Barnes TSX bullets

[Alibiiv]

The TSX line opens with hydraulic pressure. The tipped version uses the tip to initiate expansion. As velocity drops, expansion diminishes. With Barnes bullets, speed is your friend. Even at 2170 fps, this bullet will probably not "fully" open. I would likely run a lighter bullet at a higher velocity. You will get 100% weight retention and probably better terminal performance on game with a muzzle velocity nearer 3000 fps. Just my opinion. YMMV

The attachment is what the Barnes 225gr TSX will do at 2700fps from a 35 Whelen at around 60 yards; 235lb black bear; front, center mass shot exit behind the left shoulder. I've gotten the same performance with the 200gr TTSX from the .358 Winchester. I've been using Barnes TSX and TTSX for years with the same results.

 

[budlight]

you should see the blow through holes of Barnes X 405 gr .458 win mag 26 inch barrel on African plains game up through Lions. Everything was DRT Later on I went to the Safari International convention and Barnes had a booth and I bought the latest 450 gr TSX FB Good for all the present day African animals.

 

[wideopenyamaha]

I am in California and have to shoot lead free bullets for hunting. I shoot a 308 with a 20" barrel. Was doing some load development this morning and using up some IMR 4320 44.0 grains I got a decent hunting load at about 7/8" group at 100 yds with the Barnes 168 tsxbt match bullet. Velo was 2520 avg and I was feeling good to go so I shot a few 200 and 300 yds to confirm my drops. I was planning on shooting out to the 400 yd mark on deer hogs and bear and stopping due to my concern with lack of expansion under 1900 fps. I checked my group at 200 yds and found this bullet of mine in the dirt embankment. Do Barnes only open under hydraulic pressure? Impact velocity is 2170 fps. They should open at this velocity right? Any feedback is appreciated

I shoot 130 ttsx from a 308 at 3000 fps and worked amazing on my.2x2 last year

 

[Ted C]

I am in California and have to shoot lead free bullets for hunting. I shoot a 308 with a 20" barrel. Was doing some load development this morning and using up some IMR 4320 44.0 grains I got a decent hunting load at about 7/8" group at 100 yds with the Barnes 168 tsxbt match bullet. Velo was 2520 avg and I was feeling good to go so I shot a few 200 and 300 yds to confirm my drops. I was planning on shooting out to the 400 yd mark on deer hogs and bear and stopping due to my concern with lack of expansion under 1900 fps. I checked my group at 200 yds and found this bullet of mine in the dirt embankment. Do Barnes only open under hydraulic pressure? Impact velocity is 2170 fps. They should open at this velocity right? Any feedback is appreciated

Less velocity will of course make a difference. I know of one bullet that expends well at lower velocities. Have you tried the cavity back bullets? they shoot well for me out of my 6.5 creedmoor. I don't have a .308 (I do have a 300 PRC) but I would assume that they work well out of those as well for hunting.

 

[stx]

As Tiny Tim and budlight said, Speed is Your Friend! Velocity is key with monos! I always drop down a size or two from standard for catridge bullets with monos.

 

[floyd kittrell]

The 130's will serve you well , have shot them out to 500 from my 30-06 and had always opened . Muzz was around 3350FPS . restrict range by your speed call Barnes and give them a list of weights you wish to shoot and they will give you min. speeds for full expansion . All ways shoot them lighter and faster , as said earlier , speed is your friend

 

[floyd kittrell]

The 130's will serve you well , have shot them out to 500 from my 30-06 and had always opened . Muzz was around 3350FPS . restrict range by your speed call Barnes and give them a list of weights you wish to shoot and they will give you min. speeds for full expansion . All ways shoot them lighter and faster , as said earlier , speed is your friend

PS . ALWAYS USE THE BARNES BOOK FOR YOUR LOADS !!

 

[358 Guy]

I shoot the 168 gr. TTSX in my 300 WEA with great results on both elk and deer. I also use the 130 gr. TTSX in another 300 WEA for long range deer hunting out to about 500 yds or so. ( my personal limit ) Expansion at that range is quite good, and wound channels are wide and deep, with most bullets passing completely through.I worked up a 308 WIN load with the 130 for a good friend of mine that runs right at 2950 fps out his Ruger 77 with a 23" Shilen barrel. It has proven to be a very good killer on large whitetails out to about 350 yds. I've used Barnes bullets for 30 years, and have found that the tipped version does expand a bit faster than the standard TSX. As with all mono type bullets, speed is your friend.

 

[19elkhunter51]

I am one of the long time users of Barnes bullets. The almost all the group that I hunt with use Barnes bullets. My original complaint about Barnes was the lack of accuracy. It seemed for a long time all the "premium" bullets would shoot a pattern similar to a shotgun at a hundred yards. When I started reading about Barnes bullets being more accurate I gave them a try. Accuracy with the Barnes bullet is now acceptable.
As a group we look for every bullet in the animal that we can find. With the Barnes bullets that is not very often. Those that we have recovered look exactly like the pictures in the Barnes ads. To the best of our knowledge the bullets have behaved just as they are supposed to. It is hard to measure every shot but we think anything under 350 yards is going to pass through with massive damage to the internals.
I think, as do others, that you may be better served with a lighter weight bullet in you current setup. The 130's would be fine for deer and smaller game. The 150's would work on the black bear.
Two cents of my opinion.

 

[Varmiter71]

You have to remember that the Barnes X or the hornady GMX retains 100% where a conventional bullet is lucky to retain 50-70% of its weight. So you can get the same penetration with a much lighter bullet. Dropping down bullet weight increases velocity, reduces drop, and increases hydraulic shock.
The only down side is that the BC's aren't as good, but you said that you were not going to shoot over 400 yards so it should be fine.
I used to shoot the original 110gr X out of my 300 Dakota at 4100 fps. It was a blast and the recoil was less as a bonus.

 

[jareese]

They only designated it match due to it's shape and the fact it's 168 grains like a marketing thing.

And you know it's a "Marketing thing" because that's what they told you or you're an expert, or?????

It appears to me that there is no expansion hole in the metplat - in fact it "looks" like a solid from your pictures.

 

[Battering Ram]

The first picture is a Barnes TTSX 150 out of my 06 at about 160 yards on a Muley . The second picture is a 168 TTSX out of my 300 RUM at 760 yards on an elk. Get their hunting line of bullets and you should be good. Unless you purchased the Match Burner rounds the TSX is a hunting round.

 

[Seabeeken]

I am in California and have to shoot lead free bullets for hunting. I shoot a 308 with a 20" barrel. Was doing some load development this morning and using up some IMR 4320 44.0 grains I got a decent hunting load at about 7/8" group at 100 yds with the Barnes 168 tsxbt match bullet. Velo was 2520 avg and I was feeling good to go so I shot a few 200 and 300 yds to confirm my drops. I was planning on shooting out to the 400 yd mark on deer hogs and bear and stopping due to my concern with lack of expansion under 1900 fps. I checked my group at 200 yds and found this bullet of mine in the dirt embankment. Do Barnes only open under hydraulic pressure? Impact velocity is 2170 fps. They should open at this velocity right? Any feedback is appreciated

Ive used Barnes TSX for many years and taken many animals with them. Never a failure to open. Minimum velocity for expansion is 1800 fps. They arent likely to open in dirt and require hydraulic pressure to expand. Beyond 300 yards or so, expansion will be minimal but it should open on an animal. At 2170 it should open just fine. Barnes makes a match burner and a TSX and I assume you are talking about the TSX 168 gr.

 

[SArnold30]

I started a thread on this exact subject a few months back, except I'm using the TTSX:

Barnes TTSX 150 or 168 gr in .308 Win?

Hello all, I'm in the process of developing a hunting load for my Remington 700 SPS in .308 Win with the factory 20" 1:10 barrel to be used primarily on blacktail deer, pronghorn, and/or black bear. I've had consistent sub-MOA groups in this rifle when using factory Remington loads with the...

www.longrangehunting.com

I'm also a California hunter running Barnes out of my 1:10, 20" in .308 Win. It seems the consensus on Barnes is that they will have almost 100% weight retention, so it's best to drop down a bullet weight and push them faster for expansion. I loaded some of the 150's with Varget, and the 130's with Win 748. Since the local range just reopened, I've only had a chance to test the 150's so far and they grouped fairly well (averaged right about .75 MOA, BUT I only used bipods and had to shoot from the left hand side of the bench, even though I'm right handed, while sharing a wiggly bench with another shooter who kept jostling the table). I still found that accuracy promising, so I'm going to redo those 150's and will run a comparison against the 130's off a more sturdy setup, and whichever one I like more gets the vote for opening weekend of A Zone in 7 weeks.