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.

You success with these bullets mirrors what me & my hunting friends have had. Absolute success with deer & elk. If those skeptical shooters would try these bullets they would understand why they are gaining such popularity. When I can take a large mature muley buck with my 260 Rem & the Barnes 100gr TSX with complete penetration & my friend can do the same with his 270 & the 110gr TTSX year after year that tells you some thing. When we get complete penetration on elk with the Barnes 6.5 TSX 120gr or the 270 130gr TSX that also tells you some thing.. Bullet technology continues to evolve.Some embrace it some ignore it. Prior to 1948 when the Partition came out it was a heavy bullet for cal. at a moderate velocity which still works. But technology with the mono's now allows high velocity. super flat trajectory with super strong bullets .that out penetrate the slow much heavier lead core bullets or the Partitions. You for sure have the right to pick one or the other.

If you cannot get accuracy with the monos it's not the bullet that's the problem it is you! I have solved more than fifty rifles for monos and have yet to find a rifle that won't shoot them well.

That said, I have seen some rifles that were extremely touchy about seating depth, like .010 too long or short being the difference between 8 inch groups and sub one inch groups. I have seen one rifle fould so unmercifully with them that accuracy, even 3 shot groups, was impossible. That was solved with Dyna Bore Coat. I own a 25-06 Sendero that will shoot the Barnes 100 TSX or TTSX into sub inch groups at 3225 FPS but with that 26 inch barrel it w, ill handle 3450ish without excess pressure and I cannot find a powder that will give me accuracy up there, 2-2 1/2 inches is the best I have yet been able to manage.

It can take some work to find seating depth with a mono and a given rifle. The E-Tips and GMXs seem to me to be a little more trouble than the Barnes. But... once you have them solved, I find them to be the best bullets I have had for killing deer since I started in '56. By a considerable margin. 130 grain in 30 caliber,53/55 grain in .223 and 110 grain in .270 are just about the ideal.

I can't address the 6.5 as I don't have one, but I've killed lots of stuff with a 270 with Nosler Partitions including moose & elk & with those bullets, the 270 performs exactly as it should.

The Barnes bullets are great & I use them, but the 270 didn't, & still doesn't, need them to kill moose & elk.

MM

I absolutely agree with you, but there are those who can say they kill moose & elk with cup & core bullets. Which they can. It''s just the partitions are more dependable than C&C bullets. The mono's are also more dependable than the partitions in particular on heavy game like elk . I can use a `120gr 6.5 Barnes TSX to cleanly take elk year after year with complete penetration.. A hunting buddy & his son use 270's with the Barnes 130gr & get complete penetration on elk. I've see a friend with his 308 & 130gr Barnes get complete penetration on elk. I see the mono's as just having an extra edge of dependability . I want that extra edge.

Never had a Partition fail, period.

And I've had complete penetration on both elk & moose with 150's out of the 270.

And the ones I've caught have been as perfect as perfect gets like the ones below.

But as I also, I do use the Barnes bullets a lot now as well; they perform well & are generally accurate in all the gun I shoot them in.

YMMV

MM

[img][img]https://s25.postimg.org/7mkex0l63/6.5_N_B_001.jpg[/img] [/img]

The bullet on the left is a Nosler Partition 125gr recovered from a muley buck fired from about 80yds. . It expanded to about 32 cal & weights 83grs. It struck no bone but yet did not completely penetrate.. OK for deer but not what I want for elk.
The Barnes 6.5 120gr TSX on the right recovered from the dirt back stop behind my 100yd target has expanded to 50 cal & still weights 120grs. I have found the Barnes 120grTSX to out penetrate the Nosler 140gr 6.5 Partition. We have been using these 120gr mono's since they first came out as the "X" bullet & now the TSX. I don't have any to display as they have all given complete penetration on elk even thru heavy bone. I want complete penetration on elk. Keeping in mind these are only 120gr bullets.. As stated before my friend & his son use 270's with the 130gr Barnes & always get complete penetration even from acute angles. This is the extra edge of dependability these bullets deliver. I see no need to use cal's larger than 270 on hoofed game because of the utter dependability of modern mono's.
The bobcat is a wild semi pet that hangs around the house.

Bobcat is cool

Yes, I agree with that completely.

But I have seen a few pics here & there of Barnes that have not expanded well & were oddly deformed, but I'm sure there are the exception. I think you need to drive them hard, hence somewhat lighter for caliber bullets work best.

Friend of mine (died before his time) was an outfitter in the U.S. & a PH in Africa & was a friend of Randy & Connie who owned Barnes, & he used a lot of Barnes bullets in Africa with really good success on all manner of plains game, buffs & lion.

There's no doubt they are great bullets; but just saying I've never had a failure with a Partition either, but they do not fully penetrate at the percentage rate that the mono's do, for sure.

MM

Anyone got any load data and/or tips for loading with the following??

Tikka T3 Lite in 6.5x55, as per factory. 120gn TTSX projectiles? Loaded up a handful a while ago, were about .8 or .9 MOA which is easy good enough for me as I'm after deer/pigs for meat, so only out to 200metres or so. No idea how fast, from memory I used 46.5gn of AR2209.

Cheers