Just back from South Africa - plains game hunt with two of us using 300 Win Mag rifles, with 180 and 165 TTSX bullets. Noticed the petals peeling off on a few of the recovered bullets. Been using the TSX and TTSX for many years, and have been reloading bullets manufactured 10+ years ago. Have never seen the petals peeling off in previous hunts - 50+ animals.

Anyone else noticing this? New design of the bullets? Our PH also mentioned that he's been seeing this in Barnes bullets of late. Just curious if there is something new here.

I have used the original Barnes X extensively in several calibers.

Some petals broke off some did not.

Same results with my own Walterhog bullets.

Whether they break or not, both bullets always worked.

I haven't recovered many of the TSX and TTSX bullets I've hunted with over the last 10 years. But of the few recovered bullets some had shed a petal or two. Particularly ones that hit bone first. Encountered this with both 30 cal TTSX and 375 cal TSX. Animals were still killed effectively and penetration was excellent and straight. So loss of a petal or two doesn't bother me. Barnes bullets are great for hunting IMHO.

Over the past 10-12 years, I “hunted” almost exclusively with Barnes bullets, TSX or TTSX depending on caliber. I found that (on the rare recovered bullet) that all shed a “petal” or two. Still performed as expected.

Petals have often broken off for me on short and mid range, high velocity impacts.

Especially if bone is struck.

IMHO, that is NOT bullet failure.

Animals struck so far have all died quite convincingly.

Haven’t noticed anything new.

I have used TSX exclusively in Africa as well as on elk in America.

I rarely recover a bullet but once in a blue moon a petal sheared off and became a secondary projectile.

Who cares?

But the bullet where it belongs in the first place and it doesn’t matter.

May be the reason I have recovered so many of these bullets because I shoot large animals from any angle.

Knowing full well that the bullet would get to the vitals and kill it.

The old days when one has to wait for a good angle to shoot are no longer necessary.

The reason I designed and made my own bullets are because of the fantastic performance of the Barnes bullets.

One other thing to consider about petals shearing off is the CuttingEdge Raptors are designed specifically to have all 6 petals shear off and continue on their own, separate from the bullet shank which continues onward as a lighter weight, jagged edged solid. Those bullets get excellent reviews for their efficiency in killing game, so perhaps it’s a bonus when a TSX loses a petal or two.

The original Barnes X were designed to shed their petals.

The hole was cut 4 ways to help this.

Funny thing is, my bullets have no cuts, just a simple hole drilled with a drill bit.

Field performance of both the Barnes and mine are exactly the same??!!

Some lose their petals, some don’t.

Some do not expand at all, I assume because the way they hit the animal.

Bottom line is both work.

And in my opinion there is no difference between them, or any mono copper hollow point bullets made.

Manufacturers telling you one is superior to the others is pure advertising bullshit!

To be clear, I don’t view shedding petals as a bullet failure. Just a bit surprised. It may be that velocity is the underlying reason. 3,000 and 3,250 fps were the speeds on the 300 WMs. My wife’s 338 WM has not shown any such separations, with 225 tsx at 2750. Seems plausible that the higher velocities come into play.

I have to add that I’ve never experienced a bullet failure with Barns x bullets or with A-frames.

Frankly, once a bullet hits an animal, anything can happen.

For me, the overwhelming requirement is penetration.

This allows me to shot an animal from any angle.

Both the Barnes X, and our Walterhog bullets, make this possible.

One does not need to wait for an animal to be broadside to shoot.

Last year I shot 2 lions facing me, both died with one shot, and both bullets penetrated to their hind legs.

Also shot 11 buffalo bulls, from every angle, non went more than a few yards.

These bullets give one confidence.

Haven't recovered 100% of the Barnes bullets the family has shot, but have recovered 100% of the animals shot with them

I'd love to comment but I've never recovered a 180 gr TSX or TTSX from anything I've killed with my 300 mag from whitetail to aoudad and kudu. They are my go to bullet for that gun.

Here are my personally recovered Barnes bullets. You can see some are missing none, some, or all their petals. For me, these bullets represent about a 10% recovery rate.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Frankly, once a bullet hits an animal, anything can happen.

For me, the overwhelming requirement is penetration.

This allows me to shot an animal from any angle.

Both the Barnes X, and our Walterhog bullets, make this possible.

One does not need to wait for an animal to be broadside to shoot.

Last year I shot 2 lions facing me, both died with one shot, and both bullets penetrated to their hind legs.

Also shot 11 buffalo bulls, from every angle, non went more than a few yards.

These bullets give one confidence.

I subscribe to this same philosophy.

I recovered three 286 gr 9.3 TSX bullets from two brown bears this May. All three looked like classic expanded Barnes bullets with all the petals intact. Range was around 30-40 yards.

My experience has been that the smaller diameter bullets lose pieces more frequently than the larger.

Even so maybe 10-20% lose some of the recovered ones… and I recover maybe 1 in 4.

I’ve shot well over 200 animals with TSX or TTSX. All died quickly except 1 eland. Shot placement was off due to communication. Great bullets! Recovered some with a petal missing and some in tact. But most the time they exit.