sniper20
FNG
I tried Barnes TSX in a 6.5 Creedmoor once... once. Shot a smaller buck about 120yds out, perfect behind the shoulder shot. Zero expansion, bullet was recovered and it was still 100% intact. The petals on the nose were actually bent inward, making it more of a FMJ.
Barnes, along with every other "traditional" mono are built great, but need more velocity for expansion. The 30-30 just isn't the best cartridge to offer that. I know Maker and supposedly Hornady Mono offers better expansion at lower velocity, but I haven't used those. I have used Cavity Back Bullets for 6.5 Grendel and they give really good expansion at lower velocity, but they are too long to load into 30-30 (I tried with some 300BO bullets, not a fun jam to try and clear...)
If you are REQUIRED to use Mono, I would say there might be better options as Barnes hasn't/won't change their stuff. But the 30-30 was designed as a black powder cartridge, thus using soft lead and lower velocity. I shoot factory Winchester stuff in mine, but don't use the 30-30 much.
All that being said, I recovered my deer to see the bullet didn't perform. So doesn't that mean it DID perform???
Everyone expects bullets to make wound channels like they see in gel tests. I do homemade gel testing, and the bullets perform "perfect" as they show on the boxes they come in. However, bullets I have recovered from animals rarely look the same... Way too many variables to say the "perfect" bullet for X situation.
If our forefathers used FMJ surplus ammo from the wars in 30-06 ammo, harvested more deer than we do today... obviously shot placement is more important than expansion. Just my .02
Barnes, along with every other "traditional" mono are built great, but need more velocity for expansion. The 30-30 just isn't the best cartridge to offer that. I know Maker and supposedly Hornady Mono offers better expansion at lower velocity, but I haven't used those. I have used Cavity Back Bullets for 6.5 Grendel and they give really good expansion at lower velocity, but they are too long to load into 30-30 (I tried with some 300BO bullets, not a fun jam to try and clear...)
If you are REQUIRED to use Mono, I would say there might be better options as Barnes hasn't/won't change their stuff. But the 30-30 was designed as a black powder cartridge, thus using soft lead and lower velocity. I shoot factory Winchester stuff in mine, but don't use the 30-30 much.
All that being said, I recovered my deer to see the bullet didn't perform. So doesn't that mean it DID perform???
Everyone expects bullets to make wound channels like they see in gel tests. I do homemade gel testing, and the bullets perform "perfect" as they show on the boxes they come in. However, bullets I have recovered from animals rarely look the same... Way too many variables to say the "perfect" bullet for X situation.
If our forefathers used FMJ surplus ammo from the wars in 30-06 ammo, harvested more deer than we do today... obviously shot placement is more important than expansion. Just my .02
