53 grain Barnes Triple Shock bullets for Coyotes

P

Paintcan

New member
Hi

Last year I shot coyotes with the 40, 50, and 55 grain noslers out of my 22-250. Most of the time I would end up sewing some pretty big holes. Other then the sewing...no complaints, all were bang flops.

But while I was thumbing through a stack of reloading literature, I noticed that Barnes makes a 53 grain triple shock bullet in .22 caliber. It got me thinking that this bullet might make a pretty decent coyote round. I would think the exit hole would have to be smaller than the Noslers.

Penetration with the Barnes bullet is a given....my only concern is if the 53 grain Barnes will expand enough to make a clean kill on a broadside coyote.

Does anyone have first hand experience with this bullet on coyotes?

PS I won't use this bullet if it acts like a FMJ. Paint
 
Exit wounds are a roll of the dice. With has a lot to do with just what gets hit on the inside. Striking bone can leave you with some stitching to do.

You shouldn't rely on the expansion of a bullet to make a clean kill. A clean kill comes from proper shot placement. A .22 that expands to .50 will do nothing for a clean or quick kill if you tag him in the gut. A .22 that stays .22 and goes through the lungs or heart will shut him down.

Of course, you are always welcome to give these TSX bullets a try and do a write-up on them.
 
I have some of these bullets but have not had a chance to use them yet. Have no idea of how they will work as this is a toss up. I would look at soft point bullets for what you are seeking. .250's are hard on pelts! I have used the new 65gr SPBT of Sierra and at 3300 fps it only left a quarter to 50-cent size exit. However, you need a 1 in 10 twist or faster to shoot them.
 
Hi Steve

I will have to try the Sierra 45 and 50 SPT along with the Barnes TXS this year. I know both of these Sierra bullets shoot great in the Sako.

Glenn
Thank you for your reply. I agree with you on bullet placement. Bullet placement is more important in most cases, then the construction of the bullet. I guarantee you that there will be no splash wounds with the Barnes.
Kim

PS Thank you for your service in the Military. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your fellow service men stationed in Iraq.
 
I have them and haved used and LOVE 'em! They are killers! Shot a 130 lbs boar at 130 yds (the ranch's measurement not mine) and he was dead, NOW! Recovered the bullet on butcher and it looked almost a perfect ad the add, three completely and a fourth almost perfect petal, did not exit the boar.

Opps, forgot, in my CZ 527 AM, they are hunting bullets, not match bullets, I have the targets and load if interested, best recollection now is about a 1.25 group at 100 yds, not known for accuracy, very long bullet, you'll need a COL gauge of some kind for accurate loads and not to jam bullet into lands, the all copper makes them VERY LONG! Randy's tool REALLY saved me on this load!
 
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The first rifle I converted to the 224 TSX was a Swift and the results on coyotes and bobcats were significantly better than with the other bullets I had been using. Last year's big mulie buck fell to the same rifle at 180 yds with effectiveness equal to any other rifle/bullet I have used. Then an antelope -- same results -- at 223 paces.

I've used TSX on 223Rem and 222Rem with much less pelt damage (although pelt damage is not a concern of mine), full penetration and good results. Often with these rifles I have had bullets expand too quickly and that is the difference with the TSX.

Too, the TSX is an accurate bullet. I've used them in other calibers and often find my most accurate load with the Barnes.

Try them and report your results; the more information we can access the better we can get a broad overview of this bullet. Me? I'm sold on them.
 
I too have looked at the Barnes "TSX" and wondered about 'otes.

I use the Nosler 55 gr. Balistic Tip in my .22-250 and have had great luck.

Many Many Bang Flops and no sew ups!

Three 44s
 
It would be nice to have someone like our own "Q" or some other high volume coyote hunter try out the Barnes 53 grain TSX and share their observation/experience with the terminal balistics of the TSX bullet on coyotes.

I plan on using them this year on coyotes and I'll share my results, complete with pictures...but I'm small potatoes compared to some of the guys on these boards.

Three 44s....I never had a 55 Nosler that did not pass through the coyote when hit behind the shoulder. Very large exist holes and lots of sewing.

The only reason I'm cosidering the Triple Shock bullets is the glowing accuracy reports. I tried the old .243 bullets a few years ago and the best I could do was 1 1/4" to 1 1/2" groups at a 100 yards. Right now I ordered two boxes of 53 grain TSX's and a box of 100 gr TSX for the .25-06.

A few weeks ago, I was in Canada fishing and all the "locals" would talk about was the great accuracy and the terminal performace of the Triple Shock bullets on deer, bear and wolfs. Their enthusiasm was enough for me to give the new Barnes bullets another look. Paint
 
I just received both 22 and 26 caliber Barnes TSX bullets that I will try in my 223, 6.5 Grendel and 260. In the past my experience has been the higher the price of hunting bullets the less accurate they were.
 
I just got back from the shooting range. This is the first time I tried the new Barnes TSX in my two very accurate 22-250's and my 25-06. So here is the good, the bad, and the very ugly.

The Good
.25-06 Remington 700 DM (3-shot groups) OAL of 3.190" just touches the lands with the TSX.

55.7 RL-22, 100 TSX.....3.140".... 3232 fps.... 0.751" ctc
55.7 RL-22, 100 TSX.....3.127".... 3225 fps.... 0.787" ctc
55.7 RL-22, 100 TSX.....3.113".... 3222 fps.... 1.433" ctc
55.0,AA-3100 100 TSX... 3.140".... 3244 fps.... 0.642" ctc
55.0,AA-3100 100 TSX... 3.127".... 3229 fps.... 0.705" ctc

The Bad
.22-250 Sako 75 Hunter (3-shot groups) OAL of 2.555" just touches the lands with TSX

37.5 N-150, 53 TSX....2.370"....3632 fps... 1.22" ctc
37.5 N-150, 53 TSX....2.390"....3644 fps... 2.11" ctc
37.5 N-150, 53 TSX....2.405"....3651 fps... 2.27" ctc

The very Ugly
.22-250 Remington 700 VSSF (3-shot groups) OAL of 2.455" just touches the lands with TSX.

37.5 N-150, 53 TSX....2.395"....3778 fps... 3.05" ctc
37.5 N-150, 53 TSX....2.405"....3814 fps... 5.01" ctc

I think with some tweaking I'll get the 25-06 to shoot under a 1/2". Not worried a bit.

But the groups in both my .22-250's flat out sucked. Both these rifles shoot in the .2's and .3's with sierra and noslers bullets. Could it be that the 1 in 14 twist have something to do with it???

I'll try some more combinations soon. paint
 
Try some at .030 to .050 off the lands and see what happens .
The tsx seem to like a little jump , and this is what barnes suggest
 
With the barnes bullets, being all copper, they wind up being longer than a similarly weighted lead/copper jacketed bullet of the same weight. The problem this creates is the need for a faster twist imparted on the bullet to stabilize it. Most people associate faster twist rates being for heavier weights. This is a half-truth for while a heavier weight typically implies a longer bullet, bullets made from materials with a lower specific gravity (ie, all copper) can weigh less but be as long as some of the heavier lead core bullets.

Clear as mud?

Here's a simple test to try: Lighter bullets, especially with the .22-250. I believe that barnes has a 45 gr. TSX, and as such you may want to give that I try. As a betting man (I live in Vegas after all) I'd put money on the lighter bullets flying better.
 
I called Barnes today to get their input. I believe his name is Todd (nice guy) told me that he thought that my intial load was too hot and that I should decrease the charge at least 1 grain. I asked him if the 1 : 14 twist barrels would stablize the long 53 TSX. He said it would.

Also he told me to back them another 0.020" further away from the lands. That would put me a full 0.2" from the lands in my Sako rifle. Todd also suggusted that I try Varget and H335 powder. I'll give it another try on Saturday. paint
 
My experience with TSXs is this: great accuracy at max loads (from the Barnes manual with regular X bullets) about .050 off the lands. As said before, these bullets like to jump. With the exception of 140 grain XLCs in my 6.5X55 I set them way back. Work up to max loads of course, but that's where my best accuracy with TSXs in three rifles has come.
 
My 2 cents a great bullet in the 22-250. Turns a marginal deer rifle into a deer thumper. Three muleys were shot with my rifle using this bullet last year. I didn't try hard to get a good load just through them together and they shot good enough for deer hunting. If I remember right about 3/4 inch at 100.

In my opinion just too expensive for coyotes. I shoot a couple hunderd rounds at coyotes every year, couple that with practice and sight in and I'll save my money and shoot a good soft point. Stay away from ballistic tips and such they often don't exit which is great, but when they do it's bad. I think a good quality soft point is a good compromise. Ususally about a dollar size hole on average.
 
Update:

I just completed my load development with the 53 grain TSX in my Sako 22-250. I followed Barnes advice to the letter including buying the powder they suggested. Varget and H335. Then I tried Big Game, VV N-150, IMR 4895, and H380.

Not good.

I got one acceptable 3-shot group of 0.435". I then loaded up a few more of the same charge and OAL to see if it was repeatable....nope. 1.5" to 2.5" groups. I then loaded up some known "shooter loads" using Nosler and Sierra bullets, these shot in the 0.2" to 0.5" range.

Well, I tried my best to like these bullets, but it they don't shoot out of my two rifles I can't do anything about it.

I gave up using the VSSF during load development...my Super Black Eagle patterns better. (One of my groups measured 9")

If these 0.224 53 grain Barnes bullets shoot well in your factory rifle you're lucky.

The 0.25-06 is another story. The 100 grain TSX shot well in my Remington 700. Not great but as well as the Noslers 100 grain. (3-shot groups ranged from 0.5" to 0.9")

Instead of spenting a lot of money on more of the Barnes 53 grain TSX bullets, it looks like I'll just have to buy more Dental floss. paint
 
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