Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only Curious about 270 TSX on deer-class game.

There are many testimonials here and on the web concerning the Barnes .375" 270 grain TSX on big and dangerous game in Africa and North America.

I am curious about the performance of this exact bullet on smaller thin-skinned game such as the North American deer and antelope. I am thinking about switching to this bullet for all-around use in North America.

Specifically, does it open up when bones are not hit on entrance? Does it open reliably? To me, 'reliably' means most of the time. What does the wound channel look like? What was estimated impact velocity?

If you have personally observed this exact bullet in action, I would like to read about your experience.

I've killed four deer with the 300@ 2470fps. Three dead on, no bone (recovered two) and one broadside. All under 150 pounds. The recovered bullets could be in advertisements.

According to some posts I have read, those two bullets you recovered would be classified as failures since they did not penetrate completely.

I recall a post where the bullets were the .375" Nosler 300 grain Partitions, and the author recommended the TSX because of 'several failures' in deer where the Partitions did not exit.

Thanks for your post.

On those deer, did the wound look like the bullet began to expand immediately, or later in its travel?

I ask about this since my favorite shot on deer is the heart/lung shot just behind the leg. I wait for this shot when possible. Sometimes a rib is hit going in and sometimes not.

Poking a .375" hole through the heart and lungs of a deer is probably fatal by itself...

The TSX will open reliably within 1 inch of its entry, even on light thin skinned game. I have used them on the much lighter and smaller Impala with wonderful results. Go ahead, with a decently placed bullet you will have a very dead deer and if you have to track him there will be two blood trails from the two holes you make in him when you shoot.

Why not just use the (much less expensive) Hornady 270SP and save the premiums for scary stuff?

I have a Nosler Accubond load for moose and another Hornady load for plinking and deer hunting.

Here's a couple Nosler ABs from a moose.

I've used the 270 gr tsx on a small deer. I shot him from about 10 yards with an estimated muzzle velocity of 2700 fps. The shot went low and just barely touched the lungs. It went through about 6-8 inches of flesh without hitting any bone. The entrance hole was pencil size. The exit hole was the size of a silver dollar. The deer jumped straight up and hit the ground running. He made it about 40 yards.

From a 375 Rum at 2950 fps they work great on antelope and bull elk. Close (on elk) and at 300 yards on pronghorn.

Thank you for the Accubond pictures. That is another bullet that I am interested in. I do not have any field experience with Accubonds or Triple Shocks.

I used to load at least two and sometimes three bullets for all of my rifles. However, these days my range time is very limited. So, I decided to settle on an all-around load for each caliber.

My thinking is to stay familiar with one good load. I expect to be in this situation for a couple of years. When I get more range time I plan to get back to loading more bullets. So many bullets, so little time...

In the 375 H&H I have used the 300 Partition on elk and the Speer 235 Semi Spitzer on antelope and deer. My rifle did not put these two bullets close enough horizontally to suit me, so I had to adjust the scope whenever I switched bullets. My job at the time allowed me ample opportunity to get to the range as needed.

These days I feel the need to keep one load sighted in and ready to go.

The Hornady 270 Spire Point would probably work for anything in North America yet I have been in the Partition mindset for so long now that it seems heretical to think about anything else. The 270 Triple Shock has many good reports on heavy game, so I am considering it for the 375 Ruger.

I am laying in a supply of other 375 bullets for the future!

I have shot the .375 235 gr TSX into cow elk, zebra, kudu, and waterbuck. I can't see needing more unless I was pestering big bears in pucker brush. MV about 2900 fps.

I'm fairly sure if you hit any bear well with a 235 TSX starting at 2900 fps it will work just fine on him... . If that bullet is working fine for your rifle...don't think you need to change it until you go after Cape buffalo...and maybe not then... .

Dennis

When I was sneaking through rhino tunnels, I was wishing my gun threw about a 3 zillion grain bullet. I suspect the feeling would return in the alders.

Yeah...but I don't think going from 235 to 270 or 300 would matter a lot to you... . Or at least it hasn't to me...

Dennis

Sometimes I get lost in too much theoretical thinking. For instance, it is possible to calculate projectile trajectories out to two decimal places with some modern software. Yet I know that things happen on the way from theory to practice. The calculated trajectory numbers are nice guidelines, yet only testing will show the reality for the field conditions at hand. That is why I like to get a lot of real-world observations from those who have actually seen the bullet used on the type of game.

The current theory for me is to use the Barnes 270 TSX since it is supposed to begin expansion almost immediately on even thin-skinned game due to its design. My muzzle velocity is in the 2600 fps range. That gives an impact velocity of around 2000 fps at 200 to 250 yards. Does anyone have any observations on deer class game at around 2000 fps impact velocities? I suspect the 300 TSX would offer similar performance.

I used to shoot varmints out to 450 yards or so in Oklahoma and Idaho. There were a lot of quarter-mile fences in north eastern Oklahoma, so they served as range finders. The truth is that these days, I personally have no business shooting at an unwounded game animal over 200 yards away from any field position. However, I am curious on what to expect from the 270 TSX if something gets away from me and I need to shoot a bit farther out.

I have some 235 and 270 TSX bullets here for side-by-side comparisons. Both sure seem to have the same thickness at the nose. Assuming the same interior, they probably would have the same initial expansion at the same impact velocity. I am guessing, of course.

On of the reasons I am thinking of the 270 grain bullet is its sectional density. Most of my thinking comes from reading all the African hunting books and conversations with Elmer Keith before he passed away. I must admit that my information is dated to 1981 and before. It is also heavily biased for African game.

I like complete penetration because it lets blood out. Everywhere. And small steaks, with the .375. Everywhere!

I didn't think to check how soon it expanded.

I agree with you on the complete penetration. However, it does not always happen, even with solids. Since I favor the heart/lung shot, I want the bullet to open fast for destruction yet completely penetrate for the blood trail.

The partition bullets have been doing this for many years. That is the allure of the TSX, also.

There is an article on African Outfitter by Mauritz Coetzee that is focused on bullet failure. (http://www.africanoutfitter.com/backissues/2006/augustseptember/whatisbulletfailure.php) I do not consider your recovered bullets to be failures, though.

I used to have one of the black powder Kodiak 58 caliber double rifles. It pushed a 610 grain bullet along at near 458 Winchester velocities, as I recall. I shot it once length wise through a 38" oak log. I traded it off after getting tired of the black powder. I was also concerned that it might not be enough gun for elk! That was before I ever saw or hunted elk...

I'm not all that impressed with the partition. I shot a bison with several of them and recovered two. The core had fallen from one. Had they hit a bone I'm not sure what would have happened.

TSXs prefer/need good speed in order to maximize their potential to open quickly and well. I posted this earlier this year in another thread:

It seems that there are a lot of reports like this now. I assume you mean the .375 300 grain partition. I read an article by Rod Cockerill that recommended muzzle velocities less than 2500 fps. (http://www.africanoutfitter.com/backissues/2007/aprilmay/preparingforafrica.php) I think that hunting guides probably see more bullets used in one season than many hunters ever see.

My own experience with smaller calibers has been very different. I hunted with the 6mm Remington and 85 grain partitions when I first moved to Idaho. It was my only rifle at the time and was all I ever needed in Oklahoma. I used the Sierra 85 grain HPBT on everything in Oklahoma. I picked up the 85 grain partitions for hunting deer in Idaho. I planned to buy a 7x57 for elk.

The first elk I killed was at several hundred yards when the guy who originally shot at it ran out of ammo. My hunting partner and I were driving to camp when we came across this guy standing in the middle of the logging road. He would shoot, then yell 'I hit him!' then shoot again. He ran out of ammo in a couple of minutes after reloading his 270 rifle twice. My hunting partner suggested that I put one in the elk if I could so that it would not suffer.

I laid down and put the bullet in his heart/lung. The bull went another few steps, dropped his head for a bit, then fell over. When we got to the elk, there was only one hole, in his heart...the partition was balled up against the inside of the off side ribs. It was not a 270 caliber bullet.

That was typical performance for that bullet on deer. I also used the 160 grain partition in the 7x57 and it performed the same. Of course I mean the recovered bullets. Many were not recovered. Later in the South Carolina low country, I killed many, many deer with the 85 grain partition.

Typically lead out of the front section was mostly missing, yet what was left was spread out over the peeled back nose jacket.

Yet these days I have read several accounts, along with pictures, of .375 partitions that have lost their front cores altogether. That is, there is no lead remaining on the peeled back nose jacket. I do not know if they always behaved that way or if Nosler has changed their composition somehow.

One of the great things about this digital age is the ability to share experiences and all of those wonderful pictures. I hope to give back to this forum, too.

It is interesting reading about your 375-350. In the Gunsmithing forum, I have been asking questions about the 9.5x57. I am planning to build one of these and had hoped to get 2300 to 2400 fps with a 235 grain bullet. Originally I had thought to use the 260 grain partition most of the time.

Now, after seeing 260 Accubond and 235 TSX recovered from moose, I am reconsidering. I will still have the limited range time constraint and am wanting an all-around bullet for it as well.