I Screwed Up, and I Knew Better !!!

c-fbmi

c-fbmi

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My #2 son and I just returned from a Sask WT hunt, where we both took nice whitetails. That part went well, the screw up part was the loads I made up for my boy's 260 Mod 7. I loaded 120 gn TTSX over some 4350 for a midrange load........BIG MISTAKE.......The bullet acted like a solid on my son's deer, he didn't make the shot he was told to, low through the front shoulders, and ended up sticking one right through the centre of the neck, broadside. We managed to find the deer 3 hours later and I got a finisher through the ribs with my 7 RUM. The deer reacted to the hit but bled very little and only laid down 3 times leaving very little blood in the beds.
I really should have known this would be the performance to be expected and I'm not sure what I was thinking when I got it in my head to make up these loads. He had some good loads that he used with great success in Africa, using 100 gn BT, but I, in a dull minded moment, decided the 120 TTSX would be better.
On our way back from Sask we stopped in Calgary and hit WSS, where I picked up some 125 Parts for his 260..........I actually didn't have any on my bullet shelf, believe it or not, and WSS did. Now I shall work him up a better load with the Part and we won't be experiencing these problems any more. The shot was a tad off, admittedly (last look at the antler syndrome we suspect), but the lack of damage at 60-70 mtrs was very distressing. We were extremely lucky to recover this deer.
Doglegs statement about only using TSX and TTSX if you like tracking critters came to mind immediately. Lesson learned........"DO NOT USE TTSX BULLETS IN MODERATE VELOCITY CARTRIDGES FOR HUNTING"
I have to upload some more photos into my bucket and then I'll put a couple up here.
 
had something similar happen with 300win mag and ttsx... wee hole in and wee hole out .. if i hadn't clipped the top of the heart, that deer would have been gone like the wind ..

ofcourse ttsx says on its ad ... that it will provide instant expansion ... NO Sir ! not in my experience

good that you eventually got the deer !
 
Thanks for your experience that I can benefit from. I'm looking for a pelt friendly load for my '06 (can't buy another rifle now) and the tsx/gmx might work for now.
 
Centre of the neck isn't a good place to put a shot. Hard to hit the carotid artery or spine. Neither is very big on Bambi.
Use a 110 or 150 FMJ out of an '06. Assuming commercial FMJ's are legal in B.C.
 
I honestly don't see a bullet issue here................Perhaps if you had a fragmenting bullet things would have gone differently....perhaps not. At 60 meters impact velocity was plenty high for a mono metal. We all look for something to blame when we make a poor shot but the answer typically lies in the mirror..... speaking from experience.
 
TTSX From a .260 kills the hell out of deer with any reasonable shot. I've seen it happen with my very own eyes! :)

A proper neck shot involves breaking the neck/spine, not just punching a hole through meat.

A very frangible bullet might have been more forgiving, but the real culprit here was shot placement. Had the bullet hit anywhere in the lung/heart/shoulder area (or spine) the deer would have dropped.

You don't have a bullet problem, you have a bullet placement problem.
 
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sunray said:
Centre of the neck isn't a good place to put a shot. Hard to hit the carotid artery or spine. Neither is very big on Bambi.
Use a 110 or 150 FMJ out of an '06. Assuming commercial FMJ's are legal in B.C.
Click to expand...

I know for a fact that FMJ is not legal in BC. Seems a unethical thing to suggest.

Pretty sure every loader has done the same thing, using a caliber/bullet/distance/animal combo that in hindsight doesnt work. Good on the OP for sticking with it and recovering the animal, shows great sportsmanship and commitment to the animals we pursue.
 
sunray said:
Centre of the neck isn't a good place to put a shot. Hard to hit the carotid artery or spine. Neither is very big on Bambi.
Use a 110 or 150 FMJ out of an '06. Assuming commercial FMJ's are legal in B.C.
Click to expand...

Tell me you are NOT telling someone to shoot an animal with a FMJ? A full Metal Jacket bullet was designed to WOUND a person during warfare, not kill them! Why would you want to use such a round on an animal you are trying t kill? Spelling and grammar do count but so does proper advice. DO NOT HUNT anything other than varmints with a FMJ. Even that is questionable really!!
 
walleyed99 said:
Tell me you are NOT telling someone to shoot an animal with a FMJ? A full Metal Jacket bullet was designed to WOUND a person during warfare, not kill them! Why would you want to use such a round on an animal you are trying t kill? Spelling and grammar count, Brains do not!!! OP, since your a hand-loader and a hunter, not just a post count keyboard jockey you are sure to ignore this fellows advice. Rant Over :)
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I can't believe I'm going to do this, but I'm going to stick up for Sunray.

He was responding to the guy that wanted a pelt friendly load for his 30-06. Using FMJ bullets for small game for pelt preservation isn't uncommon. He wasn't telling him to use them for deer hunting.

Now I feel a little dirty....
 
c-fbmi said:
My #2 son and I just returned from a Sask WT hunt, where we both took nice whitetails. That part went well, the screw up part was the loads I made up for my boy's 260 Mod 7. I loaded 120 gn TTSX over some 4350 for a midrange load........BIG MISTAKE.......The bullet acted like a solid on my son's deer, he didn't make the shot he was told to, low through the front shoulders, and ended up sticking one right through the centre of the neck, broadside. We managed to find the deer 3 hours later and I got a finisher through the ribs with my 7 RUM. The deer reacted to the hit but bled very little and only laid down 3 times leaving very little blood in the beds.
I really should have known this would be the performance to be expected and I'm not sure what I was thinking when I got it in my head to make up these loads. He had some good loads that he used with great success in Africa, using 100 gn BT, but I, in a dull minded moment, decided the 120 TTSX would be better.
On our way back from Sask we stopped in Calgary and hit WSS, where I picked up some 125 Parts for his 260..........I actually didn't have any on my bullet shelf, believe it or not, and WSS did. Now I shall work him up a better load with the Part and we won't be experiencing these problems any more. The shot was a tad off, admittedly (last look at the antler syndrome we suspect), but the lack of damage at 60-70 mtrs was very distressing. We were extremely lucky to recover this deer.
Doglegs statement about only using TSX and TTSX if you like tracking critters came to mind immediately. Lesson learned........"DO NOT USE TTSX BULLETS IN MODERATE VELOCITY CARTRIDGES FOR HUNTING"
I have to upload some more photos into my bucket and then I'll put a couple up here.
Click to expand...

Use em religiously in my little ole slow poken 338 fed. If I do my part (and I do) I've never walked more than 20 yds to see my animal. Whitey or swamp donkey
 
Gatehouse said:
I can't believe I'm going to do this, but I'm going to stick up for Sunray.

He was responding to the guy that wanted a pelt friendly load for his 30-06. Using FMJ bullets for small game for pelt preservation isn't uncommon. He wasn't telling him to use them for deer hunting.

Now I feel a little dirty....[/QUOTE]

lol! and rightfully so!
Click to expand...
 
Deer are about to close, in pretty much all of BC.....not wanting to fight my way through 70 pages of advertising for the 8 pages of regulations....but i am pretty sure that is true.

So with big game season winding down, my dual use rifle a 25-06 becomes a range toy again. When it is used for dual use, i like a very stout bullet....lots of penetration on big game and if one misses major bones....no grapefruit sized exit holes on pelts. There are a lot of premium and stout bullets out there that are perfect for pelts. Frangible "varmit" bullets are cheap, but IMO designed for high volume pest shooting such as dog towns. It is unlikely that someone is going to shoot the volume when predator hunting, to justify and rationalize the use of cheaper FMJ, especially with the questionable safety, ethics, and legality issues.
 
Gatehouse said:
I can't believe I'm going to do this, but I'm going to stick up for Sunray.

He was responding to the guy that wanted a pelt friendly load for his 30-06. Using FMJ bullets for small game for pelt preservation isn't uncommon. He wasn't telling him to use them for deer hunting.

Now I feel a little dirty....
Click to expand...

Then that was my bad, and for that I am sorry!! I guess i read wrong. Just used to too much misinformation from certain posters. I had actually responded saying FMJ was fine for Varmint Loads but that was the only type of hunting they were good for. I then decided it was far too wordy and deleted most of it, and then edited. I guess I owe sunray an apology as well.
 
Lol...some of the responses here are comical. The absolute most predictable response to a "the Barnes TSX/TTSX didn't open properly" is "poor shot placement".

Edit to add: Gatehouse - did you ever test those .375" 270gr TSX that I sent you? You know, the ones that didn't like to expand?

270gr.jpg


The one on the left is a 7mm 160gr - note that at the exact same distance and in the exact same medium it expanded properly. And I'll pre-empt it before someone responds - "yeah, you didn't shoot that into game therefore the test is meaningless".
Xbullets.jpg
 
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1899 said:
Lol...some of the responses here are comical. The absolute most predictable response to a "the Barnes TSX/TTSX didn't open properly" is "poor shot placement".
Click to expand...

Likely because it's typically the right answer....with a relatively high velocity hit anyhow. No question there's the odd exception but the predictable response is the most likely case. I've seen literally hundreds of animals hit the deck when shot with monometals. If you hit them in the right spot they die. If you recover an unexpanded mono metal from what should be a high velocity hit....I'd be looking elsewhere than the bullet for the cause.
 
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