Has anyone tried Barnes X bullets or O bullets in the spitzer or semi spitzer types? I am huntinig KS this year and stubbornly want to use my favorite No 1. The 300 X bullet has a BC of 340 which isn't bad. Wonder if it will chamer ok in teh short throated ruger, probably desigened for 458 mag. A long shot of 200 yards is a probablity in the open country I hunt. I have more appropriate rifles for this but I really just like my 45/70. My Bear Tooth 405 LFNs shoot awsome, as do 300 grn jacketed, but the trajectory is a rainbow.
45/70 spitzer
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I used the Barnes Original 300 gr semi-spitzers in my NEF to kill three deer, and the results were mixed. Velocity was 2173 fps and where the bullet hit bone, expansion was excellant and one deer dropped in it's track(broken spine) and one ran about 20 yds(bullet hit a rib goin in). The third deer was hit low, behind the heart, without hitting any bone, and the bullet left a caliber sized entrance/exit hole. The deer just sort of collapsed and was laying there with it's head up when I approached for the finishing shot. Not my favorite scenario. I suspect at higher velocities(around 2400 fps MV) the bullet would perform better, but I've problems keeping the scope out of my face in that little, light rifle at those velocities. It's definitely a tough bullet. I had mine sighted in 2" high at 100 yds, and drop at 200 was 5"(2173 fps). Groups ran from 3/4" at 100 to 11/2" at 200. Know a guy who shoots them in his 460 Weatherby loaded down to 2570 fps, and he loves them.
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You can use them just fine in the Ruger. I shoot the X 300 gr. in both my Contender and the Ruger No.1. Sure, you have to make sure you seat them deep enough so that they will chamber, but that is really not a problem. So much of the bullet's length is in the ogive and does not touch the rifling. I seat to the same OAL in both the Contender and the Ruger with no problems, and they both have very short throats. Accuracy is excellent, trajectory is great when compared to RN or FN bullets, and their affect on deer is tremendous.
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