Barnes X Bullets

By Richard Mellon

Introduced in 1989, I started using the Barnes X-Bullet four years later after I changed hunting calibers from my childhood companion, a slick little Winchester Model 88 in .308 Win to a Model 70 Stainless in .338 Win Mag.  As a long time hand loader I immediately started searching for the ultimate bullet/load combination for the new pet.  I quickly discovered bullets that were constructed stout enough for the velocities and energies of the .308  were woefully under designed for the rampaging beast that lived in the matte stainless barrel.  Jacket/core bonding failures were catastrophic with weight retentions around a dismal 65% on a good performer.  Part of my problem lies in my predilection for the lighter bullet weights in a given caliber.  I shot bear and moose with 165 grain bullets in my .308 long before the load was ever offered by ammo makers. 

My search eventually lead me to Barnes. Designed by Barnes' owner Randy Brooks, the X-Bullet is a solid copper projectile, no jacket and lead core to separate. A deep forward cavity causes the nose to peel back in four separate, razor-edged petals. The peeled back petals in the picture above show how the X-Bullet got its name. Because a solid copper bullet is lighter than one with a lead core Barnes X bullets are longer than comparable weight, conventional bullets.  This makes the lighter weights in a line more accurate. The longer the bullet is the better its ballistic coefficient is, up to a point.  (Ballistic coefficient is a numerical representation of the projectiles ability to overcome the resistance of the air in flight.)  Traditionally as bullet weights go down in a caliber, coefficients drop drastically.  The bullet becomes too short and stubby for stable, consistent flight.  For instance I like to shoot 110 gr. varminters out of my .308.  Conventional bullets 110gr have a ballistic coefficient of .273 the Barnes X 110gr is .322.  In addition to the ultra light, high speed varmiters the X Bullets rugged construction allows for lighter hunting bullets in a caliber than were available before.  My .338 shooting a 200gr conventional max's out around 2930 fps with a bc of .448.  Using the Barnes XBT 185gr with a bc of .437 I get 3150 fps. The 220 fps difference is 100 fps more than the increased performance achieved from stepping up to a .340 Weatherby shooting 200gr conventionals. 

The .338 Win mag is not a caliber you would normally think of as a bench rifle or one that you would expect pinpoint accuracy from.  Shooting my rifle without any muzzle compensator or recoil reducer is at best painful or as friends say just stupid.  The gun is mean, killing efficiently from both ends, yet 100 yard groups with all 3 shots touching are common with Barnes X bullets.

Numbers and charts are wonderful, real world performance is what counts.  My favorite big game animal is moose and my first Barnes X bull was plenty convincing.  The shoot was a simple 180 yards with a quartering front on profile.  The 175 gr X bullet entered the front left chest cavity and ranged its way back to be found under the hide of the rear hip.  After traversing nearly 60 inches of hide, meat and bone the bullet weighed 168 gr, a mind boggling 96% weight retention!  Many one shot big game animal kills since continues to build my belief in these bullets.

Back ] [ Home ] [ Next ]