Barnes VOR-TX 5.56 NATO 70gr TSX BT – Superb Heavy AR Load

Description

The Barnes VOR-TX 5.56 NATO 70gr TSX BT is the heavy option in the Barnes 5.56 lineup and the most capable hunting load the cartridge offers. It leaves the muzzle at roughly 2850 fps carrying about 1263 ft-lbs of energy, behind a 0.323 ballistic coefficient. Before buying, check your barrel: this bullet needs a 1 in 8 twist or faster. Each box holds 20 rounds.

• Barnes VOR-TX 5.56 NATO 70gr TSX BT Overview
• 70 Grain TSX Boat Tail Performance
• Why Hunters Choose 5.56 NATO Deer Ammo
• Specifications
• Range Notes For This Heavy For Caliber Copper Bullet

Barnes VOR-TX 5.56 NATO 70gr TSX BT Overview

The projectile is machined from solid copper with a deep hollow nose and no lead core. Ordinary 5.56 ammunition is built either to punch paper or to fragment, and neither is what you want on a hog or a deer at an awkward angle. A solid copper bullet opens into four sharp petals at roughly double diameter and then keeps driving.

Weight retention runs close to 100 percent. In a cartridge with this little bullet mass to begin with, keeping all of it is the difference between reaching the vitals through a shoulder and stopping short of them.

70 Grain TSX Boat Tail Performance

At 70 grains this is about as heavy as a 22 caliber copper bullet gets. Because copper is less dense than lead, the bullet is physically very long for its weight, which is what produces the 0.323 ballistic coefficient and also what makes twist rate a genuine requirement rather than a footnote.

Barnes machines relief grooves into the bearing surface of the projectile. Those grooves reduce bore contact, lowering pressure and cutting the copper fouling a long solid bullet would otherwise build quickly in a small bore.

Why Hunters Choose 5.56 NATO Deer Ammo

Most people already own an AR-15, and in a lot of states it is legal for deer, hogs and predators. What has held the platform back for hunting is ammunition rather than the rifle, and this is the load that closes most of that gap.

Compared with the 62 grain version in the same line, this 5.56 NATO deer ammo trades about 150 fps for meaningfully more mass and a higher ballistic coefficient. It carries better past 200 yards and penetrates more on a hog. The only cost is the twist rate requirement, which most modern rifles already meet.

Be honest about the ceiling. This is a hog, predator and small deer cartridge inside 200 yards. It is not an elk load and no bullet changes that.

Specifications

Range Notes For This Heavy For Caliber Copper Bullet

Twist rate is the one thing that will stop this load working. A 70 grain copper bullet is long, and a 1 in 9 barrel is marginal while a 1 in 12 will not stabilize it at all. Most modern ARs run 1 in 7 or 1 in 8 and are fine. If you see oval holes in paper, that is what you are looking at.

A heavy for caliber copper bullet prints well away from the 55 grain practice ammunition you probably zero with. Sight in with this exact load, foul a clean barrel with a round or two first, then leave the optic alone.

Function test a full magazine. At this overall length a few rifles are fussy about feeding, and the Barnes VOR-TX 5.56 NATO 70gr TSX stays above reliable expansion speed to roughly 250 yards from a 16 inch barrel, so confirm both before the season.

Lead Free Fast Twist AR Ammunition Availability

Hog hunters, predator callers, deer hunters running an AR in states where the cartridge is legal, and anyone hunting where non toxic projectiles are required will get the most from this lead free fast twist AR ammunition. Full factory ballistics are published by Barnes Bullets.

Compare it with the lighter Barnes VOR-TX 5.56 NATO 62gr TSX, which works in any twist rate, shop more rifle ammunition, or browse the full ammunition selection at MAG5 Firearms.