TSX bullet performance and meat damage

[Jimbeaux82]

I have a very nice Ruger M77 Hawkeye in 7.62 x 39. As it is a relatively low powered round, I loaded up with 123 gr Barnes TSX bullets for deer hunting as I was worried about enough penetration with conventional soft point bullets. I loaded up to 2400 fps which gave me sub MOA groups. So far so good. Yesterday morning, I killed a nice Louisiana 9 pt with it at about 85 yards. It was a perfect double lung shot, deer ran about 50 yards before falling. Again, so far so good. When I got him home and skinned, I was absolutely amazed at the amount of blood shot meat on this deer. I have never seen the like of it in my life. I also use a 7mm Wea mag , shooting 150 gr Ballistic Tips and I used to think that it was a bad meat waster at close range. But let me tell you, it was nothing compared to this wicked little TSX. Now what really amazes me is that it did this at such a low velocity. I really thought that this combo would be a good killer and easy on the meat damage. Wrong, wrong!

So my question for the guys who use a TSX bullet, is this normal performance for this bullet with regards to meat damage?

Thanks,

Jimbeaux

 

[runtohunt]

I have used the TTSX bullet on a number of animals in a number of calibers and never noticed a significant amount of blood shot meat especially when compared to a cup and core bullet or even a bonded bullet for that matter.

 

[DrMike]

I've shot TSX and E-Tip bullets in a rather wide variety of cartridges; I've never noted excessive damage to the meat of any game animals I shot. Sounds almost as if you hit bone and got quite a bit of cavitation.

 

[Elkman]

I have killed two elk with the TSX, I was not happy with their performance but there was no unusual meat damage. One was quartering away the other broadside.

 

[Jimbeaux82]

Thanks for the replies. On dressing him out. I did notice that all I hit was a rib bone, no large bones, that is why I am a bit puzzled as to what happened. I guess I will have to try a little more field work with it and see if it happens again.

Thanks,

Jimbeaux

 

[FOTIS]

pictures!

 

[Elkman]

jim
Unless you are in California, there are other bullets that will probably work as well in your rifle and will preform as well or better.

 

[PJGunner]

I've shot two elk with the 225 gr. TSX from a .35 Whelen. First was running, quartering to the left. Bullet hit just behind the short ribs and exited between the neck and right shoulder. Entrance hole was about .75" and the exit maybe one inch. Internal damage however was massive.
Second elk was hit in the neck at the base of the skull. Neck bone was shattered with serious damage to that portion of the neck from bone fragments.
Paul B.

 

[Guy Miner]

jim
Unless you are in California, there are other bullets that will probably work as well in your rifle and will preform as well or better.

Even if you're in California.

People forget that Nosler makes a better mono-metal bullet than Barnes. The E-Tip is all gilding metal with excellent performance.

Hmmm. Re the meat damage. I've only killed a couple of mule deer with the Barnes TSX, and it really didn't produce much in the way of meat damage, just a lot of penetration, a fairly narrow wound cavity, and very dead mule deer.

Guy

 

[gerry]

I think that isn't the norm for a load like that, chalk it up to sometimes really weird stuff happens. I would try it again as you are likely to never see that kind of damage again. I shot some deer with the 130 gr TSX in a 264 WM and never saw that kind of damage even at a couple of close shots around 25 yards.

 

[andrewctillman]

What kind of alloy is the Barnes made from?

It isnt gilding metal (95/5 copper/zinc)?

This is what usually happens to the medium and large bore TSX (375 and up, anyway). The smaller calibers seem to hold together better.



Not much frontal area there after the X petals blow off.

this is a .458 at 2,400 fps.

Andy

 

[SJB358]

Thanks for the replies. On dressing him out. I did notice that all I hit was a rib bone, no large bones, that is why I am a bit puzzled as to what happened. I guess I will have to try a little more field work with it and see if it happens again.

Thanks,

Jimbeaux

Jim, I think odd things happen when stuff flying fast hits flesh.. I would almost best, 10 deer shot with the TSX vs 10 deer with the same weight cup and core, the cup and cores would probably be more destructive.

What meat was wasted on the shot? Just wondering?

 

[cloverleaf]

This little guy was hit by a 300 gr Federal copper solid at about 50 yards. In one shoulder out the other. MV is reported to be 1900 fps. I was not there when it was butchered but the guy who did it said, "what the h#ck were you using, whatever it was, dont ever use it again..." They threw away most of both front shoulders. I have hit deer similarly with much smaller, faster bullets with minimal meat damage. Go figure, bullets do weird stuff inside a critter. Iwould have expected a hole in each side and lungs/heart destryed. We ate the heart,

 

[Jimbeaux82]

SJB358,

I think you are right, wierd things do happen. I will reserve judgement until I kill another one with it and see the effect.

As to what meat was wasted, the whole side on the entrance (right behind the shoulder mid body) was one massive bloodshot side, including under the front shoulder which it never actually contacted. The exit hole was on the shoulder and I basically threw that shoulder away. I am not trying to make a big deal about it as i realize stuff happens, but in skinning and dressing over 200 deer of my own, plus probably 100 for other hunters, I have never seen anything like it. I was really surprised because the TSX holds together and at only 2400 fps or thereabouts this is the exact opposite of what I thought would happen.

 

[SJB358]

Sounds kinda weird, almost seems like it tumbled upon entering the animal. I know when they tumble they are sometimes more destructive than a varmint bullet..

 

[jimbires]

I had three kills using a 7mm 160 TSX at 3100 fps . I will not use them again .I say these three died from bleeding out , not from massive damage . I had little to no meat damage , I could eat the meat right to the bullet hole . I sure was not impressed with on game results . I think I have a few pics in the forums bullet test section of one I recovered from a whitetail . with the petals broken off there is no frontal size to speak of .

 

[SJB358]

Yeah, I am not a huge TSX fan. Don't hate them, but if I were using them again, I would run the tipped TSX just to ensure a little more expansion. PT's or AB's haven't been an issue.

 

[Desert Fox]

Like Scotty said; sometimes weird things happen when bullet met flesh and Barnes TSX is not immune. My experienced with TSX is the opposite with yours. I haven't seen any bloodshot meat on animals I've taken with TSX. The last one was the whitetail I shot with 180 grain TSX from my 300 Weatherby Accumark. Velocity the round was around 3400 at the muzzle. The deer was only 150 yards away. The bullet just penciled through.



The exit wound



My buddy Franks whitetail last year shot with 257 Weatherby loaded with 115 Barnes TSX

 

[Anonymous]

Every shot at every animal is different, but I would not expect significant amounts of bloodshot using that projectile and cartridge.

A friend of mine and myself killed a couple of caribou just yards apart a couple years ago…both with 300s shooting 180s in the neighborhood of 2950. I punched a nice clean hole behind the shoulder clean through and lost a small amount of rib meat… he hit the front shoulder and lost most of both of them.

Typically high velocity impact tears up more meat…but there's always an anomaly.

 

[Jimbeaux82]

To close the loop on this question, I shot 2 more does and 2 pigs on a recent hunt with this combo to evaluate the meat damage and terminal performance. Both does were shot right behind the shoulder in classic fashion. One was bang-flop and the other ran about 35 yards. Upon skinning and gutting, I found very little blood shot meat at all, even though there was tremendous internal damage to both. This is what I expected when I loaded this combo. It is a very effective deer combo. Both pigs showed the same thing. Not sure what happened on the 9 pt buck that started this post. I guess weird things just happen sometimes.

Thanks to all for your comments.

Jimbeaux