Barnes ttsx

[Gary in MD]

Not hardly. Over 3000 fps on both occasions.

I was talking about the OP and his load!!

 

[howl]

A bullet may expand before contact if you shoot through something. I'm betting low muzzle velocity due to slow, short barrel, though. 18.5"? Is it a loud fire breather? Oughta be. A .260 with a 120gr deer bullet should be dumping most deer on the spot even with center lung hits.

Chronograph will tell the tale.

 

[308 win]

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?

Just tried tech support, they are closed on Fridays. I'll try Monday, thanks.

 

[308 win]

A bullet may expand before contact if you shoot through something. I'm betting low muzzle velocity due to slow, short barrel, though. 18.5"? Is it a loud fire breather? Oughta be. A .260 with a 120gr deer bullet should be dumping most deer on the spot even with center lung hits.

Chronograph will tell the tale.

It's not a loud fire breather at all, very mild recoil. That's what attracted me to this cartridge. Most deer that I have shot with the .260 didn't go very far regardless of what bullet I was using. It's just these two incidents that have me concerned.

 

[SEM]

I shot a deer CLOSE 25 yards with a 6.8 spc 110 grain TTSX and had the bullet open up on the outside of the hide and stop just under the hide one petal broke away and luckily penetrated severing an artery piercing the liver, ran about 100 yards then piled up, had other failures too, Tried GMX bullets also none exited all died just fine. Used to shoot the 120 SST with the 6.8 made a mess but always exited, Welcome to CA no more SSTs, the remaining dumb ass condors MAY eat a dead deer 200 miles north of its range ?????? and ingest LEAD, more concerning to me how many deer are just wounded die later and then infect the condors with Covid !!!!

 

[Bill K]

Now SEM, you know are super fine Fish & Wildlife Commission and the other state officials are the only one's with the knowledge on how to cure the loss of the Condor's in California and the way they eat lead from the old paint on US government building in the lower/central area that they live in, all due to them starving from lack of food and the one's killed by the wind turbines, yet we hunters in the whole state are to blame for our use of lead bullets and the minute amount of lead residue, that could be left at a kill site.

Surely we hunters can not be as smart as they are, so we must do our part to save the Condor's.. While all the others causes and people associated with those, go scot free, from any blame.

 

[Brians356]

Surely we hunters can not be as smart as they are, so we must do our part to save the Condor's.. While all the others causes and people associated with those, go scot free, from any blame.

"They say there are only twelve California Condors left in the wild. If one craps on my Cadillac, there'll be eleven."

Minnesota Fats (aka Rudolph Wanderone, attributed)
-

 

[howl]

It's not a loud fire breather at all, very mild recoil. That's what attracted me to this cartridge. Most deer that I have shot with the .260 didn't go very far regardless of what bullet I was using. It's just these two incidents that have me concerned.

I hunted with a 20" .260 (not a Remington barrel) for many years and killed a lot of deer with it. I got plenty of blast and muzzle rise. I'm suggesting a mild report is an indication of milder performance than you might expect, which may explain the lack of exit.

Or the chrono could show the load is plenty fast and the problem must be something else.

 

[snert]

Funny, I have shot deer with a 308 130 TTSX and seen multiple kills with 22 and 6mm ttsx, and ALL of them blasted right thru, and most left a spray of "stuff" on the ground or trees on the other side. Ironically, I have considered going to a different bullet that opens up more so I don't waste energy on the hillside behind the deer.

Personally I would be quite happy with a recovered deer, and a bullet that busted both sides

 

[dave@aDave]

From a friend of mine:
custom 204 Ruger, 32 grain bullet, neck shot, a little over 300 yards

 

[howl]

That's some shooting. Did the .204 make it through the neck bone? Was the bullet a TTSX?

 

[Ccrider]

From a friend of mine:
custom 204 Ruger, 32 grain bullet, neck shot, a little over 300 yards

View attachment 1300606

My guess, lucky shot.

 

[dave@aDave]

My guess, lucky shot.

I've known this man for several years. This is not uncommon for him. He is also a bench shooter who does pretty well. Ear hole or eye just about every time. He uses a .17 Super for wildcats and coyotes.

 

[FNSafari]

Muzzle velocity?

My first thought also. Most of what I have read about Barnes bullets, or any solid copper or GM bullet, is velocity is a key to performance. Does anyone know if barnes anneals the bullets after drawing? If they do could that be an issue lot to lot at times?