Barnes TSX ?'s

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dmaxguy2008

New member
I recently bought some 100gr TSX boattails for my 25-06 sendero. I usually shoot 115-120 Spitzers for everything from yotes to elk. I am a little skeptical when it comes to how much mushrooming the bullet does. Also i heard the they copper you barrel worse than say a speer SP SPT. Any thoughts? Plan on using RL-22 or IMR4831 for powder.
 
I've observed perfect performance with them when fired from a .257 Roberts or .257 Ackley. Here's a picture of the only one I've recovered. I took an upward raking shot at a mid-sized mule deer. This bullet plowed through a lot of the body and about 7-8 inches of spine before stopping.

257TSX1.jpg
 
I had a failure to hold together on a bull elk hit in the shoulder at 275 yards with a 300 RUM and a 180 gr TSX bullet. The bullet broke into pieces leaving a huge hole in the skin, it did shatter the shoulder but failed to penetrate into the body cavity. I no longer use the TSX due to this and another bullet I recovered from an elk shot from the 300 RUM using the 180 TSX that looked like an FMJ. All the petals were blown off on entrance and the wound channel besides the outside skin damage looked like an FMJ had passed through. I was not impressed. This is from a guy who swore by the X bullet for 10 years and switched to the TSX when they quite making the original X.
 
Originally Posted By: JCL This is from a guy who swore by the X bullet for 10 years and switched to the TSX when they quite making the original X.

Who ever said newer is better was a liar.

I stop using Barnes bullets altogether when they stopped making the X bullet.

165gr Nosler BT has yet to let me down and there is no sign that they will change them anytime soon
 
excellent i am gonna run them hot. And shoot at a target such as a large bucket of water to see what happens if i have any doubt i am gonna run nosler bt. My dad has killed stuff with those also out of this gun so.
 
I used a 85 gr X bullet (25/06) that I bought at a closeout sale
I was impressed
shot two whitetails last year with them preformed perfect
One was a 8 pt buck and the other was a big doe
I would have thought that the tsx would have done likewise but after reading these post I begin to wonder
some people really swear by the tsx's so shoot and see what they do for you
good luck
 
Everything I know of shot with a TSX has died within 50 yards. I shot a big 3X3 at 65 yards with a 130 grain .270 TSX. The Deer went about 35 yards.

My daughter shot a Doe at 195 yards with an 85 grain TSX out of my 6mm and it went less than 50 yards down hill and piled up.

A friend shot a nice Pig with a 7mm08 with a 140 grain TSX and it did not go far. No bullets were recovered.
 
Originally Posted By: JCLI had a failure to hold together on a bull elk hit in the shoulder at 275 yards with a 300 RUM and a 180 gr TSX bullet. The bullet broke into pieces leaving a huge hole in the skin, it did shatter the shoulder but failed to penetrate into the body cavity. I no longer use the TSX due to this and another bullet I recovered from an elk shot from the 300 RUM using the 180 TSX that looked like an FMJ. All the petals were blown off on entrance and the wound channel besides the outside skin damage looked like an FMJ had passed through. I was not impressed. This is from a guy who swore by the X bullet for 10 years and switched to the TSX when they quite making the original X.

The only difference between the TSX and the X bullet are the rings around the bullet to reduce pressures,and because of them the bullet length ended up being a little longer giving you a slightly higher SD and BC. I think that if you had put a Partition in the same spot on that bull you would have had less penetration. I've done some very extensive testing on the TSX's into a very hard medium (water filled milk jugs) with cartridges ranging from the 257 Roberts(115gr@2800fps@20yds) to the 7RUM(140gr@3600fps@20yds) and the worse case scenario I ever had was with the 7RUM where the bullet lost its petals in the 6th jug, but the bullet still penetrated all the way up to the 12th jug. The remaining bullet was petal-less, but mushroomed. This happened only once during my testing whereas I shot 14 times @ above conditions with that particular round.

That being said, I believe that the biggest problem is that ALL of the premium bullets are subject to failure in the hyper-velocity cartridges (RUM's, STW's, and the bigger Weatherby's)when encountering heavy bone, especially the joint in the shoulder. I am surprised to hear that the whole bullet stopped in the shoulder though as usually the base will still penetrate. What was your velocity on your 300RUM?

I haven't had the chance to start testing the Hornady GMX yet but they are not made of pure copper, rather, gilding metal copper alloy usually found in jackets. Maybe they will be able to hold together better in the hyper-velocity cartidges?

Personally for this years elk hunt I've settled on the 210gr tipped TSX for my 338-06...
15 bullet tests into milk jugs averaged 11jugs of penetration with picture perfect mushrooms
when shot at 20 yds at 2750fps. I can get more velocity out of the round, but need to keep it at 2750
to match up to my Shepherd scopes reticles.

Hope you have better luck with your RUM,
johnny
 
I agree the hyper velocity rounds really put a bullet to the test. That is why I mentioned it was a RUM. However I used the original X bullet in a .338 RUM with great success. You have to experiment to find the right bullet but I hate experimenting on wildlife. I want a clean kill every time I do my part.
 
That's a good-sized chunk of copper(180gr) coming out your RUM....I think that you just happened to hit the perfect angle with the bone at the perfect velocity for a bullet failure. I think that if you had used any other cartridge with any other bullet with the same shot placement you probably would have had the same results.
My friend always goes for the shoulder shot on game, while I always go for behind the shoulder. He believes in anchoring the animal right there, and has had great success with that approach, while most of my animals usually end up going 50-75 yds. That said, he has had one bullet failure(Partition) whereas I luckily have had none to date.
Being a "boolit caster" I 've found that the harder my lead bullets the easier they disintergrate at higher velocity...it always makes me wonder if the copper premium bullets would do the same at the extreme high velocity of the RUM's etc.
Have you ever tried the Berger VLD's...they usually will dump ALL their energy in the animal, but yet have the ability to penetrate a steel plate @ 300yds.(I forget the plate thickness,but it is in their advertisement video) Another friend of mine(a Montana outfitter/guide) uses them in his 300RUM, but overall length is such that they must be used as a single shot. He's got a slew of one shot kills with that combo on his 2 million acre lease.
I wouldn't give up on the Barnes though
johnny
 
If you want a good bullet for that 25-06 sendaro try the 110 accu bond from Nosler that bullet is just plain awsome! I have killed things p[ast 500 yards and it will dump all of it's energy into that critter! Very accurate try IMR 4350 and I'm betting you will find a range your gun will love. I have shot them in my 25-06 from coyotes,to goats to deer and they kill things really dead. I turned a friend on who has a sendaro and he can do a 5 shot 1 ragged hole group at 100 yards with them and some loaned 4350 I gave him, he is now a believer. He has it on a bear hunt as we speak and will get his report when he gets back as to performance on a bear. Spend the 22.00 and give them a try awsome bullet I wish they made them in a 6mm 95 offering.

The problem I have had with any VLD and a factory gun to much throat to get them to shoot as well as other bullets and still fit in a magazine. I treid them in both my 25-06 and my .243 and the noslers have much better groups than the berger VLD's unless I want to make them single shot rifles. If I had a custom throated gun I would use them but not a factory rifle with a long throat!
 
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IMR-4350 47.5 grains in mine and 48 grains in my friends sendaro. Winchester brass and winchester LR primers in both as well. They will hit with alot of authority.
 
I use reloader 25 under the 100 gr TSX in my 25-06. Super accuracy, little fouling, devistating on game performance. Yes, I run them fast. Turning out 3560 fps with a 30" tube. Your Sendero should like 22 or 25. I have great luck with 25 and TSX's in several other Mag calibers.

You will like the TSX's

B
 
friend got back from the bear hunt and killed a 300lb bear and it went 10 yards after being hit with the 110 accu bond! He was impressed with the performance on something with that thick of a hide and fat. Said it went in small blew up the lungs and exited about the size of a quarter.
 
My wife's grandfather loads shells for me and he loaded up some of these TSX's in a .300 win mag. I hate them. I shot a moose 3 times in the neck an each time he dropped and them got back up. I've had mule deer and cow elk act like they weren't even hit, until I followed a blood trail and they were piled up. I think it's because they don't cause the destruction of a lead bullet. They make a small flower and punch right on through the other side. If I could use one bullet, it'd be the Nosler Parition. Of course the Democrats and enviromentalists will be outlawing them soon because of the lead.
 
I"ve had outstanding success so far. Shot several elk, the bullets preformed as advertised. You need to load them fast. Go down a bit in bullet weight and up in speed.
 


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