Barnes TSX reviews/question

[BWH]

I think we can all agree that the TSX is great for African game up to the Cape buffalo. But I’d is the right choice for whitetail deer?

If taken countless WT with them.... non issue.. the thing about the TSX is you need to give them a little room to run. If you are well under a 100, then obviously no performance bullet is going to do their thing & expand properly. Use a 30-30 or tumbler. However, for most circumstances....it’s money.

 

[Tra3]

They definitely work on deer and elk. I have been pleased with their performance.

 

[meigsbucks]

I use the 140gr TSX exclusively in an 18” barreled 7/08. Never any issues with expansion and penetration has always been complete.
I’ve used Barnes in .257 Roberts thru .45/70 and always had excellent performance on everything from steenbok to Cape buffalo.

 

[mdwest]

They definitely work on deer and elk. I have been pleased with their performance.

Yep.

Used them on whitetail, blacktail, and Rocky Mountain elk... never a problem of any sort..

That said... I’ve never had a problem shooting a whitetail with anything... ever...

I’ve shot them with rem core lokt.. Federal blue box.. etc.. as well as Hornady interbond, etc.. never had a deer go more than 100 yards after being hit in the boiler room by anything...

 

[Tra3]

Yep.

Used them on whitetail, blacktail, and Rocky Mountain elk... never a problem of any sort..

That said... I’ve never had a problem shooting a whitetail with anything... ever...

I’ve shot them with rem core lokt.. Federal blue box.. etc.. as well as Hornady interbond, etc.. never had a deer go more than 100 yards after being hit in the boiler room by anything...

I agree that deer shot with a hunting caliber and any bullet are typically easy to kill. Unless you shoot it in the lower leg.
My biggest concern is meat damage as I really enjoy eating them. I’m moving towards archery because of how clean the organs, we keep hearts, liver and kidneys. They make a wonderful meatloaf. At closer range, A soft bullet tends to just blow deer apart.
Pronghorn antelope are also easy to kill with any bullet. Except they can go a long, long way on 3 legs.
I like all copper for less concern about eating lead.

 

[crs]

I use Barnes TSX and other bullets in my .405, and 45-90, and the TSX always shoots through on deer, hogs, Nilgai, and smaller exotics. No bullets ever recovered, game always dead ASAP.
Most shots less than 100 yards.

 

[krish]

Agree that Barnes TSX and the like are not necessary for typical white tail and similar animals. In my opinion virtually any factory soft nose type bullet will do the job as long as you hit the lung/heart area. I've used Federal Power Shok, Remington Core Lokt and similar Winchester for most of my hunting all my life. They work just fine as long as you do your part. If I hunt buffalo again though, it will be with TSX.

I Totally agree. I have moved to softer bullets for dear dear like games. Even Nosler partition acts like barns on them. Anything heavier at faster velocity barns is good.
Ktish

 

[TMac]

As stated it appears Barnes performs best with higher speeds. I’m wondering how it would work in 7mm08 or 280 where the velocity is a little slower

I use the 140 gr. TTSX and 145 gr. LRX out of my 280. MV‘s are just over 3k. Both have worked very well. I prefer the LRX for deer. It just opens faster than the TTSX or TSX. The TTSX is the second fastest opening of the three. They love speed, drop down a weight or two to keep impact velocities high in smaller calibers, especially with the TSX, is my advice. I’ve not used them out of any of my 7-08’s, if I did, I’d lean towards 120gr bullets.

 

[fourfive8]

Depends on caliber and velocity I guess. I've shot quite a lot of deer-sized PG game with calibers larger than normally required, at way less than warp speed with both solids and TSXs. The combination actually does quite well and is very predictable. Usually complete penetration and always less than explosive expansion. A white-tailed deer could be considered equivalent to an impala I guess and those calibers and bullets like the TSX kill them very nicely without excessive meat damage. Now feral pigs are something a little different. Smallish ones, while very "dense" type animals as most porcine are, are still small. So really no different from something like a deer. But the occasional big one, the 400+/- pound variety, is big and dense by any definition, so a larger caliber with tough, DG bullet, would not be considered over gunning at all. The bigger mistake of caliber and bullet would be going the the other way, as many seem to do with current trends. High velocity- smaller bullet.... huge mistake for pigs, especially if the occasional big one shows up!

 

[mark-hunter]

Do TSX is great bullet, based on effect on game.

Question.
What is the effect on barrel (wear out) if any, and accuracy in various calibers?
(family of calibers: 223 - 30 - 33 - 375?

 

[Shootist43]

To my way of thinking the TSX does its' best job on shots from stem to stern or vice-versa. For broadside shots on Deer & Hogs plain old Cup and Core do the job for me. I used TSX in Africa because I was told that Texas Heart Shots might be necessary. Thankfully none were necessary, BTW I didn't recover any bullets either.

 

[gillettehunter]

Most of my shooting is within 200 yards with an occasional shot to 300.

How did it perform on the Pronghorn?

Has worked very well. Pronghorn are relatively easy to kill. Thin skin and virtually no fat. They don't go far with a decent body hit.
Bruce

 

[TOBY458]

I've used them quite a bit on Whitetail deer. And seen many other people use them. As long as you keep the velocity up a bit, they work perfectly.
I have seen the regular TSX fail to expand in a 7mm08 on a longish shot. Also it was hand loaded a bit light for a kid. Probably had a muzzle velocity of 2500fps. Shot was at 150 yards, so it was moving pretty slow at that point.
My experience with them on deer sized game has been in 308 win and 30/06. Both worked great. I used 130gr in the 308 Win at 3100 fps, and 150gr in the 30/06 at 3000 fps.

 

[JimP]

Here is a coues deer that I shot at 420 yards with a 25-06 shooting a Barnes 100 grain TTSX While you really can't see the exit hole real good you can see that it is a good hole in the hide

 

[Ridgewalker]

Contrarian here.
I use the Barnes mostly in Africa. I have taken a number of thin skinned game in the US, but I reload and live in a, so far, state that doesn't require all copper bullets. So I mostly use cup and core here. I’ve heard of Barnes bullets killing two elk with one shot. I’ve seen bullets ricocheting after fully penetrating a deer (a springbuck as well). I’ll use traditional cup and core bullets as long as I can here.
I shoot a lot and just can’t justify paying twice or even three times the price for Barnes bullets for most situations.
Best of luck deciding what to use!

 

[Hagar]

Myself and my two sons went to South Africa a few years ago. We all shoot 7MM's. It was recommended by our PH to use Barnes Triple shock in 160 Grain. We ended up taking 21 animals. We all had similar wish lists including Zebra, Black and Blue Wildebeest, Kudu, Waterbuck, Springbok, Warthogs, Blesbok, Impala, Gemsbok and Ostrich. One of the Zebra's went about 20 yards and the Blue Wildebeest maybe 50 yards. On the Blue it was more due to shot placement. The skinners retrieved only 7 of the bullets they all had about 90% of there there mass. They had expanded and had most of there petals. I returned with 2 boxes and have used them on Elk, Mule deer, in Utah and Whitetail in Idaho with great results.

 

[Andrew Short]

Contrarian here.
I use the Barnes mostly in Africa. I have taken a number of thin skinned game in the US, but I reload and live in a, so far, state that doesn't require all copper bullets. So I mostly use cup and core here. I’ve heard of Barnes bullets killing two elk with one shot. I’ve seen bullets ricocheting after fully penetrating a deer (a springbuck as well). I’ll use traditional cup and core bullets as long as I can here.
I shoot a lot and just can’t justify paying twice or even three times the price for Barnes bullets for most situations.
Best of luck deciding what to use!

Lots of information here to digest. I’ve used Remington Cor Lokt, Federal Fusion and Winchester Silver tips my entire hunting career and really prefer the fusion for white tails and hogs.

While I have plenty of Barnes TSXs in 7mm and 30 cal, I’ll reserve those for Africa and continue to use what I have for now.

 

[SRvet]

As stated it appears Barnes performs best with higher speeds. I’m wondering how it would work in 7mm08 or 280 where the velocity is a little slower

Try the 120g TTSX at over 3000fps. I have shot north of 200 Roe (small) and Red deer (medium to large I guess) with these at ranges up to 320m with complete satisfaction. All have exited, most drop on the spot with some running up to 40 m. I run a moderate load through a 7 REM Mag at 3240fps. The 130g TTSX in the 308 is another gem of a bullet that I use a lot.

 

[Bill DeHaan]

Andrew,
I hunt almost exclusively with Barnes bullets, from Brown Bear to Whitetails, with rifles that shoot (very well) bullets of .270 to .416 calibers.

After accuracy, Impact velocity is the key variable to consider when selecting a bullet for hunting. Be honest about the range you expect to shoot game, then identify the max and min impact velocity for the bullet/load you are considering. I have found that as impact velocities pass above 2800 FPS , the bullet must be well constructed. Softer bullets may be a wiser selection below 2000 FPS.

Barnes Bullets are one of the most universally accurate bullet I’ve reloaded and have performed well on any game with any rifle/cartridge I’ve used.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Lots of information here to digest. I’ve used Remington Cor Lokt, Federal Fusion and Winchester Silver tips my entire hunting career and really prefer the fusion for white tails and hogs.

While I have plenty of Barnes TSXs in 7mm and 30 cal, I’ll reserve those for Africa and continue to use what I have for now.

Ah, just use your .338WM with 225gr Core Lokts or the 225gr Power Points I sent you. You can kill any of the PG in the Galaxy with those, including whitetail. Save your time, energy and consternation for rebooking your flights to Africa! Ha! Ha!