Copper bullets?

I've killed several hundred head of game with the TSX; most of them on culls where we could compare one bullet against another. 50
head with this bullet, 50 with that and so on. The day or the next you might use something else. Logistics being what they are, you have to use up what you have left.

Preconceived notions, personal preference, last months paid for article in Blasting and Mayham and hunch doesn't cut it. Thoughts on what should be best based on your theory of what should work get destroyed on the alter of what does work.

Roy Weatherby was right. Randy Brooks is wrong.
 
I have shot a good number of big game with Barnes copper bullets since 1996. The new variations (TTSX & LRX) are fantastic when impact velocity is north of 2000 fps
 
Our hunting group has taken well over 100 animals with the barnes tsx, ttsx, and lrx. Pretty much all north american game except grizzly bear, assorted new zealand game, and african plains game. Nothing but Superb performance in our experience.

2 things to note with the barnes

1. Todbartell has it right, keep the impact velocity at 2000 fps and you will have no trouble. Thats the velocity I use to determine effective range with barnes in all my rifles.

2. don't expect dramatic bang flops...20yd run after the shot is very typical with double lung shot.

Know your bullet and what it is or isn't capable of and you will be a happy hunter!!

Just my opinion
Chris
 
Last edited:
ive tried the copper bullets. I prefer a softer bonded bullet especially for deer. copper bullets penetrate very deep but don't provide the same diameter wound channel. deer are not that wide........bigger stuff different story. but a good bonded bullet does well there too.
 
It's hard to argue with Doglegs experience as he has lots of volume, and he has found the monometals don't kill as fast as other bullets.

My experience tells me that people often don't know what the capabilities of their chosen cartridge or bullet is (Not including Dogleg in this statemnt, of course) Whatever bullet you use, you should know what it does.

before I pick a bullet to use, I want to understand what it's operating perameters are, if possible. I think monometals are the most misunderstood type of bullet out there. If we look at common 30 caliber cartridges, like 308, 3006, 300 WM, hunters often choose cup and core bullets in the 165-180 grain range. If using a TTSX bullet, I would suggest 130gr in the 308, no more than 150 in the 3006 (and 130 may be better) and no more than 165gr in the 300 WM.

I actually use `130 or 150gr TTSX in my 300WSM and the only time I chose 180 gr was hunting big moose and grizzly. Although I have indeed shot several deer and black bear with the 180 TSX too. The monometals aren't really long range bullets for the most part. The longest I've killed with a 180gr TSX is just under 400 yards. on a deer. Frontal shot, bullet went in the chest and exited via the ham, going end to end on the deer. Deer dropped on the spot. I've had plenty of animals drop on the spot using TSX and TTSX bullets. I've also had some run a bit, (but not far) including a deer shot with a 270gr TSX from a .375 Ruger. The bullet is more suited to buffalo, but it certainly did it's job and expanded.

Lots of hunters look at exit wounds and if they see a smallish one think that the bullet failed, but it's what's inside that counts. Internals hit by Barnes bullets often look like soup. :)

I like the TTSX for several reason- They kill well and positively, they offer any angle shot kills, they make small cartridges into big game killers, and they usually don't wreck too much meat, including no shrapnel.
 
Thought I would put my two cents in. Started using the Barnes ttsx this year. 120gr out of the 6.5creedmoor at 2880 at muzzle. I hit my deer broadside slightly angling away shot. Went clean through at 286m DRT didn't even take a step. Small hole in and out but shredded the liver and souped part of the lungs. My buddy hit his deer a bit farther back broadside, his deer went 60m and dropped dead. Massive blood trail and his shredded the liver and bit of the lungs. He hit his deer at 176m. Not so much knockdown force but the internal damage was devastating.

Definitely going to keep using them I was worried about penciling but they seem to work well for me. I'll report again if I take another deer down. Tried to recover both bullets but no such luck.
 
BigUglyMan said:
Expand on this for me, since you've killed more animals than I've even seen.
Click to expand...

OK, now you're trying to make me blush.

The brief version is Weatherby knew that the most devastating, violent, knock the snot out of them, shocking wound channels that can be made were by driving a bullet as fast as possible and blowing the damn thing up. If it doesn't exit so much the better. You can't beat that, short of carrying a payload. The fear is that on the rare occasion, the worst of angles, the biggest animals that penetration might come up short. That concern was addressed by hooking up with another rising star from the era and loading Nosler Partitions. Try to beat that. Nosler has a knack for getting things right.

The mono-bullets are close to opposite in every way. They brag on weight retention, when partial fragmentation can be demonstrated to work better. Where do they suppose that lost weight went? They brag on penetration, which is true enough. Higher penetration is mostly achieved by lower resistance which is the same as saying doesn't hit as hard.That's the opposite of what you want. Consider solids; insane penetration and so pathetic they are illegal for hunting in most countries


Things change a bit at the buffalo level, and if someone wants to use monos there they could do worse. Still, an A-Frame is twice the bullet.

Leads where it's at. Bond it if you need to.
 
I am not worried enough by the rather remote possibility of ingesting lead, to go to the bother of switching up to something different from what has been working for me.

The very odd story of folks recovering the un-expanded bullets, or having their animal scurry off elsewhere to die, after being hit and passed through, simply makes me even less to worry about switching up to something even more expensive.

Should I ever get it into my head to start chasing dangerous game, with a large bore rifle, Maybe I will look at the monometal solids, but those are a different thing than these anyway.
 
Dogleg said:
OK, now you're trying to make me blush.

The brief version is Weatherby knew that the most devastating, violent, knock the snot out of them, shocking wound channels that can be made were by driving a bullet as fast as possible and blowing the damn thing up. If it doesn't exit so much the better. You can't beat that, short of carrying a payload. The fear is that on the rare occasion, the worst of angles, the biggest animals that penetration might come up short. That concern was addressed by hooking up with another rising star from the era and loading Nosler Partitions. Try to beat that. Nosler has a knack for getting things right.

The mono-bullets are close to opposite in every way. They brag on weight retention, when partial fragmentation can be demonstrated to work better. Where do they suppose that lost weight went? They brag on penetration, which is true enough. Higher penetration is mostly achieved by lower resistance which is the same as saying doesn't hit as hard.That's the opposite of what you want. Consider solids; insane penetration and so pathetic they are illegal for hunting in most countries


Things change a bit at the buffalo level, and if someone wants to use monos there they could do worse. Still, an A-Frame is twice the bullet.

Leads where it's at. Bond it if you need to.
Click to expand...

amen!
 
Impact speed comparison for the 416 caliber 300gr TSX. Above a certain impact speed the petals disintegrate but less of an issue if this happens with heavy calibers.

On the LHS recovered from an Elk at about 2800 fps impact that went nearly lengthwise, and on the RHS recovered from the previously mentioned Bull Moose at about 2500 fps impact -

38605404396_b77c583118.jpg
26885347689_9b8ec87e66.jpg
 
Dogleg said:
OK, now you're trying to make me blush.

The brief version is Weatherby knew that the most devastating, violent, knock the snot out of them, shocking wound channels that can be made were by driving a bullet as fast as possible and blowing the damn thing up. If it doesn't exit so much the better. You can't beat that, short of carrying a payload. The fear is that on the rare occasion, the worst of angles, the biggest animals that penetration might come up short. That concern was addressed by hooking up with another rising star from the era and loading Nosler Partitions. Try to beat that. Nosler has a knack for getting things right.

The mono-bullets are close to opposite in every way. They brag on weight retention, when partial fragmentation can be demonstrated to work better. Where do they suppose that lost weight went? They brag on penetration, which is true enough. Higher penetration is mostly achieved by lower resistance which is the same as saying doesn't hit as hard.That's the opposite of what you want. Consider solids; insane penetration and so pathetic they are illegal for hunting in most countries


Things change a bit at the buffalo level, and if someone wants to use monos there they could do worse. Still, an A-Frame is twice the bullet.

Leads where it's at. Bond it if you need to.
Click to expand...
Just scanned the Weatherby cartridge offerings, and they offer the Barnes X in just about every caliber.
 
I've shot Barnes offerings for many years but I'm starting to move away from them. They can always be counted on to penetrate, but often they behave like a solid, and not only at low velocity. I've torn the petals off a TSX in my 257 Wby on several occasions and recovered it, yet other times they pencil through. Another thing that's always been odd, though possibly not a concern, is that when shooting at metal gongs, the mono metals sound like a BB gun hitting a tin can.

I do like them on predators for minimal pelt damage. I haven't found a better combo for wolves than the 100 gr TSX out of my 257 Wby.

I don't give lead contamination any thought and it doesn't factor into my bullet selection. I used to carry pellets and BB's for the air rifle in my mouth as a kid while hunting, I'm sure I swallowed a few.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom