I just arrived back from Wyoming on my Deer hunt and wanted to let everyone know my experience with Barnes TSX Bullets. I shot my deer with my remy Mountain rifle in 270 win loaded with a stout amount of 4350 and 140 gr TSX. I shot him at 171 yards through both lungs and he took off like he wasnt even hit. He ran 100 yards before falling over but flopped around and didnt die for a long time. When I gutted him out the hole in each of the lungs was a size of a pencel. I found the bullet in the off side and the bullet had no expansion what so ever. I couldnt beleive it. So to say that I will not ever use Barnes bullets again is an understatement. Avoid them like the plague. I am very dissapointed and am actually sending the bullet to barnes with a similar article. I will put of pics of the bullet once I have more time.
Barnes triple shock disappointment
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jimbires
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I'm done with them too . my experience with them sounds like yours . after I recovered a bullet and seen what it looked like I stopped using them here is a pic of mine . Jim
bigngreen
Well-Known Member
WOW, you mean that a THE premium hunting bullet failed, maybe you need to try shooting the game length wise, you can do that with those bullets you know and it drops them like a sack of potatoes 
I quit TSX after having them turn of elk shoulders twice and a couple issues of them zipping though. Bottom line is you shoot any bullet enough you will have one do something weird no mater what bullet it is none are magic.
Jimbires, I've dug dozens of Barnes out of game I was cutting that looked like that, very common!
I quit TSX after having them turn of elk shoulders twice and a couple issues of them zipping though. Bottom line is you shoot any bullet enough you will have one do something weird no mater what bullet it is none are magic.Jimbires, I've dug dozens of Barnes out of game I was cutting that looked like that, very common!
Good intel on the TSX. Thanks for posting.
I've not had any bad luck with them so far. I've killed quite a few mule deer and whitetails, black bears, and 1 pronghorn with various Barnes TSX and TTSX. Perfect results each time. Never recovered a bullet.
I'll keep using them until they disappoint me. Sorry to hear the bad news.
I've not had any bad luck with them so far. I've killed quite a few mule deer and whitetails, black bears, and 1 pronghorn with various Barnes TSX and TTSX. Perfect results each time. Never recovered a bullet.
I'll keep using them until they disappoint me. Sorry to hear the bad news.
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6mm Shooter
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I have seen it many times over. It is very common at higher velocities to have the pedals break off and the rest just pencils through.
I have yet to recover TSX from elk, deer and sheep and they generally drop in their tracks. I would like to know why these bullets fail when they do. I like the performance so far but I really like not having to worry about lead contamination in my meat.
I have lung shot plenty of game with the TSX/TTSX and have not had a problem. However, I think the best outcomes are with bone shots, ie, shoulder. That's my preference. Interestingly, I recall a few deer collapsing rather quickly with quartering to shots where the bullet entered right at the thick of the front scapula. Legs buckle every time and they go straight down. Love it.
kyhareraiser
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i use the barnes TSX in my 308 win. remmy700 and have taken deer from 300 yards to 50 yards and all except one was one shot kills..the one i shot twice was dead and he or i neither knew it.thats why i pumped another one in him..the holes were 1" apart ..i'have never recovered a bullet either except the one i pulled out of a tree when i was sighting in at home ..now it looked like the one in the picture
TheHardWay
Well-Known Member
As many know, there are success and fail stories regarding Barnes. I recovered a bullet that had passed through a cow elk and dropped her in her tracks at around 300 yards in the snow with my 338-378 ( I was able to follow the blood spray/bullet path in the snow). The bullet looked just like the advertisements say it should. On the other hand, I have a friend who shot a bull elk at 250-300 yards with a 340 Wby that sucked up 6 rounds, and another guy who shot 5 times with a 338-378. These were the original "x" bullets. Not sure if they are that much different than the newer TSXs. As someone else mentioned, until I, personally have a fail, I will use them. I think it revolves around precise shot placement.
On a side note, I also saw first hand a guy shoot a bull elk with a 250 grain Sierra Boat Tail Soft point with a 338 win mag at 200 yards. The recovered bullet had ZERO deformation, and in all seriousness, could have been reloaded again. Explain that one! The only thing I can think of is that it was an old bullet, and the lead became very hard. I can't remember if there was another shot or not that killed the elk. I was so surprised about the recovered bullet that I forgot everything else about the story.
On a side note, I also saw first hand a guy shoot a bull elk with a 250 grain Sierra Boat Tail Soft point with a 338 win mag at 200 yards. The recovered bullet had ZERO deformation, and in all seriousness, could have been reloaded again. Explain that one! The only thing I can think of is that it was an old bullet, and the lead became very hard. I can't remember if there was another shot or not that killed the elk. I was so surprised about the recovered bullet that I forgot everything else about the story.
ridge rider
Well-Known Member
These Barnes bullets appear to be the most over rated bullets for their promised performance. I know of and have witnessed very dismal performance on the expansion of these so called big game bullets on our deer here in Australia.
I have three mates who have used these supposed "premium" hunting bullets on Sambar deer (3rd largest deer in the world after Moose and Elk/Wapiti) that max at around 700 pounds. Their shots at Sambar stags were actually filmed as the deer was shot at various ranges from around 80 metres, 210 metres and 370 metres.
In all 3 cases all deer were shot with at least three bullets and needed to be put down as they were either running or kicking. This was not attributed to poor shooting but due to dismal performance and lacklustre expansion of these so called "killer petals" that Barnes bulletts advertises.
I will not talk about the other five stags that ran off wounded and were never found.
These bullets simply perform dismally on the deer we have over here despite all of Barnes' claims.
I for one will never buy these again and nor will I ever recommend them to anyone...not even my worst enemies. FULLSTOP.
Sorry but that is the truth and also my honest opinion of them.
I have three mates who have used these supposed "premium" hunting bullets on Sambar deer (3rd largest deer in the world after Moose and Elk/Wapiti) that max at around 700 pounds. Their shots at Sambar stags were actually filmed as the deer was shot at various ranges from around 80 metres, 210 metres and 370 metres.
In all 3 cases all deer were shot with at least three bullets and needed to be put down as they were either running or kicking. This was not attributed to poor shooting but due to dismal performance and lacklustre expansion of these so called "killer petals" that Barnes bulletts advertises.
I will not talk about the other five stags that ran off wounded and were never found.
These bullets simply perform dismally on the deer we have over here despite all of Barnes' claims.
I for one will never buy these again and nor will I ever recommend them to anyone...not even my worst enemies. FULLSTOP.
Sorry but that is the truth and also my honest opinion of them.
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I just love it when poeple talk about bullet "failure" because they recovered a bullet that they feel didn't do the job, but they recover the bullet from a dead animal!
A friend of mine uses his target rifle for hunting every year, he uses his match ammunition to hunt with. I have asked him, why don't you use a hunting bullet, and he tells me "It's all about shot placement", he has never lost an animal to this day, he hunts hogs, whitetail, pronghorn, and mule deer.
Don't get me wrong now, I understand that you "wish" the bullet had expanded and dropped the animal in it's tracks, or at least made more damage, but dead is dead.
I myself have shot whitetail deer with 140 TSX out of my 7mm-08 between 100-150 yards, all lung shots, and they either drop right there or they run about 20 yards and collapse. I also shot a mule deer at 365 yards with a 168 TTSX out of my 300 win mag with excellent results.
My dad hunts deer with a .223 using 53 gr. TSX bullets, he has never lost a deer either, but I have seen many poeple at the deer lease lose deer, and they use 300 WSM's and 30-378 Weatherby's! Was it bullet failure, or poor shot placement? I bet if I asked them they would say it was bullet failure!
Now, I'm not accusing anyone of poor shot placement, all I'm saying is that some people will blame the bullet performance and many other things before they blame themselves.
On the other hand, I don't think it matters which bullet you hunt with, at some point you will shoot one that you feel didn't do it's job, none of them have a 100% performance record!
-Erik
A friend of mine uses his target rifle for hunting every year, he uses his match ammunition to hunt with. I have asked him, why don't you use a hunting bullet, and he tells me "It's all about shot placement", he has never lost an animal to this day, he hunts hogs, whitetail, pronghorn, and mule deer.
Don't get me wrong now, I understand that you "wish" the bullet had expanded and dropped the animal in it's tracks, or at least made more damage, but dead is dead.
I myself have shot whitetail deer with 140 TSX out of my 7mm-08 between 100-150 yards, all lung shots, and they either drop right there or they run about 20 yards and collapse. I also shot a mule deer at 365 yards with a 168 TTSX out of my 300 win mag with excellent results.
My dad hunts deer with a .223 using 53 gr. TSX bullets, he has never lost a deer either, but I have seen many poeple at the deer lease lose deer, and they use 300 WSM's and 30-378 Weatherby's! Was it bullet failure, or poor shot placement? I bet if I asked them they would say it was bullet failure!
Now, I'm not accusing anyone of poor shot placement, all I'm saying is that some people will blame the bullet performance and many other things before they blame themselves.
On the other hand, I don't think it matters which bullet you hunt with, at some point you will shoot one that you feel didn't do it's job, none of them have a 100% performance record!
-Erik
ridge rider
Well-Known Member
X3MHunter/Erik:
Say what you like about bullet placement etc...but as I said in my response.....all of those 8 deer; the 3 "killed" deer and those other 5 lost stags were all recorded on video and the bullet placements shown during the playback on all deer were shown to be well placed "kill" shots...........the TSX just did not expand and perform in all 8 cases as it should have done as what it advertised it will to do.
My mates may as well have used military FMJ projectiles for what it was worth and would have achieved the same results!
The only thing these TSX bullets are good for is for head shots whilst spotlighting deer for minimal cape damage and I know of shooters calling themselves "hunters" who use these just for that purpose to achieve those exact results.
Regards and end of story with all due respect.
RR
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Shortmagman
Well-Known Member
RR
I understand what you are saying. I have not had that much experience shooting deer with Barnes TSX bullets since I have shot only one deer and that convinced me that the Barnes TSX bullets were too hard for deer.
My experience was a small buck in Nebraska that I shot with my 7mm Rem Mag loaded with 160 grain TSX bullets at about 2950 ft/sec.. I had loaded these rounds for an elk hunt and I wanted to try them since that were very accurate out on that gun. I put two bullets into the deer(under 75 yards) without the deer reacting. A third bullet through both shoulders finished him off. Neither bullet was recovered and the exit holes were very small. I will admit that the first two shot were too far back on the deer but they both just flew right through him with little damage.
I have seem my son shoot deer with 140 Accubonds and the deer reacted much differently. My hunting buddy shots deer with a 7-08 using Hornday Interlock bullets and they do a number on deer.
So this deer season my 270WSM is loaded with 140 Accubonds. My grandson will shoot my 260 Rem loaded with 120 Nosler BT, and my son will shoot 140 Accubonds out of his 280 Rem.. I think that most premium bullets are not needed for deer unless the velocity exceeds 3000 ft/sec.. I also know that my son's 280 does not quite get to 3000 ft/sec., but he has had great luck shooting big Nebrasks corn fed deer with his 280 Rem using 140 Accubond bullets.
I understand what you are saying. I have not had that much experience shooting deer with Barnes TSX bullets since I have shot only one deer and that convinced me that the Barnes TSX bullets were too hard for deer.
My experience was a small buck in Nebraska that I shot with my 7mm Rem Mag loaded with 160 grain TSX bullets at about 2950 ft/sec.. I had loaded these rounds for an elk hunt and I wanted to try them since that were very accurate out on that gun. I put two bullets into the deer(under 75 yards) without the deer reacting. A third bullet through both shoulders finished him off. Neither bullet was recovered and the exit holes were very small. I will admit that the first two shot were too far back on the deer but they both just flew right through him with little damage.
I have seem my son shoot deer with 140 Accubonds and the deer reacted much differently. My hunting buddy shots deer with a 7-08 using Hornday Interlock bullets and they do a number on deer.
So this deer season my 270WSM is loaded with 140 Accubonds. My grandson will shoot my 260 Rem loaded with 120 Nosler BT, and my son will shoot 140 Accubonds out of his 280 Rem.. I think that most premium bullets are not needed for deer unless the velocity exceeds 3000 ft/sec.. I also know that my son's 280 does not quite get to 3000 ft/sec., but he has had great luck shooting big Nebrasks corn fed deer with his 280 Rem using 140 Accubond bullets.
