January 05, 2009
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July 2006 Barnes Bullet-n
Two frustrating things about July are (1) it’s hot!, and (2) fall hunting season is still a couple of months away. That doesn’t mean there’s nothing to hunt. July is smack dab in the middle of prairie dog season. If you find a good ‘dog town, shooting can become as hot as the temperature. If you don’t live in prairie dog country, look around for ground squirrels and ‘chucks.
Shooting these grass-eating varmints does several things. First, it gets you and your family together and out of the house. Prairie dogging (or ground squirrel hunting) is tailor-made for taking your kids afield. They’re easy to supervise, and there are plenty of targets to keep them busy. But watch out for the July sun! Have plenty of cold drinks handy, and don’t forget the sunscreen.
Coni Brooks on a prairie dog shoot
Second, farmers and ranchers will love you. These pests cause so much damage prairie dog hunters are typically greeted with open arms, even on lands that are posted. Just be sure to get the landowner’s permission before you set up your shooting bench.
Finally, gunning long-range prairie dogs is a great way to work on your shooting skills. Deer, elk and pronghorn seasons are just around the corner. Regularly hitting these pint-sized targets standing on their mounds 300 yards away will give you plenty of confidence when you’re shooting at deer. Prairie dog hunters can burn through several hundred rounds in a single day. That kind of “real world” practice is hard to beat!
This year’s prairie dog season offers another plus for Barnes. We’re in the process of developing a ground-breaking new varmint bullet we plan to introduce next year. Right now, some of our employees and a handful of selected gunwriters are shooting prairie dogs with experimental prototypes of the new bullet. The results of this field testing will help us tweak and refine the new bullet’s design. Before we bring our new varmint bullet to market, we want to be sure it delivers truly outstanding performance.
Want to be truly ready for hunting season? Spend valuable time with your family? Put those golf clubs away! Load several hundred rounds for your pet .223, .22-250 or .220 Swift, and head for varmint country.
Good hunting,
Randy Brooks
I’m a pretty active gal. Hyper? I don’t think so, but I’ve been called the Energizer Bunny. A few years ago an employee said, “Coni must be on drugs. Nobody has that much energy.”
My reply to that is, “If I were on drugs, I could build a new manufacturing plant in a week! ” Since we’re planning on a new plant in the not-too-distant future, that could come in handy!
Anyway, I love all the things I do, and feel you’re never too old to learn something new.
When our girls were young, we bought a boat and began participating in different water sports. I love water and waterskiing, and look forward to the summer season every year.
We taught our two daughters how to ski and do other water sports, and felt it was one of the best things we ever did to bond our family. It’s still one of our favorite things to do. Now that we have grandchildren, we’re passing that love to them. We enjoy playing on (and in) the water just as much as we did before-if not more. My oldest granddaughter once said as we rode the wave runner. “Grandma, I like to ride with you.You’re wild!
Yes, I do like to get into it. Maybe one of these days I’ll grow up!
I like to ride horses and we have plenty to ride. My favorite way of enjoying the mountains and the great scenery they offer is to get on my horse and take a leisurely ride. My horse Speed is in the picture with me. Speed is no longer with us, but he sure was a great, solid horse. Horses like that are hard to find. I was lucky to have him as long as I did.
As I was a young girl growing up, our family went camping and fishing whenever my dad had time off work. I really grew to love the outdoors. I’d still rather be outside than inside.
Fishing and hunting are some other things Randy and I, along with our children and grandchildren, enjoy as a family. I really like being involved with wildlife. and had the opportunity of serving eight years on the Utah Wildlife Board. The eight-member board-comprised of two women and six men appointed by then-Utah Governor Leavitt-was to set rules and regulations for wildlife and aquatics. That was an experience I value and will always appreciate. I learned so much from being on the board. It made me understand what needs to be done to make wildlife and aquatics diminish or flourish.
Three years ago I obtained my pilot license. Was the experience hard? Yes, because this old brain doesn’t think like it used to and remember like it used to. But I did pass with flying colors. Randy and I do so much flying for business and pleasure, I figured I’d better be able to take over the controls in case something happened to Randy while we were in the plane together. My philosophy is, you can never know too much. Airplanes fascinate me, and I’ve always wanted to learn to fly. I never imagined I would ever make that happen. Over the years, I’ve discovered that where there’s a will, there is a way.
That same statement applies to hunting. Hunting experiences can be physically and mentally tough on you-but when all is said and done, I wouldn’t trade those experiences for anything.
I am so happy to be a part of such a great industry. The people in it are some of the best. They all have a great time enjoying hunting and being a part of the outdoors.
Things haven’t always been easy in the bullet-making industry, but we have always had fun. We continue to have fun and work hard and are proud of what we produce. Randy and I are committed to making great products hunters can depend on, and we have a good time doing that. We never tire of coming up with new products and new ways of making something better and more unique.
We really appreciate your support, and hope you have a wonderful summer. We wish you great success and enjoyment in the hunting season ahead!
Coni Brooks
* If you haven’t ordered the Barnes DVD “Choosing the Right Bullet” click here - it’s FREE
Recently I’ve been working with Barnes’ new Spitfire TMZ bullets, firing them in the Savage ML-10 II smokeless powder muzzleloader.
This rifle took a real liking to the TMZs right away. My testing was done at 100 yards in Barnes’ windless underground tunnel, using both 250 and 290-grain TMZs. I wanted to do things a little differently and show Savage smokeless powder shooters some options. I also wanted to offer up some “dos,” “don’ts,” and “doesn’t matter” scenarios.
Using RL-7 presented some unique circumstances. I get a lot of complaints about burnt powder residue that typically requires you to clean the bore after each shot you take with black powder or black powder substitutes. Amazingly, I didn’t need to clean the Savage front loader throughout the entire test. This was a big bonus, since I had a number of rounds to fire. This would also be an advantage in the field, where it’s nearly impossible to bring cleaning supplies along.
I also fired back-to-back rounds without allowing the rifle to cool. This more closely simulates field conditions. I can’t imagine cleaning the bore, then waiting for the barrel to cool before attempting a follow-up shot while a giant buck meanders off, wagging his tail in your face.
RL-7 was selected because of its availability and my previous experience in the Barnes lab, where barrel heating caused some pressure/accuracy issues with some of the other smokeless powders tested.
As I increased the charges, the base of the sabots began to deteriorate. At higher pressures, accuracy faded away. Consequently, I suggest you don’t exceed the charges listed. You may find your pressures slightly higher or lower because of variables common to reloading-temperature, humidity, altitude, etc. Small powder charge adjustments may become necessary to get the best accuracy.
The Savage ML-10 II has a fantastic Accu-Trigger that breaks cleanly and has absolutely no creep. Since I’m not the world’s best muzzleloading marksman, I’m sure many of you could make this weapon perform even better than I did. One feature I really liked was easy primer loading. The rifle also was easy to disassemble and clean. Overall, I’m very impressed with the rifle and would gladly take it home.
Both the 250- and 290-grain TMZs gave very acceptable accuracy. The 250-grain bullet came in at 1.713 inch, while the 290-grain TMZ was a favorite at a respectable 1.304 inch. Groups were fired at 100 yards. Using 60 grains of RL-7 and a Winchester 209 primer gave the 250-grain TMZ an average velocity of 2213 feet per second (fps) and a standard deviation of 15 fps! With 52.0 grains of RL-7, the 290-grain TMZ did even better with an average muzzle velocity of 1992 fps and a standard deviation of only 7 fps! Yes, that’s correct-7 fps! Since every rifle is an individual, you may find the 250-grain TMZs better suited to your muzzleloader. Don’t discount either bullet until you try them both.
Why should you try the new Spitfire TMZ in your rifle? We feel the TMZ design gives you the best of both worlds. These bullets have the high BC value of a pointed bullet, along with the large, razor-sharp petals you get with standard Expander MZ bullets. They produce a terrific wound channel! These bullets also seem to load a little easier than standard MZs if the bore of your rifle is particularly tight.
It’s been my pleasure to bring you these facts. I want to thank Savage Arms for allowing us the use of such a fine rifle. www.savagearms.com
Below is two targets so you can see for yourself how well the rifle, powder and TMZ bullets worked for me.
We Aim to please. Reloading is a great hobby. Enjoy it!
James Davis
I’m a longtime user of Barnes bullets in my reloading and hunting adventures. My experience during a recent Wyoming hunt shows the extraordinary versatility and killing power of these bullets. A friend and I booked back-to-back hunts near Saratoga, Wyoming. The first four-day hunt was a mule deer/antelope combination, to be followed by a five-day elk hunt.
We arrived just after the first snowstorm of the season, and the weather certainly helped the hunting. I had brought two rifles—a Sako .30-06 with ammo loaded with both 165- and 180-grain Barnes XLC bullets. The second rifle was a custom 6.5×284 Sako using ammo loaded with 140-grain XLC bullets.
The hunt was a great experience. Although we were hunting with a single guide, we were fortunate to kill six animals in four days! I harvested all my three animals with the 6.5×284 rifle. On the second day of the hunt, I shot a young mule deer at about 320 yards. We had been working a large 5×5 mule deer, and in the heat of the moment the guide selected a different deer up the same ridge. It wasn’t the deer I’d come for, but it was great deer country and a very satisfying shot. After a high heart shot with the 140-grain Barnes, the deer traveled only 30 yards.
In the early afternoon of the third day, following a long stalk, I connected with a nice antelope at about 175 yards. Again, the 140-grain Barnes bullet functioned well. After returning to camp, we decided to hustle on foot up the mountain on the same day in pursuit of elk. After tough climbing, we were able to work into an excellent shooting position on a large, rocky outcropping in a very steep ravine in the timber. Across the ravine was a park, or meadow, with about 35 elk-one 6×6 bull, two 5×5 elk, several satellite bulls and 15 to 20 cows. The large 6×6 left the meadow for the big timber. Fortunately, he soon returned to work down through the meadow,checking out almost every cow. He was very vocal. The other bulls all eased into the timber as he approached each group of cows.
My guide was getting nervous that I’d taken only my 6.5×284 rifle. We were hunting in very steep terrain with much heavy timber. A wounded animal would be hard to find. I had a great shot at 150 yards. The first shot to the lungs left him standing in his tracks, visibly shaking. The second shot, about 2 inches from the first, spun him around and put him on the ground to stay. The guide was amazed at the bullet’s performance.
It’s not often you can go into the wild and get lucky enough to take one magnificent animal. Taking three is an absolutely amazing experience! It was also amazing to see the versatility of the 140-grain Barnes XLC bullet, which performed exceptionally on animals ranging from antelope to elk.
- Coyotes are a member of the dog family. Their scientific name is “Canis latrans“, it means “barking dog.“ This name was given by Thomas Say in 1835. He was one of the first white men to hear the late twilight and early morning howling of this wolf like creature.
- The coyote is also nicknamed brush wolf, prairie wolf, or coydog.
Eastern coyotes are generally larger in size than their western counterparts. - Coyotes use a variety of vocalizations to communicate with one another. Howls, yelps, and high-pitched cries are best known, but they also bark, growl, wail, and squeal.
- Two coyotes howling in unison can create the illusion of a dozen or more performing in concert. Usually, coyotes are most often heard around dawn and dusk. However, they may respond to sirens and fire whistles at any time of day or night.
- The coyote’s social unit consists of the adult pair and their young; they may be encountered singly, in pairs, or in groups of three or more.
- Mated pairs maintain territories which are scent-marked and defended against other coyotes as well as foxes.
- Coyotes do not form packs with members other than the adult pair and young.
- Their senses of hearing, sight, and smell are well developed.
- Coyotes normally run as fast as 25 to 30 miles an hour, but they can run 35 to 40 miles an hour when pursued. They are also strong swimmers.
Eddie Belka took this coyote with a 22 Caliber 53 grain Triple Shock
Oven Fried Quail
6 quail, cleaned
1/2 cup herb stuffing mix, crushed
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
2 tbsp. green onion, finely chopped
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking pan with aluminum foil. Split quail down back and flatten. Combine stuffing mix, cheese, and onion. Dip quail in melted butter and coat with stuffing mixture. Place in pan and bake 30-40 minutes, or until meat can be easily removed from bones. Serve immediately.
Question: Being a professional hunter, we skin and butcher a lot of game each season-often well in excess of 100 animals in the two, to two and a half months we hunt each year. I see quite a lot of internal trauma from roughly 28 species of game. I also see countless combinations of rifles, cartridges and bullets used by hunters.
The internal damage path of the Triple-Shock X-Bullet fired from a .30-06 or any sub-3000 fps rifle suggests expansion, or high-velocity stretch damage, for lack of a better term. Two things cannot occupy the same space at the same time, so high-velocity projectiles tend to cause the tissue they impact to rush out of the way of the bullet’s path. This rapid tissue movement causes significant trauma to thin-skinned and frail game, even when solids are used.
However, I have seen several bore-diameter holes in the exit side of the skin, even when 2-inch holes through the ribs near the spine are obvious. I don’t see rapid expansion being the reason for this where bone is concerned. Instead, I see it as the expanded bullet pushing through an even greater diameter of tissue. The recovered bullets look great. I just don’t understand how they can look like that and yet create a bore-diameter hole on exiting. This is especially true after they leave a 2-inch hole through the heavy rib bones of a zebra or wildebeest-or even an eland. It’s a mystery to me how a 2-inch internal hole converts to a .308-diameter hole as the bullet exits. My only thought is that the bullet exits backwards (base first) and the skin pulls the petals back the wrong direction as the bullet goes through. Since none of these bullets have been recovered after exiting, I can’t confirm this.
I have noticed that the bullet’s petals are slightly twisted as the rifling imparts spin. It seems there is just enough torque to slightly twist the petals after impact. Or is the bullet designed so that the petals don’t peel straight back? It seems there would only be a couple revolutions of spin while the bullet passes through a big animal. My barrel has a 1:10 twist, so the bullet will spin 720 degrees in 20 inches of travel through flesh. I see that the petals are slightly twisted, so that must be enough twist to get them off center. Does this sound right?
I’m very impressed with TSX bullets right now. I have a much higher level of use than any average sportsman will see in a lifetime of hunting. Africa’s high-volume hunting for large game gives a man many lifetimes of shooting opportunities in a very short time. I struggled with X-Bullets for many years with my rifles fouling badly. I didn’t have the capacity to clean them during long days of hunting, or between many back-to-back hunts with my loaner rifles. I’m glad to see the TSX bullets working so nicely. I can now fire 60 shots through a custom barrel without cleaning, and still shoot sub-MOA groups!
Looking forward to talking with you again, I can always take a lesson, or help teach one.
Jim Hackiewicz, Professional Hunter
www.huntingadventures.net
Answer: Thanks for the great feedback. To answer your first question, let’s look at the skin of an animal. It’s designed to protect the animal, and consequently is very elastic and pliable. Next time you pet your favorite dog or cat, grab hold of the back of its neck. It won’t mind this a bit, and the skin’s elasticity will allow you to get a good handful. This same elastic quality is what allows the bullet to slip through and leave small exit holes even though the bullet is much larger in diameter. This stretching ability is why many bullets are found just under the hide on the far side of the animal. Try shooting a rubber tire and you’ll see very similar results. You don’t recover many of the Barnes bullets under the hide because their sharp petals tend to slice through. Blunt lead bullets do not have this ability.
You’re correct. Jim. The spin imparted by the rifling is what slightly twists the bullet’s petals. Initially, the bullet spins one full revolution in every 10 inches of travel. As the bullet travels farther downrange, its velocity slows much faster than do the revolutions per minute (RPM). This same process holds true in a denser medium like tissue. It’s possible to see more bullet spin within the animal than you see at the muzzle.
We appreciate you sharing your experiences.
Ty Herring
Comment: I read “Ty’s Tips” in the May Club X Newsletter and I’d like to suggest that a cheap penny balloon is the easiest thing you can put over your muzzle to keep out rain and snow. You don’t have to take the balloon off-you can shoot right through it. The balloons stay in place-and as I’m from Wisconsin, I KNOW they work! They don’t affect the bullet path or anything else. Give balloons a try!
They don’t leave any sticky residue, either. They also work for “putting your gun to bed” for the season. Spiders can’t get through them to lay eggs.
- Ted Johnston
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Look for these ads in upcoming issues of your favorite magazines including American Hunter, Safari Times, Black Powder Hunting, Predator Extreme, Shooting Times, Handloader, Rifle, and Shooting Illustrated, to name just a few.
Congratulations Gary Sweet!
Gary Sweet from Vermont is the winner for the month of June.
He won the MTM Shoulder-Gard Rifle Rest .
As a native Vermonter, I have chased critters over these Green Mountains for more than 50 yrs. I have also been fortunate enough to be able to make a few side trips to Montana and Canada in search of elk or whitetails. About 40 years ago I started hand loading and over time have managed to burn a lot of powder. I’ve been involved in competitive Big Bore, Small Bore, and IHMSA shooting, as well as hunting. Accuracy and economics were the driving forces behind my reloading.
Ten years ago I started using Barnes bullets, and was very impressed with the results. They performed very well in all calibers I tried them in. They were accurate and were devastating on game. Lately I am doing most of my deer hunting with a Remington Model 7 in 7mm-08. Last year on Anticosti, after a hard hunt, and with some help from my guide Dennis, I managed to kill a very nice nine-point whitetail with a 21-inch spread. A one-shot kill with the Barnes 140-grain X-bullet.
As I get older, my hunting days may be limited. The mountains appear to be getting steeper, it takes me a little longer to get to my favorite stand, and that far-off gobble is harder to hear. The good thing is that I have a 12-year-old granddaughter who likes to hunt, and we have already enjoyed many hours together in the woods. When I look at her, dressed in camo and working her slate call trying to fool old tom turkey………..well, that’s what it’s all about.
Gary Sweet
Sheffield ® Mountaineer Multi-Tool
Sheffield’s new Mountaineer is the first multi-tool designed exclusively for rock climbers, hunters, bikers and extreme outdoorsmen. The heavy-duty, 14-in-1 Mountaineer multi-tool has a lightweight aluminum handle and stainless steel construction. A D-ring with locking snap allows securing the tool to a belt or backpack.
The Mountaineer features 14 different tools, including ¼-inch and 1/16-inch slotted screwdriver blades, a No. 2 Phillips screwdriver, both regular and long-nose pliers, wire cutters, wire strippers, a saw blade, a drop-point knife blade, can opener and bottle opener. A file and awl complete the assortment. All the tools are ruggedly proportioned for long service.
The Mountaineer folds into a compact 3-3/4-inch-long, 1-1/2-inch thick, ¾-inch deep package that fits nicely in your pocket. Weight: eight ounces. The new, quality multi-toll is very reasonably priced at just $24.99.
“Sheffield is proud to introduce its newest multi-tool, the Mountaineer, to the outdoor market,” said Steve Maltese, Sheffield director of marketing. “The company will continue to offer innovative, outside-the-box products to meet specific needs of the outdoor industry.”
The multi-tools come with a limited lifetime warranty. For more information, see your outdoor retailer, visit www.sheffield-tools.com, or call toll-free 1 (800) 457-0600.
