9.3 Barnes -X vs Buffalo

I hit upon this article by Maurits Root a South African game enthusiast and writer. I find his thoughts on the Barnes interesting - Link

I'd like to have your thoughts ...

Nothing beats a review based on real field experience. Thank you for sharing. I have used Federal Premium ammo in 9.3x74R that had the Barnes TSX bullet. I shot an eland twice in the shoulder, 2 blue wildebeests and 2 gemsbok. All 2 shots in the shoulders and all bullets exited. All dropped within a couple meters. Why 2 shots for all? I was using a double rifle. I have heard a lot of not so pleasant stories with the X bullet. The TSX was supposed to fix those issues.

Safe shooting

There seems to be a lot of variety in expansion, but I think the bullet seemed to tumble more thoough the Kudu and Bushbuck since they were forward-facing at the time of the shot and effectively tore through the entire body before the bullet stopped. The other two were probably due to the thinner hide or muscle mass of the Kudu (I'm thinking Lesser), and the bushpig.

And the rifling twist in his barrel is???????

skydiver386 said:

And the rifling twist in his barrel is???????

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That Sir I have no idea...

I’ve shot (2) buff with 9.3x62 and my brother shot (1) with his.. two one shot kills, one, two shot. All with 286g Barnes X. 9.3 is just an underrated sledhammer… aging hunter, quickly becoming favorite cartridge.

After way way over thinking bullet selection, I took my 9.3x74r to Africa a few weeks ago. It regulates well with several bullets so I chose the 250 Accubond and A-frames to load for the trip. Eland was on the hit list so I regulated loads so the first shot would be Accubond and the second aframe for tracking eland. I wanted a strong bullet for the second shot at the south end of an eland heading north. Then I would use two Accubonds for the other plains game. To my surprise at the sound of the shot the eland hit the ground and stayed there. The same was true for zebra, kudu, impala, sable. Our PH said he had PH friends that had 9.3’s as client rentals for buffalo. He thought it was a great caliber for buffalo.

Hi @Mountaineer,

We don't have much good info out there on the .366 250 Accubond in Africa. I'd love to hear more ballistic details of your experience.

Regarding the original post, I would not put much stock in reports on the Barnes X bullet. It was essentially a prototype bullet for what Barnes sells today (TSX, TTSX, LRX). I have had great success with the TTSX.

My thoughts are that this is no different than talking about how problematic the M16 was in Vietnam, or clumpy powder in the .458 W.M. When it first came out.
Things evolve over time. Get over it already.

ARHinAK said:

My thoughts are that this is no different than talking about how problematic the M16 was in Vietnam, or clumpy powder in the .458 W.M. When it first came out.
Things evolve over time. Get over it already.

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This post and the article was by no means an affront to discredit Barnes or any of their bullets TSX, TTSX etc. Rather this was an article written by a sports enthusiast on his experiences with Barnes X which I thought is relevant from a history and information perspective.

I just picked up a new a Sako 90 in 9.3x62 yesterday. Where is the best USA source for ammo for it? Thanks.

Ammoseek

So this is interesting. I’ve had nothing but excellent performance with the TSX btw. On our first plains game hunt in SW SA during the mid 90’s, my brother used a 350 Rem Mag loaded with the original Barnes X bullets. I used my 300 Win Mag with the excellent 180 grain Winchester Fail Safe.

My 300 win mag with 180 Failsafe was utterly devastating on a variety of plains game from springbok up to eland. Not so with my brothers 350 Rem Mag and 250 grain X bullets. He had a multiple shot battle with a black wildebeest that took 7-8 shots into the vitals/lung area before expiring. My 300 mag with Failsafe’s dropped my black wildebeest in its tracks with one shot.

My brother made another good shot on a zebra, right through the lungs. The zebra showed no noticeable effects of being shot and actually rejoined the herd and began to feed on the grass! Brother made another shot and killed it. He did recover the bullet from that zebra and it showed perfect Barnes X expansion?

So obviously this was limited data and just one hunt with half a dozen animals shot with the original X bullet and I do not know the velocity of those 350 Rem Mag loads, which were loaded by safari arms.

I can only hypothesize that maybe the lower velocity of the 350 Rem Mag with the 250 grain original X bullet was less than optimal but then a recovered bullet from the zebra showed that classic Barnes X expansion? Well anyhow, the TSX and TTSX have proven to be excellent.

I’ve used a 375 H&H with 300gr Barnes TSX for three buffalo in Australia and two Cape Buffalo. Plus I’ve shot quite a few PG animals with the TSX. I’ve had excellent results.

I’m not even sure how many African hunters are even aware of the original Barnes X bullet that predated the TSX. They were notorious for not always being accurate in all rifles, increased pressure and copper fouling. Barnes then added a blue lubricant coating called XLC but still didn’t really address the issues adequately. Then Barnes finally addressed this by adding relief grooves into the copper shank which solved the copper fouling and pressure issues resulting in the TSX.

I don’t think anyone questions the TSX or TTSX. If I ever came across an old box of original X bullets I probably wouldn’t use them.

BJH65 said:

I’m not even sure how many African hunters are even aware of the original Barnes X bullet that predated the TSX. They were notorious for not always being accurate in all rifles, increased pressure and copper fouling. Barnes then added a blue lubricant coating called XLC but still didn’t really address the issues adequately. Then Barnes finally addressed this by adding relief grooves into the copper shank which solved the copper fouling and pressure issues resulting in the TSX.

I don’t think anyone questions the TSX or TTSX. If I ever came across an old box of original X bullets I probably wouldn’t use them.

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I have read that thread. Very interesting evolution, and a good read.

yawn...

"I'd like to have your thoughts ..."

since you asked!

The most recent hunt mentioned in this article was 16 years ago.
They don’t even make the Barnes “X” bullet anymore.

The TSX and TTSX are entirely different generations of Barnes bullets and have become some of the most highly regarded hunting bullets in Africa among professional hunters and experienced clients alike.

The article is useless information and a sample size of 4 from basically 20+ years ago of a bullet that is no longer produced. Thanks for sharing lol

dchum said:

yawn...
The most recent hunt mentioned in this article was 16 years ago.

They don’t even make the Barnes “X” bullet anymore.

The TSX and TTSX are entirely different generations of Barnes bullets and have become some of the most highly regarded hunting bullets in Africa among professional hunters and experienced clients alike.

The article is useless information and a sample size of 4 from basically 20+ years ago of a bullet that is not longer produced.

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Sooooo......How do you feel about it, Sir?

Hahahaha....Love ya, mean it!

dchum said:

yawn...

"I'd like to have your thoughts ..."

since you asked!

The most recent hunt mentioned in this article was 16 years ago.
They don’t even make the Barnes “X” bullet anymore.

The TSX and TTSX are entirely different generations of Barnes bullets and have become some of the most highly regarded hunting bullets in Africa among professional hunters and experienced clients alike.

The article is useless information and a sample size of 4 from basically 20+ years ago of a bullet that is no longer produced. Thanks for sharing lol

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Fair enough, you’ve certainly made your position clear.
I wasn’t presenting the article as the final word on Barnes bullets, nor suggesting that the original X bullet is somehow representative of today’s TSX or TTSX. I shared it because I thought the observations and experiences were interesting and worth discussing.
And yes, the sample size is small and the article is old. That doesn’t necessarily make the observations “useless”, it simply means they should be viewed in the context in which they were made.