.270 Wby & the 140 gr. TSX - WTF???

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ILoveBigRacks

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Well, took my first game this year with my new .270 Wby that Guntech built for me. Had a load worked up with Barnes 140gr. TSX's, a tad on the hot side at 3280-3300 fps chrony'd but accuracy was good and I was running out of time so went with it. Better to be fast than slow, right? ;)

Anyways, first shot out of it disembowled a small coyote at 100 yds. that happened to cross our paths at the wrong time. Second was my 3x3 mulie buck ranged out at 277 yds uphill. The shot was ideal - broadside as he browsed although he was very slightly quartering away but not by much. Entry was just behind the right shoulder and due to the angle, exit was through the left shoulder. Took out a rib going in and going out, no fragmenting at all and, of course, no seperation. Lungs were like jelly, literally - he was just a mess in the boiler room.

When I skinned him out I found that the shock was a bit too much, okay a LOT too much, and the whole front quarters were lost. I've never seen such bloodshot damage on a shoulder that wasn't actually shot through. The right side where the bullet entered behind his shoulder was the worst side - the entire shoulder, right up his neck and down to his second hock (what, maybe 8 inches up from the hoof?) was bloodshot to ####. The left side was also bloodshot but only where the bullet actually exited the body, compared to the bloody mess that used to be his right side.

The backstraps and the hind quarters were all that I brought home unfortunately.

I guess I'm still fairly green as I've never had this happen to me, although quite a few of the deer I've shot have taken out ribs going in and exiting. No damage like what this animal showed, especially on the side where the bullet didn't go through the shoulder itself. The shock must have been nasty, even at 275+ yds. Granted, the bullet did what it was designed to do and dropped the animal instantly as well as not blowing apart even through 2 ribs, but damn was that ever a messy kill. I don't like to lose that much meat ever but if I can chalk it up to a poor shot on my part at least I can live with that and correct it. The only thing I can think of to do to remedy this for next time is to slow the load down and hope for a bit less shock on impact. Good idea or should I keep the load as is and chalk this up to bad luck?
 
I did the same thing last year with a 140 TSX out of my 280 Ackley...shot was 30 yards at most...impact velocity would have been 3000 or near to it...small 4 point mulie buck...there was bloodshot meat for at least 6-8 inches around the entrance hole but the exit hole wasn't much bigger than the entrance...
 
I've always expected a bit of bloodshooting when you're using a high velocity round close in, but maybe 6 - 8 inches at best (like rembo suggested).

I'm a little surprised to hear it cost you TWO FRONT QUARTERS! With one totally bloodshot. I don't think i've ever heard of it THAT bad.

My calculations show your bullet should have struck somewhere around 2800 fps - not exactly warp speed (tho nothing to slouch at). I've hit deer with 30 grain tripleshocks at that speed and not seen anything close to that kind of damage.

I don't know why you got such bloodshot meat.
 
What killed me is that the worst quarter for bloodshot damage was the entry one where the bullet didn't even go through the shoulder itself but entered behind it - typical lung shot. All I can think of is that with the rib hit going in and out that must have affected the shock and really did a number on this guy. The bloodshot on the entry shoulder was all the way up his neck and all the way down to almost his hoof on that side - it was incredible, wish I'd have snapped a few pics but didn't think of it then. Bullet hole was the same size in and out as were the holes in the ribs, just different sides - everything in between was mush.

Luckily with keeping the hindquarters as well as the full backstraps on both sides I still got plenty of meat off of him.
 
Often the blood kind of jellies up all over the front quarters, sometimes you can just scrape it off with the blade of your knife and under the jelly is perfectly good meat. The one thing for sure is the higher the velocity, the more bloodshot meat.
If no bloodshot meat was the goal everyone would hunt with a 30-30.
 
The most bloodshot I have ever seen was a medium sized whitetail I shot with a 7X57. 140 grain solid bases loaded to a very sedate 2500 fps. With a classic broadside shot tight behind the shoulders, I lost the entire front end. Normally that load let you eat up to the hole.

I have also put 130 grain X bullets out of a 270Wby through deer at 3300+ fps and didn't lose a bit of meat. So you never know.

My experience differs a bit from Martins. It is my impression that it is bullets blowing up or even expanding viciously that bloodshots meat, not velocity. I've shot X bullets and failsafes through many animals with little bloodshot meat; that out of cartridges like the 270 Wby (130 X at 3400 fps) and the 300Wby (165XLC at 3375 fps and the 180 failsafe at 3150 fps).
 
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worst blood shot Ive encountered was a Sierra Gameking 6.5mm 140 gr BTSP that hit high on the shoulder, impacting the spine. Impact velocity was around 2200-2300 fps. What a mess
 
:) Well, at least we know that the TSX expands quickly:p

Most bloodshot meat for me is a toss up between Nosler Partitons and a cup and core bullet- possiobly a Hornady Interlock
 
As I was there to see " ILOVEBIGRACKS" half bloodshot deer , the triple shock bullet did a great job. Maybe the ideal use for that load would be big bears or coyotes that you don't intend to eat.If it's a good load give it another chance, 11 months ,2 weeks till moose camp. 280 rem , 140 nosler ballistic silvertip , 3000 fps ,and your euro mount is almost ready.
 
For your WTF, may I suggest the term secondary projectiles.
You yourself stated you hit a rib on the way in, I suspect all the blood shot is probably a by product of bone fragements.
You also did'nt say if you recovered the bullet, I suspect you did'nt.
One thing for sure the animal is dead, but as far as the amount of blood shot goes, well ####e happens. No two kills are the same.
 
deerslayer said:
As I was there to see " ILOVEBIGRACKS" half bloodshot deer , the triple shock bullet did a great job. Maybe the ideal use for that load would be big bears or coyotes that you don't intend to eat.If it's a good load give it another chance, 11 months ,2 weeks till moose camp. 280 rem , 140 nosler ballistic silvertip , 3000 fps ,and your euro mount is almost ready.
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Hey Buddy,

Good to see you found the site again :) . Can't wait to see the Euro mount, I've got a spot of honour for it reserved in my reloading room. Drop me a PM with your PAL info and I'll start the transfer on that .410. Have you let Max hold it yet for fit?

Once the rain (and the overtime) stops, I'm planning on dropping that load down a grain or two and see what happens to accuracy and velocity. If I can slow it back by 100 fps or so and tighten up the groupings still more yet then I'll be a happy camper. Checked my brass from the hunt and looks like I'm still getting some slight pressure signs so will need to back it off a bit regardless.

I'm already getting an itchy trigger finger for next year's hunt :( . In the meantime I'll have to take it out on paper at the range. Also have already started thinking about the next rifle. I've got the 2 .30-06's now so am going to sell one and maybe start looking for something in .284 - maybe a .280 AI :D :dancingbanana: .
 
I 'm considering having a rifle built , a 280 AI , any issues that I should be aware of , getting brass , reloading dies. I need to go talk to my gun smith and work out some numbers first. Can a guy buy a AI off the rack somewhere? Instead of doing a build would it be better to buy a high quality rifle ? Is this to many questions to ask? What I'm doing up at 5am asking these questions?
 
You get brass by firing regular 280 cartridges in your gun.
Dies are a special order item, but not too expensive (relatively speaking).
If you find a 280 Ai for sale, yes you can buy one off a rack. There are no factory 280 AIs built, although some of the smaller shops that do semi production runs occasionally do a batch. It's quite unusual though. Basically if you're buying instead of building, you're buying used.
FWIW - dan
 
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