Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Rate my first TSX

Hi everyone, I did a test with my .375 H&H and 270gr TSX before I took it hunting. My results were a bit of a surprise. The loads chronographed at just over 2700fps and I fired into damp newsprint at 90 yards or so.




In this photo the bullet on the left is a 160gr .284" XLC fired out of my 7mm Rem Mag. It penetrated just as far as the .375, and the frontal area looks similar too.



I know a fellow who had similar issues with the 270gr .375" bullets on moose. He went back to Hornady bullets. I can't remember the exact details of the email response I got from Barnes, but it did not answer my question. If a +2700fps muzzle velocity is not fast enough, then how fast should it be? Isn't damp newsprint tough enough?

This is going back about 4 years or so, and I suspect that Barnes had a hiccup of some sort - especially considering how happy other folks have been. I still have the partial box sitting on my reloading bench.

To me one of the nice things about "big" cartridges is you can use a softer bullet. I can see the appeal of a TSX in say a .257 Weatherby but in a .375 for thin-skinned game... not so much.

Seems to me like you have a TWO moose load there! Its gonna way overpenetrate, as the wise man once said.

Lol.

I agree. If I'm going to fire a bullet around 2500, I'm not going to pay for a premium bullet. I am very fond of X's, and even more fond of the GS customs, but I shoot good ole Speer 250's in my 358 and Whelen. Now, in the 358 Norma, I'm loading some 200 GS Customs, and THAT should be a lot of fun.... FWIW, Dutch.

A couple of thoughts in response to a couple of ideas:



Over-penetrating is not something I've seen so much with my 340. While I have not recovered any of the any 140 XFBs fired into game from a 7mm-08 or the 150 XFBs I've shot into game with a 30-06, I have caught several of the 225 XFBs which I've fired from the 340 Weatherby. Go figure that. Yes, bones have generally been involved regardless the cartridge.




Before you discount the monos at moderate speeds, you might consider what they do to increase the effect of the moderate cartridges. I have killed several moose with the 225 XFB in my 358 Winchester (and other bullets). The slow moving monos, as long as they are still moving at least 2000 fps or so at impact, produce a substantial improvement over many other bullets. Of course, we also hear regularly how the monos can make what were arguably unsuitable deer cartridges like the 223 become decidedly effective and reliable deer cartridges.

Klik -
How does that rifle feel recoil-wise?

It's not unpleasant. I'd rather shoot it all day than the full sized 375 in the M70, though I'm not inclined to shoot either all day; my appreciation for abuse has its limits .

Klik, are you liking the 225-XFB in your .358 better than the 225 Partition? If so, on what game and in what way(s) do you like it better?

Yep.. don't get that statement at all Brad. With all the cup and core failures a few here and there on mono's and there is no one I know PERSONALLY that has had a mono fail. I've read of a few on here. We use almost only them nowdays as do a lot of folks on our lease. And having done a fair amount of guiding as have a couple of my buddies... about the only thing i have to say, the mono's may not be perfect but they sure are head and shoulders above any of the other options.

I have seen Barnes bullets react this way twice, 150gr 270 and 225gr 338 Win. Our hunting group has used Barnes FXB and TSX for 18yrs. The bullet may have hit willow etc. on the way to the target or the bullet cavity may of had some ' toe jam' in there to cause it to hydraulically lock. Also, Barnes quality control may be a bit off, perhaps harder copper or cavity opening to small or the round may have been dropped causing slight damage to the tip.

Even still, the new TSX are reliable ( different than dependible, as with reliable there is some room for error ) as are some others as well.

I'm now a little nervous about using the TTSX bullets after this years elk hunt. The load I worked up for my 300 WSM was a 180 gr TTSX going 3050. I shot a cow at a lasered 427 yds and while the high spine shot dropped her in her tracks, the bullet did not expand any at all. The little plastic tip was missing, but other than that I think you could use the bullet again if you wanted to.

I'm going to try the 120 gr TTSX in my 260 for deer this fall and see if it inspires any confidence.

Ozark

Was the rifle at -10� F too?

Don't know, didn't actually take the temp. I do know it was uncased and exposed to the wind for the four miles of travel on the snowmachine though, probably 15-20 minutes all up by the time I fired the first round.





I have taken a hiatus from the monos for a few years, ever since I recovered a second perfectly unexpanded Barnes mono. The bullet recovered in the top of this thread was the first effort at re-entering the copper market. If I were planning to run the coppers again in the 358 I'd probably use the 200 TSX for the higher speed it gets since lack of speed seems to be an issue when these bullets don't work as we'd like. But the 225 weight seems just about perfect in lead cored bullets so I am headed toward the Partition in this weight for my 358. I just haven't used it in the 358 for hunting yet. I do like the wide window of use a soft point offers, especially when it has an expansion control design. We'll see how it does at some point.

I'd say it was pretty cold then.

I asked since folks doing temperature tests for velocity changes sometimes chill the ammo but not the rifle, yet a very cold rifle is an "energy thief" for the expanding combustion gas.

Yep, one reason the rifles all get put out in the cold overnight before I do any temp-testing.

My theory is that any such testing should simulate hunting conditions. Weird, huh?

I think you'll like the 225 Partition in your .358. It's what I've settled on as the best all-arounder with all factors considered. It seems to expand just peachy in the little deer I shoot with it, and the big one too <g>. Looking forward to your reports on bigger critters with it.