Buffalo Bore 45-70 300gr Barnes TSX – Superior Lead Free Load

Description

The Buffalo Bore 45-70 300gr Barnes TSX is the lead free answer that does not ask you to give anything up. A 300 grain Triple Shock X flat nose at 2350 fps carries about 3678 ft-lbs, and because the bullet is machined from one piece of copper it expands wide and still drives deep, which is the combination most bullet designs cannot deliver at once.

• Buffalo Bore 45-70 300gr Barnes TSX Overview
• Lead Free 45-70 Ammo Ballistics
• Why The 300 Grain Barnes Triple Shock X Bullet Holds Together
• Specifications
• Rifles Approved For This Copper Solid Lever Gun Hunting Load

Buffalo Bore 45-70 300gr Barnes TSX Overview

Buffalo Bore item 8F belongs to their Buffalo-Barnes line. The 300 grain Barnes TSX flat nose runs 2350 fps for roughly 3678 ft-lbs. Twenty rounds per box.

It is loaded to 45-70 Magnum pressure, the same as the jacketed 300 grain in the line, and produces the same headline numbers. What differs is what the bullet does when it arrives.

Buffalo Bore built the Buffalo-Barnes range for hunters who are required to use non lead ammunition, or who simply prefer a monolithic bullet. California has required non lead ammunition for hunting statewide since 2019, and other jurisdictions restrict it in specific areas.

Lead free hunting bullets were a genuine compromise when they first appeared. Early designs either would not open or would not hold together. Two decades of refinement later, the monolithic copper bullet is arguably the better projectile regardless of the regulations, which is why so many hunters use it by choice.

Lead Free 45-70 Ammo Ballistics

At 2350 fps a 300 grain bullet produces about 3678 ft-lbs, from grains times velocity squared divided by 450437. That ties the highest energy figure in Buffalo Bore’s 45-70 catalogue.

The flat trajectory that comes with 2350 fps is the practical benefit. A 45-70 has spent most of its life being described as a rainbow, and at this velocity the description stops fitting inside two hundred yards.

Copper is less dense than lead, so a 300 grain TSX is physically longer than a 300 grain lead bullet of the same shape. Barnes machines relief grooves into the shank to manage the extra bearing surface, which keeps pressure and fouling in check.

Recoil is at the lower end of the Buffalo Bore 45-70 range because the bullet is light. That makes non lead big game rifle ammunition of this weight one of the more practical loads in the family to actually practise with.

Why The 300 Grain Barnes Triple Shock X Bullet Holds Together

The Barnes Triple Shock X is turned from solid copper bar stock. There is no lead core and no jacket, which means there is no interface that can separate under stress. On impact the hollow nose peels back into four petals that stay attached to the shank.

Weight retention is typically ninety five percent or better. A conventional cup and core bullet fired at 2350 fps into heavy bone can shed a third of its mass, and every grain lost is penetration that never happened.

That is what makes this load unusual. The jacketed 300 grain at the same velocity opens fast and is capped at 400 pound animals for that reason. A copper solid lever gun hunting load opens just as reliably and keeps going, which widens the range of game it suits.

The flat nose on the front is worth noting too. Barnes builds this version with a flat meplat rather than a pointed tip specifically so it is safe in a tube magazine, where a pointed bullet sitting against the primer ahead of it is a genuine hazard.

Accuracy tends to be very good as well. Machined bullets vary far less in weight and concentricity than swaged or cast ones, and a 300 grain Barnes Triple Shock X bullet routinely groups tightly from an iron sighted lever gun.

It comes back to construction every time. A 300 grain Barnes Triple Shock X bullet has nothing inside it that can come apart, and that single fact is what makes a copper solid lever gun hunting load behave so predictably.

Specifications

Rifles Approved For This Copper Solid Lever Gun Hunting Load

This is magnum pressure 45-70 and Buffalo Bore restricts it to modern strong actioned rifles: Marlin 1895 rifles made since 1972, Browning 1885 and 1886 copies, the Rossi Rio Grande, the Thompson Center Encore, and falling blocks of modern steel such as the Ruger No. 1 and No. 3.

It must never be fired in an original or reproduction Trapdoor action. Buffalo Bore 45-70 ammunition is dimensionally identical to standard pressure ammunition and generates far more pressure, so chambering easily proves nothing about whether a rifle can handle it.

The flat nose profile feeds reliably through tube magazines, and at 300 grains the cartridge overall length is comfortable in a Marlin or a Rossi. As always, cycle a full magazine by hand before you hunt with it.

Sight in with the load you intend to hunt with. Lead free 45-70 ammo at 2350 fps prints in a different place from a 405 grain load at 1300, and the difference is measured in feet at two hundred yards.

Non Lead Big Game Rifle Ammunition Availability

This Buffalo Bore 45-70 300gr Barnes TSX is in stock and ships from our Collegeville, Pennsylvania shop. MAG5 Firearms is a family owned FFL dealer, and orders of this non lead big game rifle ammunition normally leave within one business day.

For a heavier copper bullet see the Buffalo Bore 45-70 350gr Barnes TSX. The jacketed equivalent at this weight is the Buffalo Bore 45-70 300gr JHP, and for the deepest penetration in the calibre the Buffalo Bore 45-70 Magnum 430gr Hard Cast. Approved rifles are listed by Buffalo Bore Ammunition.