# any one loading Barnes 53g TSX in 223?



## LongRodMaster (Mar 5, 2005)

Looking for some input on loading these bullets. I tried them once inmy 7 mm with poor results could not get them to group well at all. 

My daughter is 12 and very noise and recoil sensitive and took me 2 years to get her to the range (several attempts at pulling up and sitting in the truck only to go back home) She moved up from her 22 lr almost 2 years ago now to a 223 and she loves shooting it and has gotten pretty good holding under 2" groups at 100 yds. She took her first deer last year a nice 6 point cull buck as we never got a shot on a mature doe. 100 yd shot perfect placment hitting heart and lungs how ever was using a 55g balistic tip and no exit wound deer luckily droped 15 yds from where she hit him but I found no blood or fur and of course this concerned me. I was going to try and move her up to a 243 or 6mm but she does not want to give up shooting her 223. So i have read great reviews on the Barbes TSX 53g and they make a 45 I believe also. Its a solid copper bullet and long because of it to get the wieght I also noted the .050 recess needed off the lands starting with a charge of H335 24.0/ 24.5/25.0/25.5.

I started shooting the 24.0 loads first and barely hit the paper @ 100yds it was around 8.5" high and 8" to the right. Initial thought was whoa somethings wrong with the scope or rings. I grabed some plinking rounds her gun was sighted in for and fired a 5 shot group all hitting dead center as they should have. I then continued trying the TSX's with the same results high and right and not grouping better than 5" The last load of 25.5 continued to throw high and right how ever the grouping tightened up to around 2.5". Anyone got any experiance with these bullets or some other load data?


----------



## davidb (May 10, 2006)

Varget and W748 are also recommended. But I think something else is going on. Barnes bullets don't mix well with other bullets, the barrel needs to be cleaned to bare metal before testing again. The TSX's are better about this and are less sensitive than the originals but still I would use a copper solvent or even JB bore cleaner before testing any other loads. And I would retest the original load.

Some guns just won't shoot the Barnes bullets but with the TSX I have found them to be extremely accurate in about six rifles. Also a plinker load can shoot way off of a full power load. Try seating from .030 off to way off the lands as much as .08 off, somewhere there will be a sweet spot.

If the TSX don't pan out I have had good performance from the Winchester 60 grain and the Hornaday 55 grain both tougher than the Ballistic tip which is a varmint bullet. But the Barnes bullets are worth the effort to fine tune a load. The Barnes add a reliability factor over other .22 caliber bullets. The Nosler partition is good too. Hope this helps.


----------



## Haute Pursuit (Jun 26, 2006)

I just shot some Federal 55gr factory TSX's out of my .223 for the first time yesterday. Out of a cool barrell they would shoot about 1" lower and left and then the next 2 shots would be almost touching 1.5" over and dead center which is right where I wanted them. I shot 3 different groups letting the barrel cool off in between and all were almost the same. I have a 22" bull barreled bolt rifle. I can live with that. 

I also shot some Winchester 55gr soft points and they were strung in a line about 1.5" each one higher and to the right. Both loads were shot at 100 yards. I haven't tried any handloads yet but that is next on the agenda.


----------



## DUKFVR (Aug 19, 2004)

I have some of the Corbon DPX 62 gr TSX barnes bullets factory loads & out of a 1in 7 or 1 in 9 rifled barrel they shoot lights out. MOA or slightly bigger at 100 yrds. Very deadly on hogs. Haven't shot a deer with any.


----------



## LongRodMaster (Mar 5, 2005)

davidb said:


> Varget and W748 are also recommended. But I think something else is going on. Barnes bullets don't mix well with other bullets, the barrel needs to be cleaned to bare metal before testing again. The TSX's are better about this and are less sensitive than the originals but still I would use a copper solvent or even JB bore cleaner before testing any other loads. And I would retest the original load.
> 
> Some guns just won't shoot the Barnes bullets but with the TSX I have found them to be extremely accurate in about six rifles. Also a plinker load can shoot way off of a full power load. Try seating from .030 off to way off the lands as much as .08 off, somewhere there will be a sweet spot.
> 
> If the TSX don't pan out I have had good performance from the Winchester 60 grain and the Hornaday 55 grain both tougher than the Ballistic tip which is a varmint bullet. But the Barnes bullets are worth the effort to fine tune a load. The Barnes add a reliability factor over other .22 caliber bullets. The Nosler partition is good too. Hope this helps.


Thanks I think i am going to try and start at .03 off the lands and reduce the loads by 5% as it looks like Barnes data is about 5% less than the data used on the first loads. I will try cleaning it also but the loads i shot to check the guns zero also place the same as the balistic tips only dont group aswell so its not a matter of a reduced load on that. My thinking is 5% higher charge slightly lighter bullet and the solid copper bullet is causing the hight issue I just can shake the 8" to the right.


----------



## CHARLIE (Jun 2, 2004)

Yes sir I shoot the 53 Gr TSX and it took a while to get them to shoot. Tried lots of different powders and ended up with 26 Gr H335. The key was to seat the bullet very deep. I will get the case OAL for you. They are the best bullet you can buy but extremely touchy regarding getting them to group well. Oh yes its in a 223 model 7 youth model. Be rite back with the OAL. OK OAL ended up being 2.129 . Yes they print in different place than other bullets but just adjust them to where you want them. 

Dont forget that the Barnes bullets are longer than the leaded bullets also so I had the experience that shooting a lighter bullet gave me greater accuracy. Hunted for a few years with the 45 Gr X. I think twist rate on rifles has lots to do with it. But finally got the 53 TSX to shoot good enough to hunt. Somewhat less than an inch is the best i could do

Charlie


----------



## LongRodMaster (Mar 5, 2005)

Thank you !


----------



## CHARLIE (Jun 2, 2004)

Seating depth was the key in getting them to shoot. Seems they (Barnes) like to jump a ways before hitting the lands. Good luck

Charlie


----------



## Ernest (May 21, 2004)

Try a speedier powder. N133 or H322. I had poor luck getting decent velocity and accuracy at that bullet weight with anything slower than stuff in the range of N135 or H335. 

Measure off the O, not the M, to get the jump. Alternatively, you need to know the difference between the O and M to use COAL to determine jump. Unless one is shooting a real short throat, 2.129 COAL is typically a huge jump in most chambers. 

An 8 MOA change in point of impact strongly suggests you might want to review your reloading practices unless the plinkers are loaded to an incredibly low velocity. Put it this way, going from +3250 fps light weight burners to approx. 2700 fps heavy weight target bullets, my POI changes significantly less than 8 MOA.


----------



## davidb (May 10, 2006)

The twist rate might be another factor. A .223 could be anything from 1-14 to 1-7 the Barnes does better with 1-10 or 1-9 twist.

If it doesn't work try a shorter bullet like the 45gr. TSX or the Nosler Partition. If the Barnes will group 2" or less adjust your sights for it and juggle the plinker load to get closer to the same point of impact.

Good for you bringing your daughter into the sport and sticking with it through the initially frustrating beginning.


----------



## Ernest (May 21, 2004)

Bingo. Slow twist. Ability to stabilize is based primarily on length of projectile, and we use use weight as a proxy for length in a typical lead core. The Barnes are real long for their weight. 

Bet he is shooting a Thompson or similar slow twist barrel.


----------



## Marshman (Jul 24, 2008)

I am sorry, do not have a lot of experience with the TSX .223. I do have a lot with the 30 cal variety though. I find that starting with a CLEAN barrel is good, and then shoot only TSX thru it. You will get a little better accuracy after about 10 rounds, sort of the fouling thing. I rarely clean a TSX barrel, before a couple hundred rounds, then it is more of a powder cleaning than a copper stripping. MAybe only a Boretech cleaning once a year, about a 1000 rounds or so, or if the group sizes go up. You can wear out a barrel with a jag and cleaning rod.

Hope this helps, YMMV.

MM


----------



## LongRodMaster (Mar 5, 2005)

The gun is a Rem 700 LVSF I believe the twist rate should handle a 53 grain bullet. The plinker rounds are lighter loads and heavier grain bullet the elevation does not bother me as much as the 8" of windage. Gona be a few weeks now before i can mess with it some as its time to head back to work. Thanks for the input and suggestions.


----------

