Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Fred N. Barnes spitzer bullets?

I came into a box of 7mm 140 grain bullets. I'm looking for any info good or bad on how these perform. They are grouping consistently with the little tinkering I've done so far with them in an A-Bolt 7mm WSM. How old are they? I appreciate any info at all. I haven't been able to find much on them. I tumbled them with my brass for a couple of weeks to clean them up.

1950’s or early 60’s judging by the box. Jackets were made by swaging copper tubing, cores are pretty close to if not pure lead.

They’ll open fast and wide.

Is there a jacket thickness number on the box?
These are known now as Originals, a heavy pure ~ copper jacket and near pure lead core. Depending on what you want to poke them through, my experience with them is they are darned good game bullets. If by chance you recover one, it’s normally a mashed ball a very long distance from the entry hole.

I appreciate the replies. I'll check for other numbers on the box. The A-Bolt may get a chance to launch them this fall.

I have a similar box of bullets. Mine has a street address rather than a box #. 1215 s 5th ST. Grand Junction CO. Box end says - Cal 30 - Weight 250gr. They are 1.540 long with a full inch of bearing surface.

The jacket was not thinned at the tip before pointing and is almost closed with a very small opening. In fact a few of the lead tips have broken off. Elmer Keith said that Fred made some for him in .333 Dia. He said they would not expand on a cement sidewalk. We tried some in a 300 h&h and recovered a few from the dirt bank behind the target. One had not expanded but turned sideways and broke in two. Probably hit a rock. I just weighed 5 and they were all 250gr +/- a tenth.

For a lark I loaded one in a 300 Savage case with the base halfway down the neck. Almost an inch and a half of bullet protruding, Gets some looks when someone ask what I am shooting and I pull that one out. I was given these about 1962 by an old gunsmith and the box looked really old then.

I've killed quite a few animals with them but mine were make in American Fork UT. They were prior to the X bullet coming out
I don't know if Barnes makes any soft points any more. Maybe in big calibers.
I've used many 200 grain 30 calibers. Average accuracy.
I killed a bull elk with a 250 soft point from my pre-64 30-06. A few with 225s but mostly 200s.

They still list what are now called Barnes Originals on their website, but the only one listed as "available" is the 400-grain .458 semi-spitzer.

The original Fred Barnes bullets, before the company was sold to Randy and Coni, were made in Colorado. Fred sold the company to a couple of other guys in the 1970s, who renamed it Colorado Custom Bullets--but made basically the same bullets. I killed my first pronghorn buck with a 100-grain Colorado Custom from a .243 Winchester back then.

I've got quite a few of these in different calibers if anyone is interested in some. I know I don't have any 284 caliber though. Mostly have 308, 338, 270, plus maybe a few more. I can look if anyone is interested. Just PM me.