I haven't tried any Barns bullets since the original "X" bullets. Then is was recommended that the barrel be cleaned of all gilding metal fouling before using the Barns. Does the same apply now? How about with Hornady's GMX, or Nosler's E-tip?

Whose barn are they made in?

I like the Noselers. They got a big pointy beak. And that Joyce Horn-a-day was an ugly broad, but she knew how to keep the doctor away.

Joe,

The TSXs (and all the other "banded" bullets from Barnes) don't have the same fouling problems as the original X's. I shoot them a lot with some gilding-metal fouling in rifle bores, due to shooting a bunch of different handloads in a single rifle for articles, and can't recall any problems.

Hornady and Nosler monolithics are made out of the same gilding metal as most rifle bullet jackets, instead of pure copper like Barnes, so there's normally no problem there either. (Gilding metal is a mild brass, mostly copper with a little zinc.)

Oops, dropped the E. Sorry!
Thanks John.

I think they used to spell it that way, cause you couldn't hit a barn with them...but since they went TSX and TTSX banded, they are incomparable. Try Barnes now, you won't be sorry.

No offense, meant, Joe. I couldn't resist the opportunity to throw some humor into the thread. These other gentlemen did a fine job of actually answering your question.

No offense taken. And to ingwe's response, that was the primary reason I quit using them and the copper fouling.

In my experience, the Barnes TSX bullets are very accurate and drop game quickly. I've also taken 2 cow elk with the old, non-banded X bullets and they worked well too. But they did produce more copper fouling. I haven't tried the polymer tipped TSXs.

If I was testing for accuracy I would clean the bore to bare metal but this is more out of habit than need.

They had a hell of a bad reputation when they first came out. Fouling barrels and "penciling through" critters without expanding. I tried them then and was disgusted on how they fouled the heck out of my barrel. I wouldn't touch anything barnes with a 10 foot pole until this year when I tried the LRX and also loaded up some TSX in my buddies short mag. They sure are accurate and don't foul the barrel like they used to. I'm glad the engineers worked through that problem. Now I think I'll start trying more of them.

Always interesting how many rifle loonies arrive at a firm conclusion after limited experience.

Within less than a decade after introducing X-Bullets even the original design started working very well, both in accuracy and expansion. That doesn't mean the grooved shank of the TSXs wasn't another improvement, but it also doesn't mean the original design couldn't work very well. It did, once tweaked a little.

I bought my 1st box of 20 Barnes bullets as loaded ammo (think it was PMC brand) at gas station in Eastern MT while on a hunting trip must have been the mid 1980’s. While my reloads with 130 gr Nosler BT would routinely group MOA those .277 X bullets shot patterns. I couldn’t believe how badly they shot in my usually reliable tanger M_77 when I shot them out of curiosity @ the local range.

The TTSX are a huge improvement, getting nice tight groups in that same Ruger but now with a fresh barrel.

41

Unfortunately Barnes let us do the field testing for the original bullets and I had great problems when they didn't expand. Especially because at the time they were just about the most expensive bullets out there. I used them in a 338 and a 270 for one pretty full season in Wyoming, Texas and Oklahoma getting very spotty results to say the least and the longest tracking/game recovery issues I have ever experienced. I also put more bullets per animal through various animals than at any other time of my life. The Speer Horcor was a far better bullet than the early Barnes X bullets. Unlike others I had no trouble finding accurate loads with them. This soured me on Barnes for a long time though I have used some of the TTSX and Match Burners with good results lately.

I have only taken three deer with Barnes bullets. I was using TTSX in my 30-06 150 grain bullet. They grouped very well in my rifle, and the deer all fell over dead.
I think, they are what they are, a good hunting bullet.
I have loaded other grain weights and different calibers. They did a good job punching holes in paper, I just haven't killed any game with those loads.

Take care

I’ve got Barnes bullets I plan on loading in my .30 cal rifles and my .338 WM. I tried factory Barnes ammo a few years back in several of my rifles. It shot great in my .30-06 and .308, shot it in my WSMs and it was horrible. This year, my son took a caribou using 168 gr. TTSX factory ammo out my .30-06. I was not there hunting with him, but he said the caribou went straight down on a 120 yard shot. I can shoot my .30-06 with factory loaded Barnes and the only difference is the 168 gr. Shoots 1” higher than the 180 gr ammo. I hope I can get it to shoot well in my .300WSM and others I plan to load for it by the time caribou season opens next August.

Barnes TTSX have been phenomenally accurate for me in several calibers.

I use the Barnes .451 275 gr TSX for whitetail deer with drop in their track results. One deer had a womb entry hole almost as my fist. The bullet ended on the opposite of the deer under the skin. Others had large wombs but not like that one...

Gotta love large womb entry holes!!!

I use the TSX in .25, .284, .30, .375 and have never lost an animal with one. Over a hundred critters taken so I would say that is at least something. They liked to be pushed fast. They are generally very accurate and laugh at bone. YMMV

This right here, cracked me up!

Also, I plan on testing the Barnes lrx out this year. Was having trouble getting consistent groups in my 270. Tried a lot of bullets and powders. Finally found a load that’s repeatable around 3/4” with the 129 lrx and rl-26 at 3150fps. Looking foreward to putting some copper into some fur!

Years ago Barnes compared their bullets to Berger in regards to wound channels. It convinced me to use Bergers and I have ever since.

Funny, I remember that, and I came away with the same conclusion! I eventually tried Barnes bullets, but I've had a 50-cents-per-bullet rule for a long time, and Barnes have to be on sale to get purchased.

For a number of years, I'd use Barnes bullets off and on. Never had a issue. Accuracy seemed very pleasing along with terminal performance. Now, I work in the Ballistic Lab at Barnes, my opinion of Barnes has gone through the roof. It's not just brand loyalty but seeing the steps gone through to not only bring a bullet to market but keep it shooting tight groups and expanding as designed, in game animals.

As for the higher cost. Well, copper is an expensive base metal. Taking the extra step to cut the grooves/cannulures in the TSX/TTSX/LRX bullet will add cost. The amount of continued testing to insure quality in accuracy and bullet expansion, costs money. Between what i've seen and have heard from others in the industry, the ballistic Lab Barnes is far above that of many other bullet companies. Wish I could go into specifics but need to be careful to not divulge any trade secrets, etc., so as not to get myself into trouble. I LOVE my job!

Alan

PS. Now that we are under different management, look forward to many greater things from Barnes!

Please tell them, release the .458, 400 grain TSX to the public market.
And don’t forget the 416 Ruger load data !!

I think Barnes is no more. Owned by the outfit that owned Remington, and Remington no longer exists in any form. I spent most of a day on three different search engines to purchase all the Vor-TX .338 WinMag 225 TTSX I could find. As they are submoa in my rifle. I believe they were purchased at bankruptcy, and any ammo out there or components is likely remaining 2019 stock. I would guess it will be a couple of years before we see loaded ammo or components. Whose to say that the new firm will follow the old formulas?

Sierra owns them now, from my understanding.

I am not saying Barnes are miracle bullets, nor are any other.
Barnes bullets have shot great in most all my rifles and I have had no performance issues. My experiences of game have been with 338, 375, and 416 cartridges. I have been very pleased with groups from .277, .284, .308, .323, .338, .375, .416. Again not a miracle bullet, but in my limited experience a darn good one.

People speak of the fouling. I have experienced as much or more copper fouling from Swift A-Frames than I did from the original X-bullet, from the same rifles. The A-Frame is a copper jacketed bullet. I like A-Frames also.
I think most any of the monolithic style perform similarly as to on game performance. The Barnes happened to be the first I tried and are still the first I try. But, I have no hesitation with Nosler, Federal, or Hornady versions if they shoot well in the particular rifle.

They aren't going to stop making bullets or money. Businesses where something is actually produced operate bottom--->up, not top---->down. Are they just going to sit on their hands there at the factory, waiting for someone to "buy" the company, so they can get back to making stuff that is in demand?

This is public knowledge. Sierra bullets bought Barnes Bullets about 2 months back. Clarus, a Salt Lake City based company, owns Sierra, aka, they own us.

https://www.claruscorp.com/our-brands

Clarus is super charged to have us build "A LOT" more bullets and ammo. Give it some time but I believe you will start seeing Barnes products increasing their availability over the next bit of time as we ramp up production. If their is a product you especially want, contact Barnes customer service directly and convey your desire. They can relay that to the "powers to be" at Barnes.

Alan

GSSP;
Good afternoon to you sir, I trust the day's been a good one for you and this finds you well.

Thanks kindly for the update on Barnes bullets status, I very much appreciate you doing so.

Hopefully the transition into stepped up production will be smooth and relatively uneventful for those of you involved in actually doing it, I say that coming from a lifetime of work in production facilities by the way.

Thanks again, all the best to you all and Happy Thanksgiving.

Dwayne