Barnes bullets worth money for hunting?

[joshsmit56001]

I have heard good things regarding the barnes tipped bullets but I hate the cost of them. Is it worth over a dollar for each bullet? Also what is the difference between the TEZ and TMZ and which bullet do most use?

Josh

 

[sabotloader]

joshsmit56001

have heard good things regarding the barnes tipped bullets but I hate the cost of them. Is it worth over a dollar for each bullet? Also what is the difference between the TEZ and TMZ and which bullet do most use?

It is all in the mind of the shooter... if it is worth it to you then it is worth it.

Probably the one modern ML bullet that has harvested more animals than any other bullet out maybe alll of the other bullets out is the plain jane hornady XTP. Put it in the rigt spot hunt over.

But I am one of the ones that pays the extra money for what i believe gives me some extra performance. I have shot Nosler Partitions all my life and believe they are worth every dime in a marginal hunting situation + plus I hate tracking.

I am not a Barnes shooter - have never really liked them but someone with more information will let you know the differences in the two "T' bullets...

 

[SWThomas]

I feel the price is justified. I love Barnes' bullets. I have fired several others through my Encore Endeavor but haven't found anything else that I like as much as the Barnes. I shoot the 250g T-EZ exclusively now with outstanding accuracy. The performance on game is also outstanding. These bullets contain no lead and absolutely will not fragment. Instead they'll bloom like a flower. (SEE BELOW) You get 100% weight retention... Maybe just a hair less as the polymer tip will shed off once the bullet starts to open.

The T-EZ is their flat-based version of the Spit Fire muzzleloader bullet. They come packaged with an EZ load sabot that's suppose to allow the bullet to load easier in tighter bores. I have found that I get better accuracy if I trash the supplied sabots and surround the bullet with an MMP HPH-12 sabot. The TMZ is pretty much the same bullet but it has a boattail instead of the flat base. This bullet requires a special sabot that comes with them. There's really no room for sabot experimentation because there aren't any boattail sabots out there. Not a high demand.

I've used both of these bullets and have had better accuracy results with the T-EZ.

These are Barnes T-EZ bullets that I fired into a 5-gallon bucket filled with wet magazines. I had to use a reduced charge so I wouldn't blow through the bucket...

Here's a couple we dug out of the dirt behind the bucket. The one is deformed but it retained all its weight.

And here's an idea of the kind of accuracy I get with them...

 

[aaron]

well worth it to me:
1. no lead- lead bullets leave tiny fragments throughout the carcas- not just around the wound- lead is bad for you and really bad for kids- just ask the romans... oh wait... they're all dead from lead poisoning.
2. cost is miniscule compared to other hunting expenses (as long as you practice with something cheap.
3. reports indicate they're more accurate
I use Thors- a full bore version of barnes-x

 

[coltchris]

There's really no room for sabot experimentation because there aren't any boattail sabots out there. Not a high demand.

SW: I'm sure your unaware, but there ARE boattail sabots available from Harvester. I don't have the number in front of me, but I ordered some a couple months ago and they work great in my TC Triumph. If anybody needs the number, I'll look it up and post. And yes, I think the price is not important, they are great bullets.

 

[frontier gander]

yes they are worth the money!

 

[RidgeRebel]

I shot the 285 grn Spit-fire MZ last year and the bullets worked very well. I shot a Mule Deer at just over 150 yards and the bullet passed completely through both shoulders bone and all. Then a bull elk at slightly over 100 yards with complete penetration through the ribs. The Barnes bullets perform great but this year I found a bullet that performed equally as well for half price. The Hornady FTX .458 325 grn made for the Lever evolution loaded with harvester crush ribs over 100 grns of T7 in my Omega shot completely through a cow elk at about 80 yards. For just about the same price as 24 barnes bullets you can buy 50 FTX and 50 crush ribs. I got the idea ffom another site and it woked very well for me.

 

[SWThomas]

There's really no room for sabot experimentation because there aren't any boattail sabots out there. Not a high demand.

SW: I'm sure your unaware, but there ARE boattail sabots available from Harvester. I don't have the number in front of me, but I ordered some a couple months ago and they work great in my TC Triumph. If anybody needs the number, I'll look it up and post. And yes, I think the price is not important, they are great bullets.

I was aware but aren't they the same sabot Barnes uses with their boattail bullets? It's not like there's a variety of them for a specific bullet size like there are for flat base bullets. One sabot doesn't really leave a lot of room for testing.

 

[coltchris]

SW:
I don't think they are the same sabot. Couldn't load the supplied sabot in my Triumph, but the Harvester loads fine and very accurate.

 

[Busta]

There is actually three boat tailed sabots for the Barnes TMZ. The standard YELLOW that Barnes uses, the BLUE that Knight uses in the PBT (TMZ), and the YELLOW Harvester. You can check the chart in the sticky, but IIRC the Barnes YELLOW measures .506" w/bullet, and the Knight BLUE measures .501" w/bullet. Not sure what the Harvester measures yet, but if someone has some, please post the measurement.

I think I understand why Knight went to the BLUE now, it was not for their rifles, it was for the competitions smaller bores. They don't shoot worth a hoot in my Knights, as compared to the older YELLOW Knight or current Barnes version.

If the Harvesters would measure about .503" to .504" w/bullet, that would be a nice happy medium to the packaged sabots that come with the bullets. I am pretty sure that MMP makes the Barnes and Knight sabots, not Harvester.

 

[SWThomas]

Thanks for that info Busta! I didn't know about that other sabot.

 

[Spitpatch]

AFTER the DEED!!!

LOVE EM!!

 

[coltchris]

According to my calipers, the Harvester CRBT measures around .503 with the 245 gr. Barnes bullet.

 

[Busta]

According to my calipers, the Harvester CRBT measures around .503 with the 245 gr. Barnes bullet.

Thanks for the measurement. I guess I will order some now that I have a diameter. The old yellow ones Knight used to package shoot awesome in the Knight, but load very hard. The new blue load way too easy. The Harvesters should be just the ticket for easy loading and hopefully accuracy as well.

 

[ART338WM]

I have litteraly 100s of the long discontinude made for Knight by Barnes 290 grain TMZs and 245 grain Spitfires, both bullets are of a boat tail design. Bought them on close out for a good deal at Cabelas well over two years ago.

About 6-8 months ago heard a rumor that Harvester was coming out with a sabot for use ONLY FOR and spacificly with Barnes all copper BT bullets. I called Harvester and got the design enginere who helped develope them. I have to tell you he was a great guy to talk with. Gave me quite the education on just how hard it is to make sabots in general, especially ones that will with stand the pressures genorated by using smokeless powders.

I ended up ordering the NEW Harvester Yellow Crushed Ribbed Sabots ITEM NO #H35045BYR that are made to be used only with Barnes all copper BT ML bullets. He also sent me a bunch of free Harvester Short Black and Red Crushed Ribbed sabots as well. You will most likely have to order these from Harvester as I have not seen them available else where, but I also have not checked Midway or similar places.

To insure a tight as is practicle fit I knurl both my TMZs and Spitfires from the manufacturer size of .450" up to .453" so as to insure a good tight fit as just stated, but also to insure the bullet "locks" tightly to the sabot to insure it orbitrates well as it travels down my bore.

These new sabots from Harvester perform suberbly with both the TMZs and Spitfires shot out of my 10ML-II. They were noticably tighter going down my bore than the factory supplied sabots, significantly so. I will be posting a detialed review of their performance as well as other sabot/bullet combos soon over at Doug's website, or as soon as I can get the pics set up for posting.

Hope this was helpfull.
Arthur.

 

[BuckDoeHunter]

Right now, I won't use anything else for hunting. Over 80 grains of BH209, my son shot a doe at 30 yards, it was a complete pass through.
Also over 80 grains, he shot another one at 105 yards, he hit the spine and the bullet traveled back through the deer's body and lodged in her hip.

Here is the recovered bullet from that shot (Knight Brand 250 grain PBT with blue sabot)

We target practice with 250 grain Shockwaves with the supplied black sabot. For us, they shoot the same as the Barnes. Then for hunting we switch back to the Barnes bullets and test fire a few at the range just to double check everything.

 

[Lee 9]

For deer, probably not. I know of several reasonably priced bullets that drop them on the spot, and they only get so dead. They are alright for larger game but there are others just as good.

 

[stinkworm]

I'm not very high tech because I still use the old hollow point MZ's. I put one through a 175 lb. buck two weeks ago. The buck was facing me slightly quarting to my left and I shot him just under the jaw line. ( shooting from a treestand) the bullet penatrated the whole length of the neck and lodged under the hide in the right shoulder. Upon processing, I noticed the bullet had blown through more than a foot of neckbone/spine. Now performance like that is worth every penny. ( the bullet was pushed by 100grs. of BH 209)

 

[Corncob]

I use the 290 TMZ with yellow supplied sabots and Encore for elk. Deer is usually my Savage and 300 gr XTP with MMP sabots.
BR'sCob

 

[frontier gander]

Barnes makes this bullet for Thor but either way, its a barnes. 250gr ballistic tip thor conical with 105gr Pyrodex RS, recovered from a buck shot at 175 yards.

Entrance into the neck area,