I just found one of the many failed Barnes X bullets I have seen over the years, this is a 300gr .375 H&H I think it was a Federal Premium Factory load.
From a Buffalo I had to back up on, normally the Barnes are Ok in .375 H&H on Buffalo but some times they fail, never have had a Swift A Frame or Trophy Bonded Bear Claw fail.
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Sarg - Glad you are OK and here to share your story. I read your report of the TSX failure in the 375 with great interest. Can you please provide more details? I ask simply because I am going on a Cape Buffalo hunt with 375HH using Barnes TSX in just a few months and still have time to reevaluate.
Questions I am looking to answer:
- At what distance did you take the shot? or shots?
- How many shots were taken with this ammo? and did they all fail to expand?
- What was the twist rate of your rifle?
- What rifle was used and bbl length?
- Despite the ammo fail did you still kill the buff? or did the PH or other backup gunner have to assist in the kill?
- Was this same ammo used on any other game before and since? How did it perform?
- How old was this ammo? I am wondering if it is early TSX bullets some of which may have been faulty or was it more recent production?
- Where on the Buffalo's body did the TSX impact? i.e. Shoulder, skull, gut, rear, etc?
- It appears to be bent as if the slug may have tumbled. Do you have any insights?
I am not a huge fan of the TSX, but that is only because I lack much experience with it. But that said, I killed a 600+ Lb Alpha herd bull Blue Wildebeest with the TSX using a 300g 375HH last year at a range of about 180y (est). The first shot was a frontal slightly quartering that expanded to 0.75" or 2.0x and penetrated over 3ft lodging in the paunch. The beast jumped, bucked, stumbled and ran away about 60y where he piled up. We advanced to within 60y where my PH advised me to shoot him again in the neck. That shot was a thru and thru which anchored him. We advanced then to 10y and since he was still lolling his head around and attempting to get up, I launched a 1/3rd TSX into his chest and that finished him. While the 1st shot was fatal the other two were fired to end it faster. That last slug was found under the hide on the opposite side. It expanded to 0.82" or 2.2x. I know WB are tough but I was not super impressed with the results. That is the only animal that I have killed with the TSX. The only reason I planed to use it on Buffalo was because I had been advised that it was more consistently effective than the A-Frames. I have both 300g A-Frames and Woodleigh Hydros as well that can be used.
I left some of my 375HH TSX ammo with my PH last year and told him to use it if he wanted to. He had a client from Europe on his reserve about a month or two later who rented his 375 to kill a buff and a lion. That hunter used my Barnes ammo on his buffalo firing a well placed shoulder shot and a 2nd quickly placed follow up. The PH reported that it was the quickest, most effective kill on Buffalo, he had ever seen. A 2nd hunter who hunted his Buffalo two weeks before I arrived also killed a buff with two fast, well place shots. That buff only walked 16y and died. These two cases made a believer out of my PH. He only lamented that the Barnes ammo is very expensive for him to source in South Africa when compared to other options.
My limited knowledge of the TSX bullet is that it is a controlled expansion bullet and it expands more up close to limit over penetration and expands a bit less at longer range or slower speeds so that it still penetrates deeply with some expansion. I also believe that the TSX does not "Dump' huge amounts of energy into a massive permanent wound cavity during that critical first 12-16 inches of its wound path. As a result it is less likely to do massive internal damage and less likely to drop a beast in its tracks when the brain or spine is not hit. The difference may not be that much compared to A-Frames or TBBC bullets. I have used the TBBC on deer and was not all that impressed with it either. It performed like a solid but since the bullet was a pass thru, I am guessing. The deer still dropped and died quickly.
On the other hand, I shot five PG animals from 20y to 202y with my 308 using 180g Fed Fusions a bonded lead cored bullet. Those were devastating and all resulted in one shot kills and most were DRT. I wish I had time to hunt a few more PG animals with the TSX prior to using it on a buffalo. I intend to hunt PG for 2-3 days before the buff hunt commences and Lord willing with gain some more experience with them then. I have Zebra, Black WB and Kudu on the menu which are all big and tough enough to test the ammo on.
I plan to take a few of the A-Frames (10) and a few of the Woodleighs (5) on the trip just so I have them. My rifle holds five rounds so the first three with be expanding bullets either TSX or A-Frames and the last two will be the Woodleigh Hydros. At Buffalo hunting distance inside of 100y they all shoot to the same POI with a 100y zero.
Weight retention : 416.37 gr = 83.3 %
