Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Expanding vs Penetrating Premium Bullets

Looking to work up some new loads for my 270, maybe to take out west next fall, but definitely for use on eastern whitetails this fall. For general deer hunting, do you prefer bullets like the Barnes TTSX/ Nosler AccuBond, or more violent expanders like the Hornady SST/ Nosler Ballistic tip? I have some 130gr BTs on their way here, and this past season I used SSTs and Interlocks. Quick kills, but a lot of meat damage. What say ye on the topic?

TTSX light for caliber,Ballistic tip heavy for caliber,or Partition. Not too much for frag bullets. I've seen the posts and read the debates. Just not my cup of tea. I load SSTs for a friend of mine. Some nasty wound channels. He loves them.

I generally like to take the middle ground and stick to stuff like Core-Lokts, Power Points and interlocks. They've always worked good for me.

Nosler partitions expand and penetrate reliably, and have been doing so for 65 years. Every bullet maker wishes to have a bullet emulate it, but very few do.

Yep. One of the few sure bets in life is a Nosler Partition...

The best bet I've seen is Barnes... I quit running partitions since I have shot so many barnes.

Generally speaking I find them more accurate and more consistently reliable. But if they were no longer made I'd go back to the partitions.

And for something like a TTSX and a Partition you get both... expanding and penetrating.....

Partition, Accubond, Barnes, or the Trophy tipped Bear Claws. Any will work great.

Keep it simple.

If Partitions will shoot good groups with your rifle go with them and worry about other things.

I've used lots of cup and core big game bullets, like Hornady, Sierra, as well as Cor-Loks on deer, as well as the Barnes TSX and the Nosler Partition. All of them expand plenty fast enough for quick kills. The TSX works even better if driven fast(er). I use the premiums for deer because they hold together better, or so it seems when shooting through cover. They may tumble or lose some of their penetrating ability, but they do seem to make more effective wounds than the C&C bullets which can lose their cores. I admit this isn't solid research material, but it's the best I've been able to determine. E

Depends on caliber, but for 243/6mm I use 87gr VLDs. Like lightening struck em. Everything else is cup and core. Just ordered some partitions which I never used before, but imagine theyll be like cup and core. Most of my shots are under 300, with the majority under 80. Its thick most places I hunt.

This

VLD is not cup and core?

I use to use Partitions almost exclusively on game until I tried a Barnes TSX. Then I tried the Barnes TTSX. It kills like lightning and always penetrates all the way through, regardless of angle or what gets in the way.

Now, for hunting I pretty much just use Nosler Ballistic Tips and Barnes TTSX. I like the BTs for their higher BC and I shoot them for open-country, smaller game like mule deer and pronghorn. I use the TTSX for elk, for deer in the woods and for combo hunts.

I have not killed anything with a Barnes LRX but I am thinking it may be the very best "one bullet for everything" answer out there. I am going to be trying them out later this year in Washington for deer, in Colorado for mule deer and elk and in Montana for elk, all out of my 6.5 Creedmoor.

I've had mixed success with the TSX. Went to New Zealand and shot 36 big game animals with the 25 caliber 100 gr TSX and experienced poor performance in that the bullets passed through leaving small exit holes. My experience with the 7mm 140 gr X, TSX, and TTSX have been far more positive. What I found on close examination of the 25 verse 7 mm bullets was the diameter of the 7 mm hollow point was much larger.

I understand the small exit hole with the 25 caliber can not be viewed as a failure; I see it as more as non-optimal performance. I view optimal terminal bullet performance to be delivering the largest wound channel and exiting.

I have never found a rifle that shoots Partitions exceptionally well. In my experience I find them to be one of the least accurate bullets. I used Partitions for many years before moving west where the shooting distances tend to be much longer and where accuracy needs are higher.

I'm too old to chase elk, and premium bullets are not needed for deer and hogs I hunt now. I am changing over to Sierra bullets (one of the GameKings or Pro Hunters) depending on which shoots best in a particular rifle. I'm reloading for a 3rd rifle now and I'm getting the best and most consistent groups I've ever gotten with any bullet with the exception of a Barnes TTSX in one rifle. I've gone heavier for caliber in my 358 Win and 25-06 and will soon be trying 160 grain Sierra's in a 7mm-08. I've not used Sierra's on large game yet, but they are just used by too many hunters to not have decent performance on game. Like any bullet, they may not perform 100% of the time, but I'm not too concerned.

Sure, but much more violent expansion, as in cant find schit...lol. So I separate to 2.

Have you noticed the "going in a couple of inches before blowing up" VLD phenomenon? It works quite well for the 168 grain version at 308 Winchester speed.

really depends on size of deer and or sex ,example northern Minnesota or Canada many adult bucks weigh 250 lbs. sometimes more you would want Nosler partition,Swift a-frame or a barnes x bullet,small deer anything should work out of your 270 win.

Sometimes. I shoot shoulders hence the not much left. Only 2 times did I see a bone with a pencil hole, the rest a total wreck. Bang flop, never an exit. 12 deer so maybe not that great a comparison, but thats what ive been seein. 87gr is light and moving fast in 243, plus the distance is rarely over 100.

I agree with this. I want tougher bullets when speeds climb up north of 3,000fps and am fine with cup/core bullets when they are a bit heavy for caliber and going slower.