JPK-

I do understand that the increased surface area of the barnes monolithic solids creates pressure/barrel problems and that the ribbing of the othersolid bullets mentioned decreases pressure--

I do not have any 470 TSX bullets for loading for my Merkel but was considering getting their 500gr for handloading. Supposedly the triple grooves should decrease the surface area/pressure and not create pressure problems.
I have a 7mag bolt gun they work great in and it has great accuracy.Sometimes the solid copper X bullets don't shoot well in some barrels presumably because the bullet/barrel fit is suboptimal.

Do the pressures involved and the soldering of the barrels preclude shooting solid copper bullets at all if pressures are satisfactory? Is lead in the rear of the bullet needed to deform to better contact the barrel wall? It all may be a bust anyway if the load wont regulate.

Obviously I don't want to screw up the Merkel with the $$ tied up in the gun.