.243 Win TSX vs Etip vs HPBT on deer or hog

no experience with them in the 243 but in my 7mag etips seemed to open up better then tsx bullets did. Personaly i wouldnt use either in a gun as small as a 243 though. If a standard cup and core bullet isnt good enough (and i cant imagine when it wouldnt be) id be looking at the nos partition.
 
I got my info from Barnes. They do a lot of terminal effects testing on live animals - usually during herd management for local ranches. the Barnes TSX and TTSX is designed to expand due to hydrostatic pressure inside the tip. As long as the tip isn't filled with bone or collapsed, expansion is reliable over a range of velocities. For reasons I can't remember, bullets going faster than this range don't expand reliably either.

At normal velocities, TSX bullets rarely fragment. At muzzle velocity, though, anything can happen. Nothing wrong with hitting bone. But it isn't necessary.
 
..... If a standard cup and core bullet isnt good enough (and i cant imagine when it wouldnt be) id be looking at the nos partition.

I always find it interesting to hear stories that differ from mine as it gives me an "outside the box" view. I will share mine as well..
I've killed enough critters with the .243 & good ole core-lokt to learn this, penetration is limited. Although I was able to harvest every animal I shot at, I learned to pick my shots. I still use the 85grn Partition in a 6mmAI @ 3500fps for 'yotes, Badgers & jack rabbits. I realize I'm FAR outside the velocity window of the Partition, but dear god, violent expansion is beyond my grammatical capability (running 1-12twist). I have absolutely zero faith in this bullet to cleanly harvest medium game at any sane distance.

I moved to the original 95grn X-bullet in .243 for a long time with good success. At that time I didn't shoot long range & all shots were taken within 300yds, all one & done no tracking, no problems.

I've been reading your posts & had a lot of curiousity as to what would cause our experiences to differ :rolleyes:

...Nothing wrong with hitting bone. But it isn't necessary.

At normal distances, where sufficient muzzle velocity is available, I agree with you bruce & have proved it to myself many times. At extended ranges where the velocity has tapered off, I disagree with you. The advent of the TTSX has made expansion easier & more reliable, however, even the TTSX is stouter than a "traditional" bullet & is going to require one of two things for maximum expansion. 1-Adequate velocity or 2- more resistance (ie bone). When the ranges get longer or the beastie gets heavier, I'm looking for a shoulder to break. No tracking, no fuss.

Just my .002
 
I guess if your going to be pushing 3500 fps a cup and core bullet might not be right for you but personaly ive shot a few deer with loads like that and still ate venison. As to the tsx performance i just posted what my actual experience with them has been. I shoot 50 or more deer every year doing crop damage shooting and get a good chance to compare bullet performance. Ive shot a truck load of deer with corelock bullets and the only bad experiences i had with them was from not opening up enough not from them overexpanding. Keep in mind though that a short shot for us is 250 yards and many go out past 400. At those ranges a combo like an 06 using 180 corelocks is going to create some tracking duties. Ive also shot a truckload of deer with partitions with everything from a 6mm to a 257 wby to a 300wby and 8mags and have yet to loose an animal to them and can count the time they ran out of sight after a hit by counting the toenails on my right side big toe. Even that one didnt get but about 20 yards into the woods. Only problem with partitions is they do penetrate and if you hit a deer in the shoulder chances are your going to take out the off side shoulder too. A deer is easy to kill. Theres actually not many animals any easier to kill. I chuckle at guys that think they need some high dollar bullet to get it done. My grandpa killed more deer then any 5 people i know and did it all with a 3220! that same gun killed quite a few bear too. I dont remember even once when we had to go out and help grandpa find an animal. He knew how to shoot. That brings me back to my point. Put a ballistic tip or a sierra game king behind the shoulder of any deer at any reasonalbe range with any caliber rifle and your going to eat venison. Make a poor shot and it doesnt matter what caliber or bullet your using your going to have trouble. High dollar bullets for hunting deer sized game buy you nothing!
 
no experience with them in the 243 but in my 7mag etips seemed to open up better then tsx bullets did. Personaly i wouldnt use either in a gun as small as a 243 though. If a standard cup and core bullet isnt good enough (and i cant imagine when it wouldnt be) id be looking at the nos partition.


Unfortunately some of us over here on the left coast (california) have to shoot "non toxic" bullets in certain areas. The only condor that gets lead poisoning is the one being shot with lead, not eating it, dumb *** enviromaniacs.
 
Right, the only reason I veered off into TSX land is due to the Condor Zone regulations. They are more than twice as expensive as standard Hdy Interlock SP, which I have found extremly accurate loads for. So now that I have a tough fast, accurate hunting load I figured I'd just go with that in any zone where I get a tag. Also, since boar are much tougher, I figured they'd be better for them as well.
 
I just bought some E-tips for my 300 win, for the past few years I have used TSX 180's with good results for deer, pig and elk both here and in Idaho. They all dropped in there tracks. The problem I run into with the TSX is the grooves, they fall oddly at the seating depth I want to run and leave little bearing surface, or at least I feel so. That is why I am going to try the E-tip and see how my gun likes them.
I have a funny feeling these non tox bullets are going to be pushed harder by Big Brother as time goes on, which is sad because there are so many other good bullets out there.
 
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Still want to re-state the fact I have never recovered but a part of a Barnes. Expansion??? DRT has always been good enough for me. Just have to track them a little when shooting boiler room. The stuff is so thick around here i prefer not to track. Usually hunting over cut strips, logging roads or edge of cut overs. Gall berrys and briars so thick outside of this if you have to track one you better break out the machette. I would love to have some hard core evidence they won't expand through bone. just can't seem to ever find one as they go through and through.
 
Still want to re-state the fact I have never recovered but a part of a Barnes. Expansion??? DRT has always been good enough for me. Just have to track them a little when shooting boiler room. The stuff is so thick around here i prefer not to track. Usually hunting over cut strips, logging roads or edge of cut overs. Gall berrys and briars so thick outside of this if you have to track one you better break out the machette. I would love to have some hard core evidence they won't expand through bone. just can't seem to ever find one as they go through and through.


Ditto... even the old "solids" would rivot to some extend when contacting heavy bone. I've heard of some Barnes shedding a petal or two, which I think is plausable. You are not alone in the belief & findings that broken bones=DRT. If it ain't broke don't fix it (or in some cases: fix it 'til it is!:D) But then again, I don't believe Barnes to be "high dollar bullets" either. If I were tactical shooting or 1000yd bench sure. Hunting?? yeah............

Different strokes for different folks, I do enjoy the discussion though.
 
I love the discussion too. We all have different experiences with our prefered bullet of choice. Shot .22 pills at extreme velocity in the neck and head inside 300 with j4 jackets for 20+ years. Only ever lost one animal that way. Hit it low i guess. The 100 + animals that went to my freezer that way never knew what hit them. That is what we used to shoot crop damage deer with too. Went to the heavier calibers in the quest for 1000yds. Barnes has got me over 600 on game and 1200 on paper. New quest is target shoot at the 1760 mark. Shooting berger otm out of my 300 RUM for that quest. :D
 
OK, "bad to the bone" it is then! Spot n stalk means a lot of work and doesn't give us very many opportunities here in Cali though, so I'm gonna take what I can get. Only 6% of pig tags returned are from public land, and I don't currently have access to hundreds of acres. Po po pitiful me! Deer, that's another story....
 
A few years ago my farmer friend had a depredation permit for pigs in his almond orchards. You could get all you wanted day or night:) Almost wasn't fun
 
Not good...you are making me drool! Next you will tell us that the almond orchards are in Calif.


Yep, right next to where I live, a few miles. Haven't talked to him about the depredation permits in the last few of years, time to give him a call.
I always took the little guys, they taste better, and none were trophy class that I saw anyway.
 
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