Barnes ttsx

[308 win]

Second post. Shot a deer last week with a Remington .260 loaded with factory Barnes 120 grain ttsx. Gun used was a older model 7 with a 18.5 inch barrel. The deer was shot at 30 yards through the scapula continued through the opposite front shoulder blade and never exited. Upon skinning I found the bullet fully expanded and lodged in the opposite front shoulder. Deer dropped on the spot but I always perfer an exit hole. This is the second time I've had this happen. I don't believe this is normal performance for this type of bullet at that distance? I normally load my own but due work schedule and shortages decided to purchase factory ammo this year. What do you think? First time this happened was with my load, after sending bullet to Barnes they confirmed bullet failure. Bullet never expanded.

 

[choprzrul]

Muzzle velocity?

 

[308 win]

Not sure, sorry.

 

[JEFFPPC]

I have always preferred all the energy deposited in the deer, not in a tree behind it. I am surprised though they are not exiring. Either way though DRT, doesn't get any better than that.

 

[choprzrul]

I have had great experiences with calling Barnes' tech support and asking about minimum/optimal velocities for their bullets. They seem to design each one a bit different. This is from my notes on their .308 diameter TTSX bullets:

165gr TTSX minimum velocity = 1800fps
168gr TTSX minimum velocity = 1500fps

So, depending upon your muzzle velocity from that 18.5" barrel, and how that 120gr TTSX is designed, it may not be surprising that you are not seeing the bullet exit.

Ultimately, did the end result give you some nice backstrap?

 

[308 win]

Yes to the backstraps! Lightly marinated, bacon wrapped then placed on a charcoal grill. As much as I love hunting, I'm better at eating. I'll try tech support and report back, thanks.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I hate barnes bullets and wont ever use them again. I want an exit wound and a blood trail if they run off. With other bullets i get an exit wound and tons of blood. With tsx or ttsx i get to crawl through a briar thicket for hours and maybe find the deer without a drop of blood to show for it.

 

[1K6BRA]

I have shot 15 deer with the TTSX bullet. 12 of them have been with a 6.5 x 284 using 100 grain slugs. All have given me complete penetration with about a 50 Cent piece size hole on the opposite side and utter devastation to heart and lung area. All deer have only managed a few steps afterwards. I have shot three deer now with my 25-06 using 80 grain slugs. Exact same performance as above. The last deer I shot was at close to 150 yards through the woods here in Pennsylvania. A decent size buck, again complete pass-through and the lungs were not recognizable. The buck just stood there for maybe 10 seconds and lunged forward to the ground. I have used all kinds of different bullets and of course they all work well if you put them in the right place. I do like an exit hole to leave a good trail of blood if necessary but so far it has not been necessary when using these bullets. Personally I can’t imagine anything better.

 

[Bill K]

Interesting, I have now shot three deer ( from 80 to 130 yrds) with the 120 TTSX Barnes in a 6.5 creed and have yet to recover a bullet, entrance and exit, mostly from chest area straight through lungs/heart or one was angled from enter left side angled towards me and exit out flank on right side. Heart and liver were about 1/3 destroyed, in bullet path.

 

[SSL]

Second post. Shot a deer last week with a Remington .260 loaded with factory Barnes 120 grain ttsx. Gun used was a older model 7 with a 18.5 inch barrel. The deer was shot at 30 yards through the scapula continued through the opposite front shoulder blade and never exited. Upon skinning I found the bullet fully expanded and lodged in the opposite front shoulder. Deer dropped on the spot but I always perfer an exit hole. This is the second time I've had this happen. I don't believe this is normal performance for this type of bullet at that distance? I normally load my own but due work schedule and shortages decided to purchase factory ammo this year. What do you think? First time this happened was with my load, after sending bullet to Barnes they confirmed bullet failure. Bullet never expanded.

I like to see an exit hole coupled with decent expansion too. In the case of a less than perfect shot you double the chances of a decent blood-trail. I'm more interested in internal damage to organs as the bullet passes through than I am in energy transfer.

 

[Brians356]

I'm a bit confused. If Barnes said "bullet failure ... never expanded" then why did it lodge in the far shoulder rather than pinhole right through? I thought expansion was designed in to expend all energy inside the deer as much as possible. In my opinion a better explanation is "insufficient velocity to induce expansion and penetration".

Flame suit donned.
-

 

[TheOtherZilla]

I am confused.. You found it in the shoulder expanded? Then Barnes says it was bullet failure?

 

[Flouncer]

It is confusing to me also. The deer was shot at point blank range. The faster the bullet impacts, the more it should expand A .260 with a 120g bullet would be going pretty darn fast. Factory or not. Even from an 18-inch barrel. The bullet was expanded. It should be at that range. I dont see anything here.

 

[Bill K]

My question is, how can Barnes say bullet failure, when you say it expanded and the deer dropped DOA ? If the occured then the bullet did what it should, it killed the deer, even if it did not exit, due to hitting hard bone.

 

[308 win]

Please reread my post. The first time this happened was a few years ago. I found the bullet in the hide after going through the chest cavity. I still have the bullet. If I knew how to post a picture I would. Two separate instances, sorry for the confusion.

 

[FeMan]

I have used killed close to a hundred animals total (hogs, deer and elk) with Barnes TSX and TTSX in .277, 7mm and 30 cal and never had any issues. I have recovered probably a half dozen on the far shoulder of elk or BIG boars. I have had impact velocities around 1800 fps and they still opened and performed for me. If they had a better BC they would be all I shoot. I have only had two bullets "fail" in 40 years of hunting. One was a Nosler Solid Base (jacket/core separation) and the other a Berger EOL (did not expand).

 

[Ccrider]

I hate barnes bullets and wont ever use them again. I want an exit wound and a blood trail if they run off. With other bullets i get an exit wound and tons of blood. With tsx or ttsx i get to crawl through a briar thicket for hours and maybe find the deer without a drop of blood to show for it.

I have had the same experience. Lost the biggest buck I have seen during my hunting years using 100gr ttsx. Next week killed a big bodied 9 point- no pass through on a 75 yard shot in the rib cage. Fortunate that I was able to trail the deer 100 yards or so. I think it was bullet failure both times. Switched to Hammer bullets and have had no problems since. Btw, that is the only deer I have lost on more than 15 years.

 

[Gary in MD]

I’m thinking that the velocity is on the low side. I’d switch to a 120 grain ballistic tip with that rifle. I have used the Barnes TTSX with excellent results but pushed fast by my 257 Weatherby.
Gary

 

[Ccrider]

I’m thinking that the velocity is on the low side. I’d switch to a 120 grain ballistic tip with that rifle. I have used the Barnes TTSX with excellent results but pushed fast by my 257 Weatherby.
Gary

Not hardly. Over 3000 fps on both occasions.

 

[matthias]

You seem to be upset with the performance of the bullet.

If it did not do what you wanted it to , switch.

I can't tell you what happened neither can anyone else. What I can say is I have had good luck with several barnes bullets.

130 tsx 264 win mag and 260rem - complete pass through with excellent performance.
150 tsx 308 and 3006 - complete pass through with excellent performance
300 ttsx 458 socom- really close to a 12 gauge slug performance to my untrained eyes

When I say excellent performance good entrance and exit holes , good tissue dammage, good bone penetration/breakage, most important fast kills. Out of the deer I have killed 1 has run more than 30 yards. And she was a lung shot a bit higher on the body than I would have liked. The rest were either drt or stumble and fall.

I really hope you find the answers you are looking for. And I am not minimizing your poor experience. Just sharing my good experiences. Thank you for reading and I hope if you figure out the issue you will share with the rest of us.