Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters TTSX question

They are definitely fun to shoot. With 100g NPt's they kill elk with aplomb, too.

I've been saying the same thing for a while now.

Just hope I use up my vast supply of NPt seconds before it happens...........

For many years our 30-06 and .338 rifles fired the 200 and 250 grain Nosler Partitions. In the later 80's I started using the 180 and 250 grain Barnes X bullets in the same rifles. They killed as well as the Partitions, gave less recoil in the 30-06 and flatter trajectory in the 30-06.

A few years ago I switched to the 168 grain TTSX for the 30-06 and 225 grain TTSX for the .338. Both are going around 2,835 fps mv. They are penetrating better then the Nosler Partition with less recoil and I trust both rounds as being of capable of handling any of Alaska's critters.

I am also loading the 127 grain Barnes LRX for my Tikka T3X Superlite 6.5 Creed and I know from autopsying many moose and caribou that were shot with Barnes TTSX bullets, it will kill any Alaskan critter. Would it be my first choice for dealing with a brown/griz in the alders, no it isn't. But, if I had a broad side shot at a brown/griz at under 200 yards I would poke a hole through his lungs and have a dead bear in a few minutes.

If I hunted state side I don't think I would have much use for my custom Mod. 70 in .338 Winny. My 30-06 or the 6 .5 Creed would see more use and the TTSX bullet would be for elk. Might even give me and excuse to make up a custom Tikka T3X Superlite in 7mm WSM or SAUM.

The Barnes X bullet in my opinion and the opinion of many of my hunting friends has been a game changer, but it would not be my first choice for deer unless using a .223.

If mono wins, I hope it’s lead. Been shooting cast from wheel weights in my revolvers and old cartridges and shoot plumbers lead in muzzle loaders all my life. I have not seen any effect of damaging the environment!
Of course the people from the republic of California are convinced it damages the environment - good grief!

I haven't used the A-Frame alot but in my limited expiereance the A-frame not only doesn't penetrate as well as a partition it also doesn't do as much damage.

probably due to the rounded mushroom shape. it pushes rather than cuts comparatively speaking perhaps?

I used partitions, as I thought they were the best jacketed bullets available......until the Barnes X’s came out! My only complaints with the partitions, both relatively minor were.... they a little difficult to get the accuracy I was searching for. Also, on a close range, high velocity impact ....often the nose jacket would completely fold back at the partition around the bullet lower (below partition) making the remaining bullet marginally larger than the original bullet prior impact, reducing not only the remaining bullet diameter but only retaining approximately 60% to 70% of the original bullet weight!

The original Barnes X’s had some issues and had to go through some growing pains.....but, the new TTX’s, TTSX’s, and LRX’s are pretty darn difficult to beat. memtb

I could never get NP’s to shoot accurately in any of my rifles, ever. Try hard I did.

Reloder 28,

I have gotten excellent accuracy from Partitions--but generally if they're seated very straightly. I suspect the reason the rear core section tends to "bend" a little more than many other bullets--but also tend to follow the general rules that long-time Nosler bullet designed Gail Root suggested years ago. He advised switching to a slightly faster-burning powder if Partitions didn't shoot like you hoped, because the faster powder would "bump up" the exposed rear core to fit the particular rifle's barrel better.

I have also found that maximum loads do basically the same thing. Have gotten excellent accuracy from Partitions in calibers from 6mm to .375 by pushing them harder. In fact the first big game rifle I ever got consistent 5-shot groups under an inch with any bullet was my grandmother's old Remington 722 .257 Roberts, way back in the 1980s, with an IMR4350 load that got 3250 fps with 100-grain Partitions. But there have been many other instances as well.

Currently, I load 58.5 grains of RL 15 with a 286 NP in 9.3x62 using a 24" barrel and have not run it over a chrony but I have no problem with accuracy. I'm guessing velocity window between 2450-2500 fps. Out to any sane distance I am not sure what a mono would offer so I have never determined a need to use one.

A-frames expand to a much larger diameter, so how is it that they do less damage?

My experiences are close, but they are overall the most inaccurate of all the hunting bullets I've loaded, but when they shoot, I do use and like them. As to the Swifts, they are definitively more accurate and in the 416 Rigby and 375 H&H, I had no issues with penetration, but it does make sense the NP penetrates more, if for no other reason the front end pretty much disintegrates (by design), leaving the rear core to push through

Use the 80gr TTSX with no worries.

I am a pretty big fan of mono metals. Have Used the X, XLC, TSX, TTSX, and GMX on hunts with no problems. Like most, the game really changed with the T/TSX as far easier load development and copper fouling. I have had really good performance with GMX's also.

Have used lighter weight Barnes in my 270's with no issues. Have tried to go lighter in my 338-06's, but the 185's just do not shoot as good as the 210's. I also tried 250's in my 375, but the 270's and 300's shot better. When I had a 9.3x64, I really wanted to use 250's, but again the heavies shot better.

In fact, am heading out this am to water trees and try to fill an antelope tag with a 222 and 55gr GMX.

Thank you for this input. It makes sense given the bottom of the jacket is exposed. I will focus on the obturation aspect & certainly try some faster powders. My main focus is a favorite 280 Remington I have been tinkering with sporadically since 2008. I always felt a 150 Partition would be the ultimate combination in a 280.

I was ONCE able to get a 3/8" group with 150 PT's out of it using 7828, but it would never repeat.

In case you didbn't know, that's exactly the way partitions are designed to work, and work well they do. IMO the finest big game hunting bullet ever created to this day. The accubond performs like a tipped partition, so that statement goes for the accubond as well. Yeah, I'm biased but IME the results speak for themselves.

I might also point out that heavier, larger-caliber Partitions and AccuBonds are designed to retain more weight. This apparently started in the 1990s, and in general they'll retain around 85-90% of their weight--though occasionally a little more or little less. One the 400-grain .416 Partitions in my collection, recovered from a Cape buffalo, retained 95% of its weight. It entered the left rear rib-cage and was found in the right shoulder. Among the lighter ones is a 9.3mm Accubond from a 7-1/2 foot grizzly, also recovered from an angling-away shot, which entered the right ribs and was found under hide on the left side of the neck, retaining 82% of its weight.

All of this talk about retained weight (or petals) I have generally found to be less relevant than many hunters think. Have recovered several Barnes Xs of various models, along with with "petal" type bullets, that lost from one to all their petals, yet still penetrated more than sufficiently and killed well. The last one was a 130-grain TTSX from my wife's .308 that dropped a big cow elk at around 250 yards. It stood quartering to us, and the bullet broke the near shoulder just above the big joint. The cow staggered 20-25 yards before falling, obviously done for from the moment the bullet hit. We recovered the bullet under the hide on the far side of the ribs, having lost all its petals and retaining 62% of its weight.

They are designed to do that and it's why they kill abruptly, yet still penetrate well. The same can't be said for most other bullets including the monos.

Yes, they do. I recovered a 30 cal 200gr version and the front half was expanded to a huge front diameter. The rear half collapsed into the front half. With that said I believe the fact they retain most of their weigh and there is no shrapnel effect like a partition. I think it's pretty well established that bullets that fragment some do indeed kill quicker.

Everyone knows that .243-class cartridges can only kill Elk when given to our wives, girlfriends and daughters. Others who try to shoot them are never successful.

Lead comes from the earth, you’re just returning it from whence it came.