Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 6.5 & 270 with Barnes TSX bullets

I have been shooting a 6.5 since 1964. Since the Barnes X bullets came out in the 1980's I have been using the 120gr exclusively for elk. I have a friend who he & his son use the 130gr TSX in their 270's. Each season we use these bullets which give complete penetration on elk even thru heavy bone. For deer the 6.5 100gr TTSX & the 110gr in the 270 give total penetration on the largest muley bucks. Either of these cals gives flat trajectories & absolute dependability. I see the Barnes TSX or Hornady GMX bullets enabling the 6.5 & 270 to perform like they were considerably larger.. For mice to moose I see these bullets in 6.5 & 270 to give dependable penetration with out the hard recoil of larger cals. I'm not trying to say anything negative against larger cals'. It's just that the progress in bullet technology changes the ability of a particular cal/bullet to perform.

Only if your gun likes them.... 140 gr factory Corelokts give me MOA in my .260 and have worked well on half a dozen caribou, an elk, and a wolf. Would not be afraid (and intend) to use them on moose sometime.
Factory Barnes TSX 120's give me 5-6 MOA..... I think I still have half a box somewhere...only good for fouling shots at this point.

I kill better with something accurate, rather than trendy....

I have a bunch of reloading work to do once I get back where I can get powder reasonably. I'll play with the Barnes, and with Partions, but really- the Corelokts have always done everything I needed them to do in any caliber, and are more cost effective. For me. YMMV.

I agree that the Barnes bullets make smaller cartridges perform like larger cartridges but I haven’t had as good of luck with accuracy as I have had with “conventional” type bullets. I have killed deer and pigs with the 120 grain TTSX in 7 Mag.

Barnes 62 TTSX bullets in a 223 will tear pigs a new ass. I load the 120’s in 6.5 Creedmoor, killed a few pigs with them. I load the 168’s for the 300 Win mag. All are accurate in my rifles. Here is a couple Creedmoored pigs.

If I might suggest It sometimes takes a little playing around. . Most times a seating depth between .020 to .050 of the lands tends to work . I have two 260 Rem's & a friend who also has a Savage 260 . They all shot the Barnes TSX sub 1". All three of these shoot best with the bullet about .025 off the lands. I have seen some rifles with the mono's as deep as .070 off. Also changing a type of powder can make a difference. I have worked with several rifles who's owners said they would not shoot & was able to find that sweet spot. I incourage you not to give up. Once used it is hard to ever go back to C&C bullets. If you would like feel free to PM me & I would be glad to work with to help resolve your accuracy problems.

I love Barnes bullets. They out-penetrate everything else and really shine when using lighter than "normal" bullet weights.

I think old-timers and curmudgeons about Barnes bullets have the most difficulty accepting that lighter weights work better than heavier lead bullets the most, not necessarily because the bullets have no lead. I have talked to many who cannot wrap their head around the fact that a 150 grain bullet fired from a .30-06 will out penetrate their old 200 grain bullet fired from the same rifle. The bias is so deep that they won't even consider it, even though the experience of others has proven it to be true. Honestly, for the .308 Win, the 130 grain TTSX is about perfect.

In fact, one of the most wicked killing machines I've ever seen is a .338 Federal firing 160 grain TTSXs at around 3000 fps. I have gotten complete penetration on a big bull elk that was nearly facing me ... about a 1/16th angle if you will, where the bullet entered on the inside part of the front shoulder (the outside part of the chest) and exited the bull's azzcheek after breaking the hip on the opposite side. At just over 200 yards. This combo has absolutely flattened anything I've hit with it with no tracking ever needed. Never caught a single one, either.

I understand exactly what you are saying . I have been pew-pooed by some hunters for considering the 6.5 or the 270 as suitable for elk. All my elk hunting when I was younger was with a 338 Win mag & heavy bullets. I considered 6.5 bullets for elk would bounce off. Was I ever wrong. I have taken & been in on the kills of a fair amount of elk over the years. Have seen elk taken with just about any cal you can think of. A hunting buddy of mine use the 308 & the Barnes 130gr TSX for clean full penetration kills on elk. I want to help any hunter be more successful which is why I encourage the use of these remarkable bullets in particular on large heavy game. They allow deep penetration even thru heavy bone & don't do any where near the destruction to a meaty area as with C&C bullets. I am by the way 73 so there is some hope.

I have never had a problem with accuracy from the TSX/TTSX's. This in numerous rifles/rounds. As noted, give them a pretty long jump when loading.

The 100 gr. Barnes "X" (pre TSX) out of my .257 Roberts made a believer out of me. I used that combo for a buck antelope and then the rancher borrowed my rifle to shoot a cow elk. He had a land owner depredation tag and shot the lead cow out of a group that had come down. She was every bit of 500 lbs. and that bullet at just over 100 yds. fully penetrated and exited on a classic behind the shoulder broadside shot. At that time I was using 210 Partitions out of my .338 Win Mag for elk. I still use the .338 but have switched to 185 TTSX or GMX for elk. I still rock the 100 gr., TTSX now, in the Roberts and is the hammer of Thor on Carolina feral hogs. I have also used the 110 TTSX in a 270 WSM and I have some 120 TTSX loaded in the 7mm SAUM. I still have too many Partitions that I use but when I cash in my preference points for elk and muley's in Co & WY I will be using a Barnes TTSX for sure!

I have some test loads worked up with the 110 grain Barnes in my 270. Have not been to the range with them yet. I have heard a lot of good things about that combo. I also have some loads for the Hornay GMX bullet 125 grain for my 308 Win. to try. They were very accurate in my scout rifle, but need to chronograph them before I go to the next level.

I'm waiting to try some Barnes 110 TTSX in my old JC Higgins .270 before I sell/trade it off. So far it doesn't ;like the 150gr and I just haven't had time to fool with it. I once killed a 500# Scimitar Horned Oryx at 184 lasered yads ( broadside, base of neck, pass through drt) with a little 6mmx47 ( 222 mag/6mm) and the 85gr XBT going 2900fps ( from a 27 inch barrel.) I was in a neck brace and it was one killing little devil. I finally had it opened up to the .243 and gave it to a friend in SA for culling. I also ran into guides/hunting partners wringing their hands when I show up with lwt Barnes bullets...but they all become believers after the skinning! Now, I do like Old School heavy RN, I like their "thump" on a big solid animal.
When Barnes X first came out I ran into two brothers who were killing elk (here in Utah) with the 100gr from their .243s. I thought they were stunt shooters...until I tried them later in bigger calibers. I found the Fail Safes were also great bullets. So far I have yet to try the GMX but time will come.

I haven't found a rifle that shoots barnes tsx or ttsx bullets very well. even in the same weight that shoot in other brands they just won't group very good.we bought a bunch of them in 7-8 calibers on a "at cost " deal and I was really hoping to shoot them. I sold most of them at a gunshow.

An important point in loading the mono copper bullets is correct OAL. You should always start at .050 off the lands..NEVER START AT .010 like a C&C bullet.This is a receipt for poor accuracy. In my rifles I have OAL ranging from .030 to .060 off the lads depending on the rifle before that accuracy sweet spot was found. If you start at .050 off the lands & accuracy is not acceptable start seating the bullet in or out at .010 at a time shooting a three shot group at each setting. Some where you will find that sweet spot.You have to forget every thing you know about C&C bullets when working with the mono's.they work differently. Once you learn how to load them you will be amazed.

Anyone know anything about 130gr bronze points? I have 200 projectiles, want to reload them, and I know zero about them. 270 cal.

I know the bronze point breaks off and the rest of the bullet works like a c&c hollow- point with very little penetration. Been there, seen that, would not use.

I just sold off the last of the 130gr Rem bronze points I had. The idea behind them was that upon impact the bronze point would be driven back into the bullet causing it to expand. This worked OK for deer but did not allow deep penetration on heavier game.

How about the Nosler 140gr ballistic tip boat tail? The one with the yellow tip. I have a number of these also, and have heard a couple good things about them. Just curious if anyone has hand loaded these and what kind results were made.

Bronze point I would pass but Jack OConner liked them. 140 BT are good for deer I wouldn't specifically choose them for Elk but they would probably be fine. I have used the 120 grain 7mm X quite a bit and performance was excellent. I only recovered a couple out of about three boxes that were mostly shot at game. The 110 .270 would do a deer no good and is a good choice for less than 4-500 yard shots. Only down side is wind bucking ability but not an issue at moderate ranges. In .270 I have shot the 140 X more as that was my Elk load, they worked fine on deer too.

I have not gotten around to trying them in the 6.5mm yet but will eventually.

I use a lot of 140 Ballistic tips in 6.5, 270, 7mm. They kill deer and pigs just fine.

I really like the T/TSX's and GMX's. Have had very good luck with them out of my 270's. 110 and 130gr.

Have never shot any E-tips, and see no need.