Barnes TTSX vs Accubond

[williaada]

I like running the Barnes 150fr ttsx for my elk load and thought I would use the same on whitetail.

Yesterday, I shot my buck at under 100yrds, and my brother shot a doe at 200yrs. Both areas of impact produced 5-6ft of hair, but very little blood or tissue until 10-20yards away. My buck went 30yards and crashed. The doe was gut shot and went over 200yrds, and then lost the trail with the dog after the second creek crossing.

My question is will the accubond give me a better exist wound than the Barnes? Also, on the deer no bone was hit.

 

[A382DWDZQ]

.284 or .308? How fast do you think it was going.

 

[williaada]

.284 or .308? How fast do you think it was going.

.284 about 2875fps.

 

[SDHNTR]

Different bullets don’t fix gut shots. And I think it’s unrealistic to expect easy to follow blood trails from gun shots with any bullet. Maybe that’s just the bowhunter in me. If the monos shoot well, there’s no need to change. Shoot ‘em in the shoulder and break em down.

 

[williaada]

Different bullets don’t fix gut shots. And I think it’s unrealistic to expect easy to follow blood trails from gun shots. Maybe that’s just the bowhunter in me. If the monos shoot well, there’s no need to change. Shoot ‘em in the shoulder and break em down.

I am not expecting the bullets to fix a gut shot animal. Person behind the gun is responsible for placement.

More so will the accubond leave more sign after going through the animal.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I can’t speak to the barnes bullets. I get great blood trails from Partitions, Accubonds, and NBT bullets. It would be very, very rare for me to not get a great blood trail from those Nosler bullets.

 

[Caseknife]

Not necessarily, they will both make pretty much the same size exit wound, with one a mono and the other bonded, both designed to stay together. Not much blood will exit the thoracic cavity until the blood reaches the holes. The higher in the chest the bullet hits, the longer the animal will travel prior to bleeding much out.

 

[Lou270]

Not kept detailed records or anything but I beleive have seen better blood trails on average with bonded bullets like accubond and sciroccos than monos. Most of time critters fall in sight so only really pay attentiom when have to trail but in those cases the bonded bullets have left better trails

Lou

 

[HiMtnHntr]

I have seen first hand Barnes bullets that don’t create much damage when impacting soft tissue. I would choose an accubond over Barnes. That said, I’ve knocked over a bunch with both.

 

[Nbowlin]

You dont have to join a cult to shoot an accubond.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I've killed hogs and deer with the TTSX....caribou, deer, yotes, and elk with accubond. The TTSX does not leave good blood trails in my experience, but you don't need it as they fall within 60 yards of where you shot them, if they go anywhere at all. Also, if you hit bone with the TTSX it can leave a much larger exit wound than you would expect.

Whether I use Accubond/Ballistic tips or TTSX depends on which the rifle prefers. It's always one or the other

 

[wapitibob]

A light for caliber barnes will kill Elk, Deer, and Antelope just fine. I ran mine and the Hammers at ~3450, no need for a blood trail.

 

[LightFoot]

I like running the Barnes 150fr ttsx for my elk load and thought I would use the same on whitetail.

Yesterday, I shot my buck at under 100yrds, and my brother shot a doe at 200yrs. Both areas of impact produced 5-6ft of hair, but very little blood or tissue until 10-20yards away. My buck went 30yards and crashed. The doe was gut shot and went over 200yrds, and then lost the trail with the dog after the second creek crossing.

My question is will the accubond give me a better exist wound than the Barnes? Also, on the deer no bone was hit.

I think it is - “6 of one, half a dozen of the other” kind of thing. There will be shots where the Accubond creates a bigger blood trail and times it will not.

30 yards and crashing is solid performance for whitetail. If there is an issue regarding dense cover or another reason to anchor a deer right where it is, i believe shot placement may be more of an issue than terminal performance.

Consider the high shoulder/spinal shot for the consistent DRT. I don’t have the steel nerves to consistently make that shot and I am a double lung guy.

I have used monos, bonded, and cup & core. I haven’t shot 100 big game animals, but in the many I have shot, every one of them placed between the shoulders did the job superbly.

Switch to the Accubond and observe any differences and let us know. I don’t think you will lose any performance by switching (presuming no precision loss).


>>>——JAKE——>

 

[TN2shot07]

I’d shoot accubonds or partitions in almost anything if they were readily available hand you don’t have to sell your soul to afford them (Nosler ammo). I shoot a lot of Barnes and the experience is exactly as you described, little to no blood but dead deer. If hunting in thick stuff punch them through the shoulder, the ttsx will hold up to it

 

[Ron.C]

OP,

7mm-08 shooting (.284) 140gr TTSX with a MV of 2750 fps, no barn burner by any stretch.

Has been my deer, elk bear rifle for a bunch of years. Never recovered a bullet as all were pass throughs. All exit wound channels are the same as OP observed. Not massive gaping exit wounds but they are also not "pencilling" through as is evident by the significant internal damage to vitals regardless of any rib/leg/shoulder that may be hit. Taken game from 9 to 315 yards with and only trying to shoot heart/lungs, but sometimes have clipped offside bone. Oddly, only "bang flops" were bears (same internal damage as on deer) all my deer and elk have ran a bit (up to 65 yards with last deer below).

Tried both Accubonds and TTSX when working up my rifle. The TTSX simply shot better from my gun with the powder combinations/loads I tried. Otherwise I'd be commenting on accubond threads. My buddy shoots Accubonds and from what I've seen they are no better/worse than the TTSX on game in any regard.

This is the heart from my little whitetail buck I shot a month ago. Not much blood, not a gaping exit wound but significant damage to both lungs, heart and offside leg the buck still ran about 65 yards before piling up. I'll take it

 

[SDHNTR]

You should shoot the one that is more accurate for your gun. End of story. In asking about blood trails and bullets, you are asking the wrong question.

 

[goathunter]

Either in 150 gr should drop a doe on the spot placed right behind the shoulder.

 

[t_carlson]

I've gotten poor to no blood trails with Barnes bullets. And that is even following the internet recommendations of going as light as possible as fast as possible, e.g. 150 TTSX in a .300 WBY.

Accubonds are maybe the best all-around bullet ever produced, IMO.

 

[Flycaster1977]

I switched to 120 grn ttsx for deer. Push em as hard as u can and they will drop deer all day.

 

[Muddler]

For me if a deer flop over withing 30 yards I'm not too worried about blood trails, unless it's super thick.

Shot Accubonds for years out my 7 Mag with great performance. However, I'm just about out and can't find them anywhere. Built a 260 last year and wanted to run AB's in it as well, but again, not available so I went with LRX. One doe with it last year and she didn't make it 15 yards. Paid no attention to the blood trail.

I gave up on Nosler and will be switching the 7 Mag over once I'm out, unless AB's become plentiful again. I'm tired of chasing alerts for components.