Barnes 200gr XPB: Water Shots
Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 9:09 pm
I finally got around to fixing the broken image links caused when I changed ISP a few years ago.
Well, as promised, here's some expansion examples and the velocities they occurred at. Plug them into your favorite ballistics calculator, for a given muzzle velocity and see at what distances they occur. This is the one I use.
Here is an example screen shot:
If you're looking for reliable expansion in soft tissue without bone hits, figure on less than 200 yards of operational range because here's what you get in milk jugs of water:
Wish I had better news. I you're considering conditions that present you with longer shots and prefer a jacketed bullet that expands, then consider one of the Hornady FTX bullets. They expand down to at least 1000 fps and they cost less than half as much as the Barnes XPB's do. Otherwise, there's always the 160gr XPB. Also, the world is not lost if you don't get any expansion. Even the slowest load split open the first couple of jugs. If it was me and I was looking through the scope at a once in a lifetime trophy buck, I'd rather have a copper claw going through them than a pointy solid copper behaving round. To each his own...
Hoot
Edit: They'll be going even slower (=shorter expansion range) if it's 30 degrees out and at sea level.
Well, as promised, here's some expansion examples and the velocities they occurred at. Plug them into your favorite ballistics calculator, for a given muzzle velocity and see at what distances they occur. This is the one I use.
Here is an example screen shot:
If you're looking for reliable expansion in soft tissue without bone hits, figure on less than 200 yards of operational range because here's what you get in milk jugs of water:
Wish I had better news. I you're considering conditions that present you with longer shots and prefer a jacketed bullet that expands, then consider one of the Hornady FTX bullets. They expand down to at least 1000 fps and they cost less than half as much as the Barnes XPB's do. Otherwise, there's always the 160gr XPB. Also, the world is not lost if you don't get any expansion. Even the slowest load split open the first couple of jugs. If it was me and I was looking through the scope at a once in a lifetime trophy buck, I'd rather have a copper claw going through them than a pointy solid copper behaving round. To each his own...
Hoot
Edit: They'll be going even slower (=shorter expansion range) if it's 30 degrees out and at sea level.