Model70guy,
I've done a lot of culling as well, and one thing I've learned from the experience is that judging all bullets of a certain brand by the results from one particular batch is often a mistake. Have also seen expansion problems with TSX's, but often with only one batch of bullets. One particular problem batch was some 100-grain TSX's that failed to expand on several occasions, even when shot from a .257 Weatherby at 3550 fps.
But have also seen well over 100 TSX's used on other big game animals that expanded and killed well, even at pretty long ranges, from 120 6.5mm to 250-grain 9.3's. I suspect (based on considerable evidence) that most of the problem with TSX's not opening occurs in bullets from 6mm to .30, because the hollow-point is so small it can be battered at least partially shut on the front of the magazine box during recoil. I've never seen or heard of it happening with TSX's over .30 caliber, all of which have larger hollow-points, or in .22 caliber TSX's, probably because of the light recoil.
That said, in my experience Tipped TSX's (and Nosler E-Tips) expand and kill reliably, both because the plastic tip prevents the hollow-point from being battered, and because the hole is much larger, to accommodate the base of the tip. I have only heard one one instance where a TTSX didn't expand, which as I recall occurred on an angling shot where the tip was bent sideways. But I have never personally seen it happen, either with Tipped TSX's or E-Tips, on over 100 animals take by me and my companions, from pronghorns and springbok to zebra and bull elk.
My hunting notes have quantified a difference in how far lung-shot animals travel after being shot with "petal" type bullets, whether TSX's, E-Tips or the old Fail Safe, but it averages out a little over 50 yards, compared to 18 yards for the fastest-killing bullet I've seen take a considerable number of animals, the Berger Hunting VLD. Other expanding bullets are somewhere in between those, with lung-shot animals traveling 30-40 yards after the shot.
