225 Tipped TSX recovered from black bear

[stalker07]

This one was from December, 2013. Shot from my .338 Win Mag while hunting black bear spot and stalk on foot in southern West Virginia. Shot was 518 yards quartering away. Long downhill shot. Bullet entered high and penetrated 29", breaking the offside shoulder and lodging under the skin.

Note: I have since gone back to the old reliable 250gr Partition.

 

[Charlie-NY]

Congrats on a great shot.

 

[stalker07]

Thanks. The tens of thousands of rounds at practice and hours spent fine tuning loads and myself payed off.

 

[DrMike]

Still, it looks like classic Barnes performance. I've only recovered a few of the TSX bullets, mostly from moose. Great shot. You are correct tha5t practice makes the difference, ensuring a successful hunt.

 

[stalker07]

That is the only one I have recovered. I was fortunate enough to receive a lot of training as well as have the ability to train many shooters during my time in the Army. Practicing under realistic conditions and becoming intimately familiar with your rifle works wonders especially when you are under stress. For example, I NEVER zero my rifles from a bench. I am yet to find a shooting bench in the woods. I tend to zero from the prone using either a bipod or daypack and a sand sock.

Speaking of Moose, how much meat do you end up with after it is all said and done? We do not have those in my neck of the woods.

 

[DrMike]

Speaking of Moose, how much meat do you end up with after it is all said and done? We do not have those in my neck of the woods.

A young Canada moose (the variety in my immediate AO), say a two-year-old (which my wife always asks me to bring home) will yield about 250-300 pounds of boneless meat. A mature Alaska-Yukon moose (found a couple of hours up the Alaska highway) will yield up to 600+ pounds of boneless meat.

 

[stalker07]

Now that would make it worth all the work of getting a big critter out of the woods.

 

[JD338]

Congratulations on your bear and a nice catch on the TSX.

JD338

 

[stalker07]

Thanks. They are pretty difficult to catch

 

[Tjay]

At 500 yards your velocity was about 1800 fps so that looks like good expansion. I shoot that same bullet so it is nice to see they open as Barnes says they should at that speed. Thanks for posting.

 

[Charlie-NY]

At 500 yards your velocity was about 1800 fps so that looks like good expansion. I shoot that same bullet so it is nice to see they open as Barnes says they should at that speed. Thanks for posting.

Presumably, the 210gr TTSX would have provided more expansion at that distance.

I remember reading somewhere that Coni Brooks regularly used the 180gr (.338) TTSX and never found a need for anything heavier. Not sure what cartridge she used.

 

[stalker07]

I knew I was stretching the limitations for expansion on the load. What surprised me was the bullet had one petal to shear off at that distance. Under normal circumstances I would have been more hesitant to take that shot with that bullet but I had researched the load and knew it would be right on the line for expansion. I had been camped out in the mountains of southern West Virginia in December for 9 days. Walked around 7-10 miles a day glassing and setting up etc. I like to spot and stalk. I do it on foot. No atv and no truck. My truck goes as far as it can and I set up camp. Get a lot more out of the hunt that way. At least in my eyes.

 

[DrMike]

I like to spot and stalk.

That method accounts for much of the hunting in the west--especially for bears.

 

[stalker07]

I have never been fortunate enough to hunt out west. Hoping to one day. I was saving for a hunt but got layed off work when the oil prices crashed.

 

[FOTIS]

Nice shot but all them x's need velocity to expand

 

[SJB358]

Very nice recovery. Congrats on the bear.

What was the start speed?

 

[stalker07]

Thanks. MV was roughly 2850. 71.5 gr IMR-4350 if I remember correctly.

 

[SJB358]

Gotcha. Thank you and congrats again.