# Barnes TEZ bullets/sabots?



## Huntin 4 More

I used to shoot powerbelts out of my cva kodiak magnum and with three 777 pellets it was a great load.  1" groups at 100 yards and 1.5" groups at 150 yards.  However, I never got passthroughs on deer or hogs, no blood trail and almost lost a buck to the coyotes when it took two hours to find him.

I tried the hornadys last year but the best I could get was 2" groups so this year I've been trying the Barnes TMZ bullets and I've been getting 1.25" groups which is good enough.  However, they are a b12c& to load.  I noticed Barnes has a TEZ bullet which is supposed to be easier to load in tight barrels than the TMZ.  Has anyone tried them and how was the performance compared to the TMZ?

Thanks.


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## mi.sabot

Hello from Michigan.  

Here's a post I put out on another forum the other day:

Found the honey load for my Sidekick last week after some time, effort and a LITTLE LUCK.

Had been shooting 250 gr TC EZglides over 85 gr of loose 777 with great accuracy.
Even though the accuracy was still there in the field, I was less than impressed on how they performed on game.

So I decided to spend some time at the range to find a better alternative.
I'm a real fan of Barnes bullets, so I headed out with some 250 gr MZ's and TMZ's.
I was also hoping to find a load of something more than 85gr without sacrificing accuracy.
But every time I bumped it up to 90 grains the pattern would open up.
Same thing happened when I tried 90 grains and the original TC's, pattern opened up again.

Somewhat frustrated, I decided i'd try one more time and bought some Barnes T-EZ's.
Back to the range and started with 90 gr.  Same thing. Just didn't pattern the way I'd like it to.

Now very frustrated, just for the heck of it I dumped in 100 gr of 777 and let the T-EZ fly.
After the smoke cleared I was pleased with the result.
Well let's try it again and see if it was a fluke or if I was on to something here.
_At 75 yds, the next 3 shots printed within a 1/2" of each other and blew the center of the target out._
Put it away, good to go, maybe we'll tinker some more next year.

Now to answer your questions:

Are they easier to load than the TMZ's? Yes, not as easy as the TC EZglides but defintely a WHOLE LOT easier than the TMZs.  There's a nice steady resistance loading the sabot without anywhere near the amount of force required in loading the TMZs.  Keep in mind every barrel is different though.

How was performance compared to the TMZs? With 90gr of 777 it was comparable.  With a 100gr of 777 it was lights out.  Not truly a fair comparison in that I did not test the TMZs over 100gr of powder and quite honestly don't intend to with the results of the T-EZs and their relative ease in loading.

Lesson learned: sometimes more powder is better, other times it's not.
Just gotta find what your gun likes.
Good luck.  Hope this helped.


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## snuffy

I use and love the Barnes Expander MZ in my Lyman Great Planes Hunter. That is what is down my barrel for the first shot, but I keep PowerBelt bullets in my speed loaders.
I don’t think I could load the Barnes without swabbing my barrel, but the PowerBelt still loads easy for a fast reload.


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## mi.sabot

Had a similar plan in place before I tried theT-EZs.
Stuff a TMZ for the first shot and then load a TC EZglide for the second if necessary.


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## Huntin 4 More

Thanks guys.  I'm going to try them.  I just broke my ramrod last week trying to load a TMZ.  They shoot good but a pain in the butt.


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## mi.sabot

Read somewhere that if it takes that much force to load the sabot there's a good chance of canting the bullet in the barrel. 
In other words, if the bullet ain't sitting straight, it ain't going to shoot straight.

Made sense to me and busting a rod sounds like waaay too much force.

Let us know how the T-EZ's work out.
I think you'll like them.


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## Huntin 4 More

You are correct.  That is possibility but with the force required for me to get the bullet/sabot down the barrel it would be hard to believe that the bullet/sabot could be anything other than straight.  

I will definately be moving to the TEZs if they group good out of my gun.


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## White Smoke

*Barnes Expander MZ bullets*

I've been working up loads with the Barnes Expander MZ bullets this past weekend.  First of all, I shoot a T/C Omega which has a "tight" barrel.  The Expanders are packaged with MMP HPH-12 sabots and work very well for most muzzleloaders.  They loaded too hard in my Omega so I had to switch out the HPH-12 sabots for some HPH-24's, which are a little "looser".  This proved to be the ticket for my rifle.  As a side note, when I shoot Hornady HP/XTP's, I have to go to a 3-Petal EZ sabot, which is the thinnest sabot that MMP makes.  In any case, you can use the Expanders with the stock 12's or substitute 24's or 3-Petal EZ's for proper fit.  I suggest using the 300-grain bullet over the 250-grain version, but shoot both and let your rifle determine which one shoots best.  Good luck.


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## majg1234

I grease the bottem of my barnes sabots with just a touch of borebutter and they load much easier


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## miles58

I shoot the Barnes, but I just use TC sabots and have no more loading problems.  Good accuracy and easy loading.

Dave


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## mrjbloomington

I use a Barnes TMZ 250 Gr. with a yellow Crush rib sabot made for the boat tail bullet over the top of 100 grain of Blackhorn 209 out of my encore (tight bore). this is printing a three shot clover leaf group at 75 yards. They load tight but not to tight.


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