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That bullet has a hollow point the size of my pinky. It was hell on deer loaded up to Marlin 1895 pressure levels.

EdM,

Nosler does throw more hunts for gun writers than Barnes does, as does Hornady and several others companies.

However, the post you quote didn't mention any specific bullet. Instead it said "monolithic, zero-weight-loss bullets." My experiences with the Nosler E-Tip, Hornady GMX and even the discontinued Fail Safe (which wasn't a monolithic but worked the same) have been the same as with the Barnes X in all its; versions: They penetrate great, but don't kill as quickly, on average, as bullets that fragment some--whether those bullets are lead-cored or monolithic. (And yes, there are monolithics designed to fragment.) And I've written exactly that in a number of published articles.

I think, for awhile, that some people were convinced that monolithics had created a bullet nirvana. But then monolithic development continued until they work a lot more like the Partition in many respects. It's some irony when "the best" bullets out there attempt to match the performance of the ordinary gold standard of decades. But I don't think it's a bad thing.

.45-70s will do that. I shot a mulie buck at 197 yards with my Marlin .45-70 and a North Fork 350g FP. It was an in-and-out quartering away shot in several inches of fresh snow. Your analogy to a firehose is very apropos.

More often than not when there is a failure it is due to the hunter useing a particular bullet for a less than desirable application whether it be a Barnes or a Nosler.

Shot placement also needs to be taken into account and depending on which area a particular hunter is prone to aiming for will produce different results. Some areas a Partition will come out the king and other areas a barnes will get the nod! This is something that is often overlooked during some of these debates.

Shod

Do people lose more game with monolithic bullets? Or just poor shooting? You are 100% regards light blood trail wish nosler made a heavier partition in .224. 75 swift S2 don't come out of shoulders,62 TSX shoots thru but sparse blood trail.

There are so many variables, making that a hard question to answer. Size and toughness of the animal, bone vs. lung shots, caliber, velocity, distance...

I like to chest shoot Whitetails. For that application, I use C&C bullets.

I reference an Oct. 2001 issue of Petersen's Hunting Magazine and a Layne Simpson article entitled 493 Dead Deer, Which Caibers and Bullets are the Best? This article was based on a 20 yr. data collection by South Carolina outfitter, Hayward Simmons. Mr. Simmons carefully documented 493 WT kills by his clients and friends.

Bottom line, lung shot WT deer traveled an average of 26.9 yds. when shot with soft C&C bullets vs. 43.5 yds. when shot with harder, premium bullets. Shoulder shot deer mostly dropped in their tracks regardless of bullet type. Average travel distance after a shoulder shot was 2.6 yds.

Whether or not 493 kills is a statistically significant sampling, given so many variables, is uncertain. It does give a feel for where this data may be headed.

DF

Well, I haven't killed 500 deer (yet) so I'd say the results are predictive.

That said, how significant is a difference of 17 yards? Not much to me.


P

Nothing but great results since I started using them 9 years ago..I think a little thought on twist and velocity goes a long way.

My wife killed her first moose with a 243 Winchester and a 90 grain XFB. It went about 20 steps climbing out of a ice cold creek (Thank you Jesus!) and dropped dead. Took out a rib and both lungs. I don't recommend a 243 as a moose slayer, but this one worked. I'm guessing the bullet stayed inside the animal and got flushed out with the 5 gallons of blood and jellied lung tissue. It was a close range shot < 40 yards.

She also took a bull with a 150 gr TSX from her 30-06 at 2800 ft/sec. (I load them down for less recoil) This was a broadside shot at 60 yards, and the moose never took a step -- died on its way to the ground. Complete penetration.

Sample of two, I know, but I have been using the 168 gr TSX in both the 300 WinMag and the 30-06 for a number of years, and they are one shot killers with all but one deer dropping and staying down. I like them, and am looking to see what the 120 and 130 TSX's will do in my 6.5 Swede. Expecting good things.

Hey! You guys been shooting the wrong critters with the Barnes bullet. I use the .257" 80 grain TTSX for ground squirrels out of my .257 Ackley. Why would I do that? Because I live in California and hunt in the lead free condor zone, and the TTSX is the only lead free .257" bullet suitable for varmints.

Below are some of the bullets loaded into the .257 Ackley. Left to Right: Hornady 75 grain V-Max; Barnes 80 grain TTSX; Nosler 85 Grain Ballistic Tip; Sierra 90 grain HPBT. Barnes TTSX (shown loaded) is seated .050" off the lands for best accuracy over H-380. I wouldn't have any trepidation about using this bullet on deer, pig, antelope or similar sized game.



The TTSX does have some difficulty making instant kills. The squirrel below launched itself about ten feet in the air trying to fly away. When it returned to earth it didn't run far - had no legs, spine, or heart and lungs - that stuff was still drifting on the wind. Imagine my surprise when I found the TTSX's opened up on a little rat sized animal.



The TTSX is still splatting 'em at 200 yards. The furthest squirrel (yellow arrow) was one of the smallest I ever scrambled.



Little squirrel from photo above. Whole thing when alive couldn't have been much longer than 6 inches including the tail. TTSX chopped it in half, and removed the innards. If nothing else the Barnes product is accurate.



So there you have it. Barnes TTSX is a good lead free varmint bullet, and if I happen to see a deer or pig while out doing my version of squirrel-in-a-blender, I'm gonna fill my tags. I bet the venison will drop right in its tracks, but then I'm shooting from a rest with a varmint rifle - shot placement is the deciding factor.

Ground squirreling ought to be a good testing ground also for the GMX and E-tip variations on the monolithic in 25 caliber

Wrangler John,

Neat looking cartridge and great varmint pictures! Thanks for posting them.

You might want to try the Barnes Varmiint Grenades as they are a J-4 copper jacket packed with copper and tin dust. Not a shred of lead in them, and they are WAAAAYYY explosive. I use them on ground squirrels up here and I can legally use lead. Just a thought.

that would be the only TTSX sub par performance I have heard of so far.

That'd be an awesome idea if Barnes made one in 25 cal. Unfortunately they don't .

Wranglerjohn if you ever look for a more inexpensive alternative keep your eyes on Midway's item 173-755 which are blemished Hornady GMXs. They have priced them VERY reasonably (I've gotten 100 of them for the half normal retail price of 50) and over Ramshot Hunter stoked by a WLRM I am getting GREAT accuracy and speed in my 257 AI.

Great pics by the way. I love it.

LOL, typical, and not to derail but is that a twinkie or an egg dressed as a Copper in your avatar?

Gunner