Do Barnes bullets leave good blood trails?

[Bigfoot]

Don't laugh but this 1/2 Cherokee can't track worth a darn unless I can see a decent blood trail. In this part of Orygun you could walk within yards of a downed Blacktail or even Elk and not see it.

I've seen a several critters shot with solids and they didn't have much of an exit hole. I shoot an /06 now but I recently got a Savage so I'll be trying some other calibers/loadings out. Not sure yet, maybe 338/06 for Elk and something light and mild for deer.

 

[41 Mag]

From my limited experience....

I have used Barnes bullets for over 15 years. However mostly in smaller calibers like the .243, and 25/06. I loaded many rounds for other folks years back who shot deer and other stuff with them in both the .270 and 30/06, and never got any complaints.

From my experiences and relating theirs, there haven't been much of a trail to follow. Generally whatever was shot just hit the ground. That said, when something did run after being hit, it was dependant on the area hit as to how much blood the critter left. Basically any hit that would leave a good trail did, but just like any other bullet, there are times when the hit isn't perfect, so the trail is just minute. The general distinguishing factor with the Barnes bullets is their ability to penetrate deeper and further than most other expanding bullets.

The "X" bullet and the newer version "Triple Shock", are both expanding bullets in that the nose opens up and peels back into 4 petals. THe resulting wound channel isn't generally as drastic as most lead point bullets which open up quickly then start to funnel down. The X bullet will make a general wound channel all the way through an animal that is about 2.5 - 3" or so wide which delivers the shock over a wider area. Sometimes after hitting heavy bone one or more of the petals will fragment off which will add to the damage. However in about 80 - 90% of the animals I have taken it has just been a thru and thru hole and the animals dropped right there, or within about 50 yds.

Now hopefully your not like this one fellow I loaded for, he wanted a bullet that would drop a deer right where it stood, then came back after hunting telling me those bullets didn't work worth a crap. I was surprised and asked what the problem was, did he lose a deer? No he said, I shot two, both hit the ground not taking another step. I asked and, at what point did the bullets not work like he wanted? He said after he climed down from his perch on the rocks, the grass was about 3' tall and looked totally different from down where the deer were than it did from up top of the ridge, and there was no blood trail to help him locate the deer. Took him about 45 minutes and several trips up the hill to locate them both. LOL

LAter,

 

[Art Eatman]

What you're talking about is the exit wound, really. The skin generally closes a bit on the small-diameter entry hole.

Most expanding bullets, if they exit, will allow copious bleeding. Here again we're back to the "shot placement" deal. An angling shot sorta lengthwise through the body might not exit. That's one reason that at ranges under a hundred yards, I try for a neck shot if possible.

With the '06, most of the 150-grain flat-based bullets will exit from a cross-body shot. Sierra, Hornady, Remington Bronze Point--they've all worked for me.

Based on comparative shooting at 500 yards, measuring the impacts on a steel plate, I'd almost guarantee that the Sierra 180-grain GameKing bullet out of an '06 would exit almost any deer, and maybe even with an angling hit.

I've found that the Sierra 150-grain boat-tail will blow up inside an animal if the range is short. The jacket is a little thin due to the shape; it's a manufacturing process deal. Of course, that's DRT and no tracking needed. They don't blow up once the velocity drops down to around 2,800 or so.

Anyhow, I'd bet that a Barnes bullet that expands and that does exit an animal would leave a decent blood trail...

The darndest blood trail I ever saw was from a doe I shot. I'd just told my finger to pull the trigger on a neck shot at some 65 yards or so, when she took a step. The hit was slightly downward through the upper shoulder blade on the near side, under the spine and out through the upper leg joint on the off side. Blew out a chunk of bone like something from a Peckinpaugh movie. She spun on her hind legs and took off. The 50-yards of blood trail was over a foot wide, spraying the grass to where she fell. The exit wound was around 4" in diameter...

Art

 

[Guns_and_Labs]

I've only hunted with one guy who filled his tag with an X bullet (.30-06 version, 100 yard shot). He got a great bloodtrail, but the deer only ran about 100 yards. We recovered the bullet, and it looked like the blades in a blender with sharp edges. Of course, this is a sample size of 1.

 

[crawfish]

NO Barnes X bullets DO NOT LEAVE A GOOD BLOOD TRAIL for me at least. It has been my experience that animals that I have shot with the old X and the new TSX die in place so I’ve never had to follow a blood trail. Barnes X bullets DO LEAVE A VERY GOOD BLOOD PUDDLE.

 

[MDHunter]

No Trail Needed.....

Shot 3 cribou in Alaska (one each the past three Septembers) with 30-06 using 180 grain Barnes X, and never had to follow a trail - all of them dropped within 50 feet of where they were shot.

 

[Jarvo71]

My experience is limited on this subject, but I want to chime in(and brag a bit) anyway. I shot an elk coming towards me at about a 30 degree angle. I hit him right inthe brisket, the bullet broke 5 ribs and shredded about 2/3ds of the way through the liver but did not exit. He was piled up about 30 yards from where I hit him. No blood at all, did not find the entry wound untill after I started butchering him.
The bullet looked just like one from the ads, except one petal had broken off. It started out as a 180 gr TSX at about 3100 fps from a 300 wby. It weighs 168 grains now. The quick kill convinced at least two in my party to give them a try next year.

 

[rexelbion]

Barnes X

I have had great luck with both the barnes x and TSX (new triple shock) bullets. I am not a big fan of the barnes O (original) bullet though. It does seem to keep a majority of its mass, however the amorphous blob you are left with doesn't seem to do as much damage as the X & TSX.

These are the only bullets I use on larger game with the exception of hard cast solids.

For smaller and medium game, I have also had good luck with Nosler partitions as well.

 

[lycanthrope]

Barnes penetrate. That is their best attribute in my opinion. They are an excellent bullet when you need to make sure you break a shoulder and carry through. But....every deer I've seen shot with them behind the shoulder runs a bit and the blood trails aren't heavy.

 

[griz]

I'm not understanding your friends complaint 41 mag. Did he want the deer to not drop on the spot? Maybe he wanted you to load some rounds with enough muzzle blast to flatten the grass and make the search easier?

 

[pete f]

all depends where and how you shoot them.

Broad side thru the lungs, most anything will blow through and leave a blood trail.

Broad side through the shoulders, some will, some will not.

Broad side thru the guts, all depends.

straight on or from the back, only thing I know works all the time then are hard cast lead. (or non legal FMJ) 44 Mag Garret 310 grain HCL will go front to back or back to front and exit on big feral hogs and wild boars out of a 16 inch barrel.

angle shots, all depends again. I usually use Nosler Partitions or TB bearclaws out of a 300 savage for deer. I would say only deer that has not left a good trail was shot quartering away entered the back rib and buried into the opposite shoulder, no exit wound, no blood, but dead deer about 75 yards down the path.