, I worked up a load with 270 grain LRX’s in my AI. Stopped just a few fps short of 3100 mv, with 3 shot groups running around 1/2” ….with a couple just under 1/2”! memtb
Last edited by memtb; 03/13/24.
