Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Bullet report- 30 Cal 180 gr Barnes TTSX.

Last week I shot both a a mule deer buck and a cow elk with 180 TTSX put of a 300 RUM with a starting velocity of 3400fps.
Mule deer was shot at 389 yards. Bullet impacted behind the shoulder and 1/3 of the way down. Deer dropped at the shot and never recovered. Entrance hole was small with a silver dollar size exit.
Elk was shot at 60 yards. Bullet entered onside shoulder halfway up and exited offside shoulder breaking the bone. I couldn't find the entrance hole till it was quartered. Exit hole was maybe 2" in diameter. The animal made no reaction to the shot and took off on a dead run. Made it about 60 yards and keeled over dead. No blood at all on the ground for the first 30 yards, Ray Charles could have tracked it after that point. All four petals were found when butchering. Three on the on side shoulder and one in the off side.
Cant comment on damage to the vitals as the gutless method was used on both. I will say on the elk that the the amount of blood shot and mangled meat was on par with what you would see from a lead and copper bullet. There was no eating up to the hole in this case...

Used the same bullet on a bull this year, deadly in a 30 cal, will continue to be
my go to elk round.
Ho Ho Ho

I've shot several deer with both the TSX and TTSX in 180gr. .308, and usually with the TTSX's the isn't any eating to the hole. A bit more so with the TSX's. I used Partitions for a great number of years and they were better about less blood shot meat (at least for me). With the 180gr AB's it's a whole different story. The only bullet I've used on big game where the entry looked like a big exit wound.

I havent used the 180 AB, but have used the 180 BT and have never known it to be real explosive, even at RUM velocities. Its actually my go to bullet in 30 cal. Just got bored and decided to give these TTSX's a whirl.

At 3400 fps launch velocity, what did you expect?

Exactly what I got. Twasnt a complaint..

I'm hoping this parts gun 300 WSM that I'm putting together likes the 180 TTSX. First bullet I'm going to try.

I've been very pleased with this bullet and it's work on elk out of my 300 H&H, started at 3050 FPS and ranges from 150 - 410 yards.

Ben, glad you tagged-out. Were you here?

Hard to argue that any 180/30 cal at 3,400 wouldn't work on any elk!

That was my load also but with the old X bullets. Funny, everything I pointed it at died.

Yes, just south West of you.

I was there with some friends on the other side of the Madision... -20F the morning we were out. It's warmed up a bit since Thanksgiving!

It was bitter cold in the mornings and to compound things the winds were real bad too. One morning the wind according to the NSA was gusting to 75mph..

Yup. I lived in the lower end of the valley for 2 1/2 years... it's a challenging place. The ground blizzards can get a bit hairy.

Bwalker, congratulations on getting your animals! Since you mentioned it, what is the usual effect of the 180 BT, and how fast are you shooting them? Seems like a 180 mono at 3400 would be good for just about everything, everywhere, including light infantry vehicles...

I've never killed anything with the 180 TTSX, but I've taken a pile of critters with the 180 TSX out of my 300 Win Mag at 3100 fps somewhere around 2 dozen, or so.

I would expect the TSX might serve you a little better with the velocity you're at. The tip at those close ranges likely accentuates your meat destruction.

I've never experienced any issues with the TSX expanding with shots as close as 30 yards to a Vaal rhebok taken at 429 yards this past June.

I do use the TTSX on my 243 and 7mm-08 to ensure I get proper bullet expansion, but I run them really fast too to get the accuracy.

Nice job fill the freezer!!!

My load for the 180 BT clocks 3350fps. Effect? Dead and quick...And plenty tough for elk.

The meat damage was caused by the fact that I chose to shoot for bone. The cow was pretty close to a private property line and I reasoned a shoulder shot was the best way to pin bit down quick. Didn't end up working out that way, but I would do the same thing again under the same scenario.
If anything I believe Barnes could improve the TTSX by making the nose cavity a bit deeper so as to facilitate wider expansion and more tissue damage. I do believe the TTSX is superior to the TSX in every way and I have used the TSX a fair bit.
With that said any bullet is a trade off. In the case of Barnes TTSX/TSX you give up faster kills for deeper penetration. The Nosler BT is the exact opposite. Kills extremely fast bit doesn't dig as deep.
Everyone has there on preference and there is more than one way to skin a cat.

I haven't experienced the lack of quick kills with either the TSX or TTSX as some report. Many of the animals were DRT, or stumbled a few yards. Yet, like you, I push them thru the shoulders. Many of the animals I've taken are African and you need to go thru the shoulders to reach the heart and lungs. I liked the shot so well, I started using it here even for whitetails and antelope because of putting them down quickly.

I shot a whitetail buck about two weeks ago at about 225-250 yards. At the shot he turned towards me. The 120 gr TTSX from my 7-08 caught him towards the latter part of the ribs, clipped the onside lung, and hit the liver. He bolted about 75 yards, stuck his nose in the dirt, did a somersault, and never made it out of the wheat field.

Considering the poor shot, I was extremely surprised at how quickly the buck died.

I have had TSX's kill really fast and terribly slow.