Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Typical Barnes TTSX Performance

This is typical for the small number of Barnes TTSX I have been able to find. Found this just under the hide on the offside of a bull nilgai I shot this past Thursday. One shot, bull ran ~100 yards and fell over, dead. The bullet did not pass thru but worked just fine. Entrance was ~1/3 up from the bottom of the left front leg with slight angle to the rear. 300 Win Mag.

Should be a litany of posters along pretty soon to tell you how their Barnes didnt open up...just 'penciled on through...' and the animal got away.

Personally I've only ever recovered 3 Barnes TTSX ( out of 60+ kills with them) and they all looked like your pic. I'm a BIG believer in them, particularly if the rank and file tell you your gun isn't big enough for your quarry . ( i.e. you shouldn't hunt big mule deer bucks with a .243...) They are a game changer.

Thanks for posting. I've read the naysayers, but it seems the more recent TTSX have worked fine. I plan to use it in a .300 Win. Mag. myself.

They can say what they want. Most of the pencil thru results have, as Paul Harvey used to say, "the rest of the story" that we will never hear. I haven't used much of anything else in my hunting rifles except for some 140 gr A-Frames in a pre-64 270. I went back and edited my original post to list the caliber. The Barnes was 180 grain.

I have shot prolly over a hundred critters with them and have never had one fail that I can tell.

I don't even know what a Nilgai is...but I know a good mushroom when I see one. So what do you estimate the impact velocity as?

Looks pretty darned good.

An Antelope, about the size of a Elk,

When those Barnes work, they make their own marketing media, Classic pic.

Regardless of the scoffers and naysayers chorus, the proof of their effectiveness resides in my freezer. Nuff said.

Shot a cow Elk with a 140 TTSX that left the muzzle close to 3350 fps from my 7 Wby. Entered the body front right chest, angled thru the abdomen, exited at the left rear ham, entered the left rear ham & then exited the body. The cow wobbled for about ten yards & fell over like a kid learning to ride his first bicycle. I was impressed.

A couple bits of added information to respond to questions and statements. My estimated impact velocity was between 2,700-2,800 fps. Kind of a broad window but I estimated distance from myself to the animal at impact. This is also based on the fact that I validated the factory ammo over my chronograph. From my rifle the ammo posted a velocity of 2,951 fps. Barnes lists this ammo at 2,960 fps. Kind of surprising as to actual velocity vs. published velocity. This was also factory ammo that was acquired ~7 years ago so not the latest version of factory ammo.

Cool. Thanks for posting that. I've only recovered Barnes bullets from gel blocks & water jugs. The little 100 grainers from my 25-06 have done a fine job on mule deer.

Guy

I used the .338 225g TTSX on an antelope doe a few years ago. By the look of her ribcage, I could tell it surely opened up on such a small animal. She was 250 yards and the muzzle velocity was 2800 fps. Impact velocity would be about 2230 fps

Nice! Looks about perfect to me. Congrats!

I started using Barnes TSX bullets in 2005 when I built my.375 RUM for an African Cape Buffalo hunt. And since 2010 when I built my .300 Weatherby, I've only hunted with Barnes TSX and TTSX bullets with it.

I've taken at least 40 big game animals with those rifles and Barnes TSX and TTSX bullets, but only recovered 8 of those bullets. Some bullets completely passed through the animals, but there were .30 or .375 caliber entrance holes and 3/4" to 1" exit holes. I usually don't spend a lot of effort to find the bullets in the animals.

All of my recovered TSX and TTSX bullets look just like the bullet that the OP posted. Looking at my "pile" of recovered TSX and TTSX bullets, I can't tell which are TSX and which are TTSX.

Here's 3 recovered 168 gr TTSX bullets from critters shot with my .300 Wby.

My .300 Win Mag handload for my Ruger is a 180 TTSX at 2975. I believe I have only recovered one that I dug out of a big bodied bull elk. Looks a lot like the one in your pic and weighed right at 180 grains.

If I was just interested in hunting and not a gun slut I could sell all my other large centerfires and happily hunt anything I plan to with a TTSX in a .300 Win Mag.

The only TTSX I’ve managed to catch was this 80 gr. bullet fired out of a .243 at approximately 100 yards into the axis deer pictured. He was broadside but taking off at the moment of trigger pull resulting in a liver shot. He went about 60 yards and piled up in the middle of the largest cactus patch anywhere nearby. The bullet was bulging the hide out on the opposite side for easy recovery during cleaning.

Every other TTSX I’ve witnessed on deer exited - even on angles requiring more penetration and entering at lower velocities due to longer ranges.

It’s the only bullet we use for hunting critters we want to recover in .223 and .243.

They have worked very well for me.

I’ve killed many a damn pig with them. Dead pigs tell no lies!!!

I forgot to list the final weight which was unreal. The bullet weight 178.7 gr. Unreal for the penetration and stress that the bullet encountered.

Shot many a whitetail with them from .308, .30-06 and 7mm08. Always kill like lightning, have never had one fail and have only recovered one, A 120gr TTSX from the 7mm08. 75yd straight away Texas heart shot on a big whitetail buck. Went in about 2" below "bullseye" and stopped inside the hide on the opposite end, center of the brisket. Mushroomed perfectly and weighed 117.5gr.

Looks just like the 6.5 120gr TSX I used on a 214yd front on neck shot on a large 3x3 Blacktail in NW California from my Rem700 in 6.5 RemMag about 20+ years ago. Muzzle velocity was 3000-3100fps. It was a steep downhill shot with the TSX re-entering the bucks back after exiting the neck. It weighed 119gr, the deer was DRT, it just collapsed down. I would say this was excellent performance. Still use some TSX but now shifted over to the TTSX.

Are those different than regular pigs?

Which cartridge & bullet weight?

I’ve shot 2 javelinas with my .257 Wby using 100gen TTSX’s at under 50 yards. Neither went anywhere.

One cow at 200 with a .270 Wby using 130grn TTSX’s and at first she didn’t look hit, she took 5 steps and fell over dead. I took out the bottom of her heart


And also one cow at 240 with a .300 Wby using 180’s. The bullet went in behind the right shoulder and out through the left. She spun around and dropped.

Barnes 168 TTSX bullets recovered from cow elk shot at 617 and 628yds. Starting velocity was 3250fps. We've shot truck loads of deer between 10 and 800yds and never recovered a TTSX using the same load.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nilgai

They're also one of the tastiest creatures that God ever gave us.


Okie John

In three or four of my 308s, ammo loaded by Barnes and sold under their name runs right at advertised speed. In one, it's a bit faster. In the same rifles, ammo loaded by Federal with Barnes bullets tends to run 50-75 fps slower than advertised. All of this ammo was loaded in the last couple of years.


Okie John

That picture is troubling.

That depends. Impact speed is likely getting pretty low at those distances, so performance may be right inline with what one would expect.

A quick guess puts it at about 22-2300fps, which is far over what Barnes claims is their minimum for that bullet. Doesn't leave very much room for a guy that wants to use that bullet in a .30-06 or .308.

Knowing no particulars except MV, I'd SWAG it more like 2100 fps at impact. Regardless what Barnes cites by bullet, I use 2200 as the floor for all TTSX and 2000 for LRX. Not a.big deal for me as I don't shoot far enough for that to come into play. But if I was at or below those numbers, I'd aim for big bones in the shoulders.

Yup. Need more info to come up with a better estimate of impact speed, but those numbers are probably in the right ballpark.

Also keep in mind that “minimum” speed ratings are for minimum expansion. Add 200+ fps to the ratings if you want moderate or better expansion.

Some like them, some don't.

Some will never leave the Partitions.


Some like the Berger's

Getting in the race we have Hammer Bullets.

All of these bullets have a following. They all have a different point of view how a bullet should work.

Just make sure your gun is sighted in; go hunting and have some fun.

You wouldn't be worried about penetration? I'm going to try either 190 or 200 LRX bullets next year and worry about velocity at extended ranges.

I’ve broken a leg & spine from a 270 lb boar at 513 yards, chest cavity of a big cow elk at 550 yards with a 190 grain TTSX from a 300 Weatherby on my longest shots. I’m still looking to recover one.

In my opinion you can certainly use softer more explosive bullets & get more spectacular results on deer, for elk I love the bone breaking full penetration the TTSX gives.

I have used TSX 210 grains in my .338-06 at a mv of around 2700 fps with H414

End performance is variable:

Exit wound like John Hurt's character's chest in first Alien movie or

Suspected pencil through, not opening up (much) requiring follow up shots.

Shots = heart lung, rib cage at various ranges / angles.

I believe Barnes brought out the TTSX due to opening issues at lower velocities.

My understanding is performance is variable below striking velocities of 2000 fps and tends to pencil at 1600-1800 fps (not opening up)

To add, ranges were circa 125 yard out to 285 yards (long ones measured with laser range finder). Suspect impact velocity at longer ranges drops below 2000- 1900 fps.

I now run with the Speer softer heads and Nosler partitions and am looking at the TTSX due to good / higher velocity than with the partitions and probably more reliable opening up with that plastic plug in the hollow point.

Same bullet. Same round. Maybe a bit slower. Like 2650. Have never had a single complaint with that bullet. Its been perfect. A couple bullets that moose actually caught, were 100% retention.

They all open to some extent. I've never seen the exit wound the exact size as the entrance.

Moved to the TTSX as they came available. Still run TSX in 458 win mag.

While I've hear of issues with tsx over the years we never had an issue with em. And none with the tipped ones now either.

Have only ever seen nilgai shot with barnes except one I shot with a 30-30 contender and Rem 170s. The barnes bulls and cows were all perfect examples. The 30-30 was a stunt I wished I had not started but we got it finished. Most of those never made the off side lung....it took more than a few to get the bull down.

As long as they are not eating greening out juisache bushes... then they are horribly bitter.

When does that happen? Is it a time of year or a place? If I ever hunt nilgai I would like to enjoy the meat.

Thanks, Guy

I shot a couple crop damage deer with a 250 gr TTSX from my 375 H&H Mag loaded at 2800 fps. Shots were 150 and 160 yards, tight behind the shoulder with exits through the slats on the off side. Both dropped at the shot. Plenty of expansion, exits were the size of a golf ball.

I had similar experience with the 250 TTSX, though started @ 3130 mv. They were quite effective….looking forward to using my 270 LRX’s @ 3100. They should do pretty good also! memtb

They are fun to shoot at steel plate. When they are cheap enough:

They’re usually accurate.

They’re usually, “unusually” accurate! 😉 memtb

Used a 180 gr. TTSX to take a bull elk this last fall (my first) from a .30-06 at about 160 yards. Didn't go more than 5 steps after the first shot.

Don’t ya just love a story with a happy ending!

Have killed 4 elk the past three years with a 308 and 150 TTSX’s. All of them broadside shots from ~50 -120 yds (I’ve never had two broadside shots in a row on elk until now). All were exits with good exit holes.

Friend of mine who has been a copper bullet fan for a long time likes ETips better, because he thinks terminal performance is more consistent, but also says ETips can be more work to shoot accurately.

I’d like to get the classic quartering away shot on an elk to see how that bullet will work……..

I don’t think that you will be disappointed! memtb

Typical TTSX performance = bloody knife blade

When I bought a couple of rifles I tried TTSX bullets. The 300 Savage 99 (new to me) shot TTSX bullets more accurately than anything other bullet. But I ran out of bullets testing loads before season and I ended up using 159 grain Interlocks.
The 700 Mountain (new to me) & 700 Classic both in 7x57 shot TTSX bullets very well. So I took the 7x57’s out for whitetail. I had four doe tags. I was carrying the Mountain rifle. A group of 6 does walked out in the open approximately 275 yards away (range finding binoculars). I had sticks as a support and they had no idea that I was there. 3 shots and three does dead and without a step taken. As I was walking up to clean them another doe was running around, maybe 200 yards away: one shot and it dropped instantly.
All bullets left a good size exit hole. The first three -through the lungs, close to the heart. The last one a high shoulder shot. The last one hit significant bones.

I’ve not seen such performance repeated like that with any bullet, any rifle, and any cartridge. TTSX, will be tested in other cartridges, for sure.

Good shooting...but hell, you were shooting the 7x57... J.O`C would be proud.

At that range, probably closer to 2,000 fps, which explains the bullet performance.

While generally shoot the TSX, if impact velocity is going to be under ~ 2,200 fps, make sure to drive it through bone.




GR

That’s the only good thing I could muster up from my experience with Barnes so that’s all I added.

I love the LRX.

Sweet, appears to be good expansion. 👍 The performance that makes the Barnes TTSX’s and the LRX’s head and shoulders above most other bullets!

My only possible complaint would be…..they were not complete pass-throughs! 🤔 memtb

Of the nine, or so, deer and elk I've taken with the LRX, I've only recovered those two. Both were quartering away shots.

That should make you a “Happy Camper”! Pictures of that kind of performance are worth a thousand words. 👍 Those are some of the reasons I swear by Barnes Bullets.

There are some that had bad experiences early on and refuse to try them again…..it’s their loss! memtb

Almost all the recovered ones i have seen have been missing the petals

Need that quantified.
What are you shooting them out of?

Big difference between a 300 Savage to 300 Rum.

How many have you seen recovered? I recovered my first Barnes X-Bullet 25 years ago, not long before the TSX appeared, and have a pretty good collection of TSXs and TTSXs recovered since then--not just from animals Eileen and I have taken, but several other people who were on hunts with me, including a month-long South African cull-hunt in 2007.

In my experience how many petals they lose depends on what they hit, at what point in their penetration--and may not be consistent even then. Those that hit relatively heavy bone on impact tends to lose more petals, but have also seen that not happen.

As examples, Eileen killed two animals in a row with the 100 TTSX at 3150 fps from her NULA .257 Roberts one fall. The first was an average cow elk at 120 yards that was quartering away, which dropped right there. The bullet cracked about an inch off the lower edge of the spinal column, and ended up in the far shoulder, losing ONE petal, probably due to that one ticking the spine.

The next animal was pronghorn buck at around 275 yards, facing her. The bullet entered the front of the chest, and was found under the hide of the rump, retaining all its weight except the plastic tip.

The other bullets were in calibers from .270 up to .375. One was a 168 TSX from the Sisk .300 Winchester Magnum I used to take a big mule deer in Sonora. The buck was running almost directly away at around 150 yards, and the bullet broke the left hip, and was found under the hide on the front of the chest, weighing 167.8 grains, retaining all four petals.

The only variation I haven't seen is an X-Bullet, of whatever variation, retaining two petals.

This has been my experience, as well. I'll also add impact speed to the list of dependencies.

Yep!

Though the last one we recovered was a 130-grain TTSX started at around 2850 from Eileen's custom .308 Winchester. The animal was a BIG cow elk at around 250 yards, which was quartering toward us. She aimed for the near shoulder, and the bullet landed about two inches above the big shoulder joint. The cow was obviously dead on impact, but staggered 20-25 yards before collapsing.

225gr TTSX went though about 4.5 feet of moose. Entered right rib cage at appx 3,050 fps. Ended up breaking left shoulder from behind and stopped under the hide on the shoulder. Petals or not, it was amazing. By comparison, the other bullet pictured was my son's 243 deer kill.

Here are three 140 TTSX’s taken from a very large bull elk I shot with a 280 AI. All went through his chest cavity and all were under the hide on far side. The first put him in motion and the other two hit him going broadside on the move. All around 75 yards. Each of those are obviously dramatically different.

There's no rhyme or reason to those bullets. You would think that the bullets that didn't mushroom as much would of penetrated more.

They all mushroomed. One lost all its petals. One lost some and the other lost none. Mushrooming wasn’t an issue.

I have recovered maybe 8 or 9. Most were from Africa and were shot by my hunting party. 300 win mag, 300 H&H and abs a few from smaller calibers like 25-06.
I've seen one that looked like the magazine photo bullets
My experience with them is mostly complete pass- Through

I shoot the 110g TTSX in the 270 Winchester, Win 760, H4350m and R#17, they perform flawlessly.

IN the 7 Rem Mag, I have shot the 120 and 140g TTSX on top end pressure loads with IMR4350 with the 140 and R#22 with the 120s. Both bullets are very, very accurate seated .050 away from the lands. I do feel like the 140g TTSX, when started with a MV of 3250 leaves much less shock on a white tail at a range of 450 yards. A buddy was shooting the 120g TTSX in his custom short freebore 7 STW at 3850 with excellent accuracy. He shot a 100 lb doe and the bullet did not expand, impact 550 yards.

It is just my gut feeling that the Mono's need impact velocity to do their best work, or a large animal.

I would be tempted to use an 80g TTSX in a 25/06, same with a 243 Winchester.

How big of a real world difference is there between the TTSX and the LR-X long range bullet?
Pertaining to expansion.

I've been using the LRX for the past several years on game up to elk. Have yet to recover one, though the 127-grain I used from my Sisk 6.5 PRC ended up somewhere in the guts after a frontal shot on a big cow elk at 200 yards. Couldn't find it....

The others have all exited, including a 175-grain .30 started at 2850 on a quartering-away mule deer at 300+ yards.

Based on plenty of past experience with various TSXs and TTSXs from .257 to 9.3mm, haven't been able to tell any difference.

The inside of a bull elk, or any deer based animal, is dramatically different if impact is only inches apart.
I would say all three pictured bullets worked just fine.
Best regards,
F01

225 TTSX 338-378 VS Moose. WBY MK V Accumark. 151 yards, frontal chest impact, found in rear ham.

This is my youngest son's bull moose. No recovery of the 129 LRX, in and out, behind the shoulder. Approximately 100 yard shot with 270 weatherby. I have been impressed with the TSX, TTSX and LRX now. I had a texas heart shot on a whitetail running away that exited behind the offside shoulder after the anus entry with an 85gr tsx from my 243Ai along with multiple mule deer and elk as well. Rarely recovered any and don't have any pictures off hand of any. Also used the 110tsx with my older son's 270 when he first started as a lower recoil load. It performed as well.

I have had nothing but 100% success with Nosler Partitions on larger game animals for the last 40 years. They work, and they work well. My fondest hunting memories include Nosler Partitions. I have only recovered 2, one from a Zebra and one from an Elk, both in the 275 to 325 yard range. I have a lifetime handloading supply of these and then some. All of that said, being able to drop a weight range and still have the performance of a greater bullet weight size up is intriguing and an attractive proposition. The 30 06 starts getting into the old 300 Winchester mag ballistics, and the 250 grain .375 bullet makes my 98 Mauser .375 Ruger look like a one rifle, hunt the world proposition. I am going to try them.

Based on a limited sample size with the LRX, my initial impression is that the LRX expands more aggressively than the TTSX, which expands more aggressively than the TSX. The 127 gr 6.5mm and 145 gr 7mm LRX seem fairly willing to shed petals when they hit bone, even at fairly low impact speed. In terms of penetration, the TTSX and TSX exit so often that I haven't be able to observe a noticeable difference between them, but of the handful of LRX bullets that my hunting buddies and I have shot into deer (ranging from 100 lbs to ~400 lbs) and moose, I have seen a much higher percentage fail to exit compared to the TTSX and TSX. Again, this is a limited sample size and more game shooting may reveal that the first handful of kills contained a few anomalies.

If they're more willing to shed petals do they do as much damage to vitals or is sample size too small to make that determination?

Based on the small sample size with the LRX (8 critters so far, IIRC), it does more damage than what I typically see with the TTSX and TSX.

👍🏻👍🏻

I’m in this camp. With a fairly significant sample size.

I've used the old X bullet then the TTSX in 7Saum and the 90 grain X bullet in my 257 Roberts. The 90 grain pill is no longer in production, but I think I've got enough to last me for awhile.

Everything I've shot with the 140 TTSX in 7SAUM has never taken more than a step. Usually, the drop right there but I've never recovered a single bullet. I killed two Aoudad in west Texas with one shot. Through the shoulders of a ewe and into the head of another at 183 yards. Several west Texas mulies adorn my wall by that bullet. My 257 Roberts loves the 90 grainer and has been responsible for most of my west Texas whitetail kills along with several feral barbado/mouflon cross sheep. Only one whitetail every took more than a step, running about 50 yards before crashing.

Just to give a little more context, I've lost track of the exact count now, but I've seen 150-160 BG animals die via Barnes bullets (X, TSX, TTSX, LRX), and only a handful of those were with the LRX. My hunting partners and I have mainly switched our Barnes usage to the LRX, so that sample size will hopefully increase in the near future.

I got it.

Was wondering if those few LRX she'd petals upon entry of if it was evident at what point they were shed.

It sounds like it must not be upon entry if you're seeing more damage.

No, not on entry. I've seen petals from the TTSX just under the entry-side hide when impact speed was very high, but in the case of the LRX most of the impacts so far have been at more moderate speeds, 2700 fps or less. In one particular case, a 127 gr 6.5mm LRX impacted a quartering away MD buck at 280 meters. The bullet entered the last rib and impacted the offside humerus, where it came to a stop. I found the bullet against the bone with a loose petal beside it.

I've yet to recover a 180 grain TSX or TTSX from my 300 Win Mag after 8 or 9 animals from whitetail to aoudad and kudu from 50 to 250 yards.

Typical TTSX and LRX performance: Get out the skinning knife and meat bags.

Have found petals from near the entrance hole to around the exit hole--and one in the heart of a deer.....

Been shooting the 120 grain ttsx in 260 rem and 6.5 rem mag, both delivered destruction to big northen whitetails and hogs, switched to 127 lrx cause I got a deal on a bunch, i think the destruction on contact is more than the ttsx, anything but flesh on the way in and you have a real mess in the internals, even delivers thru the plate on the side of a big hog. Yet to own a rifle that won't shoot them well too, which is nice.

I quit using them after the second time one cratered on a bull’s shoulder. No penetration, just a surface wound. My brother had to finish both of them with Accubonds.

Never again.




P

Not disputing your post, but I have never seen such results from various mule deer and elk kills.
Hard for me to imagine Accubonds performing better. Just me.

7-08 ?

Which bullet & weight?

April Fools, bįtches