Range Report: Barnes XPB Part I

Talk about your 450b reloading experience, ask questions, etc...

Moderator: MudBug

Forum rules
Please try and keep it safe!

This information is the responsibility of the community, not the forum. 450bushmaster.net is not responsible if you blow yourselves up.

Re: Barnes XPB Range Report Final Edition

Postby BD1 » Wed Jul 06, 2011 2:13 pm

Good work Hoot. I'd be interested in both accuracy and expansion at 300 yards, although I'm really trying not to go down any roads that lead to $1.00 a shot.
BD
BD1
 
Posts: 523
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2009 4:38 pm
Location: Northern Maine, Working on the coast, but home is still Moosehead Lake.

Re: Barnes XPB Range Report Final Edition

Postby commander faschisto » Wed Jul 06, 2011 2:17 pm

Hoot...I really don't think anybody's going to ask what made the wet spot on the range, with you standing right there...? :lol:

I just made up a water jug holder out of an old piece of 2x10, with rails along the long sides out of some scrap 2x4s, and one of the "short" sides closed with another little piece of 2x4. Its all screwed-'n-glued together for "ugly incident" prevention. The rails and end piece keep the jugs from going anywhere laterally, and the tape looped around the tops keeps them from jumping out of the way of their speeding fate.

BD1, I agree with the $1.00+ per shot as a problem for paper punching, for sure. But, having a box or two of these "top drawer" loads for hunting season seems like feasible economics, given the ROI. Like I mentioned to Hoot, one of these 200gr Barnes beauties steaming along at 2500, or more, is going to clobber the crap out of any whitetail and smaller critter that I'll ever see around my neck of the woods!
Isa Akhbar!
NRA Life Member
Oklahoma Rifle Association member

Heavily armed; easily pissed.
User avatar
commander faschisto
 
Posts: 1484
Joined: Tue May 31, 2011 6:32 pm
Location: Oklahoma City USA

Re: Barnes XPB Range Report Final Edition

Postby Clipity » Wed Jul 06, 2011 2:43 pm

Thanks Hoot

Living in a state that if I want to hunt any game in the condor range I have to hunt with lead free bullets, your test is a godsend. Now I can relaod these 200grainers I picked up by accident and have an idea of how they will shoot.

Clipity
User avatar
Clipity
 
Posts: 67
Joined: Wed Aug 25, 2010 1:18 pm
Location: Peoples Republic of Kaliefornia

Re: Barnes XPB Range Report Final Edition

Postby wildcatter » Wed Jul 06, 2011 3:09 pm

pitted bore wrote:Hoot-
Thank you for the report. I'll read it again, and may have some follow-up questions.

Do you have any photos of your current milk-jug setup? I recall that you had some problems blowing apart an early model that was nicely constructed of wood. I'd like to see what your present rig is like, and take advantage of your hard-won experience. Recommendations for muzzle-to-jug distance would be appreciated also.

I ask because it's time for me to try a test with the Barnes 160-grain GAP bullet. Yesterday at the range the chronograph read 3200+ fps with Enforcer powder, and I'm curious what would be the result of a water test.

I've also got techniques for lengthening brass, and as a result for trimming it. I'll try to post those soon.

--Bob

Hoots rig will soon appear and it's really a great contraption, mine is really simpler and works well.

Take three, 2X6's, lay one on it's back, stand the other two up, beside the one laying down. With "Screws", attach the uprights, to the one laying down, forming a kind of trough. The trough holds the jugs perfectly. In loomy soil, to absorb the bullet strike, assuming you didn't use enough jugs, or just dig a small hole with a shovel for the impact area, I prop up one end of the trough and in the off-hand position, at about 15ft, I shoot down the line of jugs.

For relative comparisons, this is a really great and cheap, thing to do..

..t
Safety First..t
User avatar
wildcatter
 
Posts: 2914
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2009 8:30 pm
Location: In the Middle of Deer Central Station or better known as, in the Thumb of Beautiful Michigan

Re: Barnes XPB Range Report Final Edition

Postby MOUNTIN DU » Wed Jul 06, 2011 6:32 pm

:D finally... something to get me motivated again! :? hoot... are you sure you're not a contributing editor to a famous shooting magazine? :) well done again 8-)
:| now i gotta go find those 200gr ftx's and those xpb knock-offs :roll:
hunt when it's cold; fish when it's not.
South Louisiana IS the sportsman's paradise!
MOUNTIN DU
 
Posts: 392
Joined: Thu Jun 25, 2009 11:11 am
Location: South Louisiana; still the land of the FREE!

Re: Barnes XPB Range Report Final Edition

Postby wildcatter » Wed Jul 06, 2011 6:37 pm

Hey Hoot, if you've already said, I missed it, but what program are you using that measures your target grouping data?..

..t
Safety First..t
User avatar
wildcatter
 
Posts: 2914
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2009 8:30 pm
Location: In the Middle of Deer Central Station or better known as, in the Thumb of Beautiful Michigan

Re: Barnes XPB Range Report Final Edition

Postby Texas Sheepdawg » Wed Jul 06, 2011 7:07 pm

MOUNTIN DU wrote::D finally... something to get me motivated again! :? hoot... are you sure you're not a contributing editor to a famous shooting magazine? :) well done again 8-)
:| now i gotta go find those 200gr ftx's and those xpb knock-offs :roll:

Didn't you know? This here IS the magazine and we are ALL contributors! Volunteer of course. That's what makes this place so great! We want to be here and no paid advertisements. Testimonials are real and research is about as raw as a fresh kilt Boar.
Hoot, wow man. I'll be re-reading this thread. I love the pictures of the mushroomed bullet. That is remarkable.
-Texas Sheepdawg

http://youtube.com/c/TexasSheepdawg21
NRA Life Member
User avatar
Texas Sheepdawg
 
Posts: 4731
Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2010 10:55 am
Location: North Texas

Re: Barnes XPB Range Report Final Edition

Postby Texas Sheepdawg » Wed Jul 06, 2011 7:09 pm

wildcatter wrote:Hey Hoot, if you've already said, I missed it, but what program are you using that measures your target grouping data?..

..t

I was gonna ask that question too. And where did you buy it?
-Texas Sheepdawg

http://youtube.com/c/TexasSheepdawg21
NRA Life Member
User avatar
Texas Sheepdawg
 
Posts: 4731
Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2010 10:55 am
Location: North Texas

Re: Barnes XPB Range Report Final Edition

Postby Hoot » Wed Jul 06, 2011 8:54 pm

Texas Sheepdawg wrote:
wildcatter wrote:Hey Hoot, if you've already said, I missed it, but what program are you using that measures your target grouping data?..

..t

I was gonna ask that question too. And where did you buy it?


A very kind and accomplished shooter over on 65Grendel.com turned me on to it. I'm using the free, limited version, but you can buy the full featured version for a paltry $11.99 . Go Here for more info. Way down at the bottom of the main page is a link to the limited, free version. You can also download the for-pay version and use it for 15 days if you prefer. It took me about 20 minutes to figure out how to use it. I don't use much of what it can do, but here's a tip. You can capture exactly what I posted by using the screen capture hot key built into every keyboard, then paste it into paint.exe, trim it up or resize it, save it as a jpg and put it into your personal records or post it.

It is good to be able to pass it along to someone else. We are all each others muses. What keeps me here and I'll tell you, what we have here is not all that common, is simple civility. No more, no less. That and a common interest is all it takes to bring out the best in us.

Sorry to wax philosophical... :|

Now, who brought the targets!? ;)

Hoot

(n.) the source of inspiration for an artist.
In Theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In Practice, there is.
User avatar
Hoot
 
Posts: 5083
Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2010 9:34 am
Location: Minnesota

Re: Barnes XPB Range Report Final Edition

Postby Hoot » Wed Jul 06, 2011 9:41 pm

pitted bore wrote:...snip...
Do you have any photos of your current milk-jug setup? I recall that you had some problems blowing apart an early model that was nicely constructed of wood. I'd like to see what your present rig is like, and take advantage of your hard-won experience. Recommendations for muzzle-to-jug distance would be appreciated also...snip...
--Bob


Take about a 7 foot piece of scrap 2x8 or 2x10. Don't use a 2x12. They'll split down the middle. Set it up on top of two bricks, one at each end. Line up thin-walled milk jugs of water, centered on the board and snugged up touching one another. I face all their handles away from the me, alternating every other one left corner, right corner, left corner, right corner... I run a length of duct tape around the group end to end to keep them snugged up. I then run a wrap of duct tape starting on top of each jug, down the side, under the board, back up the other side and overlap by a few inches on the top to keep them from kicking sideways when the fur flies. I use seven in a row. Nothing I've shot has ever made it to number 7. Some of those sod busters some of you shoot may require more. When in doubt, use more. The board and 7 jugs of water is heavy, but you can muscle it out of the back of the truck and onto a workmate or whatever. I take a knee about 15 feet away and aim my crosshair in the middle of the shoulder to put the round in the center of mass because as you all know, they'll shoot low. Needless to say, alignment is important, both the jugs and you. Still, I've had two FTXs go off course and exit stage left, despite my best efforts. Heavens to Murgatroid! Know what's downrange and off to the sides. bring more than one test cartridge and extra jugs of water in case you need a do-over. Better to have them and not need them than vice versa. The further you live from the range, the more important that becomes.

Tip: Let everything sit out in the sun and get warm. It makes the plastic walls softer. If you're going to shoot right away, fill the jugs with warm water right out of the spigot. I fill them to where the neck meets the shoulder. If you pat the duct tape dry and /or set it in the sun, you can often reuse the strips that don't split.

Some times, low tech is the best tech. ;)

Hoot
In Theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In Practice, there is.
User avatar
Hoot
 
Posts: 5083
Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2010 9:34 am
Location: Minnesota

PreviousNext

Return to Reloading for the 450b

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 30 guests