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

10-4 !!!

Ingwe

Not bashing here, just stating some facts from me & my buddies elk hunt this year.

My buddy shot a very nice 6x6 at 260 yds with a 300 WSM and 180 grain TSX. He had a pencil hole in and a pencil hole out with not much internal damage. He did manage to hit the heart and the bull went 20 yds and fell.

I shot a nice 5x5 at 125 yds with a 300 Win Mag and 180 grain TSX. I hit the bull slightly low behind front shoulder. I got a pencil hole in & pencil hole out with not much internal damage. It was a double lung shot, but the bull still managed to go 80 or 90 yds before piling up.

My take = NOT impressed with the TSX bullet!!! Me & my buddy will not be using the TSX for hunting anymore.

.300....an earlier post

Ingwe

This is from a little 223, had a like hole last week with an 85 X from the 250AI. Guess it happens cuzz people post it, but I've never seen one not expand and not [bleep] up some serious stuff.

Scott...thats "penciling on thru"....
Just looks like a BIG pencil!

Ingwe

That's why I don't mind being labeled pencil di....

Doooooood!!!!



Ingwe

There is no point having lead in your pencil if you don't have anyone to write to.

JW

Fortunately women are always getting married so the supply never dries up....

Travis

This should be entertaining.

Before they were accurate many people didn't know or care that the Barnes bullet didn't tend to waste much meat, or that one could shoot the bones without fear of having things go all to hell and havoc. So strolling through this thread is a lot like walking through a room full of mirrors. Lots of same-same experiences. And, shoot them fast. Speed in a bullet that does not fail when fired at Ultra-Mag speeds at 20 yards should tell one something. As if the plastic tips on an already pointy bullet didn't. Which may explain why we sometimes see or hear about that which 300Mag describes. Still waiting to drop the sear on a TSX with meat in my sights. Perhaps it's time to try copper again.

Klikitarik;
I hope this finds you and your fine family well this morning.

In the thread where I posted the picture of my first recovered TSX, you made a comment:

�FWIW, I almost wonder if early bone contact may be one of the factors which slows them down. In most cases that's what happened in the animals I caught copper with.�

I thought about that for a bit and would have to say I agree with that premise.

Our TSX experiences aren�t with as many animals as some here, but as we help cut up a few other folk�s game, we get the benefit of doing a few more necropsies every year than if we didn�t do that.

A few things do stick out with the TSX and to some degree bonded bullets as well.
� They don�t make as much mess as the �average cup and core� if a scapula is contacted, either entry or exit. This fall one whitetail spike took a C&C on entry to the scapula at under 100yds and roughly half ended up as cat food. In fact, we threw away less meat on both of our eldest�s deer, who took out 3 scapulas on her 2 deer with 130gr. TSX out of her Swede.

� They do perform well at nearly muzzle speed and to your point - that does indeed tell the observant a fair bit.

� In our limited experience they do tend to be at their best after first breaking a bit of bone. As seen on the little buck I took, they will break fairly large bones like the spine and keep on sailing, which I�ve not seen a C&C do.

� As others have said here, the TSX seem to be fairly easy to get to shoot well in most rifles.

� I had limited experience with the X in a couple rifles and for me there was a vast chasm of difference when trying to either get the X to group or to go fast without pressure when compared to the TSX.

Thanks to everyone who has responded, it makes for an interesting read. Good luck to all in your upcoming hunts.

Regards,
Dwayne

Just an update. Mrs. Tide drilled a fat doe this morning with her pet .243 and the TSX. It was facing dead on.

Her first shot hit the leading edge of the deer's right shoulder and went between the scapula and ribcage, exiting about middleways back. It broke the right shoulder, and fortunately Mama Tide doesn't mind working a bolt and squeezing again.

The next one was directly through the ribs. She thought she had missed the second shot till we dressed it out. there was no obvious sign of an entrance or exit until we got the hide off.

I will say that with the hide off, there was a dime sized hole through both sides of the ribcage.

I will be leaving out tomorrow for Owensboro, hopefully I'll get another chance to test a couple before I am out of hunting days.

Congrat's to Mrs. Tide!!!!! Also thanks for the TSX report. Seems we need to shoot game with solid steel walls behind them just to recover one of the darn things...........

Good for you spendin' the time afield with your wife..... Whether she loves it or not, your involvement isn't mandatory, which makes spendin' time in such pursuits even more meaningful. Good for you......both.

My wife shot a nice doe many moons ago, one shot through the lungs, said she was glad she did it, but hasn't bothered me during my last 30+ seasons to do it again....... She said she got all excited just because I was so passionate about it and just had to see what all the fuss was about. Some sports and/or hobbies aren't for everyone.......just the way it is. We're both very OK with that.

Congrat's again to you both.

Mr. Crimson Tide;
Thank you for the update, it makes interesting reading and food for thought.

If you don't mind commenting, was the internal tissue damage on both shots what you were expecting?

If you would, please send along congratulations to your wife for the job well done on the deer.

I�d say from personal experience that anyone who has a spouse who will go afield with them is definitely rich beyond compare. Very cool.

Thanks again and good luck to both of you on your upcoming hunts.

Regards,
Dwayne

Thanks guys,

The internal damage from the two shots today was interesting. There was more in the way of "bloodshot" meat or the red area about the wound, the rib shot especially.

We aren't shoulder eaters, so I didn't peel it all the way down to check out the damage to the shoulder that was hit, I do recall a chunk of bone that fell out of the exit from the head on shot. It was the size of a quarter!

Damage to internal organs consisted mainly of what I would guess was a fist sized chunk of lungs turned to shreds and soup. Everything else was clean.

My only apprehension so far, is the minimal entrance and exit holes in the hide. I am ok with the penetration, and I especially like that I can depend on a .240 caliber bullet to penetrate to the important parts from any angle.

So long as they die in the open, No problem. But I didn't see the kind of bloodtrail today that cmg got from his roe deer. Of course Trace was hunting in an open field and shooting from some hay bales. It was easy enough to find.

In the end, I think I will keep testing through the end of the season. Two deer do not a test make.

Oh, Guys,
Thanks for the nice comments about taking Trace hunting. She seems to enjoy it. Last year she loaded her own ammunition. I am guessing she would have used the last of it this year, had the TSX experiment not come up.

It was a good day all the way around. My 12 year old got to go hunting with us, and he wanted to hunt with my 6mm. I was secretly hoping that he would get to shoot one with it just to further the experiment. Didn't work out for him today though, he had a couple of opportunities, but we couldn't get him in a position to get a shot.

One last thing that I enjoyed today, For the first time, I carried an old 1936 Model Marlin Lever in .32 Spl. My grandfather gave it to my dad when he and mom got married. It has been in my safe for years, but today was the very first time I carried it in the field. Was really trying to guide more than hunt myself, but it felt good to drag that old rifle around with me.

http://www.barnesbullets.com/Copper_Manual4/243Winchester.pdf
http://www.barnesbullets.com/Copper_Manual4/6mmRemington.pdf

Not exhaustive, but useful nonetheless. Loosk like powders slower than Varget work better in the 243.

BigUgly,
Thank you for posting the links. I actually loaded RL-19 for her .243, but loaded Varget in my 6mm. Should have just left Varget out of it, but it is what it is for now.

Both of us are running 20 inch barrels, but from the numbers, should still be able to make 3100 or so based rule of thumb velocity loss. (For whatever a rule of thumb is worth.)

I don't get hung up on numbers so much as accuracy and terminal performance.