Some recovered bullets from my backstop.
 

All the snow finally melted up here so I was out shooting like always and went and looked at the hill behind my target board and there was just bullets laying every where.



The 5 on the left are hornady sst's pushed by 100 & 120grs. of pyrodex.
The 5 in the middle are barnes expanders pushed by 100 grs.
The 1 on the right is a 220 gr. dead center pushed by same powder load.

Die Hard

RE: Some recovered bullets from my backstop.
 

those Barnes really expand nice don't they... I suppose once the snow melts around here, there will be lead all over the place..

RE: Some recovered bullets from my backstop.
 

If prettiness = performance on game, then Barnes wins hands down. I'm not sure it always works out like that in real life, though....

Kind of surprised by the SST's - it looks like they basically shed their tips and didn't expand after that.

RE: Some recovered bullets from my backstop.
 

Hey DieHard, I played around with the exposure on your picture to get a better look at the SSTs. Looks like the base still contains the lead core, but there sure isn't much else left. Were these shot into dry soil/wet soil???

RE: Some recovered bullets from my backstop.
 

Semisane- they where shot through a haybale and hit the frozen dirt behind it. I went and looked and they where just laying there on top of the ground. I shot one into water like a year ago and it mushroomed perfectly but was still only like .5 at its widest point(.40). I think ill stick with barnes expanders.

Die Hard

RE: Some recovered bullets from my backstop.
 

I'm not sure what to take from that. A hay bale caused the expanders to exand to that degree or was it the frozen ground? Where abouts are you DDH? How hard frozen is the ground? Even here we didn't get much of a ground freeze this year due to an early snow that never left.

Try ramming them through a 5 gal pail of packed damp earth to see how they expand and compare them then. A hay bale to form an opinion on expansion???

Just curious you know??

RE: Some recovered bullets from my backstop.
 

diehardhunter

IfI were depending on one of those bullets - Barnes wins... I get the same reults with Nosler Partitions. I much prefer this type of expansion to what i call "blob" expansion. I bullet "totally" expands to a "blob" will not penetrate nearly as far a bullet with controlled expansion... especially if a direct hit on a major bone is achieved, which then goes back to the thought or theory - Use all the energy in the the animal or have sufficient energy and controlled expsansion to achieve a pass through - I admit I prefer the latter.

Those folded back copper wings rotating through tissues really cause massive hemoraging and shock to the animals system.

RE: Some recovered bullets from my backstop.
 

HuntAway

I really doubt that you will see much of a difference. The Barnes all copper and the Nosler Partitions will expeand to a given point and quit expanding... but that has nothing to do with the with the depth of penetration (well really it does) but those bullets are designed to expand and with the weight that they have behind the expansion barrier - they will continue to drive as long as the have energy. The design of the two bullets - gives a known expansion almost everytime - then depending on the the energy they have at contact the penetration can be calculated in tissue. Nosler have been tested over and over and will achieve proper and uniformexpansionthrougha greater range of velocities than any other bullet. Right with that are the Barnes "all copper bullets"

With the price of lead climbing so bad I thought the switch to Barnes might be the logical short term move - but copper prices are climbing just as steadily.

RE: Some recovered bullets from my backstop.
 

+1 on the Expanders, beautiful full mushrooms. Chap

RE: Some recovered bullets from my backstop.
 

Those expanders look good. Great bullets, just a little pricey though.

RE: Some recovered bullets from my backstop.
 

I'll shoot about anything on the range to play aroundbut thats exactly the reason I choose to use the Barnes Expanders while in the stand regardless of the cost.

RE: Some recovered bullets from my backstop.
 

sjsfire

Normally on most occasions I would totally agree with you - and I actually practice what you are suggesting, but this week while in Sportsmans - I checked the price of a box ofNosler .458/300 grain bullets... $54 for 50... so I thought it might be time for a change to Barnes so I checked their prices... no relief there either... even my other alternative (a poorman's nosler partition).452/300 grain Speer Gold Dots are now $20 for 50... Recreation is getting really expensive - do not even want to mention the price of gas.

RE: Some recovered bullets from my backstop.
 

Well I have to tell you all I believe that those fancy expensive bullets do not kill anything any deader than an XTP or a Gold Dot. Now for elk moose and griz. or red stag or large African game there might be a point in using them; but for deer, boar and black bear I normally get bang flops with the XTP or lately with the Gold Dots and they are reasonable enough to pratice with,paying over a dollar a shot for normal shooting is like driving a caddy, strickly for show. If you put that bullet in the right place,which is a whole lot more important a good percetage of the time then all you really need to do is use one thats adaquate for the game. Lee

RE: Some recovered bullets from my backstop.
 

I buy the bulk XTP'sand sabots from Mid South for the range. I know my CVA Wolf loves the Barnes Expanders. I'm interested to see how the Barnes will shoot out of my new KRB7, they may not shoot worth a damn. Suppose to rain here all weekend so my plans to bust the cherry on my new Knightmight have to wait. I'll try both the Barnes and XTP's. I almost picked up some of those Gold Dot's last weekend when I was at Sportsman's Warehouse picking up that KRB. I'll try some of them too.

RE: Some recovered bullets from my backstop.
 

Your 100% correct Lee. However if your getting older, and your eyesight and aim is not what it was when you were say 40 or even 50, then having a bullet that "does it all (accuracy, penetration, expansion) gives one a bit more insurance that we will harvest the animal well. I bought 4 boxes of the Gold dots, and every time I order from Midway, I get another one, so I am agreeing with you, but I know that a Barnes or a Nosler will take me thru shoulder blade and I will get the deer if my eyes and aim are not 100% perfect, so I like to use those formy inlines. Flint locks where most of my shots are under 50 no more than 70, I will use the Gold Dot and I use to use an XTP, 300g Mag.
Iyou can afford the Noslersor the Barnesfor huntingthat is a great insurance policy for hitting bone, especially if they are accurate in your gun, which to me is #1 criteria.
Chap

RE: Some recovered bullets from my backstop.
 

Yep the Barnes and the Noslers are "neck to neck" on cost and performance, and I know they know that and price their bullets accordingly. I agree with you on the .452 300g Gold Dot, they are the best bullet when you consider price and performance---if they are accurate in your rifle.
Chap