150gr TSX for small eastern deer?
- Thread starter Jimbo69
- Start date
Republic of Alberta
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- ,location, location
I pretty much told all there was to say, 120g TSX 3350Fps muzzle velocity, 50- to 60 yard shot on a broad side doe. At the shot the doe had no reaction to the hit at all, not a big deal but it is nice to get the "wump" sound and see the deer react in some way. Deer ran off, I followed up some blood 10 yards from the hit. Kept following blood, which was an ok blood trail, but nothing to write home about. Found the doe dead about 60 yards away or so, it happens like that on lung shots some times.
Gutted the dear and did a good autopsy on it. Found the shot entered right behind a line drawn straight up from the back of the leg and midway up the body, a loony sized hole on the inlet of the rib cage a golf ball sized hole on the outlet of the ribs....sounds good so far but that stuff dosen't matter as much as what happens in the middle. The lungs were not dammaged much at all. There was a 2-3" wide "spot" where the bullet entered it looked much like an arrow wound or a low velocity bullet wound. The outlet of the wound in the lungs was a 1.5" wide slit. The over all apperance of the lungs (if you did not view the wounds) looked like it had not been touched. I even cross sectioned the lungs, there was no trama exept the narow wound wich had nearly no buising around it.
Mabey this is what people want from a high velocity rifle, I don't. I expected somthing different, I had informaly tested this bullet before and also retrieved the tested bullet. Though it was not much of a test it made me expected a much bigger wound.
My idea of good dear bullet preformace on a lung shot is to see and hear a reaction to the shot most times, find the deer dead, open the body cavity and see the lungs a bloody mess, lots of dammage and to have an exit hole on the off side. Seems reasonable enough.
This bullet killed, but I just don't think it is a great deer bullet, unless you want small wounds from your 7mag
Bartell, one sample is enough for me to swich. I would be a dummy (insert match king on coyote here
) to keep using somthing that did not do what I wanted.
Gutted the dear and did a good autopsy on it. Found the shot entered right behind a line drawn straight up from the back of the leg and midway up the body, a loony sized hole on the inlet of the rib cage a golf ball sized hole on the outlet of the ribs....sounds good so far but that stuff dosen't matter as much as what happens in the middle. The lungs were not dammaged much at all. There was a 2-3" wide "spot" where the bullet entered it looked much like an arrow wound or a low velocity bullet wound. The outlet of the wound in the lungs was a 1.5" wide slit. The over all apperance of the lungs (if you did not view the wounds) looked like it had not been touched. I even cross sectioned the lungs, there was no trama exept the narow wound wich had nearly no buising around it.
Mabey this is what people want from a high velocity rifle, I don't. I expected somthing different, I had informaly tested this bullet before and also retrieved the tested bullet. Though it was not much of a test it made me expected a much bigger wound.
My idea of good dear bullet preformace on a lung shot is to see and hear a reaction to the shot most times, find the deer dead, open the body cavity and see the lungs a bloody mess, lots of dammage and to have an exit hole on the off side. Seems reasonable enough.
This bullet killed, but I just don't think it is a great deer bullet, unless you want small wounds from your 7mag
Bartell, one sample is enough for me to swich. I would be a dummy (insert match king on coyote here
) to keep using somthing that did not do what I wanted.
Last edited:
- Location
- In the clock tower!!
"Republic of Alberta", if your reloading, try a box of Swift A-Frames. If its a "WHUMP" sound your after, this will fit the bill. The A-Frame is kinda like a beefed up Patrition. The bullet is designed to allow the front end to crumple into a nice, large, even mushroom. The rear of the bullet does not deform or crumple, thus allowing massive weight retention. When the round expands its nice and even with little to no shed. It does not leave large jagged edges. It certainly does its job!
If you research the bullet it appears to be a top choice in large/dangerous game and African game hunters with exceptional terminal performance.
I tried them as an alternative to the TSX and am thus far nothing but please with everything but the price tag.
Check out Swifts website for specs.
Good luck
If you research the bullet it appears to be a top choice in large/dangerous game and African game hunters with exceptional terminal performance.
I tried them as an alternative to the TSX and am thus far nothing but please with everything but the price tag.
Check out Swifts website for specs.
Good luck
Last edited:
With x bullets - you don't want impact speeds in excess of 3000 fps.
The petals come off, and the bullet tends to pencil.
If one were to actually READ up on the materials from barnes, or talk to their reps, one would have found that barnes are known performers BETWEEN the speeds of 1800 and 3000 fps. Where they are QUITE lethal.
Personally, i think you'd find that 165 grain tsx's would offer you better performance - sure they start slower but with better ballistic co-efficient it'll hold on to energy longer. But unless you shoot a deer standing at the muzzle of the barrel it'll be below 3000 fps at impact, and should perform quite well. You drop below 3000 at about 25 yards.
I'm sure it'll kill deer as dead as anything if you put the bullet where it'll do some good.
The petals come off, and the bullet tends to pencil.
If one were to actually READ up on the materials from barnes, or talk to their reps, one would have found that barnes are known performers BETWEEN the speeds of 1800 and 3000 fps. Where they are QUITE lethal.
Personally, i think you'd find that 165 grain tsx's would offer you better performance - sure they start slower but with better ballistic co-efficient it'll hold on to energy longer. But unless you shoot a deer standing at the muzzle of the barrel it'll be below 3000 fps at impact, and should perform quite well. You drop below 3000 at about 25 yards.
I'm sure it'll kill deer as dead as anything if you put the bullet where it'll do some good.
Republic of Alberta
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- ,location, location
Foxer I can and do read. I also tested the bullet at full speed and recovered a perfect sample.... any hoo I think there are better bullets for deer.
I had 6 perfect deer kills last year using the 140 TSX in a 7mm08. The lung shots ran off a little ways but that is normal. They can't go far without blood. A high shoulder shot on one shocked the nervous system enough to drop that one like a rock and never kicked. I have loaded the 120 TSX to use this year for a comparison.
