Posted By: karl
Barnes 110gn Blacktip recovered - 06/01/2022 2:24 PM
Hey Folks. I've been waiting for the Bragging Board to come back up to post this with bullet pictures but if I wait much longer, i'll forget the details.
Last Fall I recovered one of the black tipped Barnes 110gn bullets from a fork buck. This is the first i've managed to recover so I though i would share.
I was shooting from my 14" contender with a muzzle velocity of ~2380 fps. Barnes said they test this bullet up to 2200fps to ensure it retains all the petals so this is a little hot for the design of the bullet with close range shots as I will describe. I've been using this bullet for ~7 years and taken close to 20 deer (80-180 yards) and this is the first bullet recovered. Typically I get full pass through.
This was a 50 yard shot on a fork buck with a quartering away angle. the bullet entered and broke a rib, passed through the lungs and large vessels, broke a second rib, then passed through the meat of the off side shoulder and stopped under the skin. Not a big deer, but 19" of total penetration. The bullet had 2 petals attached (out of 4) with a third laying right next to it under the skin and the 4th wasn't recovered. They were peeled back to their base and quite jagged. Ballistics calculator says the impact velocity was ~ 2230 FPS or so. The deer ran ~50 yards and folded. Damage through the rib cage holes were quarter sized. Lunges were heavily damaged. I was happy with the performace)
I like the bullet (designed for 300BO speeds, expands with terminal velocities down to 1400fps) and think it works very well in 30 cal cartridges like 30-30 and slower in pistol platforms. If I was shooting the 30-30-AI or something faster, I would likely step up to something heavier (120gn version) or a bullet designed for higher velocities (regular TTSX) . The load is very pleasant to shoot and very effective on deer. I can squeeze another 140 fps out of it before seeing pressure signs but this load is more accurate. Also surprising to see that in this era of component scarcity, it is often in-stock at various vendors.
Last Fall I recovered one of the black tipped Barnes 110gn bullets from a fork buck. This is the first i've managed to recover so I though i would share.
I was shooting from my 14" contender with a muzzle velocity of ~2380 fps. Barnes said they test this bullet up to 2200fps to ensure it retains all the petals so this is a little hot for the design of the bullet with close range shots as I will describe. I've been using this bullet for ~7 years and taken close to 20 deer (80-180 yards) and this is the first bullet recovered. Typically I get full pass through.
This was a 50 yard shot on a fork buck with a quartering away angle. the bullet entered and broke a rib, passed through the lungs and large vessels, broke a second rib, then passed through the meat of the off side shoulder and stopped under the skin. Not a big deer, but 19" of total penetration. The bullet had 2 petals attached (out of 4) with a third laying right next to it under the skin and the 4th wasn't recovered. They were peeled back to their base and quite jagged. Ballistics calculator says the impact velocity was ~ 2230 FPS or so. The deer ran ~50 yards and folded. Damage through the rib cage holes were quarter sized. Lunges were heavily damaged. I was happy with the performace)
I like the bullet (designed for 300BO speeds, expands with terminal velocities down to 1400fps) and think it works very well in 30 cal cartridges like 30-30 and slower in pistol platforms. If I was shooting the 30-30-AI or something faster, I would likely step up to something heavier (120gn version) or a bullet designed for higher velocities (regular TTSX) . The load is very pleasant to shoot and very effective on deer. I can squeeze another 140 fps out of it before seeing pressure signs but this load is more accurate. Also surprising to see that in this era of component scarcity, it is often in-stock at various vendors.