Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Shooting the lightweight TTSX or TSX.... Any real advantages in the field?

In our little world where physics reminds us constantly that nothing is free and the Law of Diminishing Returns is a forever constant, I'm asking a question: Are there any real advantages in a 120gr TTSX vs 140/150 in a 7mm whatever, or the 130 vs 150/165 in a .30 caliber whatever. You get he picture. Nothing is free, is there anything gained? Of course there is speed, but as we know, speed in itself doesn't kill. I would appreciate input from those of you that have put this to the test. I am speaking of solid bullets only, long for their weight. BC's and SD's being better vs typical cup/core bullets.

You can't push a Barnes too fast, and deer sized critters are more impressed with speed. Little bullets going fast, put in the right spot impress them.

Agreed. The mono's need the extra speed to maximize damage. I've shot deer with light and heavies from Barnes and choose now to go light. Penetration isn't an issue with the mono's on a deer at any sane range.

What kind of game are you talking about? Small big game like deer/lopes/black bears. Either will do you just fine.

Large big game like elk and I'm gonna gravitate towards the heaviers as I'm fond of 2 holes in game and have found the heaviers to give that more consistently.

Just my way

Dober

I've never killed an elk! I let you of those in the know address the big stuff!

I haven't seen any difference between the .284 120 TSX and a .264 120 TTSX. 2 exploded hearts. Was kinda pissed on the second one because I wanted to eat it......

1. Lower recoil - which makes for better accuracy for almost every hunter.

2. Greater speed, which translates to a little flatter trajectory at most hunting distances.

3. Faster performs better. I know the heavies often pass the lightweights if you shoot them far enough, but you asked for a discussion of solids, and TTSX/GMX/etc. open best the faster they fly. At the distances most hunters can make responsible shots on game, the lighter bullets are flying faster.

DJ

Yes, I am referring to small big game as Dober mentioned. I appreciate the response. I'm very intrigued by the performance "offered" by rounds like the .250 and 7/08 while pushing the little pills. I love the smaller more efficient rounds and they seemingly do the same work usually handled by the long-action stuff, 25-06, .280, 30-06, etc. Very interesting.

I'm a 7RM guy when the mail absolutely has to be delivered. That 162 SST at 3025fps seems to impress. BUT... That 7/08 pushing the 120 TTSX at the same velocity while still having great numbers in SD and BC is really creating an itch I need to scratch..

A 165 gr traditional bullet will lose 20%-50% of it's weight on impact and will in effect be a 100-130 gr bullet inside the animal. A 130 gr TTSX will still weigh 130 gr after impact and will leave the muzzle 400 fps faster from my 308.

You never know what will happen when any projectile hits flesh, but I've now seen a whopping total of three Barnes kills this year: one a 55 gr. TSX outta my AR and two from 110 TTSX outta .270 Winchester my son killed.

The level of subcutaneous hemorrhaging was more than I've seen from cup 'n' core bullets. And a bit more bloodshot meat surrounding entry and exit holes as well.

The near-3,400 fps .270 rounds really wreaked havoc. I believe in hydrostatic shock more than ever. They'd be a fantastic light-kicking, cross-canyon elk zapper.

The deer all died quickly enough. Our shooting is on mid-sized deer at fairly close ranges, however, so I don't think Barnes are really needed.

But I was wanting to scratch an itch created by Campfire talk.

Next year I might go Managed Recoil or comparable handloads for Highland Rim deer.

How about a 120 TTSX at more like 3150 fps? Totally doable. My 22" Rem does it.

To the OP: light and fast makes sense with the mono's. Heavy does not. I like heavy for caliber bullets but I look elsewhere for that. Just IMHO.

Steelhead got it! You want speed. I also think you want the tipped solids.



120 TSX, 7mm-08, 200 yards, caribou. (Very accurate load, max with RL 15, but faster wouldn't have been a bad thing.)

That's sounds very interesting. I've bought 85 gr TSX's for my .243 win and 120's for the 7RM. Just haven't spun'em up yet. That 110 in my pet .270 sounds like the bees knees... An absolute lighting bolt. My lefty BDL .308 sounds tempting with the 130's. Man oh man, the endless opportunities. That tack drivin' Sako 75 in '06 would be death on the power line right of ways with that 130 TTSX. Thanks for the stories guys, I figured it had to be an awesome deal but wanted proof.

I feel there is. I switched to using the TTSX in every hunting rifle i own in early 2012. I've found they shoot just as accurate if not more so than what i usually shot (partitions and NBT) and they absolutely hammer deer and hopefully black bear this coming fall. I shot 3 deer this year with TSX & TTSX bullets and the two i shot with my 338 Federal dropped where they were standing (first 2 deer that's ever happened with) and those were Federal Premium 185gr TSX and DoubleTap 160gr TTSX loads. The other one i shot was with my 30-06 and Barnes Vortx 150gr TTSX and she went no more than 15 steps. I didn't recover any bullets as all three were pass throughs but I suspect they expanded as they are advertised to. The 338 Fed bullet's visually hit harder than any other caliber/bullet combo I've ever seen and it's quickly become my favorite deer and up hunting rifle (kimber montana) with the Barnes bullets.

I've used the 120 gr. TTSX for whitetails each of the last three seasons with excellent results. My 7mm-08 with a 22" barrel gets right at 3100 fps and is dead accurate.

I just ordered up some 110 tsx's for a 30-06. don't know how they are going to work, but we'll see soon

It's interesting, though, to run numbers on the "light fast mono" vs. a heavier regular bullet. It's natural to think about how "flat" the mono must be shooting- it's going so fast, right?- but in fact, they have such cruddy BC's that usually that's a bit of a red herring. Once you get out a little ways they aren't really much flatter, if any. Beyond a "little ways", you gotta compensate for drop anyway, so it becomes irrelevant. Plus the wind really moves them around. So, there's really just a small sweet spot where the extra flatness has much meaning. If any.

Not dissing them, just an observation.

The added speed is more about bullet meeting flesh/bone than trajectory.

Really depends on what you consider a "little ways" now doesn't it. For guys like myself that don't shoot beyond 300 yards anyways the benefits of a light flat seem pretty easy to see.