I always find it interesting when hunters cite shooting lengthwise through a deer as one of the virtues of Barnes TSX's. Or maybe it's just proof of how far they'll penetrate. I've done that with them--but also with a number of other bullets on deer-sized animals, on two occasions I specifically remember with Nosler Ballistic Tips. In fact I once did it with a Ballistic Tip on a 450-pound gemsbok bull.
One of my conclusions is that shooting lengthwise through deer-sized animals isn't all that tough, probably because the "inside channel" of big game animals isn't all that resistant to penetration. Or at least a lot of it isn't.
Not many 450 pound deer here in NC!
I tried the Nosler BT's when I began having issues with the Hornadys but could never get them to shoot very well for me. I guess what impressed me about shooting lengthwise through that one doe was that the wound channel was almost a straight line. I hit her center of the chest and it exited just under the anus. I would have bet that somewhere along the path it would have veered to one side or another. I know that one instance is statistically insignificant but it ranked pretty high on the cool factor.
