Barns TSX performance.

[Calcoyote]

I am a little late to be getting into this thread.

I took an Idaho Whitetail this year and it was my first time using a Barnes. I have a Tikka 270 and I loaded the 110g TTSX with Hunter powder by Ramshot with a muzzle velocity of 3420 fps. I hit the deer just behind the shoulder but a little bit high at 118 yards. The buck never took a step and a small cloud of hair/fur was still floating in the air for a few seconds after the shot. It was a complete pass through with an exit would of about 2 inches. I felt pretty over gunned. Massive damage to internal organs but very little meat damage.

Not saying I will always feel this way, but right now I am not interested in using anything else than Barnes for big game. I have ordered a box of 129g LRX that I am going to try in my 270. I have a good load worked up in my 243 using the 85g TSX at 3210 FPS. This spring I will begin load development on the 100g TTSX for my 257 Wby and the 130g TTSX for a lite weight 308 I have.

 

[TxxAgg]

I'm wanting to try 150's in my new 30-06. Sounds like I'm in good company.

 

[Marmots]

I've shot 180s out of a Tikka 30-06 with good results. I'm thinking of dropping down to 150s now that I'm back in the lower 48 and my stash of heavier bullets is almost gone.

Does anyone have any powder suggestions for pushing a 150 grain ttsx out of a tikka '06?

 

[TBossHSauce]

Shot this Nilgai Bull at about 250 yards quartering to me. Hit in the point of the shoulder and rested on the off side. Perfect expansion. If anyone has ever hunted Nilgai, then you know how tough they can be. That's a lot of meat to go through....
180 gr TTSX .300 win mag factory load

 

[Newtosavage]

Give me a few weeks and I'll report back to you. That's exactly what I'm using for whitetails this year. 120 TTSX out of my 7mm-08 at about 3K

So far this season I've taken two whitetail does, a yote and a large feral pig with the 120 TSX (not TTSX) and the results were very good. No bullets recovered yet and three dropped where they stood. One doe ran about 40 yards and went down. No complaints here. Accuracy is superb too.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

150 grain 30-06 TTSX reloads (2975 fps). 10/11 one shot kills thus far on mule deer, WTD, elk, and pronghorn. The 1/11 was a bad shot on my part, the mule deer didn't go far, did require a follow up shot.

I've never recovered a bullet. Performance has been great. Accuracy is very good. No complaints thus far.

 

[OXN939]

This ^ exactly. I heard the same thing straight from the a Barnes engineer's mouth (email actually). I use the 168 in my 30-06 currently, although i might switch to the 175 LRX just because.

I use Barnes in almost all of my hunting rifles, and if I don't I use a lathe turned mono like CEB. All are devastating on game with little meat loss.

I read the 168 vs. 165 for .308/.30-06 literature on their website- my question is, why is that their recommendation? I'm not a ballistic engineer, but would the difference between a secant and tangent ogive for the 168 vs 165 gr. respectively make much of a difference? I'd always heard tangent ogive rounds (like the 165) are less sensitive to seating depth and therefore easier to get good groups with...

 

[Mule3006Elk]

The 165-grain TSX incorporates a shorter tangent ogive in the nose profile. It’s designed for cartridges with short magazines such as the .300 WSM and .300 Win Mag. The 168-grain TSX BT has a secant ogive which lengthens the nose profile and has shown superb accuracy downrange. It offers the best of both worlds because it’s also a premium hunting bullet offering exceptional terminal performance. It is best suited for cartridges such as the .308 Winchester, .30-06 and .300 Weatherby.

Copy/paste from their website (FAQ).

 

[Mule3006Elk]

30-06: hard to beat 150 grain TTSX.
300 WM: hard to beat 175 grain LRX.

I look more at downrange velocity (400 yards) when deciding which bullet weight I want to run in each cartridge. Barnes needs high impact velocities for full opening. Personally, I keep impact velocity
> 2200 fps. 30-06 this puts me at 385 yards. 300 WM this puts me at 590 yards. I like to keep my shots under 400 yards.

 

[OXN939]

30-06: hard to beat 150 grain TTSX.
300 WM: hard to beat 175 grain LRX.

I look more at downrange velocity (400 yards) when deciding which bullet weight I want to run in each cartridge. Barnes needs high impact velocities for full opening. Personally, I keep impact velocity
> 2200 fps. 30-06 this puts me at 385 yards. 300 WM this puts me at 590 yards. I like to keep my shots under 400 yards.

Yeah for sure. I think that's the right way to do it- basically find where your velocity is over 2200, and set that as max range. Anyone know if there is a terminal ballistic difference between the two ogive profiles?

 

[cuttiebrownbow]

I used a 165 tsx out of my 300 wsm this year. It was extremely accurate on paper and it performed perfectly on the buck I shot (with very little meat damaged with bullet passing through one shoulder). I am looking forward to playing with these this summer just to see what they actually can do at longer distances.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

Yeah for sure. I think that's the right way to do it- basically find where your velocity is over 2200, and set that as max range. Anyone know if there is a terminal ballistic difference between the two ogive profiles?

Shouldn't be any difference. However, Barnes may say they have different minimum impact velocity. Barnes bullets don't have the same minimum impact velocity t/o their offerings. In fact, some are different within the same product line (TTSX, LRX, ect.). They do a poor job of advertising this.

For example: 150 grain TTSX (0.308) component bullets for handloads IS a different bullet compared to their 150 grain TTSX VOR-TX line (30-06). The component bullets has a Tangent Ogive and the VOR-TX has a Secant 0give. Furthermore, each bullet has a different minimum opening velocity per Barnes. Barnes did this because they know the 30-06 isn't going to push those bullets as fast as a 300 WM. In summary, 150 grain TTSX (component bullet) has a minimal impact velocity of 1800 fps. The bullet in 30-06 (VOR-TX) has a minimal impact velocity of 1500 fps. They don't advertise this. I only noticed the difference when I compared my reloads with my hunting partners's 30-06 (VOR-TX). It was clear the 150 grain bullets weren't the same and clearly had a different design (Tangent vs. Secant). I confirmed my finding when I spoke with Barnes directly. Furthermore, they have different BC: 150 grain TTSX component bullets has a B.C. of 0.42. The secant designed 150 grain TTSX (VOR-TX) have a B.C. 0.442.

With Barnes, when you look at bullet expansion with minimum impact velocities, there is very little expansion. The bullet certainly doesn't expand greater than the diameter of the bullet itself. For this reason, I like to keep my impact velocities > 2200 fps. This summer, if I have time, I would like to shoot some milk jugs and see what they look like at these lower velocities. If I do I will report back with pics.

Sorry long winded, but I've been down this rabbit hole with Barnes. It's a good bullet but they certainly make you figure things out. They SHOULD be much more forth coming with the tech specs of their bullets.

Nathan Foster, great resource for bullets/calibers/cartridges, also recommends high impact velocities for monolithic bullets. In his opinion, > 2400 fps for broadside shots. Between 2200-2400 fps, high shoulder shots, to quickly anchor the game.

 

[OXN939]

Shouldn't be any difference. However, Barnes may say they have different minimal impact velocity. Barnes bullets don't have the same minimum impact velocity t/o their offerings. In fact, some are different within the same product line (TTSX, LRX, ect.). They do a poor job of advertising this.

For example: 150 grain TTSX (0.308) component bullets for handloads IS a different bullet compared to their 150 grain TTSX VOR-TX line (30-06). The component bullets has a Tangent Ogive and the VOR-TX has a Secant 0give. Furthermore, each bullet has a different minimal opening velocity per Barnes. Barnes did this because they know the 30-06 isn't going to push those bullets as fast as a 300 WM. In summary, 150 grain TTSX (component bullet) has a minimal impact velocity of 1800 fps. The bullet in 30-06 (VOR-TX) has a minimal impact velocity of 1500 fps. They don't advertise this. I only noticed the difference when I compared my reloads with my hunting partners's 30-06 (VOR-TX). It was clear the 150 grain bullets weren't the same and clearly had a different design (Tangent vs. Secant). I confirmed my finding when I spoke with Barnes directly. Furthermore, they have different BC: 150 grain TTSX component bullets has a B.C. of 0.42. The secant designed 150 grain TTSX (VOR-TX) has a B.C. 0.442.

With Barnes, when you look at bullet expansion with minimum impact velocities, there is very little expansion. The bullet certainly doesn't expand greater than the diameter of the bullet itself. For this reason, I like to keep my impact velocities > 2200 fps. This summer, if I have time, I would like to shoot some milk jugs and see what they look like at these lower velocities. If I do I will report back with pics.

Sorry long winded, but I've been down this rabbit hole with Barnes. It's a good bullet but they certainly make you figure things out. They SHOULD be much more forth coming with the tech specs of there bullets.

Nathan Foster, great resource for bullets/calibers/cartridges, also recommends high impact velocities for monolithic bullets. In his opinion, > 2400 fps for broadside shots. Between 2200-2400 fps, high shoulder shots, to quickly anchor the game.

No, thanks for all the info! Very informative. I've started a campaign to water jug test a bunch of copper monos this year, and will be getting to the TSXs within the next week or so. Here's a Hornady GMX .308 165 grain from 100 yards, probably doing about 2300. I suspect performance will be similar.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

Sweet. Love it!! I've always wanted to do this test. It will be interesting to see the lower velocity limits for full expansion on the TTSX.

How many 1 gallon jugs did you line up? Which jug did you find the bullet?

 

[OXN939]

Sweet. Love it!! I've always wanted to do this test. It will be interesting to see the lower velocity limits for full expansion on the TTSX.

How many 1 gallon jugs did you line up? Which jug did you find the bullet?

That guy was actually recovered from a berm (part of which is still visible around the mushroom) after passing through only one jug of water. I was doing a range day to prep for an upcoming Nilgai hunt, so was trying to get the most reps out of the gallon jugs I had. Two would probably give a more realistic idea of expansion you'd see on large game, so I'll try that next time.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

Out of my 30-06 I would have to set the jugs up short of 400 yards to get velocities in the 2200 fps range. I'll need to reload a few reduced load rounds to simplify the process.

Your GMX testing at 100 yards, was that out of 30-06 factory round? If so, that bullet would still be around 2730 fps (Superperformance) or 2597 fps (Full Boar).

 

[Phil4]

Shouldn't be any difference. However, Barnes may say they have different minimum impact velocity. Barnes bullets don't have the same minimum impact velocity t/o their offerings. In fact, some are different within the same product line (TTSX, LRX, ect.). They do a poor job of advertising this.

For example: 150 grain TTSX (0.308) component bullets for handloads IS a different bullet compared to their 150 grain TTSX VOR-TX line (30-06). The component bullets has a Tangent Ogive and the VOR-TX has a Secant 0give. Furthermore, each bullet has a different minimum opening velocity per Barnes. Barnes did this because they know the 30-06 isn't going to push those bullets as fast as a 300 WM. In summary, 150 grain TTSX (component bullet) has a minimal impact velocity of 1800 fps. The bullet in 30-06 (VOR-TX) has a minimal impact velocity of 1500 fps. They don't advertise this. I only noticed the difference when I compared my reloads with my hunting partners's 30-06 (VOR-TX). It was clear the 150 grain bullets weren't the same and clearly had a different design (Tangent vs. Secant). I confirmed my finding when I spoke with Barnes directly. Furthermore, they have different BC: 150 grain TTSX component bullets has a B.C. of 0.42. The secant designed 150 grain TTSX (VOR-TX) has a B.C. 0.442.

With Barnes, when you look at bullet expansion with minimum impact velocities, there is very little expansion. The bullet certainly doesn't expand greater than the diameter of the bullet itself. For this reason, I like to keep my impact velocities > 2200 fps. This summer, if I have time, I would like to shoot some milk jugs and see what they look like at these lower velocities. If I do I will report back with pics.

Sorry long winded, but I've been down this rabbit hole with Barnes. It's a good bullet but they certainly make you figure things out. They SHOULD be much more forth coming with the tech specs of their bullets.

Nathan Foster, great resource for bullets/calibers/cartridges, also recommends high impact velocities for monolithic bullets. In his opinion, > 2400 fps for broadside shots. Between 2200-2400 fps, high shoulder shots, to quickly anchor the game.

Great post. I agree they do a poor job of advertising the difference thresholds. However, their customer service is super helpful when you call them. If anyone is between bullet choices, call with your question, and from my 1 experience, they’ll talk you through it in depth.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mule3006Elk]

Very true. I should have mentioned that. Their customer service has been great.

Now if they can get those wobbly tips sorted out I'll be a happy camper. NIB 150 grain TTSX, I'll bet only 40% +/- 5% are perfectly trued. I bought NIB Federal Edge TLR 175 grain component bullets for reloading and 100% (box of 50) rolled true (NO wobble). Barnes is aware of the issues. Last time I spoke them, 6 months ago, he said they were working on correctly the problem. Not sure if those corrections are in place as of yet.

I suspect it has an impact on accuracy especially the further out you go. Probably not significant but it still bothers me. Nothing like spending the time reloading, as precisely as possible, then throwing a bullet with an unsightly wobbly tip on there. I sort out the good ones for hunting and sighting in. I use substandard ones for reduced loads, chronograph data, or just practice.

 

[Rickz17]

Great info. I am also looking to see what ammo is shooting well out of the Tikka 300 win mag.

 

[OXN939]

Out of my 30-06 I would have to set the jugs up short of 400 yards to get velocities in the 2200 fps range. I'll need to reload a few reduced load rounds to simplify the process.

Your GMX testing at 100 yards, was that out of 30-06 factory round? If so, that bullet would still be around 2730 fps (Superperformance) or 2597 fps (Full Boar).

Nope, that was out of a 20" .308 carbine. MV chronographed at 2540. Federal Factory 165 gr. Barnes TSX data inbound within the next week or so.