Barnes TTSX performance report - 10/12/08
Back in July I posted a Barnes bullet report on some underwhelming expansion from a .30 caliber 168 TSX that I shot on my Africa trip. I never generated so much campfire conversation--a couple of thousand views and a couple hundred responses. I was characterized by the Barnesians as only slightly better than the antichrist.
So here is my next installment. The two bullets shown below are .338 210 TTSX, both recovered from a large bull elk. Muzzle velocity was about 2880 fps, and the range was only slightly more than 100 yards. One bullet went through one shoulder and was lodged under the skin on the opposite ribs. The bull turned, and the second shot went through the other shoulder, and lodged under the skin in neck. The weight of each bullet, after some thorough cleaning of detritus under the petals, is above 209.5 gr. The bull probably didn't go 10 yards after having been hit.
I had pretty well decided to use 210 gr Partitions on this hunt, in part because 1)they have such a proven track record, 2) they seemed to be grouping better at 100 yards, and 3) the TTSX are quite unproven at this point, since the tipped version is so new. But the TTSX were grouping just as well at 200 and 300 yards, and my informal dirtbank expansion tests were reassuring.
So here is my next installment. The two bullets shown below are .338 210 TTSX, both recovered from a large bull elk. Muzzle velocity was about 2880 fps, and the range was only slightly more than 100 yards. One bullet went through one shoulder and was lodged under the skin on the opposite ribs. The bull turned, and the second shot went through the other shoulder, and lodged under the skin in neck. The weight of each bullet, after some thorough cleaning of detritus under the petals, is above 209.5 gr. The bull probably didn't go 10 yards after having been hit.
I had pretty well decided to use 210 gr Partitions on this hunt, in part because 1)they have such a proven track record, 2) they seemed to be grouping better at 100 yards, and 3) the TTSX are quite unproven at this point, since the tipped version is so new. But the TTSX were grouping just as well at 200 and 300 yards, and my informal dirtbank expansion tests were reassuring.