Gun Talk with Harold Harton
Barnes' leadless bullets strong despite light weight

A few years ago, my son-in-law Joe Bell showed me his .30-06 rifle, a very fine Mauser made by Fabrique Nationale in Herstal, Belgium. Joe said he had hunted with it many times in South and West Texas, as well as Colorado.

He also showed me the loads he had used for these hunts. They were 180-grain, round-nose bullets in factory loads. These are great for the likes of elk, moose and bear but a bit of overkill for deer - even mule deer.

Joe asked what load I would shoot in the .30-06 for deer hunting. I told him I would use a 130-grain bullet with a decided lighter recoil and a bit flatter trajectory out to the range we normally shoot game. I loaded a few for him to try, adjusted his trigger to a more respectable 3 pounds, and cleaned and adjusted the eyepiece of the scope. He was amazed at the difference it made in more comfortable shooting.

He took the rifle out to his place and killed a buck at over 200 yards.

This brings the discussion to a newly designed bullet by Barnes Bullet Co. With this bullet, which has no lead, you can use a lighter bullet to do the work that previously would have required a heavier bullet. It will do the job as well or better with less recoil due to the design and metallurgy used.

I predict this bullet will make shooting game a more pleasant task and result in better killing performance.

The bullet, known as the Triple-Shock X, is available in most calibers from 45 grain .22 caliber through and including a 647 grain .50 caliber. It is of hollow-point design and also is available in a tipped version in 100 grain .270 through the 225 grain .338 caliber.

My grandson Scott Harton recently used his .375 H&H Magnum loaded with a 300-grain Triple- Shock to take a large Nilgai bull on a hunt in South Texas. The bullet broke the shoulder bone, went through the heart, broke a rib on the offside and lodged under the hide.

All other animals taken with this bullet on the hunt - as was this one - were one-shot kills. The bullet made complete penetration on all game except this one.

I have a sample of this bullet in .243-inch diameter and 85-grain weight which I plan to use right away on a game control of fallow deer. I hope to get a frontal shot so I can recover the bullet.

I believe this bullet design is going to be a revolutionary change in the way bullets are made.

Harold Harton of Lampasas has contributed outdoor columns and features to the Dispatch Record for more than 50 years.