Ammo question

Barnes is famous for weight retention- retains over 99% and doubles diameter.
These "HSM Trophy Gold" advertise penetrating 2-3" then shedding over half its weight.

Seems like one should be a lot worse. They advertise different things and both claim to be great for hunting.

FWIW i have never shot a Barnes bullet and probably never will. From what i know is that the HSM ammo is loaded with the Berger bullet and that is all I reload for. I have never had any trouble out of them and never seen any evidence of shedding half of its weight. It has worked flawlessly on every deer i have shot with them. Having send that the do not mushroom on impact as stated. Every deer i have shot it was "tuff" to find the entrance but had a good exit hole. I have been satisfied.

Barnes is all I shoot after shooting many other brands through the years. they work great for me

Two schools of thought working is all. A bullet that fragments will kill faster on a lung shot because it will inflict the most tissue damage into soft vital tissue and still have a good possibility of most of the pieces exiting.

A bonded or mono expanding bullet is designed to retain it's weight and mushroom. It kills very effectively too,destroying tissue both from contact and shock wave. The benefit however is that it will travel farther through non vital areas to reach vitals in the event of a hard angle shot.

Just to put it bluntly,I could shoot one in the ass with a Barnes and it exit his chest. If I shot one in the ass with a Berger,I'll likely just get a bloody mess. The deer might bleed out or might not.

This.

I wouldn't hesitate to shoot one in the azz with either. You hit one in the tater and it aint going anywhere.

I think bullet selection should depend on your gun. I use 175g Barnes in my .45 caliber ML and it has never failed to put a decent sized hole all the way through. Deer may run off, but he's dead and just doesn't know it yet.

I shoot 255g cast lead in my Colt revolver and everyone says it will completely penetrate. I can't prove it because I've shot at 2 and missed both.

With a 7x30 Contender I use a bonded bullet that holds together and performs much like a Barnes. I've never failed to get complete penetration.

It's a different story with my .308. At over 2900 fps it has enough power to punch any bullet through the deer, so I use a Nosler BT. It does ruin lots of meat, but I'm probably only gonna shoot a decent buck with it and I want him DRT. I would not use a BT in a small caliber. I hunt with a guy who uses them in a .243. Sometimes it kills the deer and sometimes the deer runs off with no exit and no blood trail.

Select your bullet depending on your gun.

I like what Ive seen from the Barnes TTSX in a 7mm-08.
GF shot a 40#ish hog @ 75 yards thru the lower neck. Even with that soft tissue and the very short depth of meat there the TTSX expanded rapidly and left a hole on the off side you could almost drop a golf ball into.

I have only recovered one barnes bullet. It was from about a 130# hog. Slight quartering too shot. Went in front shoulder traveled almost the full length of body and bullet was found in off side back quarter. Was a perfectly mushroomed bullet just like they show pictures of.

Bullet weight retention and expansion is the most important thing next to placement.

You can kill one with a FMJ .223 if placement is correct.

A good bullet that expands and maintains it's weight will do the the most consistent damage. We shoot for 2 things. Shutdown the body due to stress and damage inflicted on the vital organs, or neurological shutdown via shot to the spine or brain. Sever the aorta, the carotid, burn the lungs down, break the spinal column you have a dead deer. Some deer with double lung shots will drop on the spot. Others will run a short ways. Same with Humans and why cops/.mil are trained to shoot center mass. Biggest target, lots of organs.