Barnes TSX and TTSX questions

captonion said:
2 recovered fully intact (280, 30-06) other than missing tip and rifling marks.. Another was a bear @ 40 yds high behind front leg. Bear was shot again a couple days later (neck shot), when skinned out the wound was found , no ribs hit very small hole straight through. Yes it was the same bear, same spot, bear had right ear split in half.. Shot by the guy I hunted with just a couple days earlier..I used his rifle and ammo 308, ttsx..


I said I did!!!!
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That is interesting. I hunt with them a bunch, my brother, dad and hunting partner hunt with them exclusively. We have for years. Between the four of us we have recovered three of them that haven’t expanded. But that is out of dozens and dozens of head of game killed with them.
 
Think of how many you would have found if you ever recovered all the game that ran off with those bullets in them.
 
I typically run 195/200gr cup and core bullets in my 8x57's but i bought a few boxes of 160gr TTSX id like to try and drive to 2900 fps. Hope fully i can find a good load and try them on a rut buck.
 
icehunter121 said:
So trying to figure something out here. I have never shot a TSX or TTSX before. My question is how do they perform on critters? Do you get a long penetrating smaller wound channel? A larger initial blood shot meat area followed by a channel? I have mostly shot partitions on critters and smacking a deer with a 300 win mag and closer ranges,say under 200 yards always produced some massive destruction with a lot of wasted meat if the shot wasn't right or the animal moved I.E. thru a shoulder.

I am thinking about using my 300 wby with a 180gr or so ttsx on deer. I have hit deer with my 340 wby with hornady interlocks and that flattens anything on the spot but leaves a lot of waste also.

In short I have no experience with the TSX or its kin so please school me!!
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My son and I had both experienced negative results with TSX, hence, entry and exit hole the diameter of a pencil. Nolser bullets have always performed well for us and we will never try any other brand, especially monolithic bullets. Nosler partition and accubonds are a premium bullet for big game.
 
Go lighter than normal to get maximum velocity. The key to expansion with the ttsx is speed. So if the plan is to shoot 300+ yards go light and fast. The bullets have never let me down but most of my shooting is sub 200 yards. Thats why they made the lrx for longer range shooters. I shoot deer and moose and have had no issues
 
captonion said:
2 recovered fully intact (280, 30-06) other than missing tip and rifling marks.. Another was a bear @ 40 yds high behind front leg. Bear was shot again a couple days later (neck shot), when skinned out the wound was found , no ribs hit very small hole straight through. Yes it was the same bear, same spot, bear had right ear split in half.. Shot by the guy I hunted with just a couple days earlier..I used his rifle and ammo 308, ttsx..


I said I did!!!!
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Recovered fully intact eh? This is something that has always confused me - if a lot of TSXs that expand go straight through and out the other side, how are bullets being recovered that didn't even expand? Something doesn't add up to me - I'm not saying I don't believe you, I'm just trying to understand how a bullet that is known for penetration and pass-through shots even when expanding does not end up in the dirt behind the animal when it doesn't expand. Anyone care to take a stab at this?
 
Suther said:
Recovered fully intact eh? This is something that has always confused me - if a lot of TSXs that expand go straight through and out the other side, how are bullets being recovered that didn't even expand? Something doesn't add up to me - I'm not saying I don't believe you, I'm just trying to understand how a bullet that is known for penetration and pass-through shots even when expanding does not end up in the dirt behind the animal when it doesn't expand. Anyone care to take a stab at this?
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They tumbled.
 
Gatehouse said:
They tumbled.
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If they had tumbled I wouldn't say it was a bullet failure. Wound would indicate a tumble, it didn't. One deer was shot almost straight on in chest, perhaps a little quartering. Other was shot in chest quartering towards me up hill. One bullet found under hide at back ham, the other in spine about 6" from the tail. Can't recall which was 280 or 30-06. Both under 100yrds.
 
captonion said:
If they had tumbled I wouldn't say it was a bullet failure. Wound would indicate a tumble, it didn't. One deer was shot almost straight on in chest, perhaps a little quartering. Other was shot in chest quartering towards me up hill. One bullet found under hide at back ham, the other in spine about 6" from the tail. Can't recall which was 280 or 30-06. Both under 100yrds.
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What was the reaction of the deer?
 
captonion said:
If they had tumbled I wouldn't say it was a bullet failure. Wound would indicate a tumble, it didn't. One deer was shot almost straight on in chest, perhaps a little quartering. Other was shot in chest quartering towards me up hill. One bullet found under hide at back ham, the other in spine about 6" from the tail. Can't recall which was 280 or 30-06. Both under 100yrds.
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If the bullet is supposed to expand, I would still call tumbling a failure as it didn't do what it is supposed to do.
 
dgradinaru said:
I typically run 195/200gr cup and core bullets in my 8x57's but i bought a few boxes of 160gr TTSX id like to try and drive to 2900 fps. Hope fully i can find a good load and try them on a rut buck.
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Pretty much the same as me, I got the 160 TTSX because my wife wants me to go lead free and to flatten the trajectory. With CFE 223 it is the most accurate load I've seen in my Brno.

From what I see it makes a 1" diameter hole throught a Muley, with very little bloodshot meat.
 
Gatehouse said:
What was the reaction of the deer?
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Regardless the reaction of either deer the bullet didn't do what it is touted to do best..

Suther said:
If the bullet is supposed to expand, I would still call tumbling a failure as it didn't do what it is supposed to do.
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That would be a rifling issue!

I,m not slagging Barnes just because..
I still load 150-grain TSX FN for the 30-30 and 30 Remington, excellent results on over a dozen animals, and I will continue to use with full confidence.. The TTSX on the other hand has about a 30% fail rate with my small sampling, not worth the gamble IMO.
I also have loaded a few hundred Barnes 406 dia rd nose bullets for my 401WSL, I still have a few hundred waiting for brass..
 
I have only shot a few deer and one moose with the TTSX Muzzleloading bullet, they worked great for that and recovered none of them.

How would the newer Barnes LRX bullets compare to the TSX and TTSX versions? I understand that the LRX is suppose to expand at lower velocities, would be good at longer range or in less powerful cartridges at short range. Would anyone here have some real life experience on game with the LRX?
 
What they need to make and would make the inventor rich is a soft copper allow to be used in place of lead, like lead inside a normal projectile.

Have your regular jacketed bullet with a soft copper core.

Bazinga , environmentally friend, instant millionaire.
 
Kelly Timoffee said:
What they need to make and would make the inventor rich is a soft copper allow to be used in place of lead, like lead inside a normal projectile.

Have your regular jacketed bullet with a soft copper core.

Bazinga , environmentally friend, instant millionaire.
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What if bismuth was used instead of lead, it is heavy, but non-toxic? Say make a Nosler Partition type bullet with copper jacket and bismuth cores. WK
 
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