Favored Barrier Blind .223 caliber components?

[dpaqu]

After reading about the latest barrier blind FBI bonded 556 loads from Federal and Winchester as well as the Doc’s highly regarded new Black Hills 50gr TSX loading I thought it would be fun to try these projectiles out on my reloads.

In the TSX realm you can’t buy the 50gr Black Hills version. I’ve read that the 45 and 50 grain TSX bullets that are available are designed for varmint hunting and will not penetrate the needed depth. There are heavier versions available as components. These include the 53, 55, 62, and 70 grain projectiles. After some searching I noticed Doc recommends the 55gr over the 70gr for 0-300 yards defensive use.

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=66613&highlight=reloading

Does anyone have any pictures of the differences between the publicly available bullets and those sold only as loaded ammo from Black Hills? If you have tests that show the difference that would be amazing.

I was also looking for the 64 and 62 grain bonded soft point loads from Speer and Winchester but I can’t find those in projectile- only/component form either. Interesting because I can find the Doc’s top recommended .308 bullet available without much trouble. (Remington 308 150 GR C-LKT PSP BULET, RBC3081)

[Generalpie]

I don't believe that the lighter loadings of the TSX are made for varmints. The bullet design doesn't lend itself well to fragmentation. As far as I know all the TSX bullets are made essentially the same, open early and easy at crazy low velocities and stay together at high velocities to ensure they penetrate deeply.

[Snake Plissken]

On occasion the 64 gr and 62 gr Fusion, Gold Dot, PowerPoint, etc (whatever else they feel like calling it they're all bonded regardless) can be found through places like surplusammo.com and rmrbullets. Other distributors may have it. I've purchased some in the past and they were 64 gr pulled bullets mixed of Gold Dots and Fusions. The difference being one had a larger cannelure channel than the other; it made no difference in seating nor velocity.

[WS6]

I don't believe that the lighter loadings of the TSX are made for varmints. The bullet design doesn't lend itself well to fragmentation. As far as I know all the TSX bullets are made essentially the same, open early and easy at crazy low velocities and stay together at high velocities to ensure they penetrate deeply.


TSX expansion threshold is around 1900fps for the regular offerings and about 2300fps for the 50gr offering.

[sobiloff]

Researching this a while ago, the best I could come up with was the Swift Scirocco II 75 gr. Easily available, and decent performance per Doc's posts. I haven't had the chance to work up a load with them yet, though.

[JStor]

Consider the 60 gr. Nosler Partition.

These grouped better for me at 100 yards than any of the Barnes TSX loads I tried. I used 26 grs. Varget in new Winchester brass with CCI 400 primers. Velocity was 2802 ft/sec. from a Colt 6920.