Every thread on TSX's and other monolithics ends up with more than one example of a bullet entering one end of an animal and either exiting or being recovered from the other end. This is usually given as an example of their incredible penetration.
Yet I have seen this happen several times with other bullets, some that most hunters wouldn't expect to penetrate a big game animal lengthwise. Probably that one that surprises most people is the 200-grain, .338 caliber Nosler Ballistic Tip I put into the near shoulder of a bull gemsbok (a 400+ pound animal) that was almost directly facing me at about 150-175 yards. The rifle was a .338 Winchester Magnum but the bullet wasn't loaded all that hot, getting around 2900 fps at the muzzle. The bullet broke the right shoulder above the big joint, and also went through the bottom of the spine. It was recovered from under the hide on the left ham.
Have shot lengthwise through two deer, one a good-sized muley buck, with the 200-grain .30 caliber Nosler Partition from a .30-06, but have also had much smaller Partitions penetrate to the opposite end of animals. One was a 140-grain from a 7x57 that took a facing mule deer buck at the base of the throat; it was recovered from one of the hindquarters.
The other was an accidental rear-end shot on a big pronghorn buck, who happened to whirl just as I shot him with a 100-grain Partition from a .257 Roberts. The bullet broke his right hip, then went on through the body and broke his left shoulder. I found it under the hide next to the broken shoulder.
This is all fine and good, but I have shot game with Ballistic Tips that I felt were lucky to have penetrated the rib cage. In fact one of them we had to look close to see where a fragment had made it in. One a 140 gr BT shot from a 280 Remington (Broadside) and another a 150 gr BT from a 7mm MSM (steep quartering towards me). In both cases I recovered bits and pieces of bullet. None of which would have weighed much. Now I have never seen that with a TSX/TTSX. I have seen them fail to open first hand though and I've held three of those bullets in my hand. I don't like that, but I'll take the latter over the former any day. In fact, my hunting partner shot a 370 class bull elk on public land with a 140 TSX and during butchering found a C&C bullet nestled (and long since healed) against the knuckle of one of his shoulders.
I'm not a "have to use TSX's/TTSX's" person. But after using most of the others available (including boutique bullets) I keep coming back to them.
