The MRX is Barnes' premium rifle bullet. With a Delrin tip and tungsten core the MRX offers an enhanced ballistic coefficient.

As for the tip, I've never known an X-type bullet to need one to facilitate expansion. It's true that for the same weight and caliber MRX bullets have a higher ballistic coefficient than TSX bullets, so maybe there's some benefit there. Ultimately, it may be that since this is Barnes' premium rifle bullet, and polymer tips are in vogue on premium bullets, it's there as much for appeal as for performance.

The most recent addition to the Barnes rifle bullet line is the Tipped TSX, or TTSX. It differs from the standard TSX in that it has a redesigned nose cavity with the Delrin tip found in the MRX bullet. Again, I'm not sure the tip is necessary for expansion, but it does allow the TTSX to have the larger hollowpoint cavity and still retain the pointed profile for increased ballistic coefficient.

Along the way there have been other Barnes rifle bullets that were or are not necessarily all copper--not the least of which are the lead-core Barnes Original and copper/zinc alloy Banded Solids.

The TTXS is a tipped version of the Barnes TSX bullet.

The Burner VLC was a lead-core varmint bullet with the same dry film coating as the XLC. It was followed in 2001 by the economical Varminator and most recently the whimsically and aptly named Varmint Grenade. This highly frangible bullet uses a copper-tin core in a conventional jacket. The bullet holds together at high velocity, but literally vaporizes on impact with nearly anything down to the size of a grape. That frangibility greatly reduces the chance of ricochets, and performance on varmints is nothing short of explosive.

Similar is the Barnes MPG, or Multi-Purpose Green, bullet that uses frangible technology in bullets developed for use in 5.56mm or 7.62mm rifles on ranges where lead ammunition is prohibited.

The Barnes Reloading Manual Number 4 has rifle data for the Varmint Grenade, TSX, Banded Solid, MRX, and Barnes Originals. Because the original X-Bullet and XLC are discontinued, there is no data for them. Also, the TTSX and MPG are so new that they didn't make this manual.

As I compare the data in Manual Number 3 with data in the new manual, it's clear that the new banded bullets allow Barnes to publish increased velocity loads. For example, in Manual Number 3, the highest velocity noted for the 130-grain .270 Win. X-Bullet is 3,167 fps. Using the 130-grain TSX or MRX, maximum velocity is 3,211 fps. While that increase isn't Earth shattering, there are some new loads that are, and it's indicative of the data's direction. In case you're wondering if you can use the new data with the older X- or XLC bullets or old data with the new bullets, the answer is, "No." Maximum loads are different--significantly in some instances.

As you can see in this high-speed image of a seedless grape, there is nothing to whine about when it comes to the frangibility of the Barnes' Varmint Grenade.