Barnes TSX bullets in a 25-06

T

trailhound

New member
Anybody reloading Barnes triple shock bullets in their 25-06?? I can't seem to find a load that my Remington 700 will shoot. Tried almost everything, four different kinds of powder plus all kinds of different seating depths both close and further away from the lands. Cleaned the barrel real good also. Don't know what to do next. Maybe this rifle just won't shoot Barnes bullets.........
 
My 700 likes 57.0g of R#19, Win Primer, bullet jumping .050 in a Winchester case only.

Speed is 3450
Accuracy is 1 3/4" at 300 yards.

Start off at 54.0g and work up to my load, stop if you see pressure signs. Lot# of powders are different, barrels are different....bla...bla...bla...

My rifle also shoots the 100g Speer BT a little tighter than the Barnes seated about .040 off the lands


Good luck!
 

I am with Ackleyman. I have a RL-19 load, with the
bullet seated .050" off the lands, for my Tikka M695,
in 25-06 Rem. Barnes TSX bullets like to be driven,
so you definitely want to push the loads up to early
signs of pressure, and often times the last, and best,
accuracy node is close to the maximum safe powder charge
for that rifle.

I will add that you will want to work these loads up,
near the temperature range you will be hunting them.
I worked my 100 gr. TSX loads, with RL-19, up at around
50-70 degrees, and had consistent sub-MOA results.
When I checked zero, on the rifle, in 20 degree temps,
which I would be hunting in, the groups had opened up,
to about 1.5 MOA, because the colder temps had lowered
the efficiency of the load, to where it had retreated
slightly from that warmer weather established accuracy node.
1.5 MOA is plenty fine for the big game hunting, at the
ranges I shoot(400 yards, or less), so it isn't much
of a concern, but if I want to get back to sub MOA, I
am going to have to re-work the load, at 20 degrees.

So have you tried RL-19, with the 100 gr. TSX bullets?

Squeeze
 
I shoot the 85 gr x bullet in my 25-06 and its like a laser and very accurate
(the TSX just has the grooves cut into the body but they are otherwise identical)
I use a Ruger #1 and imr 4831 I am not sure of the o/a .... I am getting 3688 fps
 
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You didn't mention if you were trying the 115 gr or the 100 gr. I had terrible results (bullets were keyholing)with the 115 gr. in my 257 Robts, I assume the twist rate was too slow for those long bullets; going to try the 100 gr. next, hopefully with better results.
 
I'm trying the 100 grain bullets. No, I haven't tried RL 19. Thats why I'm doing some asking. I now have 3 pounds of powder that probally won't get used. So I thought I'd ask to seem what has worked for other people so I don't end up with more. Thanks all for your imput!!
 
Barnes are a softer copper than most others. Make sure that you use a solvent that will get rid of any and all copper fouling from previous bullets fired. You will know that you are removing copper fouling when your cleaning patches are coming out blue or turquoise. Even in the Barnes manual they say that 1 in 10 guns that come in to them that are claimed to have been cleaned thoroughly have not been. No Offense on the last statement. However making sure that you get the copper out will help. Also try different Primers. I have had great success using CCI 250 Large Rifle Magnum Primers. I use them in every gun I own from 220 Swift to 7 Mag and everything in between.
 
This gun used to shoot extremely tight groups with 117 gr soft points. When trying to get the Barnes bullets to shoot I cleaned the barrel. Lots of blue patches = heavy fouling. It seems the more it was cleaned the more open the groups got. Now won't even shoot the 117grainers it used to. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif So am going to shoot it and foul the barrel a little to see if it will tighten back up. Am also going to try some magnum primers and see what happens.
 
Finally had a couple days with no wind. Tried the mag primeres. No luck, no accuracy either. Bought a pound of RL-19 yesterday and tried some at 52.0, 53.0 and 54.0 grains with a 100 grain Barnes tsx. Still not very good. How do you guys get to 57.0 grains of rl-19???? Barnes book list max at only 54.0!! Primers are really flattened. Thats another question. Do you think that primers now are softer than say 5 years ago. I buy in bulk and finally had to buy new primers. Bought winchester LR primers, and yesterday some new CCI. Seems like these new primers really flatten out easily. I don't show signs of cratering yet, but the primers are starting to wash out of round. Usually signs of high pressure. Bolt lift shows no pressure signs yet..????
 
I had great results with 100gr TSX's and 60gr RL-25. My custom 25-06 seems to like everything I have tried in it, I just wanted something with an "extreme" punch for a smaller caliber. Haven't had the chance to try it on anything yet but it sure is impressive on paper.
 
I shoot 57.0g with Win Brass only, Win primer only, 100g Hornady Sp, and 100g Speer BT, bullet jumping .040. Velocity is 3450 out of my 24" Rem barrel.

I bump the shoulders with a Bonanaz neck die after every firing and full length size every 10-12th firing.

You say primers are flat, how's the bolt lift?

If you are using Fed, Hornady, Rem brass, you are screwed.

Barnes bullets have a different pressure curve because of the engraving pressure needed to get the bullet to obturate in the barrel. Bullet jump is critical to the Barnes bullet, start off at .050 away from the lands, after you have found an acceptable load, then go to .035 firing two shots in .005 increments looking for better accuracy.

Lot# of powder are can be very different, also Barrels, brass, etc.

My rifle can not read a reloading manual.

good luck and let us know what you find out!
 
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