Originally Posted by Model70Guy
Originally Posted by buffybr
Originally Posted by Klikitarik
Buying the extra "T" is never a bad thing. Just as with powders, you're getting the "extreme" line of bullets which produce more consistent results and less sensitivity to temperature and speed. laugh Not surprisingly, the TTSX emulates the Partition in many cases by shedding a portion from its front. Bullets which open very consistently, yet penetrate deeply - even after the loss of the initial 'bloom' and at the expense of some mass, have a very long track record for reliability. Those who hunt in warmer climes may not notice these advantages as much.

Of the 15 or so animals that I've shot with 168 grain TTSX bullets, I've only recovered these three. The other bullets either completely shot through the animals, or I didn't make the effort to recover them.
[Linked Image]
I think that the one grain weight loss on the two bullets on the right was only the loss of the plastic tip.

These 180 grain Nosler Partition bullets that I recovered from elk each expanded back to the partitions and lost about 40% of their original weight.
[Linked Image]



I'm trying to think of a single 168 grainer from a .300 that I recovered that didn't shed its petals. Most exited, but I can think of at least 3 lengthwise shots that I found. One on a moose, one on a musk-ox and the last from a whitetail. I don't necessarily think its even a bad thing, its just what I saw.

I've had a .338 shed 3 out of 4 petals, one .375 lose a single petal (It hit sideways so could be an anomaly) and none from .416 or .458 bullets. With 7mm and down bullets I've yet to recover a single example.

What I have found is I'm farther ahead to look at the wounds and the animals reaction, and leave the weight retention, appearance and measurements and what letter of the alphabet they resemble to the guys that write advertisements.



That makes sense on the 168s. They're constructed differently. They don't test then above 2700 fps. They open all the way down to 1500 fps. When Barnes told me that, I went with the 165 over the 168 for my 30/06.