the 300 gr, bullet and why i do not use it

Modern Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Modern Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

catfishtony

Well-Known Member
*
Joined
Dec 6, 2012
Messages
148
Reaction score
1
years ago i used the Barnes .50 Caliber .451" Diameter 300 Grain solid copper bullet.
using 100 grains of Pyrodex Pellets pellets this was also my first time to change over from powder.
i started with powder and a old 45 kit back in the late 70's.
back then this was my first inline gun. i shot many deer with it but racked the weapon
it took every skill my father had ever shown me to find each deer. plus a few new tricks
i picked up over the last few decades my self tracking.
here is a pic of a bullet from a deer i shot. i must say everyone of the deer did die and fast 100 or so yards
but finding each one was a challenge each time just a speck or drop of blood here or there
every 10 to 20 yards or so in the track or up high in a weed or small sapling like a smear of red.
this is the only bullet i ever recovered. this deer was hit in blade past in and out both lungs broke leg bone and
shattered blade in every direction posable in the meat. this is also why i stopped using it.
20 pounds of meat would be blood shocked and jelly filled only good for dog meat.




here is a older link to how times have changed and my load has changed and why. directly due to this forum
and all of its info from a well rounded solid group of pro-hunters and fellow hunter alike
all for free i might add.

new load and every deer hit for the most part the same right in the boiler room.
but these deer run off 3' to the ground or in sight and just fall over.
100 grains of 777 powder
TC shockwave 250 black sabot
209 primers
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=22893

this load in my TC Omega 50cal, is a deer stopping machine. with less meat loss
and it is very easy to find a dead deer right in front of you LOL.
 
anyone else like or dislike this bullet, and why

meat loss was my biggest dislike that and it pokes a pencil size whole at entry and the skin moves
over tiny hole and covers it up all the blood is inside but ever deer hit did die for sure.
 
It's my favorite hunting bullet. I shoot the 290gr TMZ (my rifle likes it best) and the rest of the family shoot the 250gr TMZ (I believe basically the same bullet but the TMZ have the tip). The pictured bullet and the story of what that bullet went through is one of the reasons why I use it. It's a tuff bullet and will hold together but not so tuff that it won't expand at slower velocities. The one bullet that was recovered from one of our harvests looked just like yours after it took a pounding traveling through muscle and bone. It's a purdy bullet after it expands. :D

Matts2nddoebarnesbullet-1.jpg


I have had excellent to poor blood trails with this bullet with the key being shot placement. High shot= so so blood trails, low shot= excellent trails.

Put most any bullet through both rib cages, minimal meat loss. Put that same bullet through one or both shoulders, you got a mess. I have never purposely shot a deer in the shoulder but I understand why some do and don't blame them one bit, I would rather have some meat loss instead of no deer at all.

I have read many great reviews on the ShockWave, I shoot them myself at the range for target practice and accuracy is excellent but I know I won't be switching bullets any time soon.
 
Shockwave gives similar results = high hit little blood - low hit very good blood trail. I do like off shoulder shots as they drop a deer quickly and where I hunt there are a lot of thickets to hide in. Never recovered a shockwave. Liked the pictures of the bullet. I once shot a deer with the Barns all copper. It made a totall mess of the whole front of the deer - stopped using them - in fact I still have a pack in my gun room.
 
I have used the 250gr Barnes expander MZ for several whitetails and found it to be excellent. Many short blood trails and a couple spinners. I used 2 777 pellets and later the 777 magnum pellets. I used the same bullet on a large cow moose a couple years ago. I am really surprised that you kept one of these bullets inside a whitetail since I had this bullet completely penetrate the moose going thru the large leg/shoulder bone and exiting out the far side. I did find one of the petals in the shoulder where it broke the bone. I assume that the petals fold over and the bullet continues like a solid. I switched to the 300 gr this year as brown bear are on the menu. Do you have any idea what kind of velocity you where getting with those loads?
 
I have never shot a 300 grain bullet, this year I patterned a Hornady 300 gr 44 Cal XTP. It is suppose to expand from 850 to 1900 FPS, felt like that is perfect with a muzzleloader, with 100 gr BH 209 behind the bullet, 1 1/2 inch groups at 100 yards. I plan on using the setup in the woods where shots are 100 yards or less. I have always shot deer broadside behind the shoulder, never lost a deer but many bullets I have used put a little hole in and a little hole out, no blood trail. I want something that will leave a blood trail. I really feel that if I do my job and wait for my shot I won't tear the deer up, and I think 300 gr placed right will put a deer down quick. Besides I am color blind red and green, I couldn't see blood if my life depended on it. I feel the bigger the hole out, the quicker the deer will go down. In any event time will tell if I will be pleased with the bullet or disappointed.
 
I let my friend borrow my TC encore with my standard load of 300gr xtp harvester geen sabot bh209 90 grs.

He shot 2 deer both about 50-70yds.

Bang and fell within sight. He said it was a in and out. No bullet recovery. But he did say the shock wave of energy was seen on deer when he hit them.

The above load shoots 3/4 inch @ 100 yds so I know they are accurate.
 
My son and I have both had good results using the 250 grain Shockwave over 120grs. 777. In our guns Rem. 700 ML the loose powder shot better than the pellets. Haven't lost a deer yet with the Shockwave! Dan.
 
I have been using a Barnes MZ Expander in either 250 or 300 grain but never had the opportunity to shoot a deer. But with the media tests I conducted I never had a doubt that it would be an effective bullet. I am kind of surprised you did not have a drop flop.
 
Thebear_78 said:
I have used the 250gr Barnes expander MZ for several whitetails and found it to be excellent. Many short blood trails and a couple spinners. I used 2 777 pellets and later the 777 magnum pellets. I used the same bullet on a large cow moose a couple years ago. I am really surprised that you kept one of these bullets inside a whitetail since I had this bullet completely penetrate the moose going thru the large leg/shoulder bone and exiting out the far side. I did find one of the petals in the shoulder where it broke the bone. I assume that the petals fold over and the bullet continues like a solid. I switched to the 300 gr this year as brown bear are on the menu. Do you have any idea what kind of velocity you where getting with those loads?

Sorry, could not even guess at the velocity when I was shooting the Barns. At the time I was shooting a Knight MK85 with two pellets of Pyrodex and a musket cap conversion. I may not have had near the velocity that Modern inlines generate with newer powders and ignition systems.

Currently shoot a TC Pro-Hunter stainless with a thumbhole stock and a Leopold ultimate slam scope with 200 grain shockwaves (40 cal), 110 grains of BH - 209 and a CCI 209M primer. Current grouping are MOA and Sub at times - at both 100 and 200 yards - but there is always room for improvement.

I had similar results with the 250 grain shockwaves and Hornady's version. Two hundred grain seems to give me that little bit more range and this bullet can really flatten a whitetail. Current velocity is almost at 2200.00 with 209 BH. Sorry for the late post - been working too hard lately.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top