Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Barnes 175 LRX bullet report.

My brother and I both killed cow elk this season using the 175gr LRX driven to 3100 and change out of a 300wsm. Both were in the timber and shot at very close range. My cow took a bullet through both shoulder blades and died on the spot without a twitch. Onside shoulder blade was shattered and off side was broken in half. No evidence of petal shedding was observed. Brothers cow took one just behind the elbow and exited in front of offside leg. It flopped around a bit and slid maybe 10 feet from where it was shot. Again, no evidence of petal shedding and the lungs where torn up, but not overly so. In both cases entrance holes couldnt be found with the hide on. The exit on my cow was maybe nickle sized and brothers was about the same.
These bullets are insanley accurate in my 300 wsm and 300 ultra when seated .050 off the lands. The BC's in my guns also seem to be pretty accurate out to 400 yards.

Cool report.. Heard of a few others having great results with them as well. Congrats on the elk!

Sounds like a fun hunt with your brother, congrats to both of you.

That’s what they’re designed for, accuracy, and exit wounds from large game! memtb

300wm Barnes 175gr LRX 80gr RL26 3150fps .100 off the lands,,,mine came alive ,,,no elk or mule deer made it past 50 yards. I am 110 percent sold on the Barnes bullets. Cool story and I am with ya.

Thanks for the great report.
I hope your elk eats well for you. I'm sure she will.
Congrats!

Now the rest of the story. This is my first full hunting season as a Montana resident, but far from my first time hunting the state. First season as a resident for me brother as well. Opening day was very warm and activity was slow. We actually spotted three small bulls, but they where not worth pursuing. Brother was tapped out on vacation as he just started a new job and I found out just prior to the opener that I would be starting a new job. As a result opening weekend might be our only chance. We agreed to hunt all day for bulls and if we didnt find any shooters to both take cows. As it ended up we did just that. About two hours before dark we headed into the timber to try and get on some cows we had seen enter earlier in the day. Before going in to far i decided to try a little cow calling and see what happened. I sent my brother around behind me to watch a draw I couldn't see from my postion. After a few calls I waited about 30 min and began walking over to my brother. When I got to him he was prone and ready to shoot. I looked down range just long enough to see three cows standing broadside in the timber. I began to take my rifle off my shoulder to jack in a shell but it became entangled in my pack. I dropped the hole works brother shot, then barrel rolled over I plopped down and shot a second cow with the gun he was using. Me nor my brother can determine why he had decided to roll over like that, but it worked and in a few seconds we had two cows down. We ended up quartering both animals out, moving the meat away from the kill site and burrying it in the snow that was still present in the timber. Ended up packing out two fronts and all the loins and hearts that night. Came back the next morning, deboned the remaining quarters and packed the rest out in one trip.

Used the 7mm 145LRX on three deer so far, one at 293 that was bedded down. Through both shoulders, he simply rolled over. One standing around 260, broadside through the ribs (no shoulder) and he took a few steps and laid down. Today's at 110, through the ribs and he simply dropped. Wish I could show a bullet, but a deer has yet to stop one.

Congrats on the elk.


Have been shooting 175g LRX in my .300WM but no elk this year. Load is very accurate in my rifle as well, out to 600 yards, about .100 off the lands.

Son-in-law used a 165g TTSX in his .300WSM and we couldn't find the entrance either. 4x4 mulie. Front leg bones were shattered, lots of blood in the cavity.

Daughter dropped her mulie with the same .300WSM and 165g TTSX load. Straight down, soup. Entrance was found, perfect placement, tight behind the front leg. The difference was she passed on several big boys and went for a younger 2x2 hoping it would have less chance of testing positive for CWD. We'll see.

I used the 175 LRX last year to "drop" a 585 lb, 7x8 Calif Tule Elk Bull. The bull was ~240 yd away and he moved some just as I shot... hit him at the last rib, missing all vital organs and bone but must have hit a major artery(ies). Shot from a 300 SAUM w/ a muzzle velocity of ~2950 fps from a standing position off shooting sticks. He went down and got up 3 times before staying down. I did get get another shot into his neck during a down period. Not my best shooting... but he didn't travel more than 10 yds.

I shoot the 175gr LRX in my .300 WSM as well, very accurate. I’ve only shot a big cow moose a few years ago with it but she also dropped on the spot. What’s your load to get 3100fps? I get 3000fps with RL19 in mine.

If you don’t mind the question, what is your COAL and load data? Going to try this bullet in a Rem 700 300 SAUM myself. Thanks!

.050 off lands, 65 gr RL17, Fed 210 Match, and Win brass.

Thanks!

I tried this same bullet in a 300 saum and had zero luck getting it to shoot within mag confines. It shot great at a hair over .050, but then it was a long ways off from fitting in the magazine.

Thx. I checked distance to lands and it’s at a COAL of 2.97... so I’m thinking of dropping it in a stock with M5 DBM footprint and using accurate mag which would allow me to try them at 2.85 to 2.95.

I filled my B deer tag tonight with a 175gr LRX out of my Mod 70 300 ultra. Bullet broke both shoulder blades. Entrance couldnt be found until field dressed and the off side shoulder was pretty tore up, but the exit was dime size. Deer never took a step, whichnisnt surprising goven placement.

A very late reply. Just saw your request! Rem brass, Fed 215, RE17 61.0 gr, 175 LRX COAL 2.825" (max mag length) as OAL to the leade is 2.940" in this long throated Model Seven. Getting ~2970 fps in the 22" barrel. I've never found very good accuracy in this stock rifle; maybe 1.5-2"+ at 100 yd., 3 shot groups. Lots of recoil in this light of a rifle I'm now working up loads for the Nosler 150 E-tip & Barnes 130 TTSX using H4350, Superformance, & RE17, and trying a Boyd's stock (free-floated). -Mark

Two big Nebraska bull elk did not do too well against this bullet from my 30-378 Bee. A 5x7 and a 6x7 Accuracy is exceptional also along with bullet performance.

Similar results on three large bodied bulls with the 168 gr TTSX from the .300 Bee. Happy Trails

I have 7 elk with ttsx. From 50 to about 400 yards.
All pass through. Neck, shoulders, heart/lungs.
30-06, 168ttsx

With results like that I would load up a couple hundred and kill stuff for many years.

A good report, and a nice job on those two cow elk. I have been shooting the 175 grain LRX in a "beater" Savage Axis 308, powered by IMR 4064. Accuracy is excellent at over 2,600 fps. I could go hotter.

Dropped a nice mulie buck with a 175g LRX a couple years ago; It was on the ground before I recovered from the recoil. A bit under 300 yards. Will be using them again this year if my .300WM goes on the elk hunt as one of the two rifles I take. (probable).

Very accurate bullet!

Loaded some for a friend of mine for his 300 WSM He put the LRX up the six on a bull.

Makes a pretty good sized hole. Maybe too big?

My go-to load when I had a .30 cal. Peas and carrots.

Sounds like good bullet and shooter performance to me. Enjoy those elk steaks.

Great report man congrats on the first elk hunt as a resident that’s fantastic!

Bought another box of .308" 175g LRX today. Gives me around 100 loaded rounds and 150 on the bullet shelf. If not a lifetime supply they should last for a while. My .300WM loves them.

I bought some today to try in my .30-06. It shoots 165 TSX very well and 180 gr Core Lokts similarly, so thought I’d try some. Happy Trails

My way of thinking is this bullet is better suited to the 300 magnums. With a -06 or a 308 I would use either a 130/150 TTSX or If you can get them to shoot the 150 Etip.

Tag

I agree with you on that. My rifle seems to not shoot lighter 150 gr TTSX bullets very well, so I thought I’d give the heavier LRX a whirl. My .300 Weatherby shoots the 168 TTSX extremely well so leaving that one alone. Happy Trails

I used the 175 LRX in a 300WM, also going 3100 ( not the fastest I could push it) for 2 reasons...(1) I wanted to see how it opened up with a "behind the shoulder shot", and (2) it shot so well with R23 that I wanted to use for Temp stability. At 100yds ( guesstimate) with a high lung shot, I got quarter sized entrance/exits but lungs really tore up. She ran 30yds downhill and rolled a bit. I have loaded the 165-168 Barnes for others in their 30-06s and 300 WSMs, they are pure poison on deer/elk for them. My last cow elk before this one was way back in 2002, used a Barnes 185 XLC in a 338WM, also around 3100fps. Same results. I will be trying to get to 3100+ with the 150TTSX in a 24" 30-06 and 6.5 Staball. "IF" I could get it there with accuracy, I would be tempted to shoot a cow elk with it. I bet it would "work just fine" at 2900fps too, ha. I know I worry way too much about the "hard angling shots, etc, and I still end up with a broadside, high lung shot opportunity 95% of the time! I must be a better "Hunter" than I give myself credit for, lol

I will be trying the new Absolute Hammer bullets in 178 gr. These have minimal engraving surfaces and velocity gain up to 300 fps have been realized without excessive pressures.

A 178 gr Hammer at 3700 fps in a 30-378 Bee would be fun no?

Fortis, I am very curious as to what you find out with that bullet. 300fps sounds optimistic to me.

Go to long-range hunting .com and read from the beginning

https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/introducing-the-absolute-hammer.248519/page-52#post-1989200

Looks like a lot of data that isnt pressure tested. Some seems standard velocity wise and others seems sky high.

As long as we talking about Barnes 175 LRX, has anyone tried these in a 1-11 inch twist?
Thanks for the feed back.
Take care.

Only have ran them in 1:10 out of various 300 magnums, but Barnes says your good with a 1:11.

The 168 ttsx in 06 will be traveling faster past 400 yards than the 150 gr. Never looked up the 130. I don’t plan on shooting elk super long range. But you just never know, and these monos work better going faster.
I practice as limit my self to 600 yards.
Also I think the 168s have lower minimum velocity requirements to open.