Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Thoughts on bullets

Hey gang. I will be returning to Namibia in April and am planning on a different rifle and load combination than what I used last time.

I've not started load development yet but the bullets in question are the 130 TTSX, the 150g CX and the 165 Nosler Partition. The rifle is a 308 Win with a 20" barrel. The species this go around will be gemsbok, warthog, black wildebeest, and possibly a zebra. Not sure on that just yet. Than of course the possibility of jackal and baboon.

I'm very new to copper projectiles. Its my understanding that they like to be driven fast for expansion. My biggest fear is not being able to drive 150s fast enough out of the 20" barrel.

Thoughts?

130TTSX and hunt with no concern except to insure good shot placement. 👍🏼

+1


RS

I think whichever of those groups best n your rifle will be just fine.

I would use 150 CX or TTSX which you didn’t mention.
I prefer monolithics over the Partition or Accubond which you didn’t mention either.

Have taken many many plains game including eland with 270W and 130 Barnes. No problems!

150gr TSX (not TTSX) driven at 2950 fps will be complete broadside pass thru on zebra out to 200m and it makes very nice wound channels. At that weight and velocity, sighted an 1" high at 100m and you're good out to 200m without having to worry about hold over. Exception to that is since where you'll be hunting, you will likely have to factor in a bit of uphill/downhill POI correction. The plastic tip on the TTSX, according to Barnes Tech Support, is primarily two fold; to improve aerodynamics a bit and to initiate more rapid expansion. I have taken guys there that used TTSX in 308 and they did not get the same pass thrus on gemsbok and zebra as Jan and I have gotten in very similar distances. Clients still got there quarry but, mostly because they managed to damage vitals.

Jan and I have used that load in 308 a LOT and that is what he uses exclusively in his 308 with a 20" barrel with a can. Besides the very nice would channel on bigger stuff (gemsbok and up), on smaller size it won't blow huge exit holes in the hides.

As I've mentioned before here, two holes thru African plains game is desirable as African PG have a layer of something called subcutaneous membrane between the hide and the flesh. This membrane functions a bit like tire sealants in car tires in that if an animal suffers a cut, deep scratch or puncture wound from fighting or predator, it seals the wound. By double punching thru the lungs, even if you miss the vitals, the lungs will collapse much faster and more reliably with two holes vs a single hole.

Gary, I know you'll recognized this location at Jan's and he and I skinning a zebra I took there in 2010.

I'm posting this as an example of the subcutaneous membrane I described above. The membrane is the white kind of fibrous tissue closest to the meat on the legs. The yellowish colored stuff is a little bit of fat. African PG are very, very lean and IF they do generate a little fat, it is usually found around the lower part of the large intestine (caul fat) and between the subcutaneous membrane and the innermost layer of the skin/hide.

All animals have this membrane, including humans, to lessor/greater extent.

I'll just add my two cents worth. The past 12 months we have recovered 5 TTSX bullets.

My daughter shot her first pronghorn buck in its bed at 355yds. The 120gr TTSX from her 7mm- 08 passed through two lower leg bones, two lower shoulders and both sides of the ribcage. Buck just rolled over in his bed. Bullet was found expanded just under the offside hide. (I've probably recovered more bullets from pronghorn than any other critter)

In November I shot a large (body) whitetail buck as he was ducking back into the timber. The bullet caught it in the front of the shoulder and ranged forward into the neck where it found. This was a 150gr TTSX from a 308 (2900fps +).

In April I was in South Africa. I used my 300WSM with a 168gr TTSX at 3100fps. According to a Barnes employee, this bullet was the first LRX, it just wasn't labelled as a LRX.

The kudu bull was maybe 225yds and fairly steeply below me. The bullet hit high in the shoulder and ranged downward and through the vitals. The bullet was found under the hide on the off side.

The cape mountain zebra stallion was around 300yds away when the herd stopped to see what was going on. He was hit just behind the chevron. He went for a lengthy (seemed long when he didn't go down and I was questioning if I had actually hit him well) run before stumbling, falling and rolling down the mountain (luckily there was a little ledge with a rock, he stopped rolling when he hit the rock. If he rolled any further, the retrieve would have been much harder. The Hilux could get be maneuvered right up beside him.). The bullet was found under the hide on the far side.

Finally, the sable was about 270yds across the valley. When he walked out of the bush and his shoulder was exposed, i shot. He went down just like the kudu. When he was being skinned, the bullet was found just under the skin on the offside. When i shot, i believed the sable was full broadside, but when tracking the bullet path, the bullet hit towards the high rear of the right rib cage and ranged forward diagonally before being found near the left shoulder under the hide. I grilled the PH, he concurred that he thought the sable was broadside when I shot. Neither of us saw the sable turn, but he must have and I didn't see it because of recoil.

I saw the bullet recovered from the Zebra and the sable. Both were caught in the material Taco talks about.

I'm a big believer in the TSX and TTSX. 243Win 85gr TSX, 25-06Rem 115gr TSX, 6.5CM 127gr LRX, 7mm-08Rem 120gr TTSX, 308Win 150gr TTSX, 300WSM 168gr TTSX, 375H&H 270gr LRX. In the 338WinMag I used a 230gr Failsafe which functions pretty much like a TSX.

Having a hard time figuring out the shot your daughter made. Bullet passed through two lower leg bones, two lower shoulder's and both sides of the rib cage?

Slow copper monolithic bullets are not ideal, but not a large issue under 200ish yards. The 165 partition is a lovely .308 bullet.

I'm getting just over 3,100 fps with the 130 TTSX, a stiff charge of TAC, and magnum primers in a 20" 308.

I also took a small-ish hog at 50 yards with a 150 TSX, a stiff charge of CFE-223, and magnum primers in a 22" 308. No issues with bullet performance. That load does right at 2,800 fps in that rifle. Impact velocity was just under 2,600 fps.


Okie John