OT: 225gr Barnes Bullet on Hogs

[Modoc ED]

I've shot a couple of hogs with the Barnes 225gr XPB Copper Bullet in one of my .444 Marlins (Microgroove) and both shots killed the hogs. One was a through and through behind the shoulder. Killed the hog outright -- dead on-the-spot. The other was a shoulder shot. The bullet failed to penetrate the shoulder bone but glanced off the shoulder bone enough to penetrate through the hog. Slight lag before this hog died. He went about 30-feet before keeling over and giving up the ghost. Interesting to note here that the 225gr Barnes did not break the hog's shoulder bone. Had I used one of my reloads with the Hornady 265gr FP Interlock bullet that shoulder bone would have been shattered and the bullet would have penetrated through the shoulder bone and not have glanced off. Heck, even one of my 170gr .30-30 reloads would have shatterd the hog's shoulder bone.

Will keep an eye on Barnes 225 bullets on other animals/game to see how they perform when hitting bone. I like a shoulder shot on large game (i.e., elk) but if the Barnes 225 can't get the job done by penetrating/shattering the shoulder bone, I may have to adjust shots to strike behind the shoulder. Not my preference but we'll just have to see what happens.

[JohndeFresno]

Thanks for the info; I'm following this with great interest. I have some 250 gr. .45 Barnes bullets for my Marlin 1895 .45-70, but have not hunted with them, yet. The extra weight and charge for the larger rifle might fill the bill.

But for your situation - perhaps Barnes will manufacture a flat-nose solid filled tungsten bullet for .444. If I fired that caliber, I would not be above calling the good folks at Barnes and discussing this. In fact, if my .45-70 bullet fails, I will. Have you considered talking with them?

With the condor thing, their sales MUST have been boosted, so they would have an even larger customer base to justify the expense of tooling and designing a new bullet, I suspect.

[Nath]

I'll be interesting to see if it was a fluke when you get some more such shots in.

Nath.

[Modoc ED]

Thanks for the info; I'm following this with great interest. I have some 250 gr. .45 Barnes bullets for my Marlin 1895 .45-70, but have not hunted with them, yet. The extra weight and charge for the larger rifle might fill the bill.

But for your situation - perhaps Barnes will manufacture a flat-nose solid filled tungsten bullet for .444. If I fired that caliber, I would not be above calling the good folks at Barnes and discussing this. In fact, if my .45-70 bullet fails, I will. Have you considered talking with them?

With the condor thing, their sales MUST have been boosted, so they would have an even larger customer base to justify the expense of tooling and designing a new bullet, I suspect.

I'm going to give Barnes a bit more time before I call them. I am going to wait a bit to see if they might put out a bullet in .429/.430 with their new lead substiture "Silvex".

Hopefully one of the bullet makers will step up and make some non-toxic bullets for the majority of the lever action calibers. Whatever company steps up to the plate in that regard will be a hero to lever gunners and will probably make quite a handy profit. Maybe Barnes or Nosler.

[JohndeFresno]

I'm going to give Barnes a bit more time before I call them. I am going to wait a bit to see if they might put out a bullet in .429/.430 with their new lead substitute "Silvex".

Yes - that's the stuff I was talking about.

"Silvex" - not the toxic chemical, but in this case Barnes' trade name for some type of tungsten substance - is already being used in the "MRX" deep penetrator plastic ("Delrin") tipped rifle bullets in .270, 7mm, .30 and .338 calibers.

So they have already perfected the technology. If the market merits the tooling work, all they would have to do is to insert the same tungsten type stuff into the core of some shorter, flat nosed bullets like the .429 and .452 caliber bullets we are addressing.

[Modoc ED]

That's it exactly. There are so many lever action calibers that do not have a non-toxic bullet available. Some are close and maybe some guys will be able to paper patch a bullet to make up the difference.

I don't have to use non-toxic bullets up in my part of CA but I like experimenting with different components so thought I'd give the Barnes 225gr XPB Copper Bullet a go in my .444 Marlin. So far it shows promise but it's performance on bone is a concern for large big game (i.e., elk and black bear).

I only have lever action rifles in .444 and .30-30 calibers so I'm lucky that non-toxic (specifically Barnes Copper Bullets) are available for them. It is quite apparent from other guys post here that they are realling having to work hard to find non-toxic bullets for the levers.

[O.S.O.K.]

Good report - thanks!

I'd say that given the performance on the shoulder bone, that the 225 is too light for reliable performance. Yes, it'll do great if you avoid any substantial bones but I personally like to know that it'll do the trick regardless.

And its not the construction - just the weight/mass IMHO.