Barnes 120 TTSX

[paulv2585]

My son shot a buck this week and we didn’t have an exit hole. He shoots a 7mm-08, 16” barrel, suppressed, Barnes 120 gr TTSX. We’ve never had good blood from this round be it’s always blown through everything, all th shots have been around the 100 yard mark. The buck he recently shot was 133 pounds, 160+ yards away, quartering to us. He made a great shot and the deer didn’t go far. BUT I have a brother that shoots a 6.5 creedmore with Hornady Superformance 129 SST, he puts golf ball sized holes in deer and my other brother shot an 8 point with a 7 mag and had a softball sized exit. He shot Norma Whitetail soft point.

I’m going to re-barrel the 7-08 to either a 18” 20” barrel. Should I just not worry about the round, will the longer barrel help with performance that much? I attached a picture of the deer, you can see the impact right behind the shoulder. I know the round did its job and the deer is dead but I do not like not having a blood trail. Any thoughts about the situation is appreciated.

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[iamthenick]

Ive only shot 2 deer with em but got pass thru both times and watched em drop. One had a huge hole the other wasn't as big

Edit: I shoot the same round in .308 pretty sure its same weight

 

[The Harbor Master]

No where near an expert, just initial thought... I doubt the performance will change a lot (from never having much blood to suddenly having good blood) just from a 60-100fps increase, using the same projectile.

If youre using factory ammo, rough mental math I'm guessing you're around 2750-2775fps from a 16", going to 20" let's say you get up to 2890-2900fps. I don't know know if I'd expect the TTSX performance to improve that drastically. I'd think if you like the performance of cup/core or bonded bullets, you're going to need to use cup/core or bonded bullets. With 133lb deer at 100ish yards, penetration will not be an issue with pretty much anything.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Are you specifically wanting to shoot a mono? Are you rebarreling due to a shot out barrel or just want more velocity? Do you reload? What distances you planning to hunt?

 

[Rat]

My kids shot quite a few animals with the 7mm-08 and 120 ttsx bullets. Results were inconsistent as far as blood trails and exit wounds. When moving up to the 140 grn TSX we have seen very good blood trails and the exit holes that you are looking for.

 

[Macintosh]

Ive been around a solid handful of deer and antelope shot with factory loaded ttsx from a 22” 7mm08, shot at 150-220 yards. I usually see about a golf-ball sized exit, and we’ve had good luck with either drt’s or a short (sub 50 yard) run until incapacitation.

I think its pretty common with monos in larger game to have them catch on the off-side hide. From the looks of that deer (assuming its the sunlit one in the back) it appears to be twisted in such a way that the bullet would have a much longer than normal path to pass through, AND would hit a very oblique angle against the off-side hide, and possibly having tomoass through a vegetation-filled paunch to get there. All of which could prevent a pass thru with a lot of bullets.

Re: your question. Velocity helps with a mono, so a longer barrel will help. But probably not enought to bother unless there is another reason to do that. Plug it into a ballistic app and see what the velocity difference is at 150, 200, 250 yards. Are you hand loading?

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I think its pretty common with monos in larger game to have them catch on the off-side hide.

Depends a lot on velocity I think. I never caught a 145lrx from my 280ai but the muzzle velocity was 3130fps.

 

[Macintosh]

“Larger game”= elk, etc. I think its pretty common. But with lower starting velocity and a odd angle…could easily happen on a smaller animal??
I’ve had two ttsx’s not pass thru. Both 168gr .308 impacting at at roughly 2600fps, one on an elk caught against the off-side femur knuckle, the other on a finishing shot on a wt that went sternum to spine and lodged in the spine. I think you’ll always get odd stuff that happens once in a while. But as a rule, barring actual “long range”, I would not hesitate to use that 120gr ttsx again. But its never going to make a softball sized exit—you need a soft non-bonded lead bullet if thats what you want.

 

[AZ_Hunter]

My son shot a buck this week and we didn’t have an exit hole. He shoots a 7mm-08, 16” barrel, suppressed, Barnes 120 gr TTSX. We’ve never had good blood from this round be it’s always blown through everything, all th shots have been around the 100 yard mark. The buck he recently shot was 133 pounds, 160+ yards away, quartering to us. He made a great shot and the deer didn’t go far. BUT I have a brother that shoots a 6.5 creedmore with Hornady Superformance 129 SST, he puts golf ball sized holes in deer and my other brother shot an 8 point with a 7 mag and had a softball sized exit. He shot Norma Whitetail soft point.

I’m going to re-barrel the 7-08 to either a 18” 20” barrel. Should I just not worry about the round, will the longer barrel help with performance that much? I attached a picture of the deer, you can see the impact right behind the shoulder. I know the round did its job and the deer is dead but I do not like not having a blood trail. Any thoughts about the situation is appreciated.

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You’re focusing on the wrong thing. It’s the bullet that does the job. You want bigger holes, then don’t use a Barnes type mono. Adding a couple inches of barrel but sticking with the same bullet is not going to change anything.

Use a lead core bullet of your choice.

 

[iamthenick]

My kids shot quite a few animals with the 7mm-08 and 120 ttsx bullets. Results were inconsistent as far as blood trails and exit wounds. When moving up to the 140 grn TSX we have seen very good blood trails and the exit holes that you are looking for.

I wonder if too much velocity blows the petals off instead of expanding, especially at short ranges.

 

[Macintosh]

I wonder if too much velocity blows the petals off instead of expanding, especially at short ranges.

I’ve shot or seen shot several at 50 yards or less. Results were exactly what I look for. I dont think this is an issue at 7mm08 velocities.

 

[Rat]

I wonder if too much velocity blows the petals off instead of expanding, especially at short ranges.

I just think it's a light for caliber bullet and there is simply less material to expand. Don't get me wrong all the deer they shot with the 120 ttsx died in short order, just didn't leave the blood trails that I would expect. I had them using the 120s when they were young for a little less recoil, after stepping them up to the 140 grn it didn't matter if it were a mono or lead based bullet the 7mm-08 provided golf ball or bigger exit holes and easy to follow blood trails when it wasn't a DRT hit. I have tried many different bullets over the years for them and all of the 140 grained bullets performed very well. My daughter shot a bull elk at 362 yards with her 20" Camilla 7-08 and 140 grn TSX in the fall of 2024. It was a one shot kill the bull took 1 step and tipped over after about 10 seconds.

 

[paulv2585]

The barrel is the original barrel that came with the gun. I’m gong to put another barrel just for the hell of it. I figured if I was going to do that I would increase the length of its needed. I’d rather keep it at 16” because it’s easier in our blinds. The max distance would be 250 but average is 100.


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[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

“Larger game”= elk, etc. I think its pretty common. But with lower starting velocity and a odd angle…could easily happen on a smaller animal??
I’ve had two ttsx’s not pass thru. Both 168gr .308 impacting at at roughly 2600fps, one on an elk caught against the off-side femur knuckle, the other on a finishing shot on a wt that went sternum to spine and lodged in the spine. I think you’ll always get odd stuff that happens once in a while. But as a rule, barring actual “long range”, I would not hesitate to use that 120gr ttsx again. But its never going to make a softball sized exit—you need a soft non-bonded lead bullet if thats what you want.

I was including elk in my comment above. I've never caught a 145lrx from my 280AI (with that gun: 3 bulls, a handful of deer, dozens of pronghorn). Found a piece of a torn off petal once, that has been it. Its just a data point in the discussion. The 145 from that gun is moving faster than alot of other calibers/bullet weights folks pair up.

That said I'm surprised the 120ttsx caught unless its a rather slow MV from that gun.

 

[Long84]

I don't think speed will get you the larger exit that you're looking for. My Dad shot the 130gr Barnes ttsx from his 22" .308 this season. I'll attach a Pic of the exit side of the deer he shot, below. Deer was quartering slightly to, entered the shoulder, exited almost in the crease on the off side. Exit hole was roughly the size of a quarter.

 

[rclouse79]

I started out with a Barnes bullet because they shot good groups. I killed stuff over the years but there was a bunch of waiting a minute or so for an animal to tip over. I switched barrels from a 270 to 25-06 and went to a Berger vld. It is a low sample size, but the two animals we have shot have been bang-flop.

 

[iamthenick]

I don't think speed will get you the larger exit that you're looking for. My Dad shot the 130gr Barnes ttsx from his 22" .308 this season. I'll attach a Pic of the exit side of the deer he shot, below. Deer was quartering slightly to, entered the shoulder, exited almost in the crease on the off side. Exit hole was roughly the size of a quarter. View attachment 995642

Dang, dead deer which is good but definitely not a great exit. The one I did get a get hole on i think I hit bone but it was like a baseball size hole

 

[BugleMeTimber]

If you are looking for a 120 grain bullet in the 7mm-08, I've had great results with the 120 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips. Have shot two mule deer bucks at 300-350 yards DRT and one whitetail doe at 350 yards that went 10 yards with lots of blood. All pass throughs. Wicked bullet in the 7mm-08 with little recoil.

 

[Benny119]

My son has shot 2 deer with this bullet in the 7mm-08. But they are moving just under 3000fps. One didn’t go 10ft so not really a blood trial. The other had a blood trail a color blind guy such as myself could follow. It went about 50yds.

I think as others have stated, that quartering shot absorbs a lot of energy. My kids and I have shot a lot of deer with 100-120gr Barnes bullets in 6.5 Grendel. I’d have to check my records but I’d say around 25 deer. The only time I don’t get exits is on those quartering shots like that. Broadside shots with a 110 Barnes out of a Grendel moving about 2500fps zip right through them. I don’t think it is the bullet, barrel or velocity. More of a shot angle.

 

[paulv2585]

My son has shot 2 deer with this bullet in the 7mm-08. But they are moving just under 3000fps. One didn’t go 10ft so not really a blood trial. The other had a blood trail a color blind guy such as myself could follow. It went about 50yds.

I think as others have stated, that quartering shot absorbs a lot of energy. My kids and I have shot a lot of deer with 100-120gr Barnes bullets in 6.5 Grendel. I’d have to check my records but I’d say around 25 deer. The only time I don’t get exits is on those quartering shots like that. Broadside shots with a 110 Barnes out of a Grendel moving about 2500fps zip right through them. I don’t think it is the bullet, barrel or velocity. More of a shot angle.

That’s what I keep telling myself. I have a list of ammo I’m going to shoot after the season.


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