290 grain Tipped Spitfires

[Stealthshooter]

Well I just recieved my new test bullets in the mail. Barnes 290 grain Tipped Spitfires. They are longer than my 300 grain sst's and have a boat tail. The funny thing is Hornady claims a higher bc at .250 with the Barnes coming in at .241. I'm not sure I believe that so I'm going to do a bit of testing my self with 2 chronographs spaces 100 yards apart. The bullet has a good bearing surface but about the same length Ogive which is good as it can be seated to a good COAL.. Just as soon as I get my Boron Nitride from Tubb's I'll get them coated and loaded up. Hear are a couple pics of them

[Hoot]

If you haven't placed your order with Tubbs, I was getting ready to order another pound of the 70 nm (.07 micron) stuff from Impex. It has gone up a little since the last time ($128.00), so that would work out to $64 each for a half pound. I don't know how that price compares to Tubb's 70 nm stuff. Beside reloading, I put a teaspoon in every oil change on the two vehicles. The F150 is up to 240k and appears that the 5.4 Windsor V8 will outlast the rest of the truck. Too soon to tell with the Taurus. It's only 150k and running strong.

Hoot

[Stealthshooter]

Thanks for the offer Hoot but I have already placed the order.

I also ordered their carrier weight and their silicon AR15 spring kit. Their carrier weight is a bit spendy but it will allow me to use it in multiple guns and it will allow me to swap between the 2 different weights to see which works best. I'm anxious to get the stuff. Mostly because I'm sick of the moly mess. Don't get me wrong I love my moly but I HATE the mess. I have started to wax my bullets after the moly mostly so it doesn't get wet and come off or worse cause corrosion. With this Boron they claim there is not near the mess and no need for a second waxing procedure which will speed things up.

[Hoot]

Thanks for the offer Hoot but I have already placed the order.

I also ordered their carrier weight and their silicon AR15 spring kit. Their carrier weight is a bit spendy but it will allow me to use it in multiple guns and it will allow me to swap between the 2 different weights to see which works best. I'm anxious to get the stuff. Mostly because I'm sick of the moly mess. Don't get me wrong I love my moly but I HATE the mess. I have started to wax my bullets after the moly mostly so it doesn't get wet and come off or worse cause corrosion. With this Boron they claim there is not near the mess and no need for a second waxing procedure which will speed things up.

NP on the HBN order. I usually get someone on one of the reloading forums to go in with me. I have MoS2, WS2 and HBN and yes it is less messy only from the standpoint of it's not black. The HBN leaves the bullets with a waxy, almost translucent sheen. It is the least lubricious of the three, but still effective at all but eliminating copper buildup. Unfortunately, no impact upon carbon buildup and yes it does reduce pressure, so you have to jazz up the load a little to get the same velocity, though not as bad as the other two. I also use it for lubricating the inside of the necks on bottleneck cases in the calibers I reload for. A quick jet of compressed air after resizing blows it out. If Tubbs is the 70 nm stuff, don't overtumble it or it will tend to clump in little specks on the bullets. Don't be alarmed when you open the tumbling vessel and smell ammonia. That's a result of the nitride. Freaked me out the first time.

Hoot

[Stealthshooter]

Thanks for the info!

I'm anxious to get it so I can shoot these bullets. I still have a feeling that Barnes is either down playing their BC's of Hornady is up playing theirs.

[Hoot]

Thanks for the info!

I'm anxious to get it so I can shoot these bullets. I still have a feeling that Barnes is either down playing their BC's of Hornady is up playing theirs.

It may just be the density of lead plus copper vs all copper.

Hoot

[Wicked Hunter]

StealthShooter, If you can't get those Bullets to group, try the spitfires that have a flat base. I thought my 450 would shoot the the boat-tails really well, but it didnt. It groups very well with the flat based bullet though. I believe they call the flatbased bullets the T-EZ as apposed to the T-MZ which have the boat-tail.

[Hoot]

StealthShooter, If you can't get those Bullets to group, try the spitfires that have a flat base. I thought my 450 would shoot the the boat-tails really well, but it didnt. It groups very well with the flat based bullet though. I believe they call the flatbased bullets the T-EZ as apposed to the T-MZ which have the boat-tail.

I second that. My 450b does better with non-boat tails. They may look cool, but IMHO, they are like tits on a boar in this caliber. It's nice to see some non-rhetorical discussions starting to show up on this forum. "It's been a long, cold, lonely winter."

Hoot

[Stealthshooter]

I'm going to give these a try and if they won't group I def will try the flat base version. My wife and I put in for Moose this year and if we draw next to my crossbow this will be my weapon. I already know I'm more than good at 400 yards with the FTX but I'd like to gain some more yardage just in case that bull of a lifetime is out a ways and I think the Boat tail should help me out with that. I know there are naysayers about this being a 500 yard gun but I have already proven it's more than capable at 400 yards with some 5" groups shot over the bed of my truck. The 300 ftx penetrated 8" into a green aspen. That being said if they don't shoot well they won't be worth anything so I really hope I can get them to group well. I really didn't have much worry because I have been able to get 1" and under with every bullet I've tried. The one thing I am a bit concerned about is the lack of pressure grooves on this bullet so I'm going to load them like I used to load the original solid barnes by seating them at least .030" off the lands and backing the powder charge off a couple grains to begin with.

Wish me luck!!