Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Two Tipped TSX's recovered in a row

While most hunters on the Campfire don't recover many TSX's, we've recovered a fair collection over the years--including the last two Eileen fired into big game with her NULA .257 Roberts. The first was the cow elk she got in early September, which was quartering away at 123 yards. The bullet hit the middle of the ribs on the right side, and since the elk was slanting slightly uphill as well, it hit the very bottom of the spinal column before ending up under the hide just in front of the left shoulder. Retained weight was 78.6 grains, with three of the four petals missing. The elk dropped right there, no doubt due to the "tap" of the spine, but the bullet going through both lungs was the fatal wound.

This afternoon we butchered the doe pronghorn taken by Eileen last week. It stood almost directly facing her at 163 yards, and the bullet landed just inside the left shoulder. We found it today just inside the meat of the front side of the right ham. This one had all its petals and weighed 99.4 grains. No doubt the "missing" .6 grain was the plastic tip.

Funny you post this John. I have not hunted much with any x bullet I have only shot two deer with them. Recovered the bullet on both deer. Both with 130 grain tax out of a 6.5x284

It didn't happen without a picture.

I got three of 'em laying around here somewhere.




Travis

The dreaded broken petal and all the long one was 750 yards on a mule deer the short one was at about 20 yards frontal shot also a mule deer.

How far did they run? Not a tremendous amount of difference in those two..

Mike

THEY ARE FAILING!!! YOU HAVE TO GET COMPLETE PENETRATION!!!


Find another bullet and henceforth trash TTSX on the internet every chance you get...

First one went down hill about 100-150 yards and piled up, second one dropped on the spot.

heavywalker,

Yeah, a lot of people make a big deal out of TSX's losing petals, but I haven't noticed it making any difference. One shot a pre-TSX Barnes into the shoulder of a big axis deer and it lost ALL its petals, but the buck ran 38 yards and keeled over anyway. The bullet was a 120 6.5 and the petal-less front end had bulged to .41 inch in diameter, which apparently didn't do the deer any good at all.

It was found under the hide at the rear edge of the ribcage on the other side. In fact it was one of those found before skinning; when I saw it hadn't exited I felt in the area where it might be and located the lump.

The heaviest X-bullet I've recovered was a 168 TSX from a .300 Winchester Magnum that hit a big Sonora mule deer just in front of the left hip as it was running away at about 200 yards. Found it under the hide on the front of the chest, weighing 168 grains.

I do think it is funny how big of a deal people make over the broken petals, hence the dreaded petal remark. Both bullets performed just fine IMO. I was surprised to find them both after all the talk about way over penetration.

750 yards is pushing the limits of what that bullet should be used for in that cartridge. Wouldn't be my first choice for shots that long that is for sure

I'm impressed with how little real difference there is for such a drastic difference in impact velocity.

Mike

Actually, Randy Brooks was also surprised at the big deal people made about broken petals after the original X was out a while, partly because there's some evidence broken-off petals help the bullet do more damage. in fact there are some monolithics designed so the petals break off, such as the Cutting Edge Raptor, and they work very well on game.

But since "the customer is always right," Randy tweaked the design to give people what they wanted. TSX's still lose petals now and then, especially when they hit bone, but so what?

Its just the "old school" thinking that in order to be a "good bullet", it must stay intact. The Barnes are going to perform differently because they are a mono. The learning curve can be long.

I have never recovered a bullet, but I have shot 6 deer with the TSX. One of the better bullets IMHO. They shoot very well in my 338 Federal. I will continue to use them. In my 9.3X62 the TSX also works well. As we march towards no lead, it is something I look at..

Exactly!

I've found several TSXs in the last few critters....all large bull moose

375 h&h x 300 gr @100+ broadside double lung.
9.3x62 x 250 gr @ 380 broadside double lung.
2 ea 300wsm x 180 gr broadside neck shot.....toughest spot on a moose.
1 ea 300 wsm x 180 frontal neck downhill....hit heart

None lost petals and no double digit weight loss.

There is some irony, I think, in the apparent detail that the TT versions of the X seem to be coming back around to what the old XFB was designed to do - and generally worked well doing. There seemed to be great resistance to them, yet as soon as they were shooting well everyone forgot about the complaints of penciling and/or lost petals. The TSX actually seemed to be worse overall in terms of terminal performance (owing to the fact that the generally tighter expansion of the petals meant less chance of losing petals while creating more of a penciling effect). The TT versions seem to resolve much of the expansion problem that hard alloy bullets seem prone toward. The best-looking expansions I've seen recovered have nearly always also had some missing copper - and no complaints on their killing quickly either. Non-expansion has always been the worst problem I've experienced. (Even the old 2 in < 1 MOA and 3 in 2 MOA were never a problem for me when it came to bringing meat home.)

John,

Have you and Eileen switched over to the TTSX exclusively or do you still shoot both versions?

Elk Country

This is a 180 gr TTSX from my .300 WSM that I found laying against the skin on the offside of a bull elk after a broadside double lung shot.





donsm70

I think I'd shoot for bone with an X of any kind!

Shed that big front end and push on through.

Mike