Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting 243 win....95 NBT or 80-85 TSX?

Seems like the more ya read on the net the more you realize that opinions are like A-holes. Looking for some first hand input from people having used the above bullets. I'm familiar with the NBT and like it's performance. The pass through ability of the Barnes appeals to me. Worth trying the TSX?

PS: I have no intention of shooting a deer up the dark star so don't start that line of thinking.

I tried a couple of 85-grain TSXs on hogs in my .243 right after they came out. I got a little under 3,200 fps from the 20-inch barrel of my Ruger 77 RSI. The first hog was shot at about 60 yds and the bullet went through the upper part of the neck, severed the spine and exited. The hog dressed out at a little over 100 lbs as best I remember.

The second hog was shot at probably 140-150 yds and the bullet broke both front shoulders, but did not make it through the hide on the far side. We didn't weigh it but estimated its live weight to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 175-200 lbs. It was still alive and trying to get up when we approached it, and I shot it in the head with my .357 mag to put it out.

I don't think that I could tell any difference in terminal performance between the 85 TSX and the 95 Partitions that I had been shooting. The Partitions grouped better in my rifle, going a little over an inch at 100 yds while the best I could do with the TSXs was right around two inches.

The 95 grain Ballistic Tips work so well for me I haven't tried anything else.

I hear that! I very much enjoy the NBT's performance but read so much about the TSX's performance too. Hoping to run into someone with experience using both.

I should have mentioned that we switched from 95-grain BTs to Partitions after finding that they worked better on big mule deer. The performance of BTs on a couple of nice mule deer was the primary reason my younger daughter abandoned her beloved .243 and traded me out of a 7mm-08.

I shoot a lot of 95 grain BTs and Partitions in my 243s because I can shoot the less expensive BTs at paper and varmint, while saving the more expensive Partitions for deer and antelope. I probably shoot them in a 5-to-1 ratio of BTs to Partitions in the 2 of the 3 243s that I am currently reloading for and they shoot to approximately the same POA.

The other 243 is a sporterized Mexican Mauser that was probably built in the early 1960s and it has a 1-14" ROT barrel that has a steep decline in accuracy with C&C bullets weighing more than 90 grains, so I'm shooting the 87 grain Hornady VMax and 95 grain Sierra HPBT in it.

Jeff

I only have four 243s left, but they all shoot TSX or TTSX bullets. Penetration is always outstanding. They tear up what's n the middle nicely. The problem if you want to fault them is that running one through a deer's chest at speed usually disconnects everything and drops blood pressure to zero instantly. When that happens blood trails don't necessarly start right away and they may not be great even when you get two holes every time. I have the same problem with 50 caliber MLs, 300 WMs and 30-06s, so, that's life with Barnes bullets. They seem in my experience to penetrate much straighter than cup and core bullets. When you aim to put t through the heart from any angle they are the most likely to get there of any bullet I have ever used.

mine likes the TSX enough that I haven't tried another for deer-class animals. I will look for a good light-bullet load to work groundhogs over with.

Have tried all three on nebraska whitetails and they all worked good. Stayed with the nosler it shot better.

.243 WSSM velocities and a mule deer buck seemed to push the 95 BT performance envelope a little too much for me. Used them plenty on smaller Texas whitetails and a few Nebraska whitetail does with no problems. Doubt you'll have issues at .243 Win velocity on Maryland deer with the 95 BT. But, you know your deer better than I do, if you want the added assurance of more penetration at the expense of a little longer blood trail, but get to pick up some impact speed, go for the 80 TTSX.

Sounds logical. Thanks for everyone's input. I'm gonna stick with my 95 NBT.

Try the Sierra 70 grain hollow points. Those are scary accurate and the prairie dogs hate them.

I've killed with both the 95gr NBT and the 85gr TSX. I have not noticed any great advantage in penetration with the Barnes and have recovered two from deer in fact. There is a difference in the distance traveled after the shot though. The NBT is almost always a flop, and over half have ran with the Barnes.

I will keep them in mind, thanks for the suggestion. I have had more than good luck with Sierra products in other calibers, so I might just give these a whirl.

I cant speak to the Nosler but the 85TSX and before that XLC accounted for quite a few deer for my brother out of his 700 Mountain Rifle .243 out to I belive 350 was the farthest. Bang flop is the usual result, I could not believe when a deer he had hit previously, he shot a raking shot entering the hind quarter and exiting the chest. That was the only deer that took another shot all the others I have seen usually drop DRT.

I have shot all my deer with a .30-06, 7mm RM and .300 Win (1) and seen one shot with a .300 RUM and the deer don't die any quicker with those much larger cals. My late grandfather killed a huge 190 class 6x5 Muley with a .243 Winchester Savage 99. The .243 will do the job, no doubt about it.

I have had very good luck with Hornady 80gr GMX I am very happy with them on deer.

Have a you tried any in your rifle yet? If so did one shine above the rest, accuracy wise? Any of the three will kill schitt without hesitation. I would say the TSX/TTSX are a much tougher bullet. But they're also two completely different designs. If you like a good exit hole Barnes all the way. If you prefer jello like innards then the Nosler is it.

I've only shot one doe so far with a 95BT but it was a high shoulder/lower neck shot so I don't really count. She was dead before the blast was over.

Here is a report on TSX type bullets by John Barsness.

"To everybody who has shared their experiences with TSX's, thanks very much. Most of the time they will kill deer-sized game very well, especially in larger diameters like 7mm and .30. I was specificaly addressing my experience with the .25 caliber 100-grain TSX--which is considerable, both in the .257 Roberts and .257 Weatherby.

I have seen it do very well, in fact once saw it drop a 3x3 mule deer buck right now with a high lung shot at about 150 yards. But I have also seen some animals not drop so fast with similar shot placement.

The reason for our "disagreements" probably lies in the fact that I have seen a whole lot of game taken with TSX's. Most of the time they kill very well, but sometimes they do not, and when they don't the animal is likely to go a ways, in my experience further than with any other type of bullet.

I have been pacing off how far animals have gone after a solid double-lung hit for many years. Animals hit with Barnes X's (whether the old-style or TSX), Fail Safes, E-Tips or whatever "petal" type bullet have gone an average of just over 50 yards. Those hit with bullets that expand wider, or lose some weight, haven't gone as far.
The bullet that had dropped animals the quickest with lung shots has been the Berger VLD, at around 20 yards. Those averages include lung hits that drop animals instantly--and the highest percentage of instant drops also goes to the VLD, a bullet that normally comes completely apart, but only after penetrating a couple of inches.

I am primarily a meat hunter and do not deliberately aim for the shoulder/spine unless there is some real reason to drop it right there. But I have used that shot on a bunch of animals, and it doesn't take a TSX or other super-bullet to do the trick. I've done it with a bunch of bullets, including such "ordinary" bullets as the Hornady Interlock to the round-nosed Remington Core-Lokt.

All I am doing here is relate my experiences with various bullets. I've seen around 150 animals taken with TSX's, and my statements that it sometimes doesn't kill as quickly as wider-expanding lead cores are based on that experience.

If you are a TSX true believer, who's convinced that exit holes in the hide somehow kill quicker than massive destruction of the lungs, then you are also welcome to your opinion. You're also welcome to shoot shoulder-shoot all the deer you want. But I happen to disagree on both counts, and my disagreement is based on quite a bit of experience.

Please note that I NEVER said TSX's are bad bullets, anwyhere in this thread. They are very fine bullets, and paricularly good for certain jobs, especially on really big game. But I have not found them ideal on deer."

I've killed a pile of deer using my .243 & 95gr BT's. This is not an opinion, it's a fact..