help needed for loading Barnes in the 505 Gibbs

[matt85]

can any one please recommend a load for the 505 Gibbs to get the 525gr Barnes TSX to fly accurately at 2300fps?

ive been trying with a couple different powders (RL-25 and IMR 7828) and only good accuracy i found was at 2100fps which doesnt work for me.

thank you
-Matt

 

[Divernhunter]

For what it is worth the Barnes book does not show any load at 2300. RL25 is the fastest at 2287 with a 105% fill. IMR7828SSC is 2155FPS with a 92% fill.
133grs of RL22 gives 2223FPS with 98% fill. If you do not have the Barnes book I can give you data for other powders if you like. PM me if so.

If you are having accuracy problems try these couple of things. First really clean the barrel. No #9 junk. Use a good copper solvent like Sweets7.62 or Barnes CR-10. Do so a couple of times. Second the Barnes bullet need more jump to the rifling. So seat them deep. .050 to .080 or more works. I have several super accurate loads with more than .100 jump.

I do not have the cartridge you have so I can only give general info. I do load for a number of cartridges with the Barnes bullets and load for even more with lead core bullets. Been reloading since 1962.

I now open the thread to those that in the past have told me that I am wrong, know nothing, and you can load Barnes like other lead core bullets and would/do use much higher charge weights than the Barnes Reloading Manual states.

 

[BRICKBURN]

..................
I now open the thread to those that in the past have told me that I am wrong, know nothing, and you can load Barnes like other lead core bullets and would/do use much higher charge weights than the Barnes Reloading Manual states.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

If you are having accuracy problems try these couple of things. First really clean the barrel. No #9 junk. Use a good copper solvent like Sweets7.62 or Barnes CR-10. Do so a couple of times.

I definitely will NOT say this is a wrong statement. What I have found in my rifles with the Barnes bullets is they can accept a certain amount of copper fouling but once you cross that threshold, accuracy craters quickly. After thorough cleaning it will come right back. The problem for me with those bullets is the rate at which that fouling would reach that critical point. A sign of a tighter barrel scrubbing off more copper? I wouldn't argue that, but I'm not going to switch otherwise accurate rifles for a bullet.

I'd recommend after cleaning thoroughly, that you pay close attention to the muzzle after each shot. With some of my rifles you could see that fouling building up quickly and I could just about predict the shot where the accuracy would fall off just paying attention to that.

With a clean barrel you may find that you can get the velocity your looking for and good accuracy.

 

[Divernhunter]

I should have given better info. What I meant about cleaning is to super clean the barrel if regular jacketed bullet had been shot in it. If they have been then the barrel will copper foul much faster if it is not completely clean before shooting the Barnes bullets.

The old X bullets were bad for being fussy to load and copper fouling bad. With a clean barrel to start with the TTSX/TSX bullets have not given me or my family any copper fouling problems even with 50-100 shots before cleaning. I have found if you shoot a few(or more) regular bullets in a firearm before shooting the barnes bullet then you have more copper fouling and accuracy problems. Not so much if I shoot the barnes first(from a super clean barrel) then follow with the regular bullets. The jacket material on the regular bullets is harder than the barnes---or Swift bullets. While I do not load the 505 Gibbs I do load for a bunch of others including mags with up to 3640FPS. I load 308win/30-06/300win mag/7mm-08/7rem mag/257R/25-06/257Weatherby/338win mag/6.5X55/264win mag/44mag/50BMG with barnes bullets.

 

[matt85]

i have the Barnes load data for the 505 Gibbs and have found the proper velocity at 145gr of RL-25 (max listed is 144gr). this load would be suitably accurate for hunting at 50 yards but still isnt as good as the Corbon factory loads were. maybe i can try RL-22 next...

im pretty thorough about cleaning and use a copper dissolving foam to bring the barrels to like new.

-matt