Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Thoughts on the TSX performance 2009

As Usual I will share some thoughts on the various bullet performance from the season. Here are some observations and opinions about the performance of the Barnes TSX bullets this year. There were 52 animals shot with the TSX and a nearly equal amount of game taken with several other brands. This is the first year that every hunter in camp came with �Premium� bullets. Not a single hunter used a common �cup and core� style bullet. I hope that my rants on this subject have finally paid off regarding the advantage of the additional cost for premium bullets.

Since this is article is primarily for the TSX bullet, I will describe the events for those, and use the other brands as a balance of performance. To attempt to create a document with the detail needed for each brand,�.. well it would take a long time, and a lot of space here. Furthermore there was far more detail and resolution with the TSX as more game was harvested with the TSX then all the other bullet brands combined.

The best news with the TSX is that there was not even one animal lost with the TSX bullet this season. Considering all the game shot with the TSX, both 165 grain in 30/06 and 270 grain in 375HH this is an impressive achievement. There was game wounded with several different bullets that took some time to recover, and required follow up shooting. This was as far as I could tell as likely the shot placement and not just with the projectile. As is the case every year, no matter what the skill level of the hunters, or the cartridges chosen, game will be shot poorly and we will have tracking and follow up days during each safari. There are just so many animals shot, and so many brushy and quick situations. This often creates less then perfect shots, it�s just the way things seem to happen.

We recovered only 7, 30/06 TSX bullets, and we recovered no 270 grain bullets from the 375HH. The 270 grain TSX seems to open quicker and with more violence then the smaller 30/06 bullets. That 270 grain bullet chews a hole through bone and tissue like no other bullets can. The damage path with that 270 grain bullet with a MV of 2800 fps is one of the most impressive I�ve ever seen, quite a bit more disruptive then even the 300 grain TSX has been. The typical 300-350 fps faster speed of the 270grain is a significant improvement on the terminal performance. The 270 grain in my opinion is enough bullet for anything alive on this planet. I have said many times before and will confirm this again, it�s enough for Cape buffalo. The penetration of this bullet in my experience is equal or greater then any 300 grain expanding bullet with a lead core. It takes a lot of tissue compression or an exceptional long range shot to collect one of these bullets inside game.

We recovered well over a dozen bullets, or parts of bullets from all the other cartridges used. The skinner used for many of these hunts had very strict instructions to recover every bullet and fragment he could from the game. It�s was quite an experience this year with so many fragmented pieces of the Nosler Partition. I would never have believed that so many little pieces could be found by the skinner. Nobody with any amount of experience argues the performance of the partition. It is after all somewhat of a baseline for bullet performance. Better then the Partition is all good, but worse performance is a problem that needs strict attention.

We recovered a number of jacket pieces and lead segments from several different animals shot with the Partition. This shows that even the legendary Partition will go to pieces when shot with high velocity cartridges and close range at heavy game. I have seen Partitions come apart before but this year was more then normal. The up side was that nothing was lost with a Partition. Although there was a few very long grueling follow ups looking for wounded animals. (shot placement was a strong contributor on some of these)

If my count is right 31 animals were shot with my 30/06 using the 165 grain partitions, and another 6 were shot with the same cartridge and nearly identical loads by other hunters. 37 animals this year were shot with the 165 grain 30/06 bullet. Some notable trophies were 2 huge waterbuck, 7 Blue Wildebeest, 4 Zebra�s, 4 Gemsbok, 6 warthogs, and 4 Kudu. 7 recovered bullets, the rest simply passed right through.




The first and third bullets are from 300 meter plus shots on Zebra and wildebeest. The second bullet is from a length wise shot at a warthog from only 30 meters. The fourth bullet is from the 175 meter shot I made on the Zebra. Note the length of this bullet from a Zebra shot at 180 meters compared to the bullet used on a similiar shot on a Zebra at just over 300 meters. The reduced velocity of that longer shot still allowed a complete expansion of the bullet.



Remaining fragments from two different Partition bullets, the small lead pieces I collected seem to have vanished on my way home? The other two partition bullets have the typical recovered appearance. Nothing wrong with this so long as penetration is sufficient. They will as a normal design lose the front half of the bullet during penetration, this is not a bullet or design failure.

I shot a zebra at about 175 yards, a rather long shot for our habitat, but it was all I had available. The bullet struck a quartering away direction and came to rest under the skin in front of the off shoulder. The entry was behind the last rib. This bullet was about one foot per second from being an exit hole. The skin in front of the bullet was cut in three places about 1/8� for each hole. Had that bullet been any faster it would have poked clean through. The hole was actually bleeding and looked like and exit hole. It was visually bulging with the bullet just under the skin. The same bullet and load passed through several wildebeest, and other Zebras as well. One was recovered under the skin of the chest on an impala with a perfectly centered �Texas heart shot� Another from a Blesbok�s shoulder with a very far 300 yard plus quartering away shot. That was well over 30� of penetration at a laser measured 300 plus yards! I have seen countless Zebra, eland, and wildebeest in my career shot with a 375HH and a bonded core bullet. A large percentage of these animals have managed to contain the large mushroomed bullet under the skin on the exit side. Yet the 30/06 with much less energy has exited or at least equaled the penetration when the 165grain TSX bullet is used.


This is the exit side of a warthog, the blood trail would have been sufficient although in this case not needed. The warthog only ran about 50 meters.


Accuracy is unmatched with proper load development and ammunition construction techniques. This is where many of the critics come out of the woodwork where problems arise. These are not your Daddies bullets, and as such do not always work with the same procedures you have used for load development with other bullets. I�m not going into how to develop and load ammo here, just want to say that it may take some time to sort through the best combinations of powder, primer and seating depths. When it all comes together the accuracy and performance are just magic on big game.

I closely inspected every carcass shot when the skinning was complete and meat was hanging in the cool room. In every single case when a chest shot was made through the ribs, the entry was easily identified when compared to the exit. The exits were on average 4 times the size of the entries. This confirms without any question the bullets expand even when the exit holes in the hide don�t look as if they had expansion. The photo here of the warthog is a typical example of the exit hole and the blood loss.

On a few occasions there were petals broken off of the recovered bullets. Twice there was a single petal broken off, and on one rather close shot all four were broken off with the bullet entering the back of the warthog near the tail and coming to rest inside the skull. This was about a 30 yard shot on a medium female warthog used to feed the staff. The bullet actually entered with only a small partial hole right next to the wagging tail! I made this shot in a deliberate attempt to see just how far the bullet would go, or if it would still have enough power to break the skull. In addition I wanted to see just how straight it would travel through the inconsistent tissues involved through its damage path. The heavy bones of the pelvis, organs, muscle tissue and skull might cause a variance in straight bullet travel. However there was no bullet deflection at all in this test. The travel was as straight as a ruler could have made it. Overall I cannot find fault with the TSX in anyway again this year. I shot several 130 grain TTSX bullets at impala, none recovered and the internal damage was significant. Actually the same as the plain old TSX.

I don�t see a measurable difference in the performance between the two. I suppose if you�re of the mind that the plastic tip will improve the ease of the bullet opening and provide you with a flatter shooting projectile, the TTSX is made for you. I don�t see any need to change a single thing from the 165grain TSX bullet at about 2900fps from the 30/06. Several of the hunters and I joked that so many guys bring huge case capacity magnums, and then spend time looking for wounded game. I cannot stress enough that not a single plains game animal was lost with the 30/06 and the 165 grain TSX bullets again this year. There were however a number of wounded animals with magnum cartridges. One second time plains game hunter commented that his next safari will be with one of his 30/06 rifles. He used my 30/06 to finish his safari after a problem with his 338 came up.

It�s no wonder the locals throughout much of Southern Africa regardless of the country feel so comfortable with the smaller 308, 30/06, and 270 cartridges. Once the decision is made to jump from these cartridges they move right up to the 375HH, and from there the 458. Many of these local Southern African hunters regardless of the country don�t really buy into the need for the big over bore magnums. Now with the improved bullets available like the TSX they can have an easy to shoot, economical cartridge that will easily out perform the bigger magnums using a cup and core bullet. There is no doubt that a 30/06 shooting a 165 grain TSX bullet at 2900fps will easily provide more over all lethal performance than a 300 win mag shooting a 180 grain cup and core bullet at 3100fps. I�ve seen this plenty of times where the TSX from the old non-magnum will exit while the heavier cup and core bullet will fragment into many small pieces and have no exit hole, and quite often under penetrate.

As I have written before, and a fitting close to this article. Any bullet can have a failure depending upon the definition of �failure�. For my money and with the experiences I have had since using this bullet. I would prefer a bullet fail to an un-opened solid, or lose all the petals, then to have the whole bullet crumble away or fall short of desired penetration needed. Even if the bullet fails to an unopened solid, or has all the petals break off. If the aim was true to begin with, then the bullet will impact the organs you were aiming at and destroy them. Many times a hunter will criticize the performance of the bullet or at least be left wondering how the bullet could have failed him when the game is lost. I suspect that most of these animals were not hit well, rather then having a bullet failure. We have seen a number of cup and core bullets, fall short of the penetration needed. Having that thick very elastic hide so typical of many African animals absorb much of the impact. Which then causes the rapid destruction of the bullet, while it continues to disintegrate in the next few inches falling short of the off side lung. An animal pumping blood from the entry inspires confidence at the point of impact. However after several hundred yards of tracking the hunter asks how can this be? How can that much blood be seen and the animals travel so far? A herd animal with one good lung can run dead on its feet for a very long time trying to stay with the group.

With a bullet that crumbles or falls short of the desired organs, you will be tracking and hoping for many hours and kilometers that you find the game. This makes for long evening around the campfire while everyone else is laughing and enjoying the hunt stories, and you sit stressed out and wondering just how much of your trophy will be left from the hyenas and jackals. That is if you�re lucky enough to even find it in the morning!

THANKS JJ

I guess a 165 TSX out of a 30/06 would be similar t oa 150 out of a 308win....

Did you see anyone using accubonds or your old favorite the hornady interbond?

JJ,
What was the barrel on the 375? I am having my CZ shortened to 23" from the factory 25".

Terrific post! Welcome home and now its time to shoot rockchucks and go fishing!


MARK

No Accubonds or Interbnds this year. Interbonds are a great bullet, but they do not penetrate like the TSX and fall short where their is such a wide range of body size.

Interbonds are a great choice when the cartridge size is matched to the animal size. They don't offer the "step up" in preformance when trying to shoot the bigger animals with the smaller cartridges as the TSX design does.

The interbond has a more instant stunning knock down with some impacts. But it does not exit as frequent, and it does not crush bones the way the TSX does. I guess what I'm saying is that the Interbond is a great choice when everything goes just right. The TSX is the right choice when you need a Just in case it does not option!

Great post jj

After my first hunt in South Africa, I switched to "premium" bullets. In 2005 I returned to Africa to hunt Cape Buffalo in Zimbabwe and Plains Game in KZN and the Free State. For Buffalo and several of the PG I used my .375 Rem Ultra Mag with 300 gr TSX bullets at a MV of 2840 fps. Most shots were one shot kills with the bullets completely passing through the animals, except for the Buffalo and Zebra. I only recovered the bullet from the Buffalo.

My other rifle on the 2005 hunt was a 7mm Rem Mag shooting 160 gr Accubonds. Again, most shots were one shot kills and complete pass throughs. Both of these rifles and bullets shoot 1" 3-shot 100 yd groups.

In 2007 I hunted the Eastern Cape region of South Africa for a variety of Plains Game antelope from Steenbok to Cape Eland. For this hunt the only rifle that I took was my .375 RUM, loaded with 270 gr TSX bullets at a MV of 3043 fps (that's 5553 fp of muzzle energy!). This bullet also shoots into 1 inch at 100 yds.

Again, most shots resulted in one shot kills and complete pass throughs except for the Eland and Kudu. The only bullets that we recovered were from the Kudu. On the first shot, the Kudu was quartering to me at 160 yds. The 270 gr TSX entered the left front shoulder and stopped under the skin of the right hip. The bull ran about 30 yds and stopped broadside. Since the sun was setting, I anchored the bull with a TSX into the left shoulder that stopped under the skin of the right shoulder.

This picture shows the TSX bullets that I recovered from my African animals. They look just like the TSX bullets that jjhack posted. [img][img]http://www.jesseshunting.com/photopost/data/500/11-07_018_Small_.jpg[/img][/img]

Also, about 30 years ago I rechambered my .30-06 to .30 Gibbs. With the added velocity of the Gibbs, I wanted a bullet that would insure deep penetration, so I started loading 180 gr Nosler Partitions in it. These bullets chronographed 2990 fps muzzle velocity, and grouped 1-1 1/2" at 100 yds. I shot about two dozen elk and a couple of Shiras Moose with this combination. I was not in to recovering bullets, but I did recover some that stopped just under the skin of the "off" side.

This picture shows the 180 gr Nosler Partition bullets that I recovered from elk or moose that I shot. They look just like the NP bullets that jjhack posted. [img][img]http://www.jesseshunting.com/photopost/data/500/180_NP_Small_.jpg[/img][/img]

Superb case study Jim and proves what you and others have been saying for years. The TSX is THE bullet of choice for just about everything out there. It also validates what the Randy Brooks says about the TSXs, that you should go with a lighter bullet. He proves this with the 416 350gr TSX as being a more impressive killer than the standard weight 400gr. I'm in the process of switching everything to TSXs/TTSXs as I deplete my supply of other bullets, as long as my rifles like them and so far they are had to beat in the accuracy dept. I'll still hold on and use my Hornadys for everyday scrub deer/hog hunting with my 06, but for "money hunts" the TSXs are it. Thanks again, jorge

I guess the nosler E2 deserves a trial run as well

FANTASTIC article thank you very much Mr. Hack. I'll tell anyone if their rifle can shoot a Barnes TSX you better use it! Thanks again Sir!

Thanks for taking the time to post...great info!

Everyone of my rifles shoot the TSX into sub moa with minimsl load development. None of those rifles have had any significant accurizing done. My accuracy loads shoot well in every gun I reload for of my friends.

Everyone of those friends now use TSX exclusively and refuse to use any other.
Randy

I also used Federal 180 TSX out of my 300 wsm. Very accurate. I shot a Kudu, Red Hartebeest, and Gemsbok with the 300. All 3 dropped in their tracks. The Kudu was the closest, 75 yards, the bullet passed thru the animal shoulder to shoulder. The Red Hartebeest was about 155 yards, the bullet entered the front chest and stopped somewhere in the back of the gut. The Gemsbok was about 100 yards, the bullet entered chest side of the right shoulder and exited behind the left shoulder. I'm sticking with TSX........rej

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the lack of copper fouling from the TSX....rej

I've pretty much settled on the 570g TSX in my 500 Jeffrey, I was a doubter at first (worried about lack of expansion) but you guys have converted me!


Regards,

Chuck

posts like this are one of the reasons I love this site....my daughter calls it "Dad's facebook".

nonsence, why just yesterday in these very pages of the campfire forums, i read again about the three tsx bullets that failed, and one ttsx. the same ones we have been reading about for the last 5 years!

seriously, i love the tsx,ttsx,and mrx. they have never "failed" to impress me.

Colorado, dont they make a 535 tsx for the 500? just thinkin on what JJ and others have said about the lighter tsx's performance.however, i still use 180's in 30 cal, but its a 30-378

Hi rosco1, I guess I want the penetration of the 570g TSX. Barnes does make a 535g banded solid as well as a 570g solid, but they only make the TSX in 570g in 510 caliber. I'm fine with it, I'm slowly working up my loads. I've got some H4895 and RL 15 to take the range in a couple of weeks. My last load was very accurate but a bit slow at 2100 fps. I'll end up somewhere between 2150 fps and 2300 fps depending on which is the most accurate and where my recoil "wimp factor" sets in.


Chuck

JJ great post!

I've been a big fan of Barnes X's and its variants over the years, yes they used to have some manufacturing problems but that was then and this is now.

I guess when you have such a great product, that a lot of people really rave about, you are going to have nay sayers who swear that its not good. All of these people have antedotal evidence, like small exits, or an unrecovered animal that they swear was hit right. We all know how that goes, but the evidence is apparant to even a small child, that the TSX is the real deal. With that said, anything can happen when a live animal is shot, so in reality, nothing would surprise me when it comes to bullet performance, but we can stack the deck in our favor.

Thanks for your time and honesty, Frank

Many thanks for taking the time to write this and post, JJ!

Nothing like a post of real reports from more shots than most hunters take in a lifetime!

A friend is nearly finished his apprenticeship as a professional hunter and also recommends the TSX based on seeing hundreds of critters shot. His reports are almost precisely like yours!

He also says that both he (and the PHs he works with) see no need for solids unless elephant is on the list IF the client is using a .375 H & H with 270gr TSX bullets. In fact, that is what they recommend for a one rifle hunter: 375 H & H with 270gr TSX bullets (not 300gr) for duiker to buff.

I guess what I find so surprising in your report (and my friend's) is that the TSX expands enough to work well on small stuff, but penetrates so well that recovered bullets are not common. However, I can't ignore all this evidence, so the next time I buy bullets they will be TSX...

John

Great post,JJ and VERY informative.Thanks for the insight.