Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Barnes 150gr ttsx out of a 308 win anyone with actuall expierance?

I shot a Raghorn bull one year with the 308 and 150 TSX's. Muzzle velocity was 2850fps.He was about 80 yards away, slightly quartering away. I found the bullet under the skin on the off side. It entered behind the shoulder and exited through the off side shoulder going through the bottom of the shoulder blade. It weighed 130 grains and was missing 2 petals.

Not a ttsx but the hornady gmx, which is their version of the tipped mono copper bullet.

savage 99 308, 150gr gmx, H4895, mv 2650, cow elk 150 ish, drt.

I did it to prove a magnum isn't necessary on elk.

Also had a hunter shoot a spike with a 150 ttsx out of a 3006 with factory ammo... heart shot at 300 yds, wobbled around and fell over promptly.

Kent

Of course I can easily take out a cow @ 150 yds with my 22/250 does that prove that the .308 isn't necessary on elk...?

Dober

And the same year of those two examples (2010) I was involved in 8 archery bull kills.

So no, even a 22/250 isn't necessary.

Kent

308 Win 2800 fps 150TTSX. Shot was ~100 yds almost directly facing with the cow standing at a down-hill angle. Aimed at the base of the neck/chest junction. She was on the gound before I could work the bolt. Bullet excited so I don't can't say what it looked liked but it 'worked' in this instance.

Nice example for the OP.

Anyway, since this has turned to a bullet failure thread. I thought the bullet pictured was a TSX from a couple years ago. If I'm thinking right, then has anyone had a TTSX fail to open with the plastic tip pushing inward?

Kent

There certainly is a lot of �speculation� by posters here which is why I only post if I have a question or first-hand experience. I�m pretty sure Brad�s bullet was a TTSX.

I shoot all makes of bullets and do not claim to have near the experience of some here. I do know that faced to choose a type of failure on a large animal, I would prefer a failure to expand and still have good penetration vs a blow-up and little penetration. Two holes also makes for easier tracking if necessary.

A hunter really needs to consider the shot presentation he is willing to take or pass when choosing a bullet. I knew on this hunt that shots would probably be close and fast in the timber, likely involving bone and some tough angles. Honestly, I was also packing loads with 150g BTSP as a softer bullet if I did get a longer broadside opportunity. Both loads shoot to the same POI which is nice.

TTSX.

Thanks for the clarification... if we had a better search engine I probably could have figured it out myself.

Does put a fly in the ointment of the TTSX/GMX equation.

Kent

Brad's is the only TTSX failure that I'm aware of. The much worshiped Nosler Partition has had a failure or two along the way, as well. Even the best bullets are not impervious to failure.

Again thank you for all of the replies. Living in the East there is really no need for anything other than the standard cup and core bullets for deer and varmits, so it is nice to hear from guys that have used other kinds of bullets.

Jordan, I'm aware of dozens of TSX failures, but agree I've not heard of many (if any) TTSX failures. Will say, one thing I don't like about these expensive bullets is their small velocity-expansion window.

As to the Partition, I've never actually seen or heard of a failure, other than one gunwriter who used a 150 NP from a 300 WBY and wasn't happy when it came apart. Doh.

NP's have been used 100-fold time more than the expanding mono's and there are far more problems with the mono's. I think anyone can see that if they've been paying attention.

But your point about the TTSX's is heard loud and clear.

But that doesn't change the shabby results I had.

The PT is definitely a reliable bullet. There's no arguing about that. I've only ever seen 1 that came completely unglued. And I fully recognize and give credit to your TTSX failure. All I'm saying is that while the TSX seems to have several documented cases of failing to expand sufficiently, the TTSX is a completely different bullet, and the documented cases of failure are limited to 1, AFAIK, so it seems like Barnes has improved upon the reliability problem significantly with this rendition of the X bullet design.

I'm not sure that failure to expand is a significant problem associated with the tipped monos, anymore. You've seen 1 TTSX failure, and I've seen 1 PT failure. Neither case means that said bullet is a bad one, nor that it's not generally reliable or worth using.

Have a good one, Brad.

About 4 years go I shot a nice interior grizzly with a .300 win mag and 200gr. TSX's. About 150 yards away and hit him just a bit behind the shoulder. Bear rolled out of sight and it took about 10 minutes to get where he was shot. No blood hair anything. Slowly made my way down the hill and hear some "popping" sounds in the brush to my left. Here was the bear walking slowly up hill and very much alive. Two more shots through the brush into his chest, and the bear turned and faced me. My last shot hit him at the base of the neck and that was it... rolled over dead. That shot exited his hump and blew a piece of spine out with a 2" exit hole. When skinning the bear There were very small holes right through his lungs. No mushed up stuff just almost perfect little holes. The shot that hit his neck/spine was a different story massive damage. We even had to look really hard to find the small exit holes on the shots through his lungs. he had about 4-6" of meat and fat on his ribs that the bullets went through with little damage.
Now I will conceede that I should have busted him in the shoulder, but had any of those hits been with a 200 gr. partition the lungs would have been soup and it would have been over. Everyone jumped on me with all four feet when I felt the bullets pencilled through, but they sure as hell did. Anyway I still use Barnes bullets and have killed three elk with the TSX and the TTSX but have swithched to lighter bullets and try to shoot for "bone"
Though if I go after another bear with the .300, it will be loaded with 200gr partitions.

Lefty C

I could be wrong Lefty but b4 you went wasn't there a discussion on the Fire about maybe the 200 TSX wasn't the best bullet to be taking?

Thx
Dober

Dober,

Can't remember. plenty of discussion after though. like said though I still use and like Barnes bullets...but like partitions also. Used a lot of sierra Game kings to kill a bunch of stuff before I learned they wouldn't work.

Lefty

Here is an animal taken with a TSX out of a 308 win.. No failure here.



Here is another TSX failure....

I hate it when Brad posts that picture and gives the details......here I sit with a 257 ROY that shoots 100 gr TSX's at 3620 fps and puts em into .5" wondering.......grin

Quite happy with my TTSX (185gn .338) experience thus far. 6 bullets through critters and they all resulted in dead critters. All were pass throughs, including one that went diagonal through a lot of elk. I'll admit I was surprised at how small the exit hole was on that one. Blood trails were quite good though, no tracking required, and they are the most accurate bullet I've tried. Next up is a 160gn TTSX at ~3020FPS. Ought to be reasonably similar to a 150 out of a .30 cal.

I've been playing with the TSX bullets, 100 gr. in .257 Robt., 120 and 140 gr. in 7x57 and .280 Rem. but so far have only killed paper with them. haven't found a load that makes me and my rifle happy, at least not yet. Onr the other hand, I have taken two cow elk with the 225 gr. TSX bullet and both were one shot kills down DRT. The first eas at 150 yards as the elk was quartering to the left. Bullet hit just behind the short ribs and exited between the neck and right shoulder. Cow elk dropped on the spot. Elk number was on Jan. 13 this year. Shot was about 325-350 yards andd the TSX broke her neck right at the base of the skull. Luckist shot I ever made and I'll state why. I was aiming for a heart lung shot and I called it right on when I squeezed the trigger. We were puzzled that we couldn't finf a hole in the chest and it wasn't until we got to the meat packers that we discovered where my bullet hit. THis did bother me and when I got home after the hunt, I took the rifle to the range a couple of days later and the scope was way off. I made adjustments and the group was about 6".
This is a rifle that shoots sub-MOA on a very regular basis. I had a box of Remington factory 200 gr. loads that I wanted to shoot up anyway so went to the range again but with a differencr scope on the gun. After getting it on paper and properly sighted in, I shot the last 5 rounds for group and got a 1.25" group. Not too shabby as that rifle does not loke that load.
So yes, I got my elk and it was the luckiest shot I've ever made on game. I don't often name my rifles but that one has earned the name, "Elkslayer."
Paul B.