I want to like them and have tried them in several different rifles / cartridges but dang, I've never gotten "acceptable" accuracy EVER. Current is a full custom 6.5 PRC that shoots way less than 1" with Sierras and Noslers but is 1.5" with Barnes.

Never hand loaded them, but my experience with them off the shelf has not been good at all so I doubt I will with the other options available.

The Barnes bullets like a BIG jump to the lands. The factory recommends 0.050” as a starting point but I usually start at 0.080” and increase the jump till results are satisfactory. My 270WbyMag has a 0.250” jump with 130gr TSX.

One of my 6.5 PRC’s shoots lights out with the 120gr TTSX’s. The hotter the load, the better it grouped them.

If you're shooting a Weatherby, Barnes bullets are top choice because of the big freebore. I've had good luck getting 3/4 MOA accuracy with my 300 Weatherby and a Barnes 168 gr TTSX. When I start load work on the 257 Roy is just bought, the TTSX will be the first bullets I try.

Had to be the shooter. 😎

I’ve read about all of these great results but haven’t experienced it myself. Big jump or jammed, hasn’t mattered, my rifles didn’t like them. Some I’ve tried, 7STW, 300 wissum, 264 Winnie, 280AI and now 6.5 PRC. All of these rifles were easily sub 1” but not with Barnes. The 280AI shot Barnes the best, a tad over 1” but it’s a solid 1/2 moa rifle with Sierras.

300 Blackout is the only caliber I use Barnes bullets with currently, but the 110 blacktips are very accurate in my rifle.

I get 1/2" groups out of the 130 ttsx in my 308 and maybe even less from the 62 grain in my 223. Only 2 I've tried.

To proof is in the ballistics numbers. While they could be more or less accurate in any particular rifle for any particular loading..... so could any other bullet.

These have been on the market since the early 1990's. They haven't exactly taken over the market with some kind of super duper technology that nobody else has. IF they were so great wouldn't everyone else that makes bullets be doing the same thing... it's been 30 solid years. That fact alone should tell the tale. This is outdated technology at this point IMO.

Personally I shot about every bullet Barnes has ever made... Meh. That's my take.

Try a 140 Berger in the 6.5 PRC that's what I shoot in 6.5's. Although... Sierra is hard to beat in the accuracy department. I consistently mention Sierra for a reason. That is the first bullet I try when trying to determine the accuracy potential of any given rifle. Then I swap to stupid and down the bullet rabbit hole. Most of the time I find a comparable Nosler. Which is a hard to beat combination. Learned this was the case after maybe after 30 years of doing this.

I've got a few rifles setup to shoot either a Partition or GameKing to the same point of impact. You can feed it either one. Handy.

I don't see where a Barnes Bullet is the answer to anything. Maybe it is a solution looking for a problem. If you need a bonded bullet to shoot and kill a Whitetail something is wrong with you IMO.

Low weight and high velocity are what I love about them. My 6.5-06 kicks like a 243 shooting 120 ttsx"s. Shoots like a laser beam and wrecks everything right there. Like BCLC said , back em off. I followed this advice and saw significant improvements in accuracy.

I shoot sub moa at 300yds with the 130 ttsx in a 308

Bonded ?

https://www.americanhunter.org/content/bullet-bio-barnes-triple-shock/

I have had some success, in matches , shooting the Barnes match burners, but that was after sorting them for base to ogive measurement

To get precise Barnes are monolithic not bonded. But both advertise the same "fix" for your problem... which I guess is not being able to hit what you are shooting at. IMO monolithic is just a gimmick... nothing short of a solution looking for a problem. In fact such a gimmick that once convinced of their magic qualities a shooter will willfully use a bullet that is not as accurate and will tell everyone else to do the same.


I have killed 2 elk with a .30 caliber 180 Gameking. I always talk about Sierra on here because they are a good example for this discussion. I am not necessarily a Sierra bullet homer. I shoot all kinds. Blew a hole right through both elk? Yes.

I know you're all shocked but you have fallen victim to a single opinion circulated on internet forums. This Barnes thing has been going on a long time. People feel the need to act like they know something they know nothing about. They read on one forum and repeat the same garbage on a different forum. A guy is on 24hourcampfire... comes here or somewhere else and says the same thing they discussed over there. No first hand knowledge. That's been going on since we were all using AOL Chat Rooms. .

That being said I typically shoot a Partition or Accubond because I am not immune to advertising either. I will say this.... I have shot about every bullet on this planet and I don't care if you shoot a Swift, Barnes, etc. If you can't kill it with a Partition you aren't going to kill it with another option.

So, my last comment is this.... If the Barnes you pick out shoot well that's all the justification you need. But that's the only true reason to be shooting them.

THERE ARE NO MAGIC BULLETS!

Absolute FACT!!!!

I haven't read on here yet where people said a Barnes is a magic bullet. Does it have some interesting properties ? I believe so. Nothing trumps accuracy. but there is the fact that you can get higher velocities per caliber with the Barnes bullet/s at a lower weight, which lend itself to a greater hydrostatics shock along with completer pass through's . I do have first hand experience with this on deer size game and they are bad news on that size animal. You have to work to load them accurately, but to me it's worth it.

Goatkiller gets the credit for the magic bullet label. It may have first been used on a thread I started a while back . I shot a deer , got a pass through and found the bullet in the ground . I posted a pic of the perfectly mushroomed Barnes bullet. I started the thread mainly because I thought it was cool to find a pass through bullet. I guess he finds all of his pass throughs .

I honestly don't even look. The hole the size of a 50 cent piece in the dead deer at my feet is good enough for me.