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Barnes 145 gr Match Burner

H

Hawk in WY

Private
Full Member
Minuteman
Sep 20, 2013
785
433
Jackson Hole, WY
Any experience anyone? Great BC.

I am just starting load work up.

First thing is it’s over 2.9 inches COAL to the lands and I still have plenty of bullet in the case.

Starting with Reloder 26.
 
I have shot a handful with RL19(actually RL16), just picked a mid powder charge and 2.850 (actually 2.960&2.980)coal. 5 shot group was around 3/4"& 1 1/16" at 100.
No more testing since then, to damn hot out here right now.
 
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I don’t have any experience with a 145. I do shoot the 6mm 112 match burner. They preform very well.
 
I found 2 groups shot with RL 16. You can see the coal written next to the groups.
Those orange dots are .60. the group on the left is less than 3/4" in the right about 1 1/16".
I don't have the speeds written down but if memory serves me about 2680 fps.
IMG_20200810_103636.jpg
 
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I'm hoping for more velocity with RL-26 and hoping for better accuracy.

These bullets are exceptionally long. I am not hopeful they will do what I want at magazine length.
 
These are just 2 groups shot with random powder, lengths and charge weight.
These are definitly long.
Have you seen any load data from barnes on these, I haven't.
 
Information from Barnes would be helpful.

Their reloading manual is badly out of date although they do have some new data on their website.
 
A gain twist barrel would likely improve accuracy since this bullet is so long. I'd be surprised if there wasn't some bullet deformation with a long bullet like this....
 
Back when the X bullets came out I tried them. They were really expensive at the time and I loaded them up in a couple different calibers. In my 338 they were a disaster by not giving any expansion on an elk. This caused a heck of a tracking job and a hell of a long pack out. I tried them in a 270 with exactly the same results. I felt they were spending my money and time to test their bullets for them. Been soured on em ever since.
 
I am actually a big fan of Barnes bullets. The LRX has worked great on elk the last five years. I’m also about to try the 212 gr bore rider in a 300 Norma Mag once the barrel arrives.

The 145 Match Burner is a very different 6.5 CM Bullet which seems to have great promise. Whether anyone can turn that promise to reality is the question.
 
That was easy.

I started with a known good load, near max, for 147 gr ELD-M using H4350 and they went into one hole.

The only thing notable is the further off the lands, the bigger the group.

I was going to use RL-26 but this shoots so well I don’t feel a need for more velocity given the high BC

Done. I think I’m going to like this bullet.
 
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I tested from 30 thousands off which is just barely magazine length (MDT no binder plate) all the way to Barnes’ recommended 2.75.

I settled on 2.87. 2.89 shot a bit better but I want to magazine feed.
 
Got some coming in the mail today. I will shoot them on Thursday and see if they are worth it.
Price was right.
 
I'm very curious to see how these do. I just ordered 500 from Midway. Gonna test them out with RL16, H4350, and StaBall 6.5. Hoping to find a good, mag length load for them in the 2800fps range.
 
Starting with H-4350, but I'll try Staball too since it's worth about another 100fps.
Not sure that chasing velocity is needed with the .703 BC, but, why not...
 
I just received 500 of the 145 Match Burners in the mail.
With my 6.5 Creedmoor Seekins to hit the lands I would have to seat these out at 3.000. I’m going to start at 2.950. They just fit in an American rifle co mag.
Going load with h4350. Hopefully I can find something promising.
 
Mooseknuckles said:
I just received 500 of the 145 Match Burners in the mail.
With my 6.5 Creedmoor Seekins to hit the lands I would have to seat these out at 3.000. I’m going to start at 2.950. They just fit in an American rifle co mag.
Going load with h4350. Hopefully I can find something promising.
Click to expand...

Just received 500 yesterday as well. Since I can't get any 140 ELDMs, I thought I'd try these in my RPR 6.5cm.
C.O.A.L turned out to be 2.950 but I need mag length so only 2.860 in the magpul AC mags. Used Barnes data which listed a number of powders I have so I started with 42.5 of Hybrid 100V.

Magneto says that is running about 2760 and five rounds at 100 "grouped" about 1.5" with 3 touching and the other 2 touching a half inch away.

Not sure about the prospects for this bullet. Speed is not the issue with its BC but longer seating depth may be. Barnes suggests seating these at 2.845" which will compress the load some. If i had the ELDMs I wouldn't go down this road, but...
 
binazone said:
Just received 500 yesterday as well. Since I can't get any 140 ELDMs, I thought I'd try these in my RPR 6.5cm.
C.O.A.L turned out to be 2.950 but I need mag length so only 2.860 in the magpul AC mags. Used Barnes data which listed a number of powders I have so I started with 42.5 of Hybrid 100V.

Magneto says that is running about 2760 and five rounds at 100 "grouped" about 1.5" with 3 touching and the other 2 touching a half inch away.

Not sure about the prospects for this bullet. Speed is not the issue with its BC but longer seating depth may be. Barnes suggests seating these at 2.845" which will compress the load some. If i had the ELDMs I wouldn't go down this road, but...
Click to expand...
I was just on the Barnes site and just as an additional data point they are showing 2.825.....minutia, but hey maybe it might matter. Page 4 is the 140-145g.

 
Maybe these bullet like a lot of jump? If seat at 2.825 I would be jumping .175 to the lands. Seems like a long ways.
 
8pointer said:
Whew rough day for me with StaBall. Best group was lowest charge of 42.3 just at 1" and mag length 2.887 got it in my AICS. After that it became a shotgun 2+ inches as I worked up to 43.3. Broke out the 140 ELDMs and had some fun after that, but I ain't givin up on the Barnes just yit!
Click to expand...
StaBall likes a very full case load. I'd work up towards 95% or so before you expect to see consistent, repeatable results with it. I saw the same thing when using it in my 280AI. Once the case started filling up more it started to group well.
 
TheChief said:
StaBall likes a very full case load. I'd work up towards 95% or so before you expect to see consistent, repeatable results with it. I saw the same thing when using it in my 280AI. Once the case started filling up more it started to group well.
Click to expand...
Ok thanks. Yea I went of Hodgdon site for 147 max which they show as 43.3. I run 43.8 with 140's. However Barnes shows a max of 44.1 for 140/145 in Horndaddy brass. So I may work towards that knowing Barnes is a good .8g higher than Hodgdon. My buddy had suggested that very thing, but I was going by Hodgdon site and when I got home today looked at Barnes.....doh. I'm still a very green reloader and tread lightly. Having said that I did get over 95 percent case fill closer to 98 and still shot like a bag of turds.
 
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No problem at all. I'm going to finish my load development for those 140 TTSX's when I get home with StaBall. I'm expecting about 3150fps with them. Should be some potent hunting medicine. I think I'm gonna use RL16 in my 6.5CM with these 145 match burners. Hoping for some good results with a 24" Seekins PH2.
8pointer said:
Ok thanks. Yea I went of Hodgdon site for 147 max which they show as 43.3. I run 43.8 with 140's. However Barnes shows a max of 44.1 for 140/145 in Horndaddy brass. So I may work towards that knowing Barnes is a good .8g higher than Hodgdon. My buddy had suggested that very thing, but I was going by Hodgdon site and when I got home today looked at Barnes.....doh. I'm still a very green reloader and tread lightly. Having said that I did get over 95 percent case fill closer to 98 and still shot like a bag of turds.
Click to expand...
 
Thats odd it shot that poorly with a full case like that. How much were you jumping your bullets?
 
TheChief said:
Thats odd it shot that poorly with a full case like that. How much were you jumping your bullets?
Click to expand...
Sorry I missed this no idea just loaded to mag length. I have a batch loaded up to minimum COAL 2.825 I'm going to give a rip this coming week on the chance they like a lot of jump. I'm not going into a land chasing expedition with them as I have plenty of bullets that don't give two shakes about how far off the lands I seat and shoot great SMKs, Hornady ELDM and HPTB, Berger Target Hybrids....this was just a fun trip to see if they'd shoot decent w/o any fiddling they were relatively inexpensive and in stock.
 
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So I started working with these match burners a couple weeks ago and they are showing promise in my Seekins Havak Bravo. I seated the bullets at 2.950. To hit the lands in my rifle they were right at 3.000. At 2.950 the just fit in my ARC mag. Velocity was good and I had no pressure signs. Next load I will mess with seating depth to see if I can tighten up the group.
Seekin Havak Bravo
Prime once fired brass
145 Barnes match burner
Cci200
42.7gr h4350
Coal 2.950
Velocity 2730. Sd 4 Es 10
04665B0E-585E-42DD-A979-3BEEFF7ACC13.jpeg
CFCCC3BE-0F5A-437B-B44C-5BF70867F309.jpeg
 
This bullet does not stabilize in my barrel. 24" 1-8" twist. I'm also at sea level. Shot a ladder test at 100yds to start load development. Bullets left oval holes in the paper and was over a 6" group. No its not the rifles fault. Minutes before this, I verified my current match load. I have ~ 1500 if someone wants to trade.
 
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That’s odd they didn’t stabilize for you. I am running a 1-8 twist at sea level and have had no issue with them stabilizing.
 
They were on the ragged edge for me, but my barrel has almost 2200 rounds on it and it's been shot very hot.
Groups were as bad as 3".

The throat looks and feels like shit, so I'm saving the rest for my new barrel.
If they don't shoot for me, they'll go down the road
 
The new barrel is a Bartlein LH gain twist 8-7.7" so it shouldn't have any issues stabilizing this long projectile.
It'll just be a matter of they shoot, or they don't.
I'll find out soon.
 
I have a new barrel coming. Still a 8tw. Will post results when it gets here. Should have been here last week.
 
SavageSR308 said:
I have a new barrel coming. Still a 8tw. Will post results when it gets here. Should have been here last week.
Click to expand...
An 8 twist barrel will stabilize these 145's no problem. It's more than enough twist for them.
 
TheChief said:
An 8 twist barrel will stabilize these 145's no problem. It's more than enough twist for them.
Click to expand...
My current 8tw barrel does not stabilize these. Holes 1,2,3,7 left clear oval marks and most of the rest you can see that the pierced hole is off center. This was 100yards and about a 6" group.
 

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SavageSR308 said:
My current 8tw barrel does not stabilize these. Holes 1,2,3,7 left clear oval marks and most of the rest you can see that the pierced hole is off center. This was 100yards and about a 6" group.
Click to expand...
I'd look for other issues in your rifle before blaming the twist rate for not stabilizing it. An 8 twist barrel will stabilize 147 ELD-M's just fine and the OAL of those compared to the 145 match burners are almost identical. I think your rifle has issues if its not stabilizing these.
 
I gave up on them. They showed some promise, but in the end I never could get consistently good groups out of them. They kinda behaved like the RDFs for me.

John
 
Hondo64d said:
I gave up on them. They showed some promise, but in the end I never could get consistently good groups out of them. They kinda behaved like the RDFs for me.

John
Click to expand...
I've got 500 of them at home. Going to try to get them running in a Seekins PH2 with some StaBall 6.5 and Peterson brass. Here's to hoping they'll do well!
 
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TheChief said:
I've got 500 of them at home. Going to try to get them running in a Seekins PH2 with some StaBall 6.5 and Peterson brass. Here's to hoping they'll do well!
Click to expand...
I like the staball 6.5 and have a bunch of these 145s, hope they’ll shoot
 
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I haven't worked up any loads with StaBall yet. I bought 9 pounds of it based on all the positive reviews I read on it. I've got enough to hopefully make something work with it. I know it likes a nice full case. I've read a lot of very positive reviews concerning the 145 match burner. I'm confident they'll shoot well.
 
TheChief said:
I haven't worked up any loads with StaBall yet. I bought 9 pounds of it based on all the positive reviews I read on it. I've got enough to hopefully make something work with it. I know it likes a nice full case. I've read a lot of very positive reviews concerning the 145 match burner. I'm confident they'll shoot well.
Click to expand...
Yeah I been shooting staball for about a year now and I must say it took me a while to dial it in but I found a load for most 130s that shoots good for me.
 
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