Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters I'd like to discuss the Barnes TSX.

I will start this by saying that I have very limited experience with these bullets. I have done some load development with the 85 grain TSX, for a 6mm Remington and a .243 WCF. I just recently took a decent whitetail buck with a TSX out of the 6mm, and have a couple observations about that experience that I would like to kick around.

To begin with, load development was suprisingly easy. I don't have a barnes manual, as I have never seen the need for these bullets before. I used my Nosler, Speer and Sierra manuals to cross reference the chargeweights for an 85 grainer, and then backed off a tad to allow for development.

I landed so far at 39.0 grains of Varget for the 6mm. I am having to work with Fed 215 primers, another reason to back off a tad. Anyway, once I mounted a decent scope I got three shots groups at 7/8". Good enough for government work. I don't have a chronograph, so I don't know the speed, but did recover one bullet from the berm that had expanded and shed it's petals. So far, so good.

I took a Whitetail buck last Saturday with the 6mm at about 65 yards or so. He was standing stock still, broadside. I shot him directly though the shoulders at 12 o' clock. No surprise, he died where he stood.

On inspection, the entrance and exit holes were minimal. There was no blood on the ground where he lay. I drug him out to another area to dress him. The chest cavity of the deer contained little to no blood. The lungs showed obvious signs of trauma from the bullet's path.

Once skinned, it became easier to see the entrance and exit wounds. I would estimate the size to be .40 to .45". The bloodshot area around the wounds was no more than the size of a silver dollar. It was a very clean kill, if nothing else.

I apologize for the lack of photographs with this post, but I forgot the camera. That said, do the circumstances, as I described them, sound like typical TSX performance to you?

I have more testing to do this weekend, and hopefully will have a larger sample to consider. My question at this time is whether the TSX will expand to the same level if I only shoot through the ribs, rather than the shoulder?

I primarily went with the TSX this year because of the two .24 calibers I was loading for. We have had good success in the past with the 95 grain Partition, and have used the 90 grain Speer HotCor with success, but I recovered the jacket off one of those last year, and lost a little confidence in that bullet.

One other observation with these bullets. I have killed one crow and one deer with them so far, but in both cases I clearly heard the satisfying "whap" of the bullet striking. I am about deaf, and I enjoy that a great deal. Gilding the lily, I know, but enjoyable, nonetheless.

Yours is pretty typical TSX performance. FWIW the people at Barnes maintain the TSX will open in a matter of inches, so basically yes, the bullet should expand whether you hit ribs, shoulders, whatever..
I have used the TSXs extensively in a couple calibers, notable centerfire .22s and they are my absolute favorite for deer/antelope in the small calibers.
We ( my wife and I) have also used TSXs in more standard rifles...30-06, .257 Bob, 7x57 on a variety of game, both North american and African PG...Completely happy with the bullets...

There are LOTS of good bullets out there, and I feel the TSXs are just what is needed when you are shooting game that is larger than generally shot with the cartridge in question...
i.e. .223 and deer....7x57 and Gemsbok or elk...

Ingwe

Ingwe,
I think my application for TSX's is more or less on the same page as yours.

I can see using them in "magnum" cartridges where speed can compromise Cup and Core bullets. I don't own a magnum rifle, so for the most part, CnC bullets have performed well for me in 7/08, .280, .30-06, as well as .30WCF and a couple others I am sure I am forgetting.

Crimson,

Weidmannsheil on the Buck. My experience with the TSX 85 gr. at a sedate 3050 fps out of my 6mm Rem. differs a little from yours described:

First off, different species/size:

On the (rare) occasion that roe deer run after a good hit through heart / lungs, I usually find this:



After I follow that, I find this on the exit side:



The difference in our opservations might be explained with the size of the animal.

My fazit, apart from that though is positve.

cmg,
Thank you very much. It may be that I am running slower than 3,000 fps.

My rifle has a 20" tube which will shave a little velocity, but I would have thought I was close to 3,000 if you can believe anything in a reloading manual, and making a SWAG based on the difference in the length of barrel the manual used and the length you will be running.

I realize that I desperately need a chronograph.

I had forgotten you were using the 6mm as well. I remembered Kermit as soon as I saw your pic.

Actually, TSX's start to open the instant they hit anything, not within several inches. They're fully expanded by the time they've gone their length into a deer (or whatver). This is exactly what almost all expanding bullets do; the only exception I've seen is the Berger VLD, that delays expanding for a couple of inches.

TSX's are also generally one of the easiest bullets to get to shoot. I have only encountered maybe 2-3 rifles (out of dozens) that haven't shot TSX's into an inch or less for 3 shots at 100 yards, and only one rifle that simply didn't like them.

MD...my experience has also been that they are easy to get to shoot well in virtually all rifles..
Barnes has some video slo mo stuff on their website showing the expansion of the TSXs..
I was saying inches to give them the benefit of the doubt....it must be dam quick, cause entrances are often the same size as exits....which probably leads to the "penciling thru" myths..

Ingwe

Slow-motion of various expanding bullets shows that (with the exception of the VLD) they all start to expand immediately, the reason meat damage is normally most extensive around the entrance hole.

The old myth that some bullets expand more slow than other is just that, a myth. Some do expand more violently than others, but if they expand at all, they do it immediately.

If all goes well, I will be shooting for the slats this weekend. Will try to remember the camera.

I like the Barnes bullets on Cape Buffalo, Eland and the really big heavy stuff, I have seen them do some funny things on lighter animals..I feel the same way about Swifts bullets..I only base this on my personal experiences and who knows? it could be chalked up to coincedence...but it is what it is, and I use other brands for the smaller stuff..I know some folks that are well versed in hunting and they swear by Barnes and Swifts, so be it..thats what makes a horse race.

Ray,

Part of what has me testing the TSX is your idea on partitions smaller than .270. Just what is the best .24 caliber bullet for whitetails? All the way to muledeer, if I wanted to hunt with a .243 WCF, 6mm Rem or even .240 WBY, what bullet is the right one to use?

I am not being argumentative, just wanting to learn. I often watch hunting video's and when the deer appears, I try to think through what bullet I would want to be using if I were shooting a 6mm. Some of the shot presentations or angles if you will, definitely predicate a stout bullet. (Or a stouter cartridge, if you will.)

I've shot a bunch of deer through the ribs with the TSX in 130 grain 30-06.

They have given the smallish entrance and exit (though in no way a "pencil") but have made mush of the lungs. My feeling is that they demonstrate a more destructive wound channel when shooting into 'liquid' type organs, such as lung, than they do in muscle/bone.

I've shot a couple from various angles through 'bone' and the wound channel was quite small and tubular. On those shots where I've hit more liquidy organs, including at least one angled up through the gut, the internal damage was extensive (and messy).

Possibly the petals are coming off/being laid back when hitting bone at entrance? I do not know, as I have never recovered one in a deer yet.

Also, they do seem to cause bloodshotting around entrance/exit, but it is not a destruction of meat, rather just loose blood in the connective tissues between muscle groups. The bloodshotting can be easily wiped/washed off the meat. This contrasts with lead bullets that seem to be blowing small lead fragments into the actual muscle itself, thereby resulting in lost meat.

Tide,
I have not seen near the animals harvested as Ray has but in the case of the 6MM and the 85 TSX I have seen first hand the performance of that round and bullet. The rifle is an Ackley version and that bullet combination works real well on a Whitetail and did a fine job on a Wyoming Antelope a month ago. No recovery, pass through, no blood trail (they died where they stood).
Don't know what would happen if a guy took a less than desirable shot but my suspicion is that this combination would work as well as anything considered practical.

Dave

Thanks all. So far I am pleased with them. Hoping that Mrs. Tide will get a chance to field test them in the morning, as I loaded them for her .243 as well.

Tomorrow's hunt is more for Mrs. Tide and Tide Jr. He'll be hunting with his .257 Roberts and the 110 grain Accubond. We already know how that works.

Overall, I guess I was pondering out loud about them before actually taking the shot.

Very similar results when using the 140gr TSX in a 7mm SAUM. This combo has taken 4 bucks and two does, all died in their tracks without ever taking a step and had telltale audile WHAP on impact, more so than any other bullet I have used. Have also used the 100 TSX in a 25-06 with good performance, but the three deer killed with it (1 buck, 2 doe) all ran, but blood trail was impressive to say the least. Meat damage is minimal with the exception of one shoulder shot which is to be expected.

Enlightening thread. I have a buddy who came over and loaded some 80gr TTSX's for a .243 at my house and so far we've shot about 10 rds of pressure/speed/dialing in loads.

My comment for the thread and not a dig at CrimsonTide but one lesson I learned is if you own a press you need to have a Chronograph of some sort. If you can afford 3 boxes of Barnes or Nosler bullets you can afford a Chrony HERE after shooting book loads in a .30-30 that were running .308 velocity I got one and am glad for it.


Carry on,

Mike

You can't push them too fast or take out too much bone with them.

Agreed.......

Much of my experience with TSX's follows others results here. But I will say definitively that with these TSX's (3 bulls), I've had almost zero bloodshot meat left to deal with when all was said and done.

For me, along with all their other attributes, that's a huge bonus. Only the buck I shot yesterday with the 300gr. Beartooth HC bullets has shown similar lack of bloodshot meat.

Less waste, less clean up of game, almost always one of the most accurate bullets I try in my rifles, punches on through ALWAYS (for me anyway).......what's not to like?

Don't say price........good stuff costs more. Not having to use follow up shots can easily make you even..........

Yep, my experience on the bloodshot meat is nil...after a couple dozen kills..
I will occasionally get blood in the mucous membranes on or between the muscles, which is easily peeled off....
None in the muscle per se...
I must be like you, I don't like working hard for that meat, and having to throw a bunch away...
Also as Steelhead said, you can't drive them fast enough...
CnC boolits...velocity equals bloodshot..
TSXs- no noticeable difference ...
Love 'em...

Ingwe

Ingwe,
Talked to a guy at Barnes a few weeks ago and told him that the company he worked for had obsoleted a whole bunch of bullets on the shelves in my loading room. He recommended I use them to punch holes in paper.
Since I started using them I always reach for them instead of the old standby bullets. I like you really like em and they are accurate too.

Dave