The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting African Big Game Hunting Berger BulletsGo | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
| Berger Bullets | Login/Join |
| one of us |
You've misinterpreted my post, my point was that my sons experience was perfect and deadly with the TTSX, and truly questioning how a monolithic bullet could "Explode". I'm still curious about Jasons experience, did the bullet kill the eland? | |||
|
| One of Us |
Kevin: Yes, it killed the eland. I emailed the pic to Marius and I believe he’ll post it. I don’t want to hijack the post as it is about Berger bullets. However, some might find the pic interesting. Maybe not…. | |||
|
One of Us |
Here is the picture from Jason. Very interesting. So, if I understand you correctly Jason, this is the entry wound?  Marius Goosen KMG Hunting Safaris Cell, Whats App, Signal +27 828205387 E-mail: info@huntsafaris.co.za Website: www.huntsafaris.co.za Check us out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kmghuntingsafaris Instagram: @kmg_hunting_safaris | |||
|
One of Us |
If that is in fact the entry wound that can only be the bullet failed somehow. As mentioned, used TTSX (tipped) and TSX many times and can have high blood shot area on exit never on entry. The rounds that I've recovered were all petaled out and very high weight retention. Barnes also told me that proper expansion should happen regardless of range. Namely 30 yds out. Is there a possibility that some rounds got mixed up? Zim 2006 Zim 2007 Namibia 2013 Brown Bear Togiak Nat'l Refuge Sep 2010 Argentina 2019 RSA 2023 Tanzania 2024 Zimbabwe 2025 SCI Life Member USMC | |||
|
| One of Us |
Yes, it was the entry | |||
|
| One of Us |
Either that or the bullet was tumbling when it made impact and why it did not "petal". | |||
|
| one of us |
If that is the shot that killed the eland then some part of the bullet would have penetrated the vitals. If a bullet bullet "blew up" on an eland shoulder (in what we would define as fully fragmented) you would be in for a long tracking job. Could you give us the full story? Not doubting you, just feeling like we have not heard the whole story which would put this interesting story to rest. | |||
|
| One of Us |
I’m sure that there were no rounds that were mixed up. I’m no expert on bullet performance but it would be interesting to know the root cause of the failure…. | |||
|
One of Us |
It appears to me that bullet must have struck something before the eland. I've probably shot a hundred or so animals with the TSX or TTSX and never had one do that on the entry, UNLESS it struck some brush first. | |||
|
One of Us |
I have had one TSX not perform fully as expected, and it definitely did hit either some grass or a small twig - the gemsbok did drop at the shot, we thought it was spine shot, my SIL was the shooter, 7MM Mag. No exit wound, we were less than 100 yards, probably about 70 yards away at the shot. I paid ( reward) to the skinners to recover the bullet, it was intact, unexpanded. It was also bent, about 30 degrees. The entry looked MUCH like the above picture, shoulder was ruined, and again, no exit hole, which we had been seeing on almost every gemsbok we shot on that trip. I shot probably 50, yes 50 gemsbok, culling them for meat on a friends place in Namibia. Pretty much all had an exit hole. We had stalked her gemsbok , pretty close, to give her a better shot opportunity. Sitting down, from sticks, she made what we though was a good shot, the animal dropped immediately, our first thought was "spine shot", that it was stunned and might get up and run. We were unable to get a follow up shot into it, but as it turned out, none were needed. There was some small brush and grass between her and the gemsbok, we figured that it was close enough not to appreciably affect the point of impact, but enough to tumble the bullet before impact. We have seen very very few instances of TSX losing petals, more of a concern with TSX is taking LONG shots ( 4-500 yards ) where the impact velocity doesn't expand the bullet as much as closer shots do. Still, well delivered bullets, the animal does not run far, if at all. Master of Boats, Slayer of Beasts, Charmer of the fair sex, ...... and sometimes changer of the diaper..... | |||
|
| One of Us |
I had a TTSX in a light for caliber bullet pretty much disintegrate on a wildebeest. Biggest fragment was like 20 grains. This was a .338 185 grain out of a .330 Dakota. Velocity around 3200 FPS. Point blank shot- maybe 20 yards away, hit the shoulder and went through. Animal ran maybe 50 yards and piled up. Pretty big wound channel with bone fragments and what all. No exit wound. It killed the animal quickly and cleanly, but that bullet did fail in my mind. Probably over 100 animals that I’ve killed with Barnes bullets over the years and that’s the biggest failure. I’ve had a couple with odd tracking in tissue and a couple that have lost a petal or two as well. If that had been the first time I’d used them, I probably would have said I’ve got other options and moved on. That wasn’t the first animal I shot with that gun and load on that hunt, and the rest were all typical TSX performance, so why it happened I have no clue. | |||
|
One of Us |
My TSX bullets have always killed game. Petals have sheared off on some of them, but that has never mattered. The bullets have just plowed on through and penetrated right on out the other side. To me, no bullet is a failure if it kills like that. Mike Wilderness is my cathedral, and hunting is my prayer. | |||
|
| One of Us |
For your needs at close range on tough game, the Barnes 190gr LRX is an excellent choice. It's designed for deep penetration and controlled expansion even at high velocities. The Swift A-Frame is another very reliable option if you can find a suitable weight. | |||
|
| One of Us |
Your analysis is correct. Bergers are designed for expansion at long range velocities. For close-range shots on tough game, the 100gr Barnes TSX is an excellent choice. It will provide deep penetration and controlled expansion. The Swift A-Frame 120gr would be another very reliable option if you can handle the slightly heavier bullet. | |||
|
| Powered by Social Strata | Page 1 2 |
 | Please Wait. Your request is being processed... |
|
Visit our on-line store for AR Memorabilia