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- Jul 16, 2005
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I got to the range today, got set up, went to load the rifle and found that I had somehow failed to get up the new box of 250 SSTs I bought a week or so ago. :x
Wasn't going to let the half-hour drive to the range go to waste, so I shot two groups with 250 grain Barnes MZ Expanders. First group I used 69 grains of IMR-4198 pushing bare HPH-24 sabots (with 250 SSTs, this gives me MOA or sub-MOA), but that only have me a 3.0" group. They loaded far too easily in my opinion, much more so than SSTs (which do better with HPH-24s), so I switched sabots.
Next group was with 69g IMR4198 pushing 250g Expanders in bare HPH-12 sabots. This time, the first two shots were close to touching. Third shot was a flyer 3.0" away! :? So, I shot a fourth shot and it landed right with the first two shots, for a 1.0" group, excluding the flyer. So, in summary, results with the 250 Expander were:
>>> 250g Expander, 69g IMR4198, HPH-24 = 3 shots @ 3.0".
>>> 250g Expander, 69g IMR4198, HPH-12 = 4 shots @ 3.0" (1.0" if you exclude flyer).
I'm not sure what to think about flyer, and the load itself for that matter. In the thick woods where I hunt the most, I would probably have a hard time finding a more effective and dependable bullet on deer, but the BC on the 250 Expander must be awful. Does anybody know just gow bad it is? Plus, at a dollar per bullet, I'm not sure if I really want to shoot enough of them to make sure the flyer was just a fluke.
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I also shot two groups with 300 Expanders, one with each sabot type, using 65g of IMR-4198.
>>> 300 Expander, HPH-24, 65g IMR4198 = 3 shots @ 2.25" (1.25" if you exclude the furthest out).
>>> 300 Expander, HPH-12, 65g IMR4198 = 4 shots @ 1.8" (1.5" if you exclude the furthest out).
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Even though it was fairly windy, these 300 grain Expanders spread vertically more than horizontally, even within the same sabot types. As mentioned on another thread, there was a noticeable difference in loading resistance, even with all the same HPH-12 sabots. I don't have a micrometer to check, but I am wondering if there is more variation in the OD on these slugs than the SSTs. Generally, the tighter loading ones shot lower than the easier loading ones.
On that topic... I thought Barnes Bullets were turned down (on a lathe, I presume) from solid copper stock? These Expanders (packaged as Knight Red Hots) have pits, dents, and marks on the outside that make them almost look like they were cast bullets. Has anybody else ever seen this?
-----
Have others had good or bad results with the Barnes Expanders?
I know Loggy killed that boar with one; I'm really interested in accuracy and trajectory feedback.
Wasn't going to let the half-hour drive to the range go to waste, so I shot two groups with 250 grain Barnes MZ Expanders. First group I used 69 grains of IMR-4198 pushing bare HPH-24 sabots (with 250 SSTs, this gives me MOA or sub-MOA), but that only have me a 3.0" group. They loaded far too easily in my opinion, much more so than SSTs (which do better with HPH-24s), so I switched sabots.
Next group was with 69g IMR4198 pushing 250g Expanders in bare HPH-12 sabots. This time, the first two shots were close to touching. Third shot was a flyer 3.0" away! :? So, I shot a fourth shot and it landed right with the first two shots, for a 1.0" group, excluding the flyer. So, in summary, results with the 250 Expander were:
>>> 250g Expander, 69g IMR4198, HPH-24 = 3 shots @ 3.0".
>>> 250g Expander, 69g IMR4198, HPH-12 = 4 shots @ 3.0" (1.0" if you exclude flyer).
I'm not sure what to think about flyer, and the load itself for that matter. In the thick woods where I hunt the most, I would probably have a hard time finding a more effective and dependable bullet on deer, but the BC on the 250 Expander must be awful. Does anybody know just gow bad it is? Plus, at a dollar per bullet, I'm not sure if I really want to shoot enough of them to make sure the flyer was just a fluke.
-----
I also shot two groups with 300 Expanders, one with each sabot type, using 65g of IMR-4198.
>>> 300 Expander, HPH-24, 65g IMR4198 = 3 shots @ 2.25" (1.25" if you exclude the furthest out).
>>> 300 Expander, HPH-12, 65g IMR4198 = 4 shots @ 1.8" (1.5" if you exclude the furthest out).
-----
Even though it was fairly windy, these 300 grain Expanders spread vertically more than horizontally, even within the same sabot types. As mentioned on another thread, there was a noticeable difference in loading resistance, even with all the same HPH-12 sabots. I don't have a micrometer to check, but I am wondering if there is more variation in the OD on these slugs than the SSTs. Generally, the tighter loading ones shot lower than the easier loading ones.
On that topic... I thought Barnes Bullets were turned down (on a lathe, I presume) from solid copper stock? These Expanders (packaged as Knight Red Hots) have pits, dents, and marks on the outside that make them almost look like they were cast bullets. Has anybody else ever seen this?
-----
Have others had good or bad results with the Barnes Expanders?
I know Loggy killed that boar with one; I'm really interested in accuracy and trajectory feedback.