Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Hey, what's the scoop on Barnes Vortex ammunition.?

In the event that I'm too busy right now to set up my bench, and dont see much slowing down anytime soon, how good (or bad) are the Barnes Vortex prerolls.?😁

Buddy uses 180 grains in his 30-06. Accurate and elk don't like it. I've used them in a 300 win mag but accuracy wasn't fantastic.

I have used the 150 and 168 in my Tikka T3 308, both shoot very well and kill stuff fine.


mike r

150's in my 308 work/shoot great!! I stock up when SW has them on sale. They shoot as good as anything I reload.

They work well. I’ve got a hunting buddy that is all he will shoot, regardless did he is hunting bear or caribou. Two weeks ago, my son got a decent caribou using my old .30-06 and 168 gr Barnes TTSX.

I could not get them to shoot worth a flip in my 300 WM or 270 WSM. Now the .308 and .30-06 they shooter great in.

Buddy uses the 168 TTSX 30-06 from his weatherby.

Deadly on elk!

I use the them in a variety of calibers and taken
243 the 85 TTX and the 80 TTXS = 1 pronghorn
280 140 TTXS
7-08 120 TTXS 1 5x5 bull and 3x3 blacktail
300 WSM 165 both TXS and TTXS 17 elk, mostly bulls
300 Win 165 TTXS 1 6x6 bull and one 4x3 buck
338 Win 225 TSX 1 bull
The 338, an old Ruger tanger, shoots silver dollar size groups, the others around quarter size groups.
I think I recovered 1 bullets, a 165 from the 300 WSM Montana that went in the front of the chest and stuck in the back hindquarter.

I bought a box of 140gr tsx bt for the wife’s 270 wsm they shot under an inch. I also tried some 50gr tsx fb out of both my fast and slow twist 22-250s and they both also shot them well. Although the 22-250 brass had some corrosion on them when I opened the box... nothing a little steel wool didn’t take care of though. I have heard of other people having some issues with qc stuff. There was a thread on here a while ago about it.

Well, those reports are leaning toward the positive side.

Thank you Gentlemen.

I used the 85gr 243 load on a spike last year. Shot it quartering away at 100 ish yards. Stevie Wonder could follow the blood trail easily. Worked perfectly.

Have used them in 30-06, 308, 7-08 and several of those loads shot in the .3-.4 range, most were well under one moa in rifles that liked them.

Used them for a little while in my 243 (80's), didn't like them. Pretty accurate but the petals sheared off really fast and the rest penciled through on a blacktail. Shot a wolf with them too, center punched it in the chest and never recovered it. Not sure what caliber you are looking for though. Sounds like the larger calibers work a little better. Nosler makes prerolls too.

The 100TTSX load shoots great in a 25-06 T3 but they are pretty slow. I have heard others say this also but hey, I will give up speed for accuracy in a factory load....

Just remember, they owned by the same company that owns Remington.

I’ve yet to own a rifle they shot well in.(tried in 2 different 30-30’s a 30-06 and a 243) I don’t blame that on the ammo though. If my rifle shot it accurately I’d hunt it with zero worries.

The 150-grain 308 load is sub 0.5 MOA in my 700 308 at 2,886 fps.

Hard not to like that kind of performance.


Okie John

I reload for every rifle I have. I'm one who, when a really good sale occurs will grab some factory ammo. It's a cost effective way of obtaining new brass. Anyway, I came across a small store going-out-of-business sale several years ago and nabbed several boxes of Barnes Vor-TX 280 ammo with 140 grain tipped TSX. I've never been a huge Barnes bullets guy; but, these have been very accurate out of my 280.

Never have recovered a 168 ttsx from the ot6.
I like high break down shots.
Shoulder spine shoulder.
Have taken several head on below the white patch on neck and out the pelvic girdle shots
( nasty gutting out)

As " unethical" as it might sound.
I would take just about anyshot a WT buck presents knowing the bullet will punch thru vitals in a line that I can envision prior to the shot.

I really DGAF about meat damage.
That schit is urban legend over rated anyways.


JMO.......

In .30/06, I found the Barnes 168 grain TTSX to be a superb factory loading. 7/8" three shot groups at 200 yards (Blaser R93) which I could not equal with my handloads. I took that combo to Africa in 2018 and it was a an excellent performer on a cull hunt. It is now my "go to" .30/06 load.