Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Question for .35 caliber shooters...

Interesting, If your familiar with a cattle sling, i used one to sling up about an 800 lb steer that had died of dust pneumonia, I hung him from a JD 6430 front end loader and shot him with a 338 Win Mag using the 225 TTSX's and some old 250 gn Hornadys and Speer Hot-Cor bullets I'd had for a while.

On like angles and the exact same ranges the TTSX's went a full 1/3+ deeper than the other two with the Speer edging out the Hornady.

The Horn bullet also lost its jacket on two of the three I fired in this test.

IIRC range was 65 yards.

Gunner

Now that is bullet testing!

I like the TSX and the TTSX. The beauty of the mono-metal design is how well it performs at faster speeds and in lighter bullets. I think it's Steelhead who says "you can't drive them too fast". At the .358 Win's speeds I'm not sure they provide much of a performance advantage. That being said, I don't think there is a downside to using them unless you're shooting long range and the velocity drops enough that they don't open.

In a Whelen or .358 Norma, especially with lighter (200-225) bullets, the speed may be enough that the mono-metal is an advantage.

...all that being said, the next bullet I try in my .358 Win will probably be the 200 TTSX!

I would think that the TTSX 180gr .358" would be a bad mo fo from a .358 Win or .35 Whelen

I like the TSX bullets for two reasons. First they shoot more accurately in my rifles (reloads), plus they will give you all the penetration you need and those petals cut like razor blades.
You can get away using a lighter bullet to not only have velocity gains, but know that it will still get the job done.
I currently use TSX bullets in all my big game rigs from 260 up to 358 Win.

I've tried tons of other bullets, powders, but for some reason the TSX's just plain ol' shoot better for me.

JMHO...

Gunner...I would 100% agree with your tests...if I was shooting moose or larger. But on broadside shots on a deer that doesn't have a lot of meat on the ribs most .35s are going to sail right through with little time to expand.

From the tests I have seen done it seems that the Remington 200 grain round nose CorLoc expands about the best of them all at lower 2000-2400 fps impact velocities. I know the Speer 220 FP that went through two shoulders and the lungs of a big doe I shot didn't expand at all... Impact velocity was probably 2200 fps.

There are lots of shooters who are using the 200 grain RCBS cast FP bullet and killing deer....

So as long as the bullet punches through the vitals the deer is doing down.

Bob

All very valid and true points Men, but the 200 gn TSX/TTSX's will run less than a half inch in my Hawkeye in calm winds, and thats with a little 2-7 Leupold, and all shots with this rifle bullet combo will be less than 300 yards.

Plus, it was the first and only two bullets i tried in this 358W, when i started seeing a ragged hole growing to half inch, I went and called Midway USA and placed another order for more boxes of TSX's

Gunner

I have no reason to doubt your test, but remember here you are talkin 338 WM, I was talkin 358 Win. Slight difference in velocity? Also OP is talkin deer, not 800 lb critters.

I hear ya GH, but i threw that in because the OP is from NH, in case he was hunting deer and also may have a BIC BULL MOOSE tag in his pocket.

Gunner

...IF...and I have friends who have been putting in for the moose lottery in Maine and NH for 20 years without getting drawn...I ever have a moose permit then it will be a 250 up the pipe in one of the fast twist guns....

Maybe Canada one day....

Bob

10-4 on that RJM, and luck to ya.

Gunner

Right on! Certainly the 200 Horn will cleanly kill larger game on broadside shots, but there are better bullets for that job!

1. for 358 Win have been carrying 200 gr TSX's at 2450 fps. good for bear, deer and even elk.
2. for 356 Win I use the Hornady 20 gr RN...same velocity +/-.

Being a 35 nut, I also load for 35 WHelen (225 gr Paritions) and 350 Rem mag (225 TSX at nearly 2800 fps.

Just need something to shoot at.

Have not tried them yet but the 180 grain Barnes TTSX looks real interesting. Bet you could hover around 3000fps in the 350.

"Being a 35 nut, I also load for 35 WHelen (225 gr Paritions) and 350 Rem mag (225 TSX at nearly 2800 fps."

Well I guess I qualify as a 35 nut too. Ain't nuthin
wrong with that. I have to ask. Are you getting 2800 from both the .35 Whelen and .350 Rem. mag. or just the .350? I get a solid 2710 FPS from my Whelen mauser with RL15 using the 225 gr. TSX. I've only shot one animal, a cow elk at 150 yards and she went down like right now. Bullet hit just behind the short ribs as she was quartering to the left and exited between the neck and right shoulder. Internal damage was massive. I'll be using that combo again come December as I've booked another cow elk hunt.
Kind of weird one how I got hooked on those TSX bullets. I'd drawn a coveted deer tag for the kaibab National Forset here in Arizona and Game and Fish requested hunters in the Kaibab and adjoining Arizona Strip country use the all copper bullets as the area is considered part of the Condor flyway. I hadn't taken anything with the WEhelen so I went with the 225s. Accuracy was superb, averaging .50" for the most part and the worst from that rifle/loasd combo has been .75". Bad luck on that hunt as I only saw one decent buck to shoot at and he was with a bunch of does. If I'd have tried to shoot him, that TSX would have passed clean through and possibly taken out a couple of does as well. Game and Fish frown mightly on such shenanigans. I do love that Whelen.
Paul B.

I am just returning (typing from the airport Hilton in Amsterdam as I head to Kazakhstan tomorrow AM) from a plains game hunt in South Africa. One of the three rifles used was my pre-64 M70 358 loaded with the 200 gr TTSX over TAC for 2600 fps in the 20" barrel. I had a hard time keeping the rifle away from my son's. I managed a nyala, bushbuck and warthog with it while the boy's managed a gemsbuck, a couple of more warthogs, an impala, two blesbuck and a springbuck. The combo simply did the job with just one bullet recovered from a near full length pass on a very slightly quartering frontal on a warthog. It could be used in a Barnes ad. Also clearly opened up on the lighter/thinner critters too leaving nice exit holes.

.358 WSM, 225's at 2850.

I get the 2800 fps in the 350 RM as I'm using TAC powder. SOmetimes it's tough to know when to stop with TAC as it's dense and flows like water.