Utah cow and Barnes TSX

[derfssor]

Not to be an *** but the elk died, right. The bullet performed and did what it was suppose to do. I have found that using barnes bullets, shooting for high sholder or bone works better than heart shots. These are tuff bullets and need bone to work the best. I find it amazing that if an animal does not DRT, people feel that the bullet did not work correctly. "HOG WASH'

 

[memtb]

The "only" animal that my wife has taken with her .338 WM and the 225 Barnes' bullets that she has used since the mid '90's.....that showed no sign of a hit and required tracking ( allbeit the tracking was only about 40 to 50 yards) was a heart shot Antelope! No immediate blood trail, and then only minimal. With only about 6 to 8 inches of Antelope contacted...I suspect that expansion was minimal! memtb

 

[Hunterjones]

I have had the .30 Cal 168 TTSX work well on Antelope up to bull elk from under 50 to over 300 yards in MV's from 2700 FPS to 3200 FPS. Everything from neck shots
to broadside body shots to Texas heart shot on one bull that was not quite dead yet. Myself and my acquaintances who shoot Barnes TTSX have not had any issues with killing and finding big game with these bullets…….AND minimal meat damage

 

[WapitiBob]

High shoulder and spine with a Barnes = off switch

 

[Glenn Tullius]

Use the TTSX. My last bull was 374 yards, with my 300 RUM, and 180's, that blew the bottom half of the heart off. He took 5 steps and fell over. My chrono speed is 3250. The faster it went, the better it shot.
WapitiBob's comments are dead on right. No pun intended.

 

[justin1134]

Was successful on a cow elk last week. It was a chip shot for most of you at 190 yards with a 308 shooting 165 grain Barnes tsx bullets. I'm a little disappointed to say the least. First shot I thought was perfect and blow out the shoulder on the exit side. The animal didn't flinch but only had 3 legs left with the front should blown out when the bullet exited the body. It turned towards me and I put it in the front of the chest. 2 good hits and the cow was still standing for a couple minutes and went down.

When I butchered the animal I found the heart had been hit 2 times. Once from the side and the second was when I hit it standing straight looking at me. Only damage was pencil size holes with zero "damage" from impact. I was not able to recover the 2nd bullet to see if it opened at all.

I was not impressed with the Barnes performance at all. I hunt in CA so I have to use nonlead. The only other animals I have taken with these bullets are pigs and they have always been head shots and went down instantly. I want to start loading Hammers and hope they help next season when I am back chasing elk and deer in the mountains.

That blows my mind. I've only shot one animal, a whitetail deer, with a 308 tsx and I got expansion from the bullet. The animal was quartering toward me, maybe the extra meat to go through had something to do with it. I'm surprised it didn't open up on the shot to the chest.

I've had really good luck with the Hornady gmx bullets for expansion, maybe you could try them out next season.

 

[DJ Morrison]

I have shot everything with either a barnes TSX, TTSX and LRX. Even back to the old Xbullets that were blue colored. Never lost a deer, antelope, elk, moose, bear, wolf and brown bear. Everything has always been 1 shot, except b. bear and guide said shoot till down, It went 9 yards...Recovered a few bullets, but not many. Recovered a 225 ttsx on a mountain goat shot at 565 yards from behind the rib cage to the far shoulder. Nice mushroom, and minimal weight loss. Accurate and deadly from 243 up to 375 h&h. The surprising one to me was the wolf shot at 400 yds thru the ribs with probably an inch wide exit hole... wolf was only 90 lbs. that was done with a 338 WM and 225 ttsx. so no complaints from me...

 

[KSB209]

Not to be an *** but the elk died, right. The bullet performed and did what it was suppose to do. I have found that using barnes bullets, shooting for high sholder or bone works better than heart shots. These are tuff bullets and need bone to work the best. I find it amazing that if an animal does not DRT, people feel that the bullet did not work correctly. "HOG WASH'

I totally understand what you are saying I was just disappointed that it did not do more damage. Heck….maybe my expectations were too high. You are correct the elk is dead and I have meat in the freezer so the bullet did work. It's just when you see some bullets make scrambled eggs out of hearts and lungs I (incorrectly) assumed the Barnes would do something semi similar. I guess I was wrong (and will own that).

 

[James DeTorre]

Big worry, have lots of TSX loaded for 300 WM . Have bucket list mule deer trip coming up and time and money to get things right well in advance.
load for CA 300 WM ? Have good supply of powders( no H1000) primers and brass. Old school is taking my heart to bonded core . What you all think for MD?

 

[PA Plumber]

1st post here, so hope this pic shows up...
Here's a 5 point rag horn from this past November.
120 yard shot. Barnes 139 LRX. 280 Rem.
Didn't have time to look for the bullet, but no exit hole that I noticed when trying to clean it up in the dark.
Bull never took a step. Just hunched a little and tipped over after about 3 seconds.

 

[mnoland30]

I'm surprised at your result. I've shot 4 aoudads with 120 gr. 7mm out of a 7-30 Waters (2400 fps muzzle vel.) All died on the spot. I've shot elk with the old blue 160 gr. X bullets out of a 7mm RM at 300 yards, and it couln't get up from its bed. I've shot 3 oryx with 160 gr. bullets with the 7mm RM. All died on the spot. My first bull was with a 140 gr. Barnes X at about 250. It ran 35 yards. Bullet didn't exit. I switched to Barnes because my butcher put the bullets she recovered on a tray on the counter. Every Barnes bullet was expanded just like the pictures in their adds. Once I switched to the 160 gr. bullets, I never recovered a bullet. I've shot elk in the heart with a 400 gr. .45 cal. muzzleloader and watched them run 100 yards. I'm a big believer in a Sectional Density of .280 or better. For elk, I'd be using at least a 180 gr. bullet in a .30 caliber. If you wan't DRT on elk, try Berger bullets.

 

[8x68s]

might your expected performance improve if you opened up the tips with a tool? would be more like the Hammers (sorry, forget which model).

 

[Dean2]

I totally understand what you are saying I was just disappointed that it did not do more damage. Heck….maybe my expectations were too high. You are correct the elk is dead and I have meat in the freezer so the bullet did work. It's just when you see some bullets make scrambled eggs out of hearts and lungs I (incorrectly) assumed the Barnes would do something semi similar. I guess I was wrong (and will own that).

The bullets that do massive internal damage do it becasue they grenade on impact and shed a ton of weight. Many never exit. If you get enough penetration that is a pretty good outcome, though you may lose a lot of meat. Barnes on the other hand is designed to retain nearly 100% of its weight, expand and penetrate no matter what it has to go through. Heavy bone may deflect it but it won't stop it.

There are endless combinations in between. The vaunted Nosler partition was designed to accommodate both, the front expanded quickly and often separates while the base stays together and penetrates. Picking the right bullet for the job is the Key. You don't need a bullet near as tough as a Barnes to shoot small deer and the like where penetration isn't a problem. Where you need penetration, Hogs, Cape Buffalo, shooting Elk and moose in the shoulder, the Barnes is a good choice.

Bulet makers have been trying for the perfect combination of expansion, high speed to create Hydrostatic shock, and penetration, for decades. There is no perfect bullet for every situation, the user must pick what the most likely use case and scenarios are. A Barnes Varmint Grenda is a great round for gophers, yotes and the like, will kill deer but not the optimal choice. It is simply a matter of recognizing that you got the result intended by the bullet maker, even if you think it should be something else.

 

[dogz]

I'd be all over the 130 TTSX and or the 150 TTSX. Keep if you use a bullet long enough (any of them) will sooner or later do something that makes you go hmm........wreck the lungs and they're toast. Zero reason to shoot for the shoulders and muck up all that good meat!