Ohiohunter76

Hi guys, So I shot my first deer with a Barnes T-EZ on Saturday. Hit her through the lungs around 20 yards, She went about 50-60 yards and down she went. I got a pass through but the bullet didn't expand at all. My question is was she too close for the bullet not to expand? I kinda confused about this. I'm shooting 100 grains of Blackhorn 209 out of a T/C Triumph. This was my first deer that I have ever shot with a muzzleloader, I just figured the Barnes would have expanded, I didn't recover the bullet but the entry and exit were the same size.

super_hunt54

What grain bullet? Not that it really matters because ANY bullet at that range, except some hard casts, should have opened reliably with that charge weight under it. Even if you didn't hit any bone at all. At 20 yards that bullet would have still been trucking at just under muzzle velocity.

cayugad

Bullets are a funny thing. And never expect them to do the expected for the most part. Why it did not expand (you had a pencil shaped wound through the deer?) is hard to guess. It just might have passed through so fast that ... well I don't know. I would have thought it should have expanded. I have seen roundball expand at that distance.

Was the internal damage the same size? No wound channel? At least you got the deer. And from all I have read, that is a great bullet.

Muley Hunter

Being closer should help it expand more. Are you sure it didn't expand? What was the wound channel like?

sabotloader

I have found over the years of ML hunting that often 'pointy tipped' bullets load with a healthy does of powder will often drive right through a thin skinned deer without expanding. Yet that same bullet many yards down range with less velocity and energy will work perfectly.


I really think the meplat of the bullet especially from a muzzleloader has a direct correlation on the results of the bullet especially at close ranges.


I would speculate if you had made that same shot with the same bullet and range but pushed the bullet through the shoulder bone it would have worked flawlessly.


All of this goes against the norm, but it certainly what I have observed.


I also would add one of the big errors in choosing a ML bullet is the bullets BC. The higher the BC the more you might see it do exactly what your bullet did.


The worst part.... it is not always consistent - sometimes it will pencil sometimes it will not....

lemoyne

Its called penciling, I believe what happens some times with Barnes is that the hollow point fills with hide and hair and the bullet refuse to open, they also can have problems opening at long range because it takes more velocity than other bullets to open.
You might take a good close look at the Lehigh made bullets especially the Bloodline !

Ohiohunter76

I am shooting a 250 grain bullet, wound channel was the same size as the bullet. At least I did recover the deer, and there was snow on the ground, but even the blood trail looked like someone had a spray bottle and was just spraying blood on a fine mist. I did shoot a coyote last year about 50 yards and the Barnes totally destroyed it.

Ohiohunter76

Thanks for the replies guys!

mackesr

I use the same exact bullet in my CVA wolf with 110gr of BH209. I started using it after experiencing some issues with the Power Belts I was originally using along with some of the experiences the fellars on this site were talking about. So far it has worked very well for me on quite a few deer and one black bear I took last year. I have one that I recovered that mushroomed out perfectly with six petals though I did not weigh it. So far that is the only bullet I have recovered as most went right through the ribs with beautiful blood trails.

Gm54-120

You can save some money and have a more reliable bullet by using the Barnes Expander MZ instead too. Its more or less a TEZ without the tip. The Barnes XPBs also work well but you need to buy sabots.

The TEZ comes with a MMP HPH-24 sabot. The Expander MZ (I think) comes with the HPH-12 sabot which would be very tight in a T/C bore. The Harvester Smooth Black would be a very good replacement for the HPH-24 if you cant find them locally. Cabelas even carries the Harvester sabots.

Lehigh/Bloodline bullets are VERY nice too and are very similar in price to Barnes. The Lehigh/Bloodline is a little larger OD than a Barnes bullet so you may need a Harvest Black Crushrib for those in a T/C bore.