UPDATE: Barnes 195 MZ keyholing

[trb0]

Been shooting the 195's in both my Remington/Pacnor guns for years. Got a new batch of bullets in and one of the guns is keyholing. After checking the old bullet number is #30510 and the new number is #30506. Are they the same bullet? I cant find a listing for the older bullets. Both were bought from the same supplier probably 4 years apart. Thanks Tim

[hunter]

If nothing else works, put a wool wad under the sabot

[trb0]

Ok update on the keyholing. Went back and shot today about 78 in the shade where I shoot. Put up a 5 foot by 8 foot target at 100 yards. first shot barely clips the top edge and is keyholed. Using a cooling rod and swabbing between shots the barrel is very cool. Again same result. Walking down to the target I notice sabots( light blue harvester) are DESTROYED!!!!!! I've been shooting this combo for weeks in much hotter weather with no cooling rod only waiting 15 minutes between shots with great results. Cool the gun and load using the factory tan mmp sabots and hit 1 inch above dot. Repeat and shoot a 3 shot 1" group. Try my other gun and blows sabots also. Its a new batch of bullets and also new sabots so Im wondering which it could be? Also the numbers on the Barnes package says 30509 and the other package says 30506. They are both 195 Grain Expanders. Are they different somehow? Ive inspected them and the base seems a little flatter with less radius. The numbers have me confused and concerned. Any input is appreciated. Tim

[ET]

Trb0

That is a peculiar problem that seems to reflect the sabot punching that 200gr SST had with bullets that had a larger base radius. Sabot shredding is done from escaped hot gases getting past the skirt seal. I understand that issue was resolved with knurling the bullet to create a tighter hold onto the bullet and tighten the load.
The question I have, is there a difference of how tight the bore fit is with different sabots?

[trb0]

Yes the tan factory sabots are noticeably tighter than the light blue harvesters. Before another hunting season I’m gonna be set up to knurl my bullets. Tim

[trb0]

My next question is when I knurl the bullets will I need to run them through a resizing die?

[jims]

As I recall Barnes once had a run of 195s that had a "bevel" on the base and that caused problems. However that was years ago and I would not have thought you would have found that batch now unless it occurred again.
When I knurl bullets I do not resize, I do it primarily to make the bullet a bit bigger and to keep it from slipping in the sabot. Now if that made it so tight you could not get it down the bore easily that might be needed. Mine needed the extra size on the 195s for the most part as they were a bit too loose in my barrels.

[trb0]

Thanks Jim’s!!

[trb0]

I probably need to start a thread about knurling. Ive searched the post and read several already posted. Using the Barnes can you get a fairly consistent knurl on them? It just seems that there would be variances from bullet to bullet.

[jims]

I suppose one could knurl and then size to get the most consistency but just knurling on my part with the use of sabots worked well. Even sabotless. Accuracy was fine both ways but with sabotless I had to find the right bullet combo for the barrel.

[billyboy]

I've heard that there are still "Bad" Lots (Sharp Edge Bases) of the Barnes 195 Gr Expanders out there. They will Drill / Cut the Sabots.
dougsmessageboards.proboards.com/thread/17643/new-lot-problems-barnes-expander