Finally got some Barnes TEZ 250 and 290 Bullets

[norbush1]

I like the petal-expansion feature of the Barnes for hunting. Have been trying to get some of these locally for about a month now. Finally found some a few days ago.

I had resigned myself to use the Hornady SST ML 250 for hunting (good accuracy, but was not fully confident in the hold-together for hunting).

So went to the range with the Barnes TEZ 250 and 290 Bullets.
All at 100 yards, CCI209M primers, and 100gr BH209.

First shot out the Hornady SST ML 250 that was in the barrel for hunting. Surprised at 3" down and 3" left. I had oiled the barrel before loading it. I'm thinking maybe i damaged some of the powder with the oil, so should not to do that again. Any suggestions / advice on 'first shot barrel conditons'?

Shot 1 set of 3 rounds with the Hornady SST ML 250 .... 1 3/4" grouping

Shot 1 set of 3 rounds with the Barnes TEZ 250 ... 1 3/4" grouping

Shot 4 sets of 3 rounds with the Barnes TEZ 290 ... averaging 1 1/4" groupings

So I am switching and using the Barnes TEZ 290 as my hunting load for this season. Hope to have 'bullet performance' pictures for this forum :lol:

 

[exMember]

Yep! The Barnes remove all doubt about bullet performance.

As for oiling the bore, i do not. It completely ruined first shot accuracy. If you oil, use something to remove it prior to loading. Rubbing Alcohol, Windex, Carb cleaner, even gun scrubber. Just soak and patch, actually run a couple patches just to make sure and then a few dry patches.

Were you shooting blackhorn209?

 

[Thunder53]

First shot accuracy

What I use to clean all my barrels before shooting is non-chlorinated aerosol brake cleaner.

Cleans off all oil, etc. and dries quickly and clean and it's cheap vs. gun scrubber type products!

 

[Thunder53]

TEZ's sabot?

By the way, which sabot were you using with the TEZ's?

 

[hawgslayer1]

The Barnes Spit-Fire T-EZ's 290 GRAIN come with a blue sabot. :cheers:

Ray...........

 

[norbush1]

Sorry i lost track of this post.

FG - yes, i was using BH powder. I now use alcohol to clean bore of any oils before loading.

Thunder53 - i used the sabots supplied with the Barnes Spit-Fire T-EZ's. Both the 250s and 290s come with a blue sabot.

 

[sjadventures1]

Sorry i lost track of this post.

FG - yes, i was using BH powder. I now use alcohol to clean bore of any oils before loading.

Thunder53 - i used the sabots supplied with the Barnes Spit-Fire T-EZ's. Both the 250s and 290s come with a blue sabot.

Try a Harvester black crush rib sabot with both bullets. What size loads did you test them with?

 

[jeepman1]

Sorry i lost track of this post.

FG - yes, i was using BH powder. I now use alcohol to clean bore of any oils before loading.

Thunder53 - i used the sabots supplied with the Barnes Spit-Fire T-EZ's. Both the 250s and 290s come with a blue sabot.

alcohol is what i use prior to shooting also, since it removes the oil and dries immediately.

 

[EndeavorShooter1]

Sorry i lost track of this post.

FG - yes, i was using BH powder. I now use alcohol to clean bore of any oils before loading.

Thunder53 - i used the sabots supplied with the Barnes Spit-Fire T-EZ's. Both the 250s and 290s come with a blue sabot.

I use CLP on a patch, thru the bore before storage and then just a couple dry patches and fire a couple of primers before loading to shoot.