Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Trophy Bonded Bear Claw bullets?

The TTSXs are generally considered to be very accurate bullets across a spectrum of cartridges. Does anybody care to comment on comparison, or in general, the once again available TBBC bullets?

The 140's shoot great in my 270.

I'm considering the 7 mm 140 for my 284. It's a bit shorter than the same weight TTSX which is a good thing though the rifles shoots the Barnes mono- very well but have been thinking of trying the TB's to see how they fly.

I have 140's for my 7-08 as well... I've yet to shoot those.

I shot some TBBC Federal ammo in my .35 Whelen, they were very accurate. Never got the opportunity to use them on game, the 225gr. load had pretty stiff recoil as I recall.

I shot the old recipe TBBC's for years. Jack Carter originals. They were always good, but not great by any means, accuracy wise. Exceptionally good terminal performance of course. My supply started dwindling and I was looking for the next best thing. I didn't know it at the time, but I was looking at a serious upgrade when I chose Northforks. Same fantastic terminal performance, unbelievable accuracy, virtually no copper fouling.

Expansion of both TBBC's and NF's will undoubtedly be greater than a TTSX...it all depends what you want out of a bullet.

Yeah, I was wondering how the new iteration compared to the old in this department. Perhaps they are the exact same bullet as the old.

The TTSXs shoot so well (accurately) out of my 284 and I've had great success with them on game out of this and several other rifles of different calibers but every once in a while I'm bothered by what looks to me to be quite narrow wound channels. Of course the fact I could determine this would seem to make the concern mute. But...

I know it's tough in a multi-compartmented bullet to obtain perfect concentricity or nearly so; thus the question. I was not completely satisfied with the old TBBCs.

George, I should have been clear, I'm shooting the Federal Trophy Bonded Tipped Bullets, not Bear Claws.

George,

The original Bear Claws suffered from the same accuracy problems as the original Barnes X's, because of the solid, copper shank. First, they tended to really foul some bores, but if the shank diameter didn't match the bore diameter closely they also didn't shoot very well. To be honest I also wasn't entirely impressed with their terminal performance. They tended to expand into a ball, which isn't the most damaging "mushroom." I found the Federal version tended to expand more into a flat-fronted mushroom, which tends to be result in more internal damage.
However, I never saw any indication of either version ever failing to expand.

Like the Barnes TSX's, the grooved shank of the Tipped Trophy Bonded appears to have solved all the problems of the Bear Claw, including the middling ballistic coefficient. I've gotten good accuracy out of the .270, .30 and .375 bullets I've shot, but based on experience with Barnes TSX's and North Forks am not sure the nickel-plating was necessary to reduce fouling.

I believe they are constructed the same,other than the plastic tip. I love the old TBBC. The only gripe is/was the blunt tip. It would quite often hand up in my Weatherby Mrk V. The Swift A-Frames do the same. Would piss happiness if Swift would make an A-Frame spitzer or plastic tip. Sorry to say I'm just not a Barnes fan. The TBBC is one of, if not the best. Nosler, yeah, you rock as well. Getting into North Forks, will kill with it this fall. Looks promising.

I've long been a fan of the TBBC. I have friends whose survival can be directly attributed to the performance of the TBBC.

About 7 years ago, I was in a gunshop in the Florida Panhandle and talking with the owner about...guns and bullets.

The talk got around to the TBBC. I mentioned how Jack Carter had created it and the owner points to a Cape Buffalo mount on the wall and says "That's one of Jack Carter's, I bought it and some other stuff at his estate sale".

Thanks to a very generous gentleman I met here (Campfire), I have a partial box of original Jack Carter TBBC .30 cal bullets. The box is marked "Lot 1".

What a great bullet design. I'll agree, however that the Tipped Trophy Bonded are an improvement.

No Brad, I think it was I that confused the whole issue with terminology. There were the old TBBCs which I couldn't quite remember accurately (😜) and the now Fed Premium Tipped Trophy Bonded Tips (in Fed ammo and bullet components) which I referred to in my OP as TBBCs. I know now they arent exactly the same bullet.

John, thanks. I obviously couldn't quite remember the old TBBCs and that their shank wasn't grooved and they had the b.c. "about like the blunt end of a carrot" (a Clay Harveyism 😀).. like the Grand Slams and some others.

I might give 'me a try.

BufordBoone,

I knew Jack Carter, and he gave me all the Bears Claws I used early on. Believe I still have some in my "old bullet collection box." They worked extremely well in larger calibers, where their wide expansion made a huge hole, and also worked well in smaller calibers at high velocity, because the velocity tended to blow off much of the lead and thus leave a flatter mushroom, like that of TSX's and similar bullets. The slower kills I saw were with moderate-velocity, medium-caliber bullets, which often resulted in the rounded mushroom.

Here is my definitive sample of two. One TBBC 30 caliber 180 grain (300 RUM) and a 338 225 grain NF, both recovered on elk. By the way, when you look at the NF website they'll state that they have never seen a 225 grain 338 NF recovered from an elk before. I sent them that pic. The TBBC hit my biggest bull quartering on from 250 yards, or thereabouts, and after penetrating the shoulder, it lodged in the pelvic girdle just above the bladder. The NF hit the elk quartering away in the last rib, traveled diagonally through the vitals and lodged in his neck. I only found it when boning out the neck. Nice terminal performance from both bullets and classic mushrooms. Again, just a sample of two...

Those look real danged good. I have a recovered 225 TBBC from my Dad's grizzly. Looks just about like the one from your 300.. Can't beat them for heavy, tough animals in my opinion.

Guys, this is the bullet being discussed:

Brad, we are on the same page now! All my words; one pic. 😉

Thanks for that..it's a handsome little bullet isn't it.

George, strikes me as the best of all worlds. Sort of a "Partition-Accubond-TTSX."

Sure does; have some of the 140's headed my way.

I've got 130's for the 270, 140's and 160's for the 7 and 165 and 180's for the 308.... haven't shot a darned one yet. Just finished up a good load for my Mashburn so I'm itching a little to try the 160's in it. Might try the 165's in my 30-06. They do look pretty decent just sitting there.