Barnes 180 gr. Tripleshock Bullets

Rastrosus

Rastrosus

New member
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
11   0   0
Location
Northern BC
Hello,

I just bought some Barnes 180gr. triple-shock bullets for my 300 WSM and was wondering if anyone has used these bullets on big game such as moose and how they performed?

The 300 WSM is a new caliber to me and I'm having a hard time finding bullets that have performed good for me in the past (e.g. Speer grandslams, of nosler partitions).
Thanks, Mark
 
A friend of mine had failures to open with them last fall; two rounds on the same moose, in one side and out the other like a needle. A hunting partner finally killed it with a conventional bullet.
I haven't used them on game myself (although they sure do shoot good groups!), but a couple of weeks ago I dug some out of a fairly dry dirt bank at the range.....bent like a banana, but not open at all. They went in about a foot and stopped when they got to the frost. These were from a .30-06 at 100 m. so the velocity should have still been substantial.

I suspect that maybe the hole in the front might be too small, or that it takes just the right conditions to open - maybe they need lots of fluid, or ballistic gel. I think the larger calibers might do better with their bigger opening, but now I'm suspicious of the smaller ones. They also make newer version with a 'ballistic tip' affair that might help get them to start opening.
 
I have seen about a dozen animals killed ranging in size from pronghorns to elk with 130 gr .277 TSX bullets and from my own limited observations, they perform very well on game. Most would say that the Nosler Partition bullet has been one of the most consistently reliable, what kind of issues were you having Mark?
 
rommelrommel said:
Shooting bullets into dirt isn't really a fair test.
Click to expand...

yeah no kidding...

try them into a round of wood. that will make them mushroom



as for the "penciling through a moose" they will out penatrate any similar soft nose lead bullet. Id guess that they did expand, and went through the moose. maybe bad placement?
 
Fixit said:
yeah no kidding...

try them into a round of wood. that will make them mushroom



as for the "penciling through a moose" they will out penatrate any similar soft nose lead bullet. Id guess that they did expand, and went through the moose. maybe bad placement?
Click to expand...

According to him, the exit wounds from the two TSXs were almost non-existent and no more obvious than the entry wounds, with no damage in between to indicate expansion. I hoped as much as anyone that they'd perform as advertised, because they show such good accuracy - but this guy has been shooting moose for 30 or 40 years, and he knows his stuff as well as anyone. He tells me he's going to use up his TSXs at the bench and go back to Nosler Partitions in the bush. Until I see reliable evidence to the contrary, I think I'll do the same.
Have you shot moose with them, Fixit? What have your experiences been? (Real moose, not wooden ones!:D)
 
Haven't shot anything with the 180 grain .30 cal TSX, but two years ago I did kill a 5x5 bull elk with a 140 grain 7mm TSX (in a 7x57) (he ran just under 25 yards before dropping dead), also a Kudu (about the size of a small bull elk), as well as six Springbuck, a warthog, Red Hartebeest, Impala, two Blesbuck and half a dozen jackals and three coyotes (most of the latter with the 130 grain .270 TSX in a .270 Win.

Most of the above critters dropped dead where they were shot. The few that didn't die on the spot ran no more than 20 or so yards. The bullets penetrated through all the animals except one Blesbuck (which was shot more or less length-wise at ~200 yards with the .270 with an estimated 30 inches of penetration).

Smaller critters (like the jackals and coyotes) were torn up pretty bad by the little 130 grain bullet (no evidence of "failure to expand")

I would have no hesitation in using the 180 grain TSX in a 30-06 (or a .30 WSM if I had one), but would probably go with the 165 grain bullet.

Is it possible that your friend was using some of the older Barnes bullets when he had his poor performance?
 
I shoot the 168TSX in my 300WSM,but I load 180s for two friends,one with a 30-06 and the other with a .300WM.Both have killed moose,elk,bear and deer with the 180 TSXs with no problems,and they are very accurate in both rifles. Mur
 
According to him, the exit wounds from the two TSXs were almost non-existent and no more obvious than the entry wounds, with no damage in between to indicate expansion. I hoped as much as anyone that they'd perform as advertised, because they show such good accuracy - but this guy has been shooting moose for 30 or 40 years, and he knows his stuff as well as anyone. He tells me he's going to use up his TSXs at the bench and go back to Nosler Partitions in the bush. Until I see reliable evidence to the contrary, I think I'll do the same.
Have you shot moose with them, Fixit? What have your experiences been? (Real moose, not wooden ones!)
Click to expand...

Your friend is absolutely right,the 180gr TSX WILL NOT EXPAND on game animals.The 180gr TSX below was not recovered from a bull elk and it did not expand to .800".The picture is obviously an optical illusion.
PA050015.jpg
 
Thanks guys, I guess I'll just have to try them for myself this fall and report my findings back to the group. What I really need to do is start re-loading so I'm not so limited on the ammo I can get for the 300WSM.

Any recommendations on a starter reloading kit, best bang for the buck?

Thanks again, Mark
 
Rastrosus said:
Any recommendations on a starter reloading kit, best bang for the buck?

Thanks again, Mark
Click to expand...

I started with the Lee kit, but went to a turret press, and a digital scale. Still use the powder measure a bit. You should be able to get a press, scale and measure off the EE...
 
Tumbleweed said:
According to him, the exit wounds from the two TSXs were almost non-existent and no more obvious than the entry wounds, with no damage in between to indicate expansion. I hoped as much as anyone that they'd perform as advertised, because they show such good accuracy - but this guy has been shooting moose for 30 or 40 years, and he knows his stuff as well as anyone. He tells me he's going to use up his TSXs at the bench and go back to Nosler Partitions in the bush. Until I see reliable evidence to the contrary, I think I'll do the same.
Have you shot moose with them, Fixit? What have your experiences been? (Real moose, not wooden ones!:D)
Click to expand...

interesting... what caliber was he shooting? what range?
i did notice that the last blackbear i shot had a larger entrance wound than exitwound. but i have not shot any moose yet.

the bullet hit the bears rib on its way in, lung, heart, lung, rib, exited, entered forarm, through bone, and exited. internals were a soupy consistancy a,d the bear droped dead after a few steps (maybe 5?)

it was a 150gr tsx from a .300WM @ about 3300ft/sec

i would think that they open better with higher velocity rounds, but i dont know this for a fact, just logical
 
I shot a bull moose in northern MB last fall with 180gr Barnes X bullet in a 30-06. My buddy had initially knocked the moose down with a shot through the hump with his 300 win mag. As we approached the moose, who decided he was not going to drown in the edge of the river he got up and proceeded to run away.

I hit the moose at about 75 yards running away through the neck at the base of the skull and dropped him. The bullet was recovered under the hide on the opposite side of the neck after having gone through the spine. Perfect palm tree expansion and it retained most of its bullet weight. The bullet survived the 900km trip home only for me to lose it.

I had carried the same load for whitetail deer in the fall but was not fortunate enough to get a shot at a decent target. maybe this year.
 
I shot a black bear last fall with a 180 TSX from a 300 win mag. I hit him straight on in the chest as he was slowly trotting towards me and I forgot my sneakers that morning..... so I wasn't about to try to outrun him, or wait for a better shot. I found the round against the rear ham with 3 petals perfectly shroomed but one missing. I was quite happy with the kill. He dropped dead on the spot and the internal damage was pretty extensive. I am sold on their performance. I still shoot other bullets as I like variety, and have had equal luck with accubonds and partitions. I had found that the TSX was pretty accurate in my rifle after I found the right seating depth. (that took a while and a fair bit of money on rounds before I got it right) They aren't cheap rounds , so I can't imagine someone using TSX at the range, but partitions for hunting. I'd be using el cheapo's for the range if it was me.(hornady interlocks at best) and only shoot hunting rounds to fine tune.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom