Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Bagged The Elusive Recovered TTSX! 100Gr 6.5mm

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Just got around to posting this. Recovered this from a doe I shot about a month ago.

170 yds, head on, entered in her chest, recovered in rear ham. She did the rear leg "push/plow" for about 20 yds.

260 Rem. 3130 MV average on chrono.



Bill

Nice!!!

Did you weight it?

No, I didn't, but will. I'm guessing 99 gr+.

Model Perfecto

Dober

I recovered a 53grn (.223) TSX from a 275 pound boar hog once...barely.

You think so Mark?

Not saying your wrong by any means buddy, just this one and a few other animals taken with said bullet have got me thinking. I'll report my thoughts later.

Bill

deadliest mushroom in the woods.

Did not expand as much as the 6.5mm 120gr TTSX that I have recovered from game, in spite of the 120 grainers beeing launched 200fps slower.

Are they constructed differently to limit expansion?

Looks great!

Nice Bill. I'm planning on converting my 257Bob AI to 100gr TTSX's soon and 140's in my .280.

Bill, I'm with you on this one... at 170 yards launched at 3,100 I'd expect better expansion. At least peeling the petals all the way back to the bottom of the air cavity. What would it look like at 400+ yards?

It's that sort of performance (among other far worse) that puts me off the whole expanding/solid concept as it exists presently...

But congrat's on the kill...

tx270,

You said it was a head on shot. Aside from entering the chest cavity is there any bone that it hit at all? "Guts" are not an expansion limiter, but I doubt they get expansion rolling like bone....

JCMCUBIC,
They expand fairly well when shot into water, or gelatin, without hitting any bone.
BBerg

You read my mind Brad.

When I get a chance, I'll post a pic of that bullet next two an unfired one. I would say expansion went down maybe 1/4 the length of the bullet. ALOT of hollow point was left down in that hole.

Now let me say I'm absolutely not a person to judge a bullet by an example of one. And after having taken over 100 whitetails and mule deer plus other game (including over 150 hogs of various sizes) over the last thirty years I've seen some strange things happen that normally wouldn't.

What bothers me a little is the same week I double shoulder shot a 100 lb or so hog at about 80 yds with same load. The hog stiffened up and ran about 15 yards. Yes, after taking a bullet through both shoulders at only 80 yds it still ran (not nose plowed.....ran!). Damage inside was sufficient, but nothing dramatic, especially not for a close shot with a starting velocity of over 3100 fps. Exit was barely larger than entrance, which I know doesn't mean anything its what happens inside that counts, I'm just saying for reference.

For the heck of it I walked back to where the hog was standing to see what king of blood trail was left. Not a single drop of blood in that fifteen yards, which was no big deal this was a fairly open area, but I think you see my point.

Of the dozens upon dozens upon dozens of hogs I taken over the years with everything from .223 to 45/70 I've never had a double shoulder shot hog go more than 20 ft or so, and that was while plowing dirt with its chin the whole way.

Before the Barnes crowd starts slamming me, let me say I like both TSX's and TTSX's and have used them before. I still prefer cup and cores for most deer size game, but have no problem using a Barnes for them either.

But this particualr bullet worries me a bit. Like Brad said, if it won't expand completely after traveling lengthwise through a deer at fairly close range, what would it do on a broadside shot at 350-400 yds?

Bill

JMC, agreed, but after traveling the full length of a deer at fairly close range, I would at least expect it to expand down to the bottom of the hollow point. The hog incident a couple days later is what really got me to thinking.

Bill

FWIW, I also took another doe and several more hogs with this bullet.

The other doe was a double lung at 100 yds or so, she ran 30 yds or so and fell over, same as if she'd been hit with about any other expanding bullet, so no real conclusion from that one IMO. Didn't check for a blood trail on her as I watched her fall.

The other hogs, minus one, were head or neck shots so again no real conclusion can be drawn from them. The one hog was hit quartering hard away, bullet went in behind the last rib and exited out his jowel. That one melted on the spot.

Bill

You guys are unbelievable.

The petals peeling another 1/8 of an inch would have made absolutely NO difference in the kill or mushroom size. X's of any style like velocity period. That bullet was probably doing 2,500 fps. on impact. I would say that is pretty darn good performance at that velocity. The bullet more than likely didn't hit any bone. Hitting bone definitely changes the game, and that is where the X's shine...crunching bone. I have busted several big critters near and far with the 100 grain XLC's starting out at 3,500 fps. I have recovered two that have the petals blown off completely, but there is still a large mushroom on the front of the bullet. The old XLC's were a LOT softer than the TSX's, hence the blue coating to keep them from smearing copper in the tube. I love them, perfect match of soft material and no copper fouling. It is a fine balance in the bullet manufacturing process when dealing with the X's. Flinch

I'd rather have one like that than a handful little pieces.

And by your own admission you don't take game past a few hundred yards...