barnes T-EZ bullets

[flyfishWA]

I'm hoping so to, been seeing a four point bull and several decent bucks.

[bkaech]

I’ve killed and seen several elk killed with the 290grain version. Hunted my first year with powerbelts, had some reservations so I did some testing. Shot into wet newspaper and the Barnes looked the same wether the 3/4inch plywood was in front or not, same expansion. Both the powerbelts and the hornady’s I tested barely deformed without plywood and smashed into a pancake (hornady broke apart) when plywood present. I LOVE THE BARNES BULLET.

Also my brother shot a cow a few years ago at about 50yards and his Barnes T-EZ hit a 2inch diameter maple limb about 5yards in front of the elk and blew straight through it, broke the elk’s front shoulder and found the bullet perfectly mushroomed with 2 petals broken just past the heart.

[huntnnw]

Had a bad experience with them last year. Bullets would penetrate fur but blow apart after that. Shot a buck 5 times, 4 of which were under 20 yards and none blew through rib cage. A 20 recovery process turned into several follow up shots, several miles and an 8 hour recovery job. I switched to Hornady this year.

I have never heard of any copper bullet blowing apart even in rifles shooting at a far greater fps with less weight. I have shot a ton of barnes for penetration tests and to check how bullets hold up with absolutely 0 issues. Killed a couple elk with them.

[Chukarhead]

Had a bad experience with them last year. Bullets would penetrate fur but blow apart after that. Shot a buck 5 times, 4 of which were under 20 yards and none blew through rib cage. A 20 recovery process turned into several follow up shots, several miles and an 8 hour recovery job. I switched to Hornady this year.

This seems to defy physics... are you sure you were shooting Barnes bullets?  Maybe just the sabots?  Almost anything shot at any reasonable velocity would penetrate the rib cage of a deer at 20 yards.  See: lead round ball.

I've killed six elk and a handful of deer with 290gr T-EZ over 120gr. of T7.  Shots ranged from 30 to 165 yards (which was a pass-through heart/lung shot on a true spike).  I've recovered several bullets tied up in the far side hide.  All have performed perfectly.  All of my buddies shoot them, and we've never experienced a terminal performance issue.  For that matter, the only mass lost on recovery has been the plastic tip.

[reelamin]

Had a bad experience with them last year. Bullets would penetrate fur but blow apart after that. Shot a buck 5 times, 4 of which were under 20 yards and none blew through rib cage. A 20 recovery process turned into several follow up shots, several miles and an 8 hour recovery job. I switched to Hornady this year.

This seems to defy physics... are you sure you were shooting Barnes bullets?  Maybe just the sabots?  Almost anything shot at any reasonable velocity would penetrate the rib cage of a deer at 20 yards.  See: lead round ball.

I've killed six elk and a handful of deer with 290gr T-EZ over 120gr. of T7.  Shots ranged from 30 to 165 yards (which was a pass-through heart/lung shot on a true spike).  I've recovered several bullets tied up in the far side hide.  All have performed perfectly.  All of my buddies shoot them, and we've never experienced a terminal performance issue.  For that matter, the only mass lost on recovery has been the plastic tip.

Well said....you could shoot a deer or heck even an elk at 20 yards four times broadside in the heart/lung/liver area with any legal muzzle loader, with any bullet, almost at any velocity and kill it.

[BeerBugler]

Just bought an Accura V2, borrowed a scope off one of my rifles for load testing, the 290 grain Barnes T-EZ was putting bullets inside bullet holes at 100yards (100 grains blackthorn 209, Federal 209A). These bullets loaded easy enough and my accura has a very tight barrel (when shooting the THOR bullets, the only one that fits my barrel is the .500). Been shooting Barnes TTSX in my 300 WSM for years, no issues.

[huntnnw]

Had a bad experience with them last year. Bullets would penetrate fur but blow apart after that. Shot a buck 5 times, 4 of which were under 20 yards and none blew through rib cage. A 20 recovery process turned into several follow up shots, several miles and an 8 hour recovery job. I switched to Hornady this year.

This seems to defy physics... are you sure you were shooting Barnes bullets?  Maybe just the sabots?  Almost anything shot at any reasonable velocity would penetrate the rib cage of a deer at 20 yards.  See: lead round ball.

I've killed six elk and a handful of deer with 290gr T-EZ over 120gr. of T7.  Shots ranged from 30 to 165 yards (which was a pass-through heart/lung shot on a true spike).  I've recovered several bullets tied up in the far side hide.  All have performed perfectly.  All of my buddies shoot them, and we've never experienced a terminal performance issue.  For that matter, the only mass lost on recovery has been the plastic tip.

Well said....you could shoot a deer or heck even an elk at 20 yards four times broadside in the heart/lung/liver area with any legal muzzle loader, with any bullet, almost at any velocity and kill it.

I have watched 2 elk get shot broadside in perfect locations right behind shoulder to only walk away to never be found. First one was my dad shot a 5x5 bull at 45 yards broadside as I watched with binos it hit that bull exactly where you would want it.. bull stood there for about a min and I could see blood running down his side Told my dad dead bull you nailed him. He walked slowly up a hill and then quiet. We waited 30 min to take up the trail got down to where he shot it and found blood immediately with bubbles in it just then that bull jumped up and took off to never be seen again. This was before the laws changed to be able to use bullets other than all lead.

 Second bull was a spike I called into my wife at 30 yards broadside she smoked this bull almost dropped it. As we were re-loading I saw the bull walking really slow away from us and over hill and I knew this wasn't good. Found a decent blood trail with air bubbles in it and it went for 400 yards and ended. Never found it looked for weeks as I lived nearby.

Both bulls were 1 lunged if we were able to use better bullets when my dad shot his that bull is dead and a common issue with all lead is speed and causing bullets to "pancake" if that bull was further maybe 100 yards that bull may of died. My wife's bull was the hornady sst and not the bullet I was wanting to shoot as I was shooting Barnes and could not find them at the time, so I searched around and saw good things about them. They shot great, but obviously failed on the bull. I 100% believe if that bull or both had been shot with a Barnes style bullet they both die within a 100 yards.

[gutsnthegrass]

I have a Knight disc extreme.  Would you guys recommend the TEZ or the TMZ?  I have always shot the Bloodlines, but want to try one of these instead this year.
Thanks

[lazydrifter]

just a heads up.  Theses are on sale at Midway right now.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/154052/barnes-spit-fire-t-ez-muzzleloading-bullets-50-caliber-sabot-with-45-caliber-290-grain-polymer-tip-flat-base

[SkookumHntr]

I have a Knight disc extreme.  Would you guys recommend the TEZ or the TMZ?  I have always shot the Bloodlines, but want to try one of these instead this year.
Thanks

the T-EZ is probably the best bullet made for muzzleloaders! Get the 290grn, loads easily, most accurate bullet ive shot and everything ive killed with it has not taken another step! Its an awesome Bullet!

[crowinghen]

just a heads up.  Theses are on sale at Midway right now.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/154052/barnes-spit-fire-t-ez-muzzleloading-bullets-50-caliber-sabot-with-45-caliber-290-grain-polymer-tip-flat-base

THANKS for the headsup!!
I love these bullets! Perfect mushroom, very accurate. Deadly.

[floatinghat]

There are number of great bullets and in the 290g, I like the Bloodlines and some 465gr  and larger chunks of lead.

[cougkilr]

I’ve been using the Barnes 290 TEZ’s the last couple years, I am going to try out the 209 setup in my Traditions Evolution. I’ve always used 100 grains of pellets but am wondering about bumping it up to 150. Is 150 grains overkill or will that give me better penetration? This will be for elk hunting. Thanks for the help!

[reelamin]

I’ve been using the Barnes 290 TEZ’s the last couple years, I am going to try out the 209 setup in my Traditions Evolution. I’ve always used 100 grains of pellets but am wondering about bumping it up to 150. Is 150 grains overkill or will that give me better penetration? This will be for elk hunting. Thanks for the help!

150gr of what?   It all depends on what you want and your particular rifle prefers.   My buddy has a Traditions and it wont take more than 100gr of BH209 before it is really hard to open.  But 110 of 3F it opens fine.   My Bighorn prefers 120gr of BH209 and it pushes the 290 at 2000fps average.  Any increased velocity will increase your penetration.  I determine what I want based on accuracy and velocity and find the fastest and most accurate load for my rifle.  Yes, it requires lots of shooting but it works for me. 

[huntnnw]

I have shot 90-110gr of BH209 out of my CVA with the Barnes T-EZ with no noticeable accuracy changes. Ive heard to not exceed 120gr of Blackhorn