.308 180 gr Barnes X spitzer or boattail

Gone_Huntin · 06-13-2003, 12:22 PM

My dad and I have ordered a 300 ultra mag and a 300 weatherby that I will start loading for soon. We will be taking them elk hunting this fall. What is the difference or advantages of using one or the other of these types of bullets. I have shot the Barnes X boattail 140 gr in my 270 weatherby and liked them. Just curious if one or the other will be a better choice.

noway · 06-13-2003, 12:52 PM

There is a chance your gun will shoot one more accurately than the other.
Terminal performance on game should be the same with either of these X bullets.
BC will be slightly better on the BT for long range shots, but at hunting ranges with your caliber it won' t make much difference in bullet drop.

handloader1 · 06-15-2003, 09:42 PM

After 300 yrs. are where boat-tails (BT) are at their best. I don' t use BT unless they are Barnes XBT for elk sized game and larger. Other manufactor' s BT lose there intregrety because of their construction due to their shape. I would use almost any BT for medium thin skinned game. Good luck.

Gone_Huntin · 06-16-2003, 07:04 AM

thanks for the info. It kind of confirms my thoughts. I too am a little iffy about boattails on larger game but since it is a barnes x I didn' t think it would be a problem since it should hold together. Seems as if the boat tail in an X is the way to go if the gun will shoot them.

Vapodog · 06-19-2003, 12:29 AM

you will also find the Swift A-Frame to be a fine bullet......I' m a believer!!

PaJack · 06-19-2003, 08:32 AM

If you had luck with the Barnes X,why change? I have a .300 Weatherby and reload the .300 RUM for a friend and Nosler Partitions shoot great out of both...

stubblejumper · 06-19-2003, 09:18 PM

Actually bullet construction is far more important than bullet shape.Accubonds,interbonds,scirroccos and jensens are all boattails that will hold together as well or better than most flat based bullets.I used a jensen j26 to take a grizzly and the bullet entered at the throat and stopped at the rear hip after travelling the length of the bear.It would be hard to find any flat based bullet that would do a better job.I have also taken two moose and four elk with boattailed bullets out of my 300ultramag and all performed very well.

Gone_Huntin · 06-20-2003, 06:44 AM

Well I ordered a box of 168 grain Barnes X triple shocks, a box of 180 barnes x boattails, and a box of 180 grain barnes triple shock. Hopefully the two guns will shoot one of these well. I plan to start with these and some H1000 or H870 powder as a beginning load and go from there. Has anyone shot the new tripleshock? Opinions? Any opinions on using a 168 grain as opposed to 180 grain out of these rifles for a elk load if that is what it shoots the best? Thanks for the feedback so far.

stubblejumper · 06-20-2003, 06:50 AM

For the 300 ultra I would definately try reloader 25 powder.My own 300ultramags shoot reloader 25 better than any other powder with imr7828 a close second.Several other people that I know also get the best results with r-25 in their 300ultramags.I have not used the triple shock bullet but I would not hesitate to use a 168gr bullet of premium construction.I do however step up to 180gr bullets for moose and elk when bullets of conventional construction are used.