Barnes Busters

[wildcatter]

Ok, so there I was, on the Great Plains of the Shot Show, hitting up some of the Bullet Manufacturers, for a 325gr+- with a very think jacket and a hard-lead core. We have the lighter 230's in a FMJ, but not a truly dedicated FourFifty Heavy Weight. 700 grainers are fun to look at and shoot and 500gr seems like a possible choice for a heavy, beings you can find them anywhere and we can draw them down to .452. But truly, anything over 350gr gets you into Diminishing Returns, same thing for the socom and beowulf and those guys like the really heavies but hey, I can make a bowling ball come out of the barrel, but what kind of damage will it do, besides smashing your toe.

I just got a call from Barnes, and their 452 Barnes Buster Bullet is a 325gr Flat-Point. The jacket is .064" and the core is Hard-Lead. The Head of Barnes' Ballistics told me that I was the inspiration behind the Barnes Buster's, cool. Big Deal you say, well guess what, they are sending me a ton of them (not sure how many yet, they only have five boxes of fifty, at this time, but promise all I can use, well, I can use allot, and so will some of you) and I am going to shotgun them out to selected Fellow Travelers (that's V.I. Lenin talk, but works here too) here on 450Bushmaster.net and together we are going to come up with a load to submit to Remmy, for yet another Loading. If Remmy won't do it there are many others that will, Federal, Winchester or who ever, but I don't think the Freedom Group will let my work go to anybody else. Watt-cha-thinks-bout-all-dis?

Just to get you thinking.. Rule of thumb, for high end performance, light bullets usually burn Faster Powders and Heavy bullets seem to like the slower powders, for a given cartridge. The 45 Professional liked 1680 the best for the 230's, but with this shorter case, lil-gun is shining (I personally am not convinced yet, but it's sure getting harder to argue the facts). Now, I have tons of 1680, so don't go out and buy any, let me do the work there. I also have enough RX7 to eliminate that as a contender, which I think will be too slow, but, we do have to try it. For my money I think we'll either be in the lil-gun or most likely the 296/4227 area, but I will get data for 1680 as soon as I can. Even if you don't get any of these freebie bullets (as they will not be in infinite amounts, and only a few will get them), I'll be looking, from all the rest of you, for advice, while we post the results. But in any event, think about it and we'll put together a game plan to concur the world.

When we finally decide on a loading we'll have so much data that Remmy won't be able to say no. Right now, I'm thinking, that when I do this presentation, I will take the guys that have, hands on, worked on the project with me.

Of course, if Lockheed-Martin can have their "Skunk Works", then we ought to have a Mudder's Marauders, or some such acronym (Hey, might as well have some fun with this too). To be clear, you're not going to make any money for this, you might save some money, time will tell and this will cost you some money, for powder/primers, etc. (I do have some brass I can souvenir you), but what you will get is self satisfaction, a bunch of left over bullets, and your names in the History Books.

Who's in??

..t

PS..It has two crimping grooves, so that we can pick one up with the LeGendre Side Crimp..

[Hoot]

Congrats on the Clavicle Buster, but I'd like to see them come out with an all copper .452 200 gr optimized for 2100-2400 fps. The all copper would allow a longer bullet, providing lots of neck grabbing area to keep the pressure up. Would make for the basis of a "Buck Buster" for CXP2-3 game. This is obviously a little on the light side for African Sub-Continent game compared to that 325 gr bruiser. In my ignorance, I'd assume manufacturers would be shooting for the volume sales. Perhaps I'm being myopic not associating a 325 gr Buster as being in such high demand as to represent volume sales. I tend to tunnel down to projects that I have personal interest in and miss the bigger world out there. It does sound like an ideal one-shot stopper for dangerous North American game though. I'd put my money on 296 as a good starting powder.
Hoot

[HillBilly]

Been looking at that bullet hard... Its about time someone else gets a bullet on the market that will be affordable compared to the Belt Mountain Punch bullet that has been around for a while... @ $2.50 each...http://www.beltmountain.com/punch.htm

Hmm... They kinda look alike...

I'm game as soon as Bushmonster gets my upper here... I am a big fan of non expanding flat nose bullets all the way down to .30 cal...

[wildcatter]

Been looking at that bullet hard... Its about time someone else gets a bullet on the market that will be affordable compared to the Belt Mountain Punch bullet that has been around for a while... @ $2.50 each...http://www.beltmountain.com/punch.htm

Hmm... They kinda look alike...

I'm game as soon as Bushmonster gets my upper here... I am a big fan of non expanding flat nose bullets all the way down to .30 cal...

I know what ya mean, I had had meetings with them and have wanted this bullet for some time, then todays call put the icing on it. Hoot has a point and I tend to go for the lighter bullets myself. The 230's accomplish everything I need doing. But the FMJ's do expand some, they won't shed their jackets, but they will start looking like mushrooms with split jackets, after hitting bone and can go in any direction after that. This 325 won't expand and the Flat Point will do more damage than an expanded bullet can and go in a predictable straight line, through the body. Of course it isn't a practice bullet, but is the one to use when you don't care about the Clavicle and are more worried with the rest of the body getting eaten, or stomped to death, something Momma Moose just loves to do and will do more damage, on target, than a 500gr bullet, that is into a diminishing return state.

As I said, 230's are just fine and dandy with me and maybe only we here, would think a 230gr bullet is a light bullet, whereas everybody in the shooting world thinks a 230gr bullet is a monster. Ask any of the Magnum guys using anything from 375 on down, if 230gr isn't a Monster Killer.

But the question I have, that you might consider yourself. First.. Realizing that all big game is dangerous, and all shots seem to always be marginal, which is why we are here, the marginal shots we've always had, with game that got away, because we didn't have enough gun, are far less marginal today for us, right? So here's the second set-up, SO, the shot on a dangerous game creature, maybe man, maybe beast, and we don't know the conditions were going to have, is it in the open, or maybe in heavy cover, or maybe coming at us full steam with a tree or car or something else in the way and you've only one shot to make it count and to bet your life on, or worst yet, the life of a loved one, but life and death is at stake.. Pick the bullet, right now? I know that a 185 ain't it and the 230 FMJ-FP is pretty darn good, but with the stakes turned all the way against me, I feel this 325gr, might just be the life saver or certainly the Hedge-Fund of Bullets.

But either way there is a market out here for it and it's near perfect, only made better by a Hoot/Wildcatter 200gr +- Barnes Buster, and we're going to make up a load for it and get a a big concern to load it.

Hoot, for us, what if I were to use a 230gr-FP as a model for a small trial run of solids, put in multiple groves on the side of the bearing surface, with one statically place for a side crimp. This thing would weigh less than a 200gr and most likely in the 165-185 area?? You'd be looking at 3000fps plus. Humm..t

[jagermaster]

I am in if you will have me.
I like the idea of the buster bullet in that weight but also have a request for a bullet in this construction in 230 to 250gr.

[wildcatter]

I am in if you will have me.
I like the idea of the buster bullet in that weight but also have a request for a bullet in this construction in 230 to 250gr.

[ http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t149/gibsonin/458SOCOMTTSXdrawing.jpg ]

Now this is a way cool Design, in 230 though, you prolly wont get as many groves as you are showing, but if this were a HP-Solid, it might be long enough.. I love how you're going to open up the HP. What is the tip made of, do you suspect that a polymer might work? Your bullet is really needed and a great design too..t

[pitted bore]

The first Barnes Buster advertisements that I've seen showed up in a couple of recently arrived magazines: Successful Hunter, page 29 of May-June 2010 issue, and page 33 of May-June 2010 issue of Rifle magazine.

The bullet depicted in the ad has only a single cannelure.

The ad also shows photos of a Cape Buffalo, a large grizzly (brown?) bear, and a boar. The boar may be somebody's pet, because in my magazines, it appears that the tusk has had a gold cap fitted by a veterinarian with a dental degree.

The Barnes web site for these bullets is at THIS LINK.

--Bob

[wildcatter]

The first Barnes Buster advertisements that I've seen showed up in a couple of recently arrived magazines: Successful Hunter, page 29 of May-June 2010 issue, and page 33 of May-June 2010 issue of Rifle magazine.

The bullet depicted in the ad has only a single cannelure.

The ad also shows photos of a Cape Buffalo, a large grizzly (brown?) bear, and a boar. The boar may be somebody's pet, because in my magazines, it appears that the tusk has had a gold cap fitted by a veterinarian with a dental degree.

The Barnes web site for these bullets is at THIS LINK.

--Bob

LOL!!! Gold Fittings!!.. But my Dentist in Anchorage had the obligatory mounted White Skull of a brown bear in full Roar. Upon closer examination, one of the lower K-9 Teeth, had a gold cap, lol.

Our Bullet does indeed have two cannelures, having just received the first two hundred, I can attest to this fact It is my understanding that, of all the calibers they make in the Busters, only ours have the double cannelure and this because of my prodding and Our Need. The first cannelure is .125" south of the ogive base, to it's center and the next is about .085" further south (cannelure center to center), with the base of the bullet, another .400" further south, total bullet OAL is .610", these measurements are all approximately correct, for now. But we can do our side crimp into either one and think about it, two side crimps are possible. Humm..slower powders, with lower pressures and then faster speeds, when you bring the pressures back up, 2x-Humm..t

[MOUNTIN DU]

i'm with jagermaster on this one... 225-250, solid copper, bt base, good bc, good trajectory, great weight retention... fits my needs! jmho

anything heavier i can use my 45-70... sans the semi-auto action i have some barnes 300 ttsx (socom) that i'm gonna load for it

[wildcatter]

:? i'm with jagermaster on this one... 225-250, solid copper, bt base, good bc, good trajectory, great weight retention... fits my needs! jmho

anything heavier i can use my 45-70... sans the semi-auto action i have some barnes 300 ttsx (socom) that i'm gonna load for it

Me Too, I have a hard time getting away from those cheapie 230's, but this 325 is a last word kind of thing and just gives us some very good options..t