Which BARNES bullet is best for me?

[IOWAWHITETAILS]

Expander MZ

Spit-Fire MZ .

Spit-Fire T-EZ

Spit-Fire TMZ p.


Im shooting a 50 cal CVA Accura w/ Nikon omega bdc.....150g triple7 250g bullet.

Im not real big on distance but I want a bullet thats accurate at long distance if needed. Ill will be shooting less than 100yds hopefully..would like too shoot BARNES....feel free too share your experiences with your barnes bullet....thanks IA

[Powerfisher]

I started with a Barnes 250gr TMZ and it did well but when I tried a Hornady 300gr SST, it bucked the wind better and grouped better so I went up to the Barnes 290gr TMZ and its a nice flying bullet. My pics are too big to post and I dont know how to resize them but a 2" MOA @ 100yds with a peep is good enough for me. It has a boat tail so it is more stable and accurate over longer distances. Sorry for being redundant but in an earlier post I mentioned that at 150yds I can hit a paper plate consistantly off hand. This is with the TMZ. I use 110gr of BH209 to push it. The only real way to tell is to try them all......darn, more trigger time........

[cayugad]

That's a hard question to answer. I had great luck with the Barnes MZ Expander 250 grain for accuracy. I shot some of the Spitfire out of the same rifle and the accuracy was not as good. So only your rifle will tell. The nice thing is, any Barnes is a good bullet and will plant any whitetail that walks. Other good bullets are Nosler, Speer, Shockwaves, and XTPs.

[HOGGHEAD]

Originally Posted by cayugad

That's a hard question to answer. I had great luck with the Barnes MZ Expander 250 grain for accuracy. I shot some of the Spitfire out of the same rifle and the accuracy was not as good. So only your rifle will tell. The nice thing is, any Barnes is a good bullet and will plant any whitetail that walks. Other good bullets are Nosler, Speer, Shockwaves, and XTPs.

Exactally what dave says +1

I found the 250gr MZ with 110gr 777 and the Orange Sabots shot best out of my Knights !
Last year shot a Big doe @ 130yds and she only took about a 10yd nose Dive when I walked up on her she had a Baseball sized exit hole in her !
Killed a big 8 pt with same results !
I found that the Flat based Bullets shot better than the Boatail Bullets !

[mountaineer magic]

In the long run only you will be able to answer that question. The two best Barnes bullets that I shoot (and would recommend ) are the TMZ 290 gr in my 50 cal. and the 325 gr Expander MZ in my 54 cal. I'm of the opinion that any Barnes bullet is good and performs well, it just comes down to which one your gun likes the most. If I was going to buy just one Barnes to try it would be the 290 gr.TMZ, It shoots good in quite a few of my guns, both 1:28 twist and 1:24 twist. Let us know how you make out

[MountainDevil54]

Well its not a sabot but i can tell you this. The Thor conical ( solid copper and made by Barnes) is one hell of an amazing bullet to shoot out of my Accura. You can get the 250gr Ballistic Tip and your scope should be fine. With the 150gr charge i think they'd do pretty darn well in your Accura.

[nchawkeye]

If you are not big on distance, drop your powder charge to
90-100grs, that will push a 250-300gr bullet plenty flat to about 125 yards...

I'd go with either the 250 or 300 MZ, whichever shoots best in your rifle...They have the largest hollow point so they should open up the best...

I used to shoot the 300gr Barnes MZ and it does great, full penetration and good exit wounds...I only went to the 250 ShackWaves because when I hunt over bean fields the shots can run a little longer...If I knew all my shots were going to be within 125 yards, I'd go back to the Barnes MZ...

btw...I'd prefer the 250 Barnes, but my Knight didn't...

[sjsfire]

I've been using the 300gr Barnes Expander MZ for two years now. 4 total deer taken with them in my CVA Wolf using Harvestor Crushed Rib sabots, 2 50gr Pyrodex bullets, W209 primers. This is a 300gr Expander I recovered out of my spike buck I killed last year. I also get 1 inch groups at 100 yards with this combo.

Barnes20082nd (2).jpg

1 inch (2).jpg

[SWThomas]

I shoot both the 250g and the 290g T-EZ in my ML. I use 120g BH209 and ditch the supplied sabots for MMP HPH-12 sabots. They group a lot better in my rifle. I too have noticed that the flat based Barnes' shoot better for me. I shot quite a few of the boat-tails and I wasn't impressed.

All I use with these bullets is 120g BH209. I have been told that you want a stouter load because of how long the Barnes bullets are. Something about helping them stabilize in flight. All I know is this combination shoots great for me.

[IOWAWHITETAILS]

thanks for all the replys...it's just going too come down too testing a few different loads and seeing which on I like.....IA