.243 bullet 300 and under on deer & Barnes TSX question

[rockwallraider]

Both my young boys took whitetail from 232 and 225 last year with the 85gr Ttsx. Both dropped in tracks. Several pigs in the 150 range as well. Great round for the .243

 

[MarkA]

Just keep using the Barnes and sooner or later you will need a good light and some tennis shoes to catch with. My daughter and I average many (not going to say how many because it might be shocking and most are donated and all are legal) population control doe harvest a year and a very large percentage like 95% plus are just as everyone says about the Barnes (great), but sooner or later you got a real problem and a late supper time looking for a very well hit deer in the smaller calibers.

What I do know is they are not a Partition or not even close to a HAMMER! Pick your poison and live it, all you need to do is use on enough animals and sooner or later you will scratch your head and think "what happened"!!!!.

 

[Tiny Tim]

As others have stated, no matter the caliber, shot placement is paramount. I have used the Barnes 80 gr TTSX to harvest several deer. I don't always have the opportunity to take the Perfect broadside shot. Of the four taken last year, the furthest one hobbled was 19 yds. But as MarkA said, "Just keep using the Barnes and sooner or later you will need a good light and some tennis shoes to catch with". This is true with a large enough sample size of any of the smaller calibers. When I rebarrel, I'm going to try the Hammers. On nice thing about the monolithics is that there is very little bloodshot meat. Just drive them fast!

 

[Popapi]

Hard to beat that 105grn Berger for deer sized game and under IMHO!

 

[CBS]

Been loving the performance of the 95 gr Berger classic. Used on depredation hunt and nothing takes a step . I let my six year old shoot one at 335 and it went straight down. Seems to make shot placement less important as it destroys animals. Shot a coyote with it and hit it in the guts. I knew where I hit as soon as I pulled the trigger and was expecting a tracking job and a finishing shot. When I got to where it was standing it hadn't taken a step. I couldn't be more impressed with this bullet.

 

[Vortex!]

Been loving the performance of the 95 gr Berger classic. Used on depredation hunt and nothing takes a step . I let my six year old shoot one at 335 and it went straight down. Seems to make shot placement less important as it destroys animals. Shot a coyote with it and hit it in the guts. I knew where I hit as soon as I pulled the trigger and was expecting a tracking job and a finishing shot. When I got to where it was standing it hadn't taken a step. I couldn't be more impressed with this bullet.

. Sounds like it would mess up a bunch of meat if it was hit a little forward into the shoulder.

 

[CBS]

It probably would. I'd prefer to lose a little meat due to shot placement than lose a wounded animal.

I don't mean to imply that anyone would disagree. I'm very pleased with the grenade effect I've seen these have on animals upon impact.

 

[LVJ76]

Pappadoer is exactly right - no one is saying the TSX/TTSX is a 'bad' choice. They can and do work well. But the OPs wife had a 'lost' animal using that bullet so she needs to use something else to have CONFIDENCE again. It's not always about clinical facts; it's about how a person FEELS after a particular bullet lets them down, even if the bullet really wasn't the issue. A change in bullet is an easy switch to create a psychological IMPROVEMENT in confidence before her next hunt. At least that's how I'm seeing this.

Frog4aday hit the nail in the head here. Change the bullet regardless of how you feel for the Barnes, boost her confidence and go with a 90gr Accubond or 95gr SST, DRT or maybe a step or two.

It is well known that the TSX, TTSX and other monolithic bullets don't always expand upon impact even at high speeds I've seen pencil size holes on lungs even at some close ranges, and by close I mean under 100 yds. There might be a blood trail because of the exit hole but that doesn't mean the lungs and heart were turned to Jello.

I know some will agree that with those bullets it's best to go for shoulder shots to ensure proper bullet expansion and are not adecuate for behind the shoulder impacts. They are not a forgiving bullet and there's no room for error with them.

Best to stay away from them. Just my $0.02

 

[Vortex!]

It probably would. I'd prefer to lose a little meat due to shot placement than lose a wounded animal.

I don't mean to imply that anyone would disagree. I'm very pleased with the grenade effect I've seen these have on animals upon impact.

. I like expansion, not explosion. 123 ELDM in 6.5 Grendel is borderline on being explosive for me. It is nice if lung shots are all you'll ever do though. IMHO

 

[Calvin45]

It probably would. I'd prefer to lose a little meat due to shot placement than lose a wounded animal.

I don't mean to imply that anyone would disagree. I'm very pleased with the grenade effect I've seen these have on animals upon impact.

I 100 percent agree with that philosophy. There's no wasted meat that's as tragic as a lost animal. I don't subscribe to any terminal ballistic gospel (ie some are adamant that you NEED high weight retention, or that if there's no exit wound the bullet "failed", or conversely that if the bullet exits it wasted energy, etc...). What counts is actual results. I've lost one deer in my life and as best as I can tell it was because the bullet didn't open much (it was a soft point too!) and there was a big blood trail that went on for a mile and ended at the river. I've eaten many deer in which the bullet "failed" and blew up or didn't exit or ruined a shoulder. I ate them because they all died in under a minute. This thread is about the 243 which I don't have much hunting experience with, reason being that the 270 with interlocks has long been my go to.

 

[MOOSE39465]

My vote is 100 grain Nosler Partition. I have excellent results with them.

 

[LVJ76]

I 100 percent agree with that philosophy. There's no wasted meat that's as tragic as a lost animal. I don't subscribe to any terminal ballistic gospel (ie some are adamant that you NEED high weight retention, or that if there's no exit wound the bullet "failed", or conversely that if the bullet exits it wasted energy, etc...). What counts is actual results. I've lost one deer in my life and as best as I can tell it was because the bullet didn't open much (it was a soft point too!) and there was a big blood trail that went on for a mile and ended at the river. I've eaten many deer in which the bullet "failed" and blew up or didn't exit or ruined a shoulder. I ate them because they all died in under a minute. This thread is about the 243 which I don't have much hunting experience with, reason being that the 270 with interlocks has long been my go to.

The Interlocks are fantastic killers, messy but they kill fast, and yes blood shot meat is better than no meat at all.

 

[LVJ76]

My vote is 100 grain Nosler Partition. I have excellent results with them.

Partitions work great when they hit hard muscle or bone, I've had a few on them pencil through when no bone was hit. The Coues on my avatar took 3 of them to the boiler room, the third one hit a rib and then it went done, 2 of those just penciled through the lungs. And I've had 2 other occasions when they did not expand as expected, did not lose an animal but took another shot to put them down.

The hard reality is that there is not ONE bullet to handle it all, you are either too close and it blows up or too far for expansion or did not hit bone to expand or it did not leave an exit wound to trail or the core separated or too much blood shot meat and the list goes on and on.

There are some that can solve most issues but not all of them, they vary by cartridge, speed and range and again the list goes on.

Luckily here we can debate and learn from each other based on our own experiences and hope for the best, however, nothing is more important that proper shot placement, nothing.

Again, just my $0.02

 

[Window]

Been loving the performance of the 95 gr Berger classic. Used on depredation hunt and nothing takes a step . I let my six year old shoot one at 335 and it went straight down. Seems to make shot placement less important as it destroys animals. Shot a coyote with it and hit it in the guts. I knew where I hit as soon as I pulled the trigger and was expecting a tracking job and a finishing shot. When I got to where it was standing it hadn't taken a step. I couldn't be more impressed with this bullet.

I 100% respect all comments and value everyone's actual results. I've loaded my own for over 30 years and for nearly half of those years put all my trust in hunting bullets on the Nosler Partitions. I made the change to the TSX and TTSX and have had 100% success on 150+ deer and 14 bull elk. I'm now in the process of changing to the Hammer Hunters for this upcoming season and excited to do so. Unlike most, I'm a Weatherby nut and to date, I've never had one that hasn't exceeded my expectations albeit some have have taken a little more effort to dial in than others. That being said, I'm expecting higher velocities from the Hammer Hunters because of their design and the fact that their copper is softer than Barnes. I'll share results by the end of November. Till then enjoy the outdoors and safe hunting!