Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Barnes 130 grain TTSX .277 bullets on large game

Like the OP, I've also had good results using a relatively light Barnes bullet on a large boar hog. In this case I was using a 127 grain LRX out of a 6.5 Creedmoor. The 250+ pound boar (didn't actually weigh it) ran 20-30 yards and collapsed after I shot it behind the shoulder at about 150 yards.

I'm now thinking my son and I will use 168 grain TTSX loads in .30-06 and .300 Win Mag on a moose hunt we're doing this fall in B.C. I've killed a couple of good sized bull elk with a 168 grain TTSX load in my .30-06, so that gives me some confidence in using that bullet on moose.

Might also mention the bison Charlie Sisk mentions was for a cow in Texas, a little west of Uvalde. There were three available on the ranch we hunted, and one had been killed a few days earlier, and consequently the other two were kinda skittish. She was using one of Charlie's custom rifles, with the ammo he provided.

The ranch was a typical mix for that part of Texas, thick brush with some grassy openings. It too them around two hours to finally get a good shot, broadside at around 150 yards, with the pair right next to a brushy draw. Eileen shot offhand off sticks, and put the bullet about 1/3 of the way up the chest tight behind the shoulder. (She'd already seen some bison taken, and knew the heart/lung area was a little lower than in other animals, due to their hump.)

The cow trotted about 40 yards, and then stood still. Eileen was about to shoot again when it fell, then rolled down a short slope into the shallow draw. This was because it had leaked a bunch of blood from both sides of its body (the bullet exited), leaving a red pool where it had stood. My notes say it weighed 880 pounds, which is around average for mature bison cows. (Might post a photo later.)

Yes. Thanks.

I used the 130gr TTSX on a couple of cow elk, a deer or two and quite a few antelope when I was in my 270Weatherby phase and it never dissapointed!

My daughter uses the same bullet in her 270Win. With similar results. I’m a big believer in monos. We have never caught one but we try to only take broadside shots!

I’ve switched back to a boring 30-06 and have settled on the 150gr. TTSX for a one bullet does all load. No blood yet, but I have no doubt it will perform as expected!

Elk country

Here's the bison Charlie Sisk mentioned, which went down in about 40 yards (my paces), after one 130-grain .270 TSX. The bloody spot is the exit hole:

Yes..thats the one...

129TTSX Bullet not recovered. 100-120 yard shot 270 weatherby

Great moose!

Thanks. That is my 18 (at the time) year old son that got it last year. Lucky he drew the tag with random draw no preference points here in NW Wyoming.

I've been a huge fan of partitions all my life and I still have no issues with them. BUT! The TTSX bullets are ones that I could be very happy with for all occasions that come to mind as far as in shooting game.

I shoot the 110g TTSX in my 270's, and they are the same length as a 130g Nosler ballistic tip. R#17 and H4350 shooting sub 1/2" groups, deer/hogs flop

This thread +1.

After taking a look at the Hornady CV, which I don't recall hearing about vs the GMX, I decided to give them a whirl, in their 270W 130gr Superformance loads, 3190 fps... Would JOC approve? Hmmm.

Mtn Boomer, Jack might approve, if the product worked.
Imo, the tsx, gmx etc do.
Sheep sized Game doesn't need a hugely tenacious bullet.
It does make the 7x57 a better choice for Bull Elk though.
We are in the age of " amazing " bullets for use with formerly" adequate " cartridges. Now amazing!
Clear as mud, ain't it?

+1

Jack O'Connor said.--If there is any difference between 130 and 150 grain bullets in a 270 Winchester, is pure imagination.

😂 Yep …..only about 15% more mass. Which certainly means “near nothing” when shooting larger big game! 🤪 But then, JO and I rarely agreed on anything. 😉 memtb

Yessir, Jack had his moments.

Hmm.

My wife has killed dozens of big game animals, including elk and similar-sized big game up to around 900 pounds with cartridges including the .257 Roberts, .270 Winchester, 308 Winchester and .30-06 in various places from several American states and Canadian provinces to two African countries. The "biggest" combination she's used is the .30-06 with 165-grain Fail Safes, a bullet that performed very similarly to the Barnes TSX. She used it in Namibia, because she'd "heard" African plains game was tougher than American elk and moose--and after taking such elk-sized animals as the supposedly very tough gemsbok and blue wildebeest (oh, and one of the two biggest-bodied kudu I've seen in eight African safaris) said, "My .270 would have worked just as well."

She used a .308 Winchester on her second safari with 150-grain Nosler E-Tips to take game up to an 800-pound zebra--also considered among the tougher African game. She's also taken an 880-pound bison with one 130-grain Barnes TSX, from a Federal .270 Winchester factory load.

I could go on, but the major point is that the .338 Winchester Magnum isn't "necessary" for that sort of game--and neither is its recoil. I also know this from using the .338 to take dozens of big game animals in several countries over a dozen years.

But whatever....

John, perhaps I didn’t word my comment properly. The 130 TSX kills way above it’s pay grade…. A great little bullet. My point was, for large big game I merely think that the 140 or the 150 are a better option. Maybe not an “earth shattering” improvement, but an improvement on lets say a less than ideal shot. I simply believe that that small gain in bullet weight equates to a small gain in effectiveness in some instances!

And as for the .338 WM, not necessary ….but not a handicap either! Simply a little better than some if the other choices! I think of it as insurance. I’ve never “needed” life insurance…..but I got it for my family! 😉 memtb

The recoil of full power 338 mag loads is a handicap.
But then, you and I rarely agree on anything.