Barnes TSX FAILURES.

[Richracer1]

I just shot a mule deer( a 3X3) yesterday afternoon with my 270bee loaded with 140 grain TSX at 3300 fps. Shot the deer at 355 yards(He was facing almost straight away from me looking up the hill) hit him under the tail, bullet came out the lower opposite side, exit wound was quite large, internal damage was massive, the deer took a couple of steps and fell over. So, in my case anyway, the TSX worked just fine 8)

Ah, the good ole Texas Heart Shot. Bet it was fun to clean.

 

[AggieDog]

I have the TSX loaded in several of my rifles, but I made the decision that the TSX is for Elk size game and above. For deer, I remain convinced cup and core, and bonded bullets are the way to go. I want my bullet on thin skinned game to expend most of it's energy "within" the animal. I've poked some jackrabbits, and coyotes with the TSX and I dont like hearing crying animals. The TSX is a big game bullet only for me. Elk or larger, or dangerous game. I think that is the part Randy Brooks doesnt want people to realize. Nosler's done me well over the years for deer and I intend to stick with them for deer sized game on down, including wild pig, and black bear.

 

[Jeff Olsen]

I have the TSX loaded in several of my rifles, but I made the decision that the TSX is for Elk size game and above. For deer, I remain convinced cup and core, and bonded bullets are the way to go. I want my bullet on thin skinned game to expend most of it's energy "within" the animal. I've poked some jackrabbits, and coyotes with the TSX and I dont like hearing crying animals. The TSX is a big game bullet only for me. Elk or larger, or dangerous game. I think that is the part Randy Brooks doesnt want people to realize. Nosler's done me well over the years for deer and I intend to stick with them for deer sized game on down, including wild pig, and black bear.

Yeah, you'd think that killing a deer is rocket science these days! At "normal" velocities it seems that plain old bullets work just fine.

I was a little worried about using the Hornady Interlock in my .358 because I'd heard enough stories about them failing... until I actually thought about it and realized that yeah... a 200-gn bullet is probably not going to have any trouble with a deer! Not at a MV of 2600 fps.

I'd love to have about 10 or 15 of the 180-gn .35 caliber X-bullets to try in my .358, just to see if I could get them to shoot, but I'll be damned if I'm going to pony up $40 for another box of Barnes bullets without a damn good reason! What i've seen with them is out of a 5-shot group I'll have a GREAT 4-shot group... oh, and then a flyer about 3 inches away from the group (at 100 yards)... very disturbing.

-jeff

 

[30 whisper]

I have model 7 rem custom switch barrel .243 and .308 win both cal I have used x bullets. With .243 2 mule deer bucks one at 225 yrds one shot no bullet recovey. One at 85 yards running away the bullet went in hind quarter and ended up under his left front shoulder in hide with devastating results in side. I also shot 4 white tail buck same load 95x all buck shots taken from 85 to 300 yrds and fell like they were struck with lighting. this year with 308 win and 22" dauglas match barrel and 150 gr txs bullets one mule 4point buck at 35 yrds one shot ran 15 yrds no bullet problems also one 4 point whitetail buck 175 yards shot in back of head top of neck no bullet problems my sister used same gun in 308 same load 245yrds good rest one shot 4point white tail buck through shoulder small hole in and almost removed opposite shoulder with exit hole. I thought the exit hole was alittle large. but it was here fist deer and it never ran 20 yards in my .308 laods are 47grs Rl15 @2850and my 243 is 45grs Rl22 @3000 and change with a 24" ted gallard match ss barrel this load shoots 5shot 1/2 groups all day wit .308 150 grs triple shock this shoots 5/8 5 shot grooups and is mounted with tasco 2.5x10 varmit scope. I would like to try this load on elk may be next year for more results. barnes works for me. But Ialso use 180 grs pations in 3006 for elk and have shot 3 bulls one shot kills no problem with them and all were lung shot and no bullet were recoverd.

 

[FOTIS]

I have a theory about them though. I wonder if the bullets are passing through the deer so fast that they don't have the time to expand. We chronoed my loads at 3,254 average.

No such thing! The faster you push them the higher the chance of getting expansion.

If your theory held water than you would get perfect expansion with 1200 fps impact velocity every time.

 

[Guest]

Anybody know what Barnes says about their minimum impact velocity? I am considering some, but I don't want to use too strong a bullet for white-tails.

 

[FOTIS]

TSX.....1800 fps. I called them and that is what they stated.

 

[Taos]

What Brad said!!!!!!!

 

[Greg Nolan]

Barnes bullets , either x or tx, are at their best when penetration is the first concern. Too close and they will shear the petals and become a solid, too far and they will not open big like an AccuBond or bear claw. They are all copper, they are brittle but they penetrate almost twice as deep and hold 95 to 98 percent of their weight. They couldn't do that if they progressively expanded like lead core bullets. They became famous on BIG game because of the penetration. I WON'T use them anymore. It's useless to put 4000 foot pounds of energy out and have 3000 of them spent on whatever is behind the animal you are shooting!

 

[Black-tailed bandit]

I decided to go with the TSX in my 350 RM. I like the reports I have heard fro others. I will use this on our small black tailed deer, mule deer and elk. I decided not to try the Partition because of the lower recovered bullet weight. I think with 1900+ ft lbs at 300 yards anything will open!

 

[Jeff Olsen]

I decided to go with the TSX in my 350 RM. I like the reports I have heard fro others. I will use this on our small black tailed deer, mule deer and elk. I decided not to try the Partition because of the lower recovered bullet weight. I think with 1900+ ft lbs at 300 yards anything will open!

Just for the sake of argument, why in heck are you worried about lower retained bullet weight for blacktail and muley's? Maybe you aren't, maybe it's just for elk... but just for reference I've killed blacktail with a .358 using factory 200-gn Silvertips, 225-gn Partitions, and 200-gn Hornady SP Interlocks. There was never the slightest chance of recovering any of those bullets! And that's from a .358. With a 350 mag and for deer, a 250-gn Barnes bullet is almost comical overpenetration!

Personally, I'd use a 225-gn Partition in a 350 mag on anything short of grizzlies. That would put the hurt on ANYTHING. If for some reason I felt like the 4+ feet of penetration (probably) that the above combination would provide wasn't enough, a 250-gn 35 cal Partition is going to probably shoot through an elk- LENGTHWISE! Or darn close to it.

Anyway, your bullet choice will work and work great, I'd think, I just couldn't help but react to a 250-gn Barnes from a 350 mag for deer... and the implication that somehow a 250-gn Partition was insufficient! Wow.

-jeff

 

[Black-tailed bandit]

I decided to go with the TSX in my 350 RM. I like the reports I have heard fro others. I will use this on our small black tailed deer, mule deer and elk. I decided not to try the Partition because of the lower recovered bullet weight. I think with 1900+ ft lbs at 300 yards anything will open!

Just for the sake of argument, why in heck are you worried about lower retained bullet weight for blacktail and muley's? Maybe you aren't, maybe it's just for elk... but just for reference I've killed blacktail with a .358 using factory 200-gn Silvertips, 225-gn Partitions, and 200-gn Hornady SP Interlocks. There was never the slightest chance of recovering any of those bullets! And that's from a .358. With a 350 mag and for deer, a 250-gn Barnes bullet is almost comical overpenetration!

Personally, I'd use a 225-gn Partition in a 350 mag on anything short of grizzlies. That would put the hurt on ANYTHING. If for some reason I felt like the 4+ feet of penetration (probably) that the above combination would provide wasn't enough, a 250-gn 35 cal Partition is going to probably shoot through an elk- LENGTHWISE! Or darn close to it.

Anyway, your bullet choice will work and work great, I'd think, I just couldn't help but react to a 250-gn Barnes from a 350 mag for deer... and the implication that somehow a 250-gn Partition was insufficient! Wow.

-jeff

Jeff I'm not complaing about Nosler bullets, I just wanted to try something new, something different. I also red here that nosler had a problem with accuracy when the 225 was pushed to higher velocity with this round. If I wanted to use a love vel. round I would have bought a .358 win. or stuck with my 06.

 

[Jeff Olsen]

Hey, like I said I'm sure it'll work fine, it'll kill a blacktail! In some ways, a potentially slow opener like that might be a very good choice on little deer at closer ranges- you won't get much expansion, I bet, but then again you don't need to worry about that so much with a .35 and the bonus will be not wrecking too much meat, maybe.

Lack of bullet selection is the bane of our existance, us .35 caliber guys! At least you can use the 250's. I can't in my 358. I keep begging nosler for a 200-gn AccuBond.

Good luck and report back how they work for you! Personally I've never been able to get a Barnes bullet to shoot worth beans, and I've spent a fair amount of money and time trying. But I know others have had luck with them.

-jeff

 

[Black-tailed bandit]

Her is a pic of the three of the trial rounds that I loaded up last week.

Here is the pic of the target

They were 46,47, and 48gr REL 7, the load is far from finished, I still have to play with bullet seating (right now @ 2.930") and powder charge (need to add a little more powder) and shoot it. The range these were test fired at was 50 yards. My uncles shooting range (200yd) will be finished this spring/summer so I will be able to play with my rifles and my loads.

Anyway, your bullet choice will work and work great, I'd think, I just couldn't help but react to a 250-gn Barnes from a 350 mag for deer... and the implication that somehow a 250-gn Partition was insufficient! Wow.

And here I complain about people using all these wiz-bang magnum rifles and I use a pumpkin chucker

 

[Jeff Olsen]

My main load for my .358, for deer at least, is a 200-gn bullet and 46 grains of RL7, which is WAY OVER BOOK MAXIMUMS SO DON'T BLOW YOUR BAD SELVES UP USING IT, .358 GUYS!! I get 2640 fps with this load. Brass lasts a long time and primers are round. Did I mention that this is like 8 grains over book max and I don't advise using it?

Anyway, , I really like RL7. I LOVE 35 caliber. In fact... if Remington would offer their new stainless, fluted, Model 7 XCR in 350 mag I might just buy one! I'd also buy one in 325 WSM. They do offer the M7 in 350, but just the blued action and I prefer to hunt in the rain whenever possible- as an Oregon guy yourself you probably understand that!

How's the recoil with your .350? Must be fairly stout.

-jeff

 

[Black-tailed bandit]

Rain what rain :lol: :lol: I like the rain too. I put down my very trust 30-06 for the 350, now the wife uses my old '06.

 

[Jeff Olsen]

My idea, with .358, was to build a rifle that was optimized for how I tend to kill deer- at relatively close range in heavy cover, in the rain. I wanted something that would put them down ASAP, with maximum blood trail (if any!) and minimum meat loss. Of the 4 deer I've killed with a 358 3 went down instantly; the 4th saw me before the shot and ran almost 150 yards with this exit wound:

Needless to say, the blood trail was profuse!

-jeff

 

[Black-tailed bandit]

My idea, with .358, was to build a rifle that was optimized for how I tend to kill deer- at relatively close range in heavy cover, in the rain. I wanted something that would put them down ASAP, with maximum blood trail (if any!) and minimum meat loss. Of the 4 deer I've killed with a 358 3 went down instantly; the 4th saw me before the shot and ran almost 150 yards with this exit wound:

Needless to say, the blood trail was profuse!

-jeff

That is not an acceptable :grin: WOW that is what I call performance, how was meat damage?

 

[Jeff Olsen]

No real meat damage, since I shot him through the ribs. That was with a 200-gn Hornady Interlock at a MV of about 2630 fps at about 40 yards.

I killed another blacktail, a spike buck, with the same load a few days earlier. That one hit part of the offside shoulder going out. The exit wound was more "normal" and meat damage was minimal. Meat damage has been a non-issue on the 4 deer I killed with .358, though I must admit that from my picture above it looks like if I'd messed up the shot and shot him in the shoulders, it might have been a mess!

I intend to do some longer-range practice with the .358 this spring/summer. I'd like to get a feel for how far out I can shoot it. I know 250 yards is easy; I was tormenting my 250 yard steel plate the other day before I hit one of the suspension wires and flipped it around... it's an awesome caliber for practical deer ranges!

-jeff

-jeff

 

[358WINMAN]

Ihave used the Barnes bullets only out of my .35 Whelen on whitetail deer.
I loaded the 200 grain bullets over 56 grains of IMR 4064. Not only did I get MOA at 100 yds, but outstanding and sometimes devastating results with the Barnes. Exit holes as pictured in some of the others posts and drop like God himself put the smack down on them!

I cannot say a bad thing about the Barnes TSX. I do feel that these bullets are made for shoulder shots or quartering away shots at tougher angles. Seems like they need some mass in the way to perform as described. Soft paunch may not be the TSX's ticket! JMHO.

I just purchased a box of 140 grain TSX's for my .280 AI. This should be a fun load to develop!!!