Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters New Barnes MRX bullet (PHOTO)

Umm I don't think Allen is griping or complaining, he is making an observation. Chill.

Chuck

It's expensive enough feeding a 300WBY, 300 Savage, 308 Winchester, 30-06, 270 Winchester and three safes full of milsurps.

The MRX is an impressive bullet. It is however priced way too high for a poor working stiff like myself. I will continue to use Hornady Interlocks and factory second Partitions.

ZM

Can anyone think of a bullet that's been redesigned more times than the "X" bullet?

I can't.

Gee - I wonder why?

MM

P.S. - I haven't switched cuz what I'm using ain't broke and don't need no fixin'

MuskegMan,

My take on it (as one who's used them since day one) is that the reason for the continual efforts by Barnes is because they are relentlessly chasing perfection - which of course, can never be reached.

I'll take a company like that, anyday, over so many of the others, who sell us 20, 30 or 40 year old designs - and try to pass them off as "the best there is".

Continual innovation and refinement of a product is the mark of a company unwilling to stand pat. You can't make progress if your sitting on your ass.

Very well said. I couldn't agree more.

I agree Brian.

I will say however, on principle I don't buy yuppie coffee at $2.75 a cup, am not one of my baby boom generation that thinks a 3,000 sf house is "small", would never spend $45,000 for any vehicle, ever, and find $50 for a box of fifty bullets bordering obscene. Guess I'm more like my depression era father than the rest of my generation...

The MRX looks fabulous tho.

Here's my take on the situation:

1. Barnes added the "Plastic" tip to alleviate a real or perceived problem that their bullets won't open up reliably. Now who did this copy here? Nosler? or did Nosler copy the "original" tipped bullet - the Remington Bronze Point?

2. The tungsten core. Again, they are copying the Nosler/Wincheter CT design. Why? Here I think they are trying to solve the very long bullet/given weight ratio. The plastic tip does not help this - only exacerbates it. IMO there is a problem with compatabilty with standard twist rates which have been developed with normal copper/lead core bullets.

3. You say other companies are just "sitting on their asses." This may be so. I know my brand has beefed up their bullets. They toughened up the front section to better handle to all-the-rage whizz-bang-ultra-mega magnums that seem to be more popular these days. They also moved the partition forward to provide higher retained weight and the reinforced the rear core (which I don't think was necessary at all.)

Just my thoughts on this friendly debate

MM

I think this guy got the ball rolling a long time ago.

Check out this link

http://www.cartridgecollectors.org/newtonarticle.htm

MuskegMan

I really wasn't thinking about Nosler...

If I'm not shooting Barnes at big game, Nosler or Hornady would be one of my other choices. Personally, I think that if Nosler were to bond their Partition (like Hornady's new Interbond) - they'd be closing in on perfection too.

But, I don't buy the arguement Nosler puts forward when they say they want the front part to break up and fragment to add to the killing ability of the round. I think that's a lame excuse to try and cover one of the weaknesses of their best bullet's design. Because, if fragmentation is a desirable feature - then all of the cheapest bullets on the market seem to have that feature mastered.

Brian:

I think you omit a very important issue. The Partition is decidely not like the other bullets on the market precisely because only the front half of the bullet fragments relatively violently. The fact that the rear shank is protected by the partition and continues to penetrate well beyond what "the cheapest bullets on the market" do is what sets the Partition apart.

I consider the Partition to be a Ballistic Tip up front and a Fail Safe in the rear from a performance (as opposed to a construction) perspective. That ain't a bad thing (understatement of the day).

I would generally opine that fragmentation has an upside, and its downside is only a detriment to the extent that it inhibits penetration. If you can have violent expansion AND deep penetration, then where's the beef?

Nosler Partitions have done that, and well, forever.

I do agree, however, that they are not always the most gilt-edged accurate bullets, but they've always been accurate enough for hunting in my rifles, and deer don't care about group size.

I like and use lots of other bullets, but I still don't know of a more well rounded, do-everything bullet design than the Partition. You can hunt virtually anything with them and have the "right" bullet.

There are NO flies on the Partition.

Rick

Just for shiitts and grins, I'll throw this pic out. It's my recovered partition collection - all except one (#2)



Guess what Bullet #2 is? Hint - the company's motto is "Bullets they way the ought to me made." It's from the biggest Sitka Blacktail I ever shot.

MM

I agree with much of what you say...

But - a Partition with a bonded core - that would have me sending in money to the Nosler company more often. I still think a Nosler that held onto it's forward weight, rather than throwing it, all the while flattening out like a Hornady Interbond - would be what I'd think is close to perfection.

My only compaints on the game that I have shot with partitions is that I usually get too much ruined meat from the secondary fragmentation - that, and the fact that for really big game - Barnes will always penetrate much deeper.

Still, I agree, the Nosler is a great bullet, as is - I just happen to think that it could possibly, still be better. But what bullet couldn't?

A bonded partition is called an A_Frame!

Ifn' Nosler would put a partition in the Accubond..........that would be perfection!


X-VERMINATOR

RickBin,

Your explanation of the Partition is exactly why it works so well and bang flops are far more common when using 'em. I love the partial fragmentation of the front end, lead fragments penetrating in several ongoing directions which sever and destroy nerves/tissue while the remaining bullet plows on thru leaving a destructive path in its wake. The Barnes X takes a bit to open up and leaves a much smaller wound channel, its more like a solid with blades attached that open up manually.

I've experienced many solid kills and know too many hunters who swear by the Partition. I'm just pissed at myself for straying from the Partition a bit after reading these forums the last few years. I feel too many suffer from bullet phobia on these forums.

Another great bullet for non-dangerous game is the Hornady Interlokt. I call em the poor man's partition, the 30cal, 180gr and the 338, 225gr Interlokts are pure murder on elk. They may not be the best for a rear end shot but they hold up pretty well for a cup type bullet.

BcBrian wrote: "Still, I agree, the Nosler is a great bullet, as is - I just happen to think that it could possibly, still be better. But what bullet couldn't?"

Dead is dead dude, have you not ever experienced a bang flop kill?


MtnHtr

Whew!, that was a cool mouthful MtnHunter. I sometimes feel the same way. Were it not for these forums, I would still be killing deer
with the Ballistic tip, of which half this board says doesnt work, yet I never lost one buck in my 270 win shooting the 130 gr ballistic tip.

I keep coming back to the Scirocco, first bonded core plastic tip bullet, and I firmly believe it suffers primarily because most of us are fans of Nosler, or Hornady bullets, yet the data constantly says the Scirocco retains more wieght than the Accubond. The Scirocco mushrooms more some say. Let's see, for a deer bullet, or any bullet for that matter, if you have a bullet that mushrooms very well, yet retains about 90% of its weight, I call that one awesome bullet. We now have so many choices we end up spinning alot of wheels needlessly reloading to determine the one we really want, when in reality, for most of us, I bet Hornady would do the job.

Bang Flops. Having guided for a while on a ranch where we were required to harvest a bit over 300 deer a year, all I can say on bang flops is they always made me nervous. Most were central nervous system hits or close to it, by accident. More than a few required another shot or two to put the deer out of misery or to keep it from getting up and getting away. I'd much prefer to see a bit of a puff of dust in the right area and a sprint away. But thats me and we all have our ways.

Last bang flop I made, I covered the animal for over 2 minutes before I decided that the spine shot was fatal.

And that ole theory of dead is dead dude-- seen that done many times with a 22LR solid. Doesn't make it a deer round though. I'll admit that after my mentioned failures with partitions I'm anal about bullet performance. I want it to be able to do anything, and if that requires a bit of a trailing job, it adds to the hunt for me anyway. Of course I'm a bowhunter mainly so I actually enjoy following the trail.

At least its cool that it takes all kinds to spin this ole top we live on around.

Jeff