Thread: Copper Projectile Accuracy... Barnes GMX etc..

Some rifles won't shoot the GMX for some reason or another, others are unbelievable, go figure....

The "ton of jump in the R8" could be the problem, BTs, SMKs etc are very forgiving, others not so much......

Cheers VC..

Im going through the same thought process with a 308..

just out of interest how do you do that notification thing like you did for KG in your post...?

@ symbol then username with no space between the @ and username @Sidney

cheers @veitnamcam

Originally Posted by Kiwi Greg

Some rifles won't shoot the GMX for some reason or another, others are unbelievable, go figure....

The "ton of jump in the R8" could be the problem, BTs, SMKs etc are very forgiving, others not so much......

yeah.... that is likely for the 6.5x55... not the same issue in others... is the GMX powder sensitive KG?

my new 6.5 does not really get on with the GMX 120gn bullets from what I tried in the weekend. Different story for the Barnes LRX bullets.
I just need more practice shooting it to get my confidence up
GMX groups were 45-50mm @ 100 yards, still "minute of deer though"

Originally Posted by Sidney

I can get em to shoot OK, but typically if I have a load with an amax or nosher BT that fires 3 shots touching, (10-15mm) I seem to end up settling at 20-25mm with Barnes pills after a lot of effort. That just pees me off... I do clean copper before developing Barnes loads after using conventional cup n' core

Generally I start at 50 thou off the lands as per recommendation, and work forward and back to optimise after selecting the best option from powder weight choices..

This is less about my reloading that it is about what I have found generally, and it wouldn't concern me if it varied... I would really like to bump into a Barnes projectile that was simple to develop for and was accurate from the start, across different powder selections etc.. I just find them fussy and was wondering if that was the experience with other solid copper pills?

Have you worked with the TTSX or the previous TSX and Barnes Original?, might make a difference - I've only worked with the TSX once, in .243, that worked out really well, the rest has always been TTSX. Have always started load development at 40 thou off and at ADI book max, usually wind up a few grains over, and always in light for calibre weight:
-.257 100gn (2506 at 3400fps and .257 Wby at 3600fps)
-.270 110gn (.270 Win at 3300fps and .270 ShortMag at 3400fps)
-.284 120gn (.280 Rem at 3200fps and 7mmMag at 3500fps)
-.308 110gn (.308 Win at 3300fps and 130gn at 3100fps)
So, essentially my rule of thumb is: jump it and drive it really fast.

I think all the major bullet manufacturers make accurate bullets nowadays, there are just lots of variables and some guns are fussier than others,I have had lots of good results with Sierra, Hornady, Berger too, Berger currently my favourate, some people think they are fussy to load for but they keep working for me, so who knows, sometimes you just get lucky

Originally Posted by Sidney

yeah.... that is likely for the 6.5x55... not the same issue in others... is the GMX powder sensitive KG?

I haven't seen a lot of powder sensitivity with the rifles I load for & have loaded for, maybe I'm not a good enough shot to isolate it

Originally Posted by mikee

my new 6.5 does not really get on with the GMX 120gn bullets from what I tried in the weekend. Different story for the Barnes LRX bullets.
I just need more practice shooting it to get my confidence up
GMX groups were 45-50mm @ 100 yards, still "minute of deer though"

My 6.5 saum hated the GMX as well mate,
Huge groups at 100 but really settled down at long range

Originally Posted by outdoorlad

I've had mixed results loading barnes bullets too, gave up on them in my 243, still mucking around with them in my 7-08

I did find this recently so might try it An interesting 'trick' to get Barnes TSX and TTSX's to shoot well early on. - 24hourcampfire

Well well someone else has finally twigged. Got to guide for all Barnes. Just means you whack in your powder of choice but after using an M die.