I have noticed a common theme when this bullet is mentioned, that being the bullet sailed away or was not recovered which begs the question:

Has anyone ever stopped a 140 grain X or TSX in game? If so, what animal, length of penetration aand load details please.

FYI,
I have taken game up to Red stag, pigs, goats and wild horses (Brumbies) with this bullet and I too, have never recovered one even on full length shots on the horses.

Using the brumbies for example, I have several recovered 160 grain Failsafe bullets from the rumps with full length shots, but no X's. The 140 grainers always out penetrated the 160 grainers from the competition.

AGW

I have one 140 gr X taken from an Idaho bull elk. Shot from a .280 at slightly more than 3000 fps. Sorry to say I don't recall exactly which animal the bullet was recovered from. I've taken 7 or 8 elk with the 140 X and all but this one bullet has passed through. I've dropped to a 120 gr. TSX given the 140 gr. performance.

Strangely though, I have 4, 250 gr. X bullets recovered from game shot with a .375 H&H.

I've only ever recovered one TSX, that a .375 that hit a moose's spine lengthwise (looked like a magazine ad). That may be a hard one to find unless you shoot a relatively large animal with it!

When the X bullet was announced, Randy Brooks advised handloaders to drop to a weight lesser than their usual choice because the X was designed to retain more or all of its weight, thereby permitting flatter trajectory and reduced recoil {in some cartridges}.

No-one listened in 1989.

It is only in very recent times that handloaders are beginning to learn that the lighter weight X's still out penetrate the usual bullet weights in a given caliber, hence all the comments relating to the 120gn 7mm, 53gn .224, 70gn .243 etc.

I am interested in your thoughts on this as I have met hunters that go the other way and use 130 X bullets in a 300 Winchester and 150 gn TSX's in the .300 RUM even for elk.

AGW

I've recovered 100% of the TSX's that I've shot game with!


Of course, I've only shot one! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

100grn TSX from a Bob. Through 3/4 of a whitetail and then dug out of the ground after I found it with a metal detector! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I found one 160, but as far as I know, all the 140's are still going.... Deer, antelope, elk. Nothing but holes all the way through, from a 280 and a 7mag.

I'd go to the 130, if I didn't have a bunch of 140's. FWIW, Dutch.

Aussie, I tried 270gr .375, and both 130 & 140 gr .270 but found better accuracy (or should I say consistency) with both the 300gr .375 & 150 gr .270. I have, however, settled on the 225gr in .338 in my one and only .338 (still no recoveries <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />). I did shoot a moose with the 270 .375s and of course a moose didn't even seem to slow the bullet down....

Anyone recovered a 120TSX (7mm), while we are on the topic?

I've shot a fair amount of game now with the TSX, I've mainly used the

53 in a 22/250--recovered one, 100 %

85's and 95's in a 6 aught-recovered none

130's in a 270- recovered none

120's/140's/160's in my 7 Mashburn Super-recovered none

I do love the bullet and as long as it is shooting for me is the one I will use the vast majority of the time.

Mark D

Recovered a 180 XBT from my '06 in the right shoulder of a pig. Hit him about 8" above tail (hit while pig trotting away up a hill); put golf ball sized hole in spine and took out right lung. Looked like one of the Barnes ads; however, the expansion wasn't as pronounced as bullet above. Weighed 181 grains!?

Have yet to recover one out of the 7SAUM, 7-08, or the 280 I think I see a trend. Not one animal went any distance to speak of. DD

I've only shot antelope with the 140 grain 7mm TSX bullets so I have never recovered one.

Shot my first animal with a TSX, a little 3x3 Muley with a 140 grain 270 cal @3300fps. Distance was 355 yds, bullet went almost lengthwise through the buck and is still going, as far as I know. The deer dropped to the shot.

Same with my Dad and the 168 TSX and his 300 Win.With moose standing broadside or looking straight at him we have yet to recover a TSX.Complete pass through from all angle's.

In 93, my hunting partner put .270 140x flat base into a spike bull elk that was running at a steep angle down a steep slope of a canyon. The bullet hit the left hock, entered the paunch on the left side behind the ribs went through the chest cavity and ended under the hide in front of the right shoulder (distance was 150 yds, r-22 max load and 26 inch barrel). The hock bones torn the petals off the X but riveted the front of the bullet into a .40 cal meplat. We have been using X's ever since.

If I could borrow a metal detector next summer I bet I could find another. I shot mature cow elk this fall at 25 yards as she walked towards me with my 7mm-08 pushing a 140 xbt at 2820 (max load of varget, CCI-200, rem. case, 22 inch barrel). The shot destroyed the joint of the scapula and humerous and blew a 2 inch hole into the chest cavity and ranged back into the guts. There was a nickle sized entry hole in the stomach. When my hunting partner arrived at he seen I told him there was a bullet for his collection in there. I laughed at him poking around the stinky mess until I realized he was using my knife! Great bullets. We have used 120, 130, and 140 x and xbts in 270 and 7mm calibers. I have thought about trying them in my .338 but haven't hunted with it since 2002 and have enough .338 Nosler partitions to last a life time for it.

Chris,

My hunting partners have used 120 Barnes X's exclusively since their introduction, in a 7mm Rem mag and a 300 Win mag.
Until recently I used either 130 or 120's in my 270 Win.

Between the 3 of us I would estimate about 50 head of game shot, incl. Elk, WT & Mule deer, plus antelope.

We have never recovered a .30 cal bullet. The are loaded to max, don't know the actual speed.

I have recovered 1 .270 bullet, a 130 gr. which was shot lengthways (quartering from rear) thru a large (wounded) WT buck. Entered rear ham, broke front shoulder, recovered under skin, perfect mushroom.

We have recovered a number of 7mm's (maybe 7 or 8?), mostly from Elk. All angled or lenghwise shots. Two of interest include one from a large cow which entered the rear ham, exited and then entered behind the ribs and exited just behind the front leg (same side). We recovered it because it was located tangled in the hair on the OUTSIDE of the exit wound. Perfect mushroom.
The second one from the 7mm was a couple weeks ago, from a 5 pt bull Elk. Struck a leg bone, recovered inside, sans ALL petals. First one we've seen do that.

Light as they are, they still penetrate like crazy, yet don't ruin much meat, even though we push them fast. We do seem to do more tracking though, vs. Partitions or other more fragible bullets.

FWIW

Last year I shot a cow elk at 150 yards with a 140 tsx out of a 7mmRM. Book says velocity should be a tad over 3200. She was going up a hsteep hill directly acrost from me. bullet hit the spine just ahead of the shoulders, traveled about 6inches and did a 180. Bullet wieghed 133gr.

elkjaeger-good info thanks

Mark D

EJ, thanks a bunch for that info! Exactly what I was looking for.

Chris

Here's the .224/53 gr TSX Mark D. mentioned above:



Here's a 168 TSX I recovered from a bull elk... I'm sorta fond of this pic cause I doubt I'll ever recover another (grin):

I recovered one from a young buck last year. Shot out of the SUCKS PB&J @ 2985 MV. The 140 TSX entered the spine at the back of the rib cage, kept going through about 16" of spinal column, shed it's petals and spun out into the left shoulder, resting just under the skin.

I guess it "failed".

Two bull moose this year with my 280AI (a buddy shot one) and not a recovered 140gr TSX. Same for a handful of big blackies this spring and a bunch of other critters in the last few years with no bullet recovery.

Did recover one the other day though on this big fella. Bullet entered just at the hip and went lengthwise down the chest cavity... found it right up against his jawbone (2 petals were missing). Shot was ~ 250yds (MV of 3167 fps).

The 140gr TSX is all I shoot these days!



280_ACKLEY

That's the best use of a TSX I have ever hear of...... JMO, Dutch.

I use the 140 TSX exclusively in my 7mm-08. Have not recovered one yet from elk, bison, deer or antelope. I beginning to think I may never recover one. Never have lost a game animal that I've hit with one. Most kills are DRT.

I have recovered a 140 gn X in .270 caliber from a 400 yard shot on a feral bille that connected in the root of the tail and raked the spine to be recoverd in the neck with all 4 petals intact and the bullet weighing 139.2 grains.

Still waiting for the 7mm version to be stopped by flesh and bone regardless of the body weight. A friend of mine took moose and caribou with it recently from the 7mm Remington. Complete penetration on both animals. After this hunt he built a custom 7mm RUM and loaded that 140 grain in TSX version as his sole hunting rifle.

Even though he owns a gun shop and has access to the kind of rifles that make grown men dribble, he has stopped his ballistic searching.

Kind of makes me wonder how logic could justify a heavier weight X bullet in 7mm?

AGW

I started using lighter than normal bullets when the X came out. Have never recovered even a 100 grain X 7mm from caribou.

Of course once I settled on this bullet and developed a load which shot really well and fast they discontinued it. I have given up on Barnes for this reason...to much change in their product line...can't trust them to keep making a product once I have been sold on it.

Product development is fine but some stability is good too.

I've probably shot more game with the 140 XFB in a 7mm-08 than with any single other X bullet. I believe I may have had one "get stuck" but don't recall for certain. I know they have sailed through just about every caribou and moose I have shot with them regardless the distance. The 150 X in '06 has also sailed through everything I've shot with them including one which appeared to have enough to take a third 'bou after neatly drilling two completely.

I did recover a 7mm 100XFB but only because it nailed a second 'bou.



I have probably collected more 225 grain XFBs in .338 and .358 diameter than any other. Of course they have happened after I learned how well these bullets do when you drill them into bone.

The only X in the pic below was stopped by a broadside moose shot with a 340 at around 200 yds.



Both front legs were taken away by it; that was the liveliest moose I've ever witnessed go down. He sure made an effort to get those useless legs back under him but drowned (in his own blood) very shortly.

The only 7mm in the pic is a Failsafe, second from right, one of two shot into a moose at 275 yards or so. This one was stopped against the spine in the neck/shoulder area. The other sailed through.

As North61 said, I am also put off by the constant changes the company makes. The old XFBs were not the most accurate sometimes but once you had a workable set-up figured out, they were huntable bullets. Now you risk buying a box of bullets only to have it dropped when you figure out how to shoot it. I haave several boxes of Barnes bullets like that right now. Why mess with one box if you can't replace them once the load is worked up?

I've recovered exactly one 140 gr TSX.

The shot was 250 yds at a mature mule deer buck from a 7x57 @ 2900 fps. He was sunning himself on a slope and the shot was almost head-on, slightly quartering to my right. The bullet entered just behind his right shoulder, penetrated the full length of his body, and was found sitting backwards next to his left hip joint. Judging from the petals and the considerable straight-line penetration, the tumble must have occurred near the end of travel - probably just before coming to rest.

Photo of the recoved bullet is attached.

John

I'm impressed with 140's!!

Limited experience here, but I see no reason to go to a TSX (140 grain or any other weight) for my "new" 260 (6.5mm or .264 cal) as yet. If they even make it. And I'm a believer in shooting holes clear to daylight. But I'm also chea---uh- economically minded.

My son shot a cow caribou with it (first blood for the rifle) using Remington factory 140 Core-lokts back in August, at about 200 yards. The bullet went through the blade portion of the near shoulder, pulverized about 4 inches of spine, and exited the base of the neck on the far side.

That performance, and the fact that I had not yet killed anything with it myself, induced me to take it black-timber elk hunting for Colorado's 2nd rifle season, third week in October, rather than "Stub", my 17 inch barreled '06. Stub is still pouting....

I shot a cow at about 150 yards (NOT in the black timber!), slightly below me, facing toward me but just a bit to my left. Crosshairs were on her spine, at the front of her shoulders, but the bullet for whatever reason (a nasty tumble while dragging the old girl out will leave me forever wondering if it was me or the scope) went a little low and left, entering 1.5 inches behind her left ear, ruining her spine, about 80% of her neck meat, and the rest of her day. It exited at the base of her neck and just creased her paunch hide about midway back. It's still there in the hillside somewhere.

So I took it up caribou hunting on a final attempt to fill my permit, two weeks after the cow elk. Coming out, unsuccessful, the dog and I encountered a wolf pack, which invited him out to lunch via a female pup of the year (56 lbs). The bullet, at about 60 yards, entered the base of her neck just off the point of the shoulder, and exited the far side, just behind where the ribs end.

3 shots, 3 bang-flops, no bullets recovered. So far, I see no need for TSX, or any other premium bullet for that rifle - I just bought 100 Core-locks for reloading - they happen to be the cheapest ones around anyway - and those factory jobs are printing 5 shots into an inch at 100 yards. We'll see if my reloads can do better, or at least match them. And I can pretty much be assured that when I get a good load, the bullets will still be available.

I'm thinking seriously about leaving my .338 home next moose season in favor of the .260! With Core-lokts. Maybe I'll even recover one.

I'll admit that I do have the hots to try those new electro-plated Fusion bullets out, however.

I was starting to think I'd never recover an X bullet either after recovering only one that I had dug out of the dirt after a finishing shot on a large WT.
I finally recovered a 160 TSX from my 7Mag at about 3100 fps. I was pushing bush on a hill top when all of a sudden I see antlers rise up out of the low sage on a small flat near the top of the hill and just below me. I took a follower shot on the buck after my buddy fired and the buck kept running. At about 100 yards the buck was running almost exactly away from me along the hill side. The bullet entered the right ham, smashed the femur to smitherines, exited the leg, re-entered the guts, penetrated through the guts, entered the chest, destroyed lungs and heart, then exited the rib cage, smashed the front left leg, and lodged itself just under the hide near the brisket. The bullet lost 3 pedals in the process and weighed 135 grains. Nearly all of my X bullet kills have been bang flops. A pic is attached.
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cf...geID=1576131670
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cf...geID=1576134202
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cf...geID=1576135854
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cf...geID=1576140033
and the buck (one on top)...
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cf...geID=1576213052

Do they have the Fusion out in 26 cal now? If so, what weight bullet do they have? Are these for sale as component bullets or only factory ammo?

I have shot 2 cow elk with the 277 140g outa 270wby one broadside and the other facing me at 30-40 yds but no recovery. All zipped on through.

I recoved a 7mm 140 TSX last week from a buck shot by my brother (7mm-08 Kimber 84M). Head on (slightly quartering) at 80 yards, took out approximately 5" of spine continued into the rib cage, destroyed the first 3 ribs, cracked the next 2 and fractured the 6th before coming to rest just under the hide in front of the rear hams. The buck went down so fast my brother was not sure he hit it <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> 138.4 grains recovered (99% retention).

Together we have killed about 18 deer over the last three seasons, all with 140 TSX's, most bang flops. Only recovered the one bullet. I have three friends shooting the 130 TSX in their .270's, they have killed over 10 head (bucks/does) this season with no run offs and no recovered bullets.

What is the lower end of the velocity spectrum with good expansion for the 140 TSX? Anyone have a feel for it?

On Friday I'll be shooting a bison(2nd time) with my 7mm-08 and 140 TSX. Maybe I can recover one. Last time though it went right through like butter with a (ear/spine) shot.

Here's one from last December recovered under the hide after driving through a couple of feet of medium sized Whitetail. 7 Mag. loaded mild, impact was about 150 yards. Great wound channel too.

Here's two 140g TSX's from my 7mm-08. They were recovered from a cow bison shot broadside at about 150 yards. Both bullets were recovered under the hide on the off side of the bison.