Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Question for John Barsness on the TSX

For me, shooting something in the azz isnt a option.

It is when an animal is hard-hit and heading for the thick stuff...

Exactly, and moments such as this require a bullet that offers uncompromising penetration -- you know, like the TSX.......

I agree hence I use Nosler AB or BT's, Sierra GK's or Hornady IL's for deer.....

I actually had something like this happen once. I shoot a Brooks range Dall Sheep just a hair to fair back( but in front of diaphragm) with a 7mm Weatherby. The animal quickly turned and strarted to do the 100 yard dash. not knowing how good I hit it the first time I pumped another bullet into it and it dropped like a stone. This was courtesy of a 139gr Hornady factory load.

For me, shooting something in the azz isnt a option.

A TSX would have done the job with the first shot. You gave a perfect example of inadequate penetration with the first shot, a common failing of cup and core bullets

Actually what I have suggested is that the size of the hole created by any bullet is the major criteria of "killing power." This is the consensus of so-called forensic ballisticians, and from what I have seen it's true.

This doesn't mean, however, that there will always be a direct correlation between the size of the hole in the vitals and how quickly an animal goes down. But on average it works that way.

TSX's create longer but narrower holes than many other bullets. This is simple physics. Bullets that expand quickly and lose some weight make bigger holes, and on broadside shots these bigger holes are in the vitals.

The two ways to make TSX's create bigger holes are more velocity or bigger diameter. Of course we can combine the two as well, but in general most of us do not like to shoot 250-grain bullets at 3300 fps. Yet I have still seen animals hit with really fast TSX's and pretty fat TSX's go a ways. This is just the nature of super deep-penetrating bullets.

The latest was a buck pronghorn I shot two days ago at around 250 yards with a .257 Weatherby, the bullet the 100 TSX started at over 3500 fps. The bullet went through both lungs, about halfway up the body, but the buck went 150 yards before keeling over. The damage was certainly sufficient to kill surely, but....

From looking at the high speed photos, it appears there is a sort of shock wave surrounding the bullet.

It's called cavitation and virtually all bullets do it. The size of the cavitation is dependent upon velocity primarily and non-laminar flow around the nose of the bullet begins it.

The wound channel appears to be much larger than the bullet, so it sounds logical, to me at least, that there is a shock wave or wave of some type making a much larger wound channel than the bullet alone.

Also, when the bullet exits, there appears to be a vacuum or something created that is pulling soft tissue or blood out of the animal. I have shot deer, broad sided, and there would be a stream of blood and tissue at least 15 feet long from where the bullet exited, in appearence like it was squirted from a water hose. This usually happened when a bone, such as a rib was struck, and there was a large exit hole.

The ejecta follows the bullet and the size/shape of the "red fan" is dependent upon the exit hole dynaics and velocity. Bone fragments can make it bigger.

I suppose the 3 or 4 inch diameter wound channel could be caused by the hydrolic pressure of the soft tissue and blood expanding to cause the larger wound channel.

When a bullet hits a liquid filled container, there is pressure built up from the compression of the liquid.

Miles, is that some of this invisible lead particles I see in the test media??

Because the water cannot compress and it has to absorb the energy when the bullet hit it will in large part change states from liquid water to water vapor. The energy transfer results in a lot of heat.

I dont have to look at anything because the figures are all there.

No, you don't, but then you won't learn that the Nosler BT and the Nosler FS had the smallest diameter wound channels and the Partition and the TSX had the biggest.


Look at the cavity volumes. The TSX was second behind the Failsafe for smallest cavity.

Wrong. Both diameter and volume are larger than the BT. or can't you read a ruler?

And have seen like tests that all say the same thing.
As for particles. When I mentioned shrapnel effect and was jumped on by yourself I was not discriminating between lead and copper. With a lead and copper bullet particles are generated during the initial phases of expansion and this does effect wounding. That was my point, pure and simple.

Show me in those photos the first evidence of shrapnel effect. Show me. The lead is collected within the cavitation channel Where are the secondary channels from the shrapnel?

Also, its for this reason that the Nosler partition is so effective. The front part of the bullet essentially disintegrates and the back half is left to penetrate on with a greatly reduced frontal area and resulting resistance. Massive wound channel and penetration in one bullet.