Barnes TSX/TTSX vs Nosler Partition

[Crankbender]

I have found the X bullets to be the best of the expanding solids. So if I want the terminal performance of an expanding solid these are what I choose.

I rarely if ever need an expanding solid so I would choose a Nosler Partition 99% of the time.

 

[mtnman375]

110% barnes this year alone i shot 8 deer with a 6mm ai loaded with a 80gr ttsx at ranges from 50 to 347yds 6 where one shot kills the other 2 where spine shots also a antelope buck at 287 in 30 to 40 mph winds so i hit him too far back mid guts and he took 4 steps back and tiped over and i also have killed 2 deer with 168gr ttsx in the 308 10 plus with a 264 win mag with 120gr tsx and 130gr tsx 20 plus with a 375 weatherby with 235gr tsx out to 325yds 250gr ttsx out 300 yds and the 270gr tsx out to about 250yds and this year my brother shot a 148 b&c wt at 467yds with a 240 weatherby and a 85gr tsx and that buck hit the ground on inpact lifted his head and gave up after this year i have killed and seen killed over 60 plus deer elk and antelope with barnes bullets and still have yet to see any other bullet that has the killing power lack of meat damage and accuracy of the tsx and ttsx across the bord

 

[ItchyTF]

When Barnes came out with the TSX I had to try them ...there was a noticable improvement in accuracy for my Bar in a 300 win mag...consistant groups at or under an inch...with the nosler partition's that just wasn't happening... I was a bit worried about the hollow point tip not expanding but soon found it not to be a problem....and then Barnes started putting tips on them.

I had been shooting nosler partitions form the start...they perform flawlessly ....but the idea that an all copper bullet would eliminate the possiblilty of ever ingesting lead from deer meat was the deciding factor for me....

Barnes came out with their Vor-TX ammo... I now shoot that ammo in all my hunting rifles....

 

[specialist]

Barnes....berger forever

 

[Damascus]

WOW!! I cant believe the Nosler actually got that many votes! Dont get me wrong, its a.superb bullet, but isnt in the same league as the TSX.
I handload for a lot of people, and I do a lot of bullet testing. Usually, I take those square boxes you get for free at the grocery store (the ones that 4 gal.s of milk come in) and I pack them as tight as I can with old phone books, Sears catalogs, magazines, staxks of newspaper, etc. sometimes I even insert bones in there, from deer or chickens, and soak it in water for a couple hours. Pistols only require one box, but rifles need 2 - 4, depending on caliber. shooting this at 50 yds or less is a testimant to a bullet's strength, as all but the best will fragment or separate.

I used to use the Partition to deer hunt with my AR15, the 60 grainers are great... then I started testing the Barnes TSX and Tipped TSX. I have yet to see one break apart or fragment on something living. I even shot a hot load at one of my test boxes with a 20" AR from only 10 yds with a 62 gr. TSX, with a muzzle velocity of 3205 fps - and it didnt break! The petals were flattened against the body, ans retained weight was only 56 gr, but it held. I did the same thing with the 60 gr partition, and the upper half of the bullet disentegrated, and all I could find was the lower half, base of the bullet, below the "partition", badly deformed. Weight was 41 gr - nearly lost half its weight.
Also, in my rifles, the Barnes are more accurate, especially at longer ranges.. howevet the Nosler is no slouch in that department either. Nosler should ditch the lead tipped spitzer design and make a polymer tipped boat tail partition. I have tested thr TSX and T-TSX in .224" 62gr (cant find the 70's anywhere).. The 165 TSX and 168 T-TSX, in .308" from a .308, and the 168 and 180 in .300. I have some in .260 Rem and 7mm Rem Mag, but havent tested them yet.
Using my test, Nosler Ballistic Tips usually fragment if less than 100 yds, the Swift Scirocco's penetrate too much before expanding, or ice pick all together in .277". Hornady SSTs are my favorite "cheap" hunting bullet.
I'll try to upload some testing pictures later ... its interesting stuff

 

[fmajor]

WOW!! I cant believe the Nosler actually got that many votes! Dont get me wrong, its a.superb bullet, but isnt in the same league as the TSX.
I handload for a lot of people, and I do a lot of bullet testing. Usually, I take those square boxes you get for free at the grocery store (the ones that 4 gal.s of milk come in) and I pack them as tight as I can with old phone books, Sears catalogs, magazines, staxks of newspaper, etc. sometimes I even insert bones in there, from deer or chickens, and soak it in water for a couple hours. Pistols only require one box, but rifles need 2 - 4, depending on caliber. shooting this at 50 yds or less is a testimant to a bullet's strength, as all but the best will fragment or separate.

I used to use the Partition to deer hunt with my AR15, the 60 grainers are great... then I started testing the Barnes TSX and Tipped TSX. I have yet to see one break apart or fragment on something living. I even shot a hot load at one of my test boxes with a 20" AR from only 10 yds with a 62 gr. TSX, with a muzzle velocity of 3205 fps - and it didnt break! The petals were flattened against the body, ans retained weight was only 56 gr, but it held. I did the same thing with the 60 gr partition, and the upper half of the bullet disentegrated, and all I could find was the lower half, base of the bullet, below the "partition", badly deformed. Weight was 41 gr - nearly lost half its weight.
Also, in my rifles, the Barnes are more accurate, especially at longer ranges.. howevet the Nosler is no slouch in that department either. Nosler should ditch the lead tipped spitzer design and make a polymer tipped boat tail partition. I have tested thr TSX and T-TSX in .224" 62gr (cant find the 70's anywhere).. The 165 TSX and 168 T-TSX, in .308" from a .308, and the 168 and 180 in .300. I have some in .260 Rem and 7mm Rem Mag, but havent tested them yet.
Using my test, Nosler Ballistic Tips usually fragment if less than 100 yds, the Swift Scirocco's penetrate too much before expanding, or ice pick all together in .277". Hornady SSTs are my favorite "cheap" hunting bullet.
I'll try to upload some testing pictures later ... its interesting stuff

Damascus - thanks for such an informative post. That's a great deal of really good info there.

It seems you're testing the bullets to fail (a good thing) at high velocities determining what and how much (if anything!!!) is left.

I wonder what your results would be for the other end of the velocity spectrum - the slow end. Would the TTSX still expand as well as the Partition?

BTW, i don't have an 'iron in the fire' one way or the other. I've never tested these bullets and have no preference either way.

 

[barnesuser28]

Damascus - thanks for such an informative post. That's a great deal of really good info there.

It seems you're testing the bullets to fail (a good thing) at high velocities determining what and how much (if anything!!!) is left.

I wonder what your results would be for the other end of the velocity spectrum - the slow end. Would the TTSX still expand as well as the Partition?

BTW, i don't have an 'iron in the fire' one way or the other. I've never tested these bullets and have no preference either way.

I have tested the 280 grain LRX into wet newspaper and they expanded down to 1500 fps, i tried 1400' but the bullet exited the media and wasnt retrieved.

 

[fmajor]

I have tested the 280 grain LRX into wet newspaper and they expanded down to 1500 fps, i tried 1400' but the bullet exited the media and wasnt retrieved.

Interesting results. I wonder if your medium was the same (within reason - i'm don't want to be Cartesian...) as what Damascus used.

Further, as your sign-on name suggests, you are a Barnes user. Did you or have you seen similar tests with the Nosler Partition as you conducted with your Barnes? Perhaps your Dad has and shared his results with you?

 

[barnesuser28]

I used newspapers and phone books that were about 30% saturated. I havent done any test with other bullets yet, except a 162 grain A-Max into milk jug at about 1100 fps, no expansion, just blew the tip off. I am going to do some more testing of 280 grain LRX and start some testing on the 252 grain CE supplied from bigngreen, i will hopefully get around to also do testing on the 300 grain berger hybrid and 300 grain smk. All i will be finding the minimum expansion velocity. I am using a 338 Lapua and using trail boss for reduced loads around 1450-1700 fps depending on charge, and shooting the media at 50 yards. I have no plans to test the partition nor have i seen much testing on it. If you do some searching im sure you would find something.

I actually got my dad into rifle hunting, he, my grandpa, and my uncle did a LOT of pheasant hunting but only deer hunted locally probably every 3 years for does. When i was 4 or 5 i went pheasant hunting with him and was instantly hooked, i told him how interested i was and he applied for a buck tag and i was along when he shot his first buck, he got hooked then too!!

Riley

 

[jimbires]

I don't know why I get sucked into these threads .

this was my third and final harvest with a barnes bullet . I recovered this from a whitetail . shot distance less than 100 yds . . 7mm 160 gr TSX muzzle velocity 3100 .

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m257/jimmyboy16866/bullets/P1120190.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m257/jimmyboy16866/bullets/P1120192.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m257/jimmyboy16866/bullets/P41702002.jpg

 

[barnesuser28]

I don't know why I get sucked into these threads .

this was my third and final harvest with a barnes bullet . I recovered this from a whitetail . shot distance less than 100 yds . . 7mm 160 gr TSX muzzle velocity 3100 .

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m257/jimmyboy16866/bullets/P1120190.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m257/jimmyboy16866/bullets/P1120192.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m257/jimmyboy16866/bullets/P41702002.jpg

Not sure why you are not satisfied? The petals blew off, big deal, if anything it creates more wound channels. Did the bullet expand to the bottom of its expansion cavity? Also, i feel the ttsx and LRX are far more consistant because of the tip to initiate expansion. How far did the animal travel? So if this is bad, then why do people love Bergers terminal performance?

 

[jimbires]

your exactly right . there is nothing wrong with these bullets . I don't know what I was thinkin of .

 

[Broz]

I don't know why I get sucked into these threads .

this was my third and final harvest with a barnes bullet . I recovered this from a whitetail . shot distance less than 100 yds . . 7mm 160 gr TSX muzzle velocity 3100 .

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m257/jimmyboy16866/bullets/P1120190.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m257/jimmyboy16866/bullets/P1120192.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m257/jimmyboy16866/bullets/P41702002.jpg

Jimires, for the record those are not to my taste either. And they are nothing like a Bergers performance either.

Jeff

Here is a recovered 230 Berger just for reference.

 

[Damascus]

Damascus - thanks for such an informative post. That's a great deal of really good info there.

It seems you're testing the bullets to fail (a good thing) at high velocities determining what and how much (if anything!!!) is left.

I wonder what your results would be for the other end of the velocity spectrum - the slow end. Would the TTSX still expand as well as the Partition?

BTW, i don't have an 'iron in the fire' one way or the other. I've never tested these bullets and have no preference either way.

No problem! I've only tested the .224" bullets at close range and 100 yards. At 100, both rounds expand beautifully, with the partition having a slightly larger expanded diameter, and the TSX having about 3.5" more penetration and retained 100% of its weight (97% partition).
This weekend, I have some 70gr TSX's and 62gr TAC-X's loaded to test, if I can get enough materials toshoot at.

I also have some .308" data, fired from both .308 Win and .300 Win Mag - with much more info, one test comparing the .300 @ 450 yds using the 168 & 180gr TSX, 180 Accubond, 180 Tipped Trophy Bonded Bear Claw (factory load), and Hornady GMX 180 Superformance. I'll try and get it posted on here when I get some frew time. The TSX was the best performer there as well, with a VERY close 2nd from the 180 Tipped TBBC.