Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 257 Weatherby Barnes too fast?

Sorry, but the only way I'd believe the 80s to be trash is by my own results.

The need for DRT crap is getting really to be a sore subject with me. You either hit CNS or you don't. Thats the ONLY way to be 100 percent of DRT.

That said, I have a box of 80 ttsx but the 100 ttsx have worked so well for us I have not tried the 80s yet. And no, not even with the 257 wtby and the fast 100 ttsx, do we get DRT shots unless we hit CNS. But they generally don't go very far.

I wonder how these folks would have dealt with patched round balls to hunt with.... or archery gear...

I think you fellas can hunt with whatever lets you sleep at night, but in my opinion there is no better bullet than a Barnes TTSX, especially launched from a fast 7mm or .300 magnum. I don't use .257's for elk and never will. I'm a huge fan of the .257 Roberts and .250-3000 Savage, just not for elk sized beasts. Happy Trails

I like Barnes bullets.

But I don't hunt with very small monos driven at mega speeds. Just me.

I posted earlier, the 100 TTSX at 3,250 fps out of my .257R over H100V is a killer and I like it. It works.

With most any bullet, there is an optimal range where it seems to function best; I try to find that balance.

DF

100 % sure is a high standard. I have absolutely no problem believing you don't get DRTs with the .257 'bee and the 100 grain TSX without CNS hits or very solid bone contact. No argument there, I'd be surprised if you did. It doesn't get much better with the bigger ones either.

Where we probably differ is that I know for a fact that I can get instant drops by using softer, lead-core frangible bullets at high speeds that don't hit the spine or brain. I've done it literally hundreds of times. Through the shoulder, frontals, and on a good day pure lung shots. It isn't a 100% thing but it is a more often than not thing.

There is statistical evidence that WT's travel about half the distance hit with softer bullets than those hit with harder, premium bullets. Observed were South Carolina whitetails, over 400 kills spanning a number of years. I've posted this study several times, thought it was a good time for a review.

DG animals, larger animals are not included, just Southern WTs.

http://www.dnr.sc.gov/wildlife/deer/articlegad.html

DF

By your own admission you get some pleasure from trailing game. The problem is this is not a great thing in many locals and its never good for meat quality.

It's not too much to ask that a bullet kill game swiftly when the shot is placed right. With TSX and TTSX bullets this a real crap shoot and they many times do not provide for much of a blood trail, which would hurt your "tracking" efforts.

Mostly correct, but there is no mechanical lock between lungs and bone of any kind. Collapsed lungs are sometimes treated by creating one surgically.

George, you probably know ungulates are different from humans in the pleura... we have one for each lung (essentially) but ungulates have both lungs in a single. An ungulate with a single pneumothorax will likely find it doubling soon (er) than a human.

I am sure you have heard of bullets passing through the chest without tearing lung tissue, the source of the gap theory. Arrows are very unlikely to do so.

All I know is that an adequate sized entry hole and a good sized exit wound coupled with internal damage through the vitals forward of the diaphragm usually lets the air out of them pretty quickly. I am constantly amazed at tales of double lung and/or heart shot ungulates running hundreds and hundreds of yards. I have to believe most were due to sorry shooting, but that's just me.

A quarter horse can cover 440 yards in the low 20s, carrying a rider and live through it. A bored person can hold their breath longer than that. Bleeding to death takes time.


A fatally hit animal can cover a lot of ground in the time it takes to say "I think you hit him pretty good, I think it'll be OK".

Sore subject or not, I've shot plenty of deer square in both shoulders, not hitting spine, and 100% have dropped on the spot. That's not to say they were dead when they hit the ground. Some kicking or lifting head for a second or something. But over 1/2 of the deer I've shot through both shoulders, dropped on the spot, never got back up. Those were probably got hit in the spine by bullet or bone.

I will also say, all of the deer I've shot, not through both shoulders that ran, were also dead when I found them. None required another shot.

Several shot in one shoulder, ran 20-100 yards. One particularly large bodied buck was shot below the shoulder, but in the leg bone, hitting heart, then out other leg/elbow, ran about 30 yards.

I have had one doe that still baffles me on how long she lived. Shot behind the shoulder, in a perfect lung shot from a .257 R with 117gr Core-lokts. She was standing perfectly broadside, totally standing still, at 40 yards. At the shot she turned 180* and stood still again. I thought I missed. So, I shot again. At the shot, she turned 90* and trotted at me, but I knew I hit her with that shot. She saw me, veered around me, and stood. Stiffened up, and tipped over. She was still trying to get up, so I shot her in the neck.

When I got up to her, there were 4 holes behind her shoulders. 2 in, 2 out. Perfect lung shots, both of them. Sometimes, they just do weird stuff!

Exactly!

Great analogy M70Guy!