When speaking of premium bullets for DG, the brands that come to ones mind are: Swift A-Frame, Woodleighs and Barnes TSX and a few others. I never hear stories of bullets not performing well in A-Frames and Woodleighs. I know that the Barnes TSX are extremely popular among many forum members. However I regularly notice two arguments against these bullets.In some calibres the bullets, because of their length, seem to take too much room from the case, causing the powder to compress. the other argument I hear is that on some game, the bullet does not always expand reliably, causing long follow-ups. I have no experience with the TSX, but I am curious about the thoughts of the other members.

Used the 180 grain in 30-06 for zebra and the 85 grain .243 Win. on gazelle and impala. Recovered two and had one exit. All performed well. The recovered two looked like perfect pictures from a Barnes ad. If your concerned, try the new tipped TSX. Tip improves ballistics and covers a larger hollowpoint.

i have used the tsx on many african and north american animals and my hunting partner has done the same. these bullets kill animals like thor. i have had 1 tsx not open and it was not a regular shot i hit a branch which deflected the bullet causing it not to open. I don't think you can get a better bullet maybe one as good and i do like several but make no mistake you put the tsx in an animal and it will perform

Ron,

In any application were penetration might be an issue I think the TSX really shines. I've used them almost exclusively over the last 3 years and have taken everything from Lord Derby eland to grysbok with them. I did have one bullet take an odd path in a bushbuck but I've had other brands of bullets do the same including Nosler Partitions and Swift A-Frames. I'm very much a fan.

Mark

I like the Barnes X and TSX on big animals. I think you can go a little lighter in bullet weight and still get loads of penetration.

At 2700 fps I've seen 350 gr .416 Barnes X's blow through Bison and Cape Buffalo. The one recovered bullet on the Buf was a followup shot on the ground that entered the right ham, smashed the huge femur, and was recovered under the skin of the front of the chest after going through more than 6 feet of animal. Amazing.

TSX bullets rightly have a massive following, but see a disenting viewpoint by Bobby in the small calibers forum currently listed. https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/6711043/m/124103498

Hi, Ron. Thanks for asking for opinions on TSX. I tend to use the heavy TSX (350 gr. and 400 gr.) in .416 Rem.. My impression is that they may be vulnerable to too much expansion in certain situations. I think the original Barnes-X was tougher and did not expand as fast. The TSX seems to have improved the bullet a lot, especially from an accuracy standpoint, and the expansion is much faster now. Additionally, in your gun, the higher your muzzle velocity, the more explosive the expansion could be. Here is a brief illustration.

I recently took a giraffe in Namibia. The 350 grain TSX petals were smashed and broken. One thing that tells you is that giraffe are tough creatures with big bones. Also, in a .416 you can get excellent speeds from a 350 grain projectile. That may be another part of the reason I got some disintegration. Here is an alternative option. if you happen to have loads using original Barnes-X, I think their tougher and slower-expanding properties could make them desirable for a big animal like giraffe. Either way though, you'll surely do a lot of damage, whichever round you pick. I have no problem with Trophy Bonded Bearclaw, but there you're talking about even faster expansion. I really like Swift A-Frame too because it appears to have a steadier, slower expansion than Bearclaw.

Any of these bullets will do a good job for you as long as you are using a gun which is heavy enough for tough African game. Some of my friends have used their Texas deer rifles on African plains-game (.243, 7mm etc.). They were very disappointed. Just ask yourself how much gun it would take to kill a zebra or a wildebeest, especially if your shot-angle was not ideal. Personally, I wouldn't opt to hunt plains-game with anything less than .338. But if the gun choice is good, then the TSX will be good too. Good hunting.

I'm glad to be reading these good reviews of the TSX's. I picked up 500 of the .423 cal 400 grainers for my 404 Jeffery. They are accurate, but I haven't killed anything with them yet.

I like them for buff. There are better bullets for lion IMO but they are perfectly adequate.

I have seen and heard too many times of light to medium game where the X bullet has zipped through the arm pit, Hart, lung area (no bone)with the animal not showing much sighn of being hit.
On some occasions the beast walks a few steps and slowly lays down and then some times at the shot the beast takes off with little blood spoor never to be seen again even with well plased shots.
Very simmiular reactions as Bow shot game where little shock is produced.
On Buffalo, Well thats a different story but with the high chanse of the X bullet passing on through I would still prefer a combo of Swifts and solids.

Hi
for many years ago when the first barnes x bullets came to the market . i had some zipping through problems with smal deers and after that i never used them. it seems recently barnes has improved their bullets and i hear plenty of good comment on them. maybe hitting the bones in the rib cage is needed to make them work. i love nosler and swift partition bullets. they never let you down. anyway i have always had very good results with hornady interlock and remington cor-lokt bullets too.
regards
yes

I have used the original X bullet out of a 458lott on buf and I have a fully opened 4 leaf clover and 99% weight retention... On ground in 10yds and stopped under skin on far shoulder...
I also used 300 gr TSX in Tanzania in 375 with devastating results on plains game, hippo, and croc...
I personally believe the failures are from the same bullets being deformed in the magazine time after time with recoil and new bullets put on top of them to top off magazine after one or two shots... None of us probably look at the tip to see if it is closed, flattened, of pinched shut...
I am taking the TSX back to Africa in 09 for my 375H&H.. I call the TSX "the bullet for the 21st century"...

Mike

Mike

Love them. I have taken Eland, Jackal, Black Wildebeest, Zebra, Waterbuck and Mule Deer with the 180 gr. TSX in 30.06. Picture perfect mushrooms. Less copper fouling than others too!

John

I haven't used them a lot, but I like them so far. I'll be using them again this year in one of my rifles.

I've been really impressed. The 140 gr bullets shot extremely well in my 7mm-08, with great terminal performance. I used the 300 gr TSX in my 375 ultra on buff with great effect. These bullets give me accuracy and great results on game.

I killed buffalo and hippo with TSX out of my .458 Lott last month. I recovered both. The hippo was a brain shot at 25 yards and was DRT the buffalo was on the point of the shoulder and went about 50 yards downhill with no follow-up. The 500 grainers were 490 (hippo) and 500 (buffalo) grains when recovered. I have photos of them that I'll post tomorrow. Very impressive.

Bwana, what was your veloctiy?

Andy

They weren"t accurate enough in my 416 so I used A-Frames.

I'm a traditionalist so I have used a-frames on game world wide since they have been on the market, no failures. I tried the TSX bullets just to see how they shot and they were not as accurate as my a-frames and they foul the barrel terribly. My son just shot a buff last month in Zimbabwae with a 300 grain swift a-frame at 2,450 fps out of his 375 Ruger at 60 yds the bullet broke the shoulder-rib-heart-rib-under the skin and retained 92% of it's weight, that's performance. I'm not trying to say that the TSX bullet's performance lacks in terminal effect on game, it just does not have the long track record that the Nosler or Swift A-frames have, in time I'm sure it will have the same reputation that the a-frame has.

I am an avowed A Frame user. I've taken about 16 african animals with it including buffalo and a huge black bear with them. They are my bullet of choice.
However, a few of my rifles don't like them and the TSXs have been the most consistently accurate bullets I've tried froma 416 Rigby down to a 257 Weatherby. The only animal I've taken so far with the TSX 140gr 7mm Wby) was a deer and it showed great expansion and DRt kill. Same for my 340 and 210s on hogs. The only caveat I see with them is their length, so I step down in weight and increase velocity. When I go back to africa for buffalo, leoprad & PG, I'm going to give them a try. jorge

The Barnes TSX shoot well out of my 416 Rem and 338 Win, both of which I am taking to Africa to hunt buff and plains game. Earlier this year I shot a nilgai that weighed about 500 pounds with the .338. This is the bullet. I should have cleaned it better.

Some bullets from a recent hunt

could you elaborate a little bit regarding penetration. these look very impressive, thank you for sharing them with us.

Most of the recovered bullets where second shots, as most of the first shots where pass throughs. The 2 300 RUM first shots one at 405 yds. with a Range Finder on a Gemsbuck and 160 yds on an Eland with the PH for a Range Finder where in the off side skin, both animals dropped instantly.

The 270 WSM pretty much the same thing, anything broadsinde where most likely pass throughs. I do remember the springubuck and Hartebeest where facing straight on and the bullet on the Springbuck was under the skin on the rear so it penetrated the full lenght of the animal. The Hartebeest it was is the ham again pretty good penetration. Kudu in the off side skin, the Kudu dropped instantly. The Wildebeest was hit a little high, the bullet was in the off side skin on the first shot but he ran less than 100 yds broke off from the others and was standing under a tree dying. Second shot knocked it down.

All of the first shots where fatal however, We keep shooting till it is down and not moving.

quote:

Originally posted by tradewinds:
Most of the recovered bullets where second shots, as most of the first shots where pass throughs.

I don't think they expand good enough a lot of times, it's like you shot them with a solid the first time. I have pass throughs with Nosler's and A-frames but they go down (most of the time)before I can shoot them a second time. In Zambia in 1992 I used a 338 win. mag. to shoot 16 animals (250 grain Swift a-frames at 2,700fps) from Hippo, croc, zebra, lechwae, Roan, etc., etc. all pass throughs but none needed a second shot (I did make a poor shot on one warthog that needed to be shot again, that's my bad not the bullet). As Ganyana posted earlier they are great on buff, that I agree with, I think the TSX bullets are great on big critters.

Dirk

Interesting replies so far. Are there any experiences from the members concerning the length of the bullets causing the powder to compress, or resulting in little room for full loads ?

quote:

Originally posted by Ron Creusen:
Interesting replies so far. Are there any experiences from the members concerning the length of the bullets causing the powder to compress, or resulting in little room for full loads ?

Yes, I've tried them in 458win mag and 338 win mag and because of the reasons you mentioned I decided not to use them with these calibers.

Dirk

I think every one has pretty well said it already. Certainly adequate for smaller game, but absolutely comes into its own on heavy big bodied game. And yes shoots better with less fowling than the original x.

Brett

As I promised, here are the recovered .458 Lott bullets from June and July this year. The one on the left was a buffalo, on the point of the shoulder at 50 yards - recovered weight 100% at 500 grains. The bull only ran off the hill where it was standing. It went about 40 - 50 yards.

The one on the right was a hippo brain shot at 25 yards in the earhole and the bullet didn't exit. I found the bullet in the offside of the skull. It retained 98% of it's weight at 490 grains.

I've shot countless smaller game with the TSX, and shot my croc this year with it in .375 H&H. Understandably, I didn't recover that one, as it was a brain shot.

I shot a buffalo with a Hornady Interbond in 2006 and the thing literally came apart. I can't say it was bullet failure, since the bull only went 80 yards and didn't require and insurance shot.

I've carried the Barnes solid as well and shot one cow elephant with them, but it was a shoulder shot (charging cow that turned as the PH shot and then I shot her in the shoulder). But I can certainly vouch for the effectivness of the TSX.

Here are three 500gr, 458 Lott,buff rds ready for africa.[URL= ]A-frame,TSX,Woodleigh FMJ[/URL] I'am still undecided and don't know which I'll use. I am thinking of going with the classic combo,soft(A-frame) on top of a solid(Woodleigh FMJ).I can also choose to go with a full mag of TSX.All three bullets are sitting on enough H4898 to send them down the bore with serious business in mind.These rds are hand crafted by Shootaway.

I've used Barnes Triple Shock bullets in .30 and .375 caliber on two safaris with mixed results. Some times the TSXs act like soft points and some times they act like solids. I've just started experimenting with A-frames, Partitions and Accu-bonds on my 2009 hunt.

RSIMMONS,
Barnes is the most heavily advertised bullet on the market - and they need to be. A-Frame, Partition, and Acubond are good choices. Add Trophy Bonded Bear Claw to your experimental list. It is my favorite.

I forgot to mention that TSX's are often the most accurate bullet I've tried in my rifles. This seems to be mentioned often. Does anyone know why? Does the "all copper" construction allow for more uniformity?

quote:

Originally posted by citori:
... TSX's are often the most accurate bullet I've tried in my rifles. ... Does anyone know why? Does the "all copper" construction allow for more uniformity?

I also get great results (accuracy wise) with TSX. But their accuracy is not per-se because they are mono-metal. The original X was a much tougher bullet to get to shoot accurately - seen over multiple loads in multiple rifles.

- mike

It just depends on who your talking too and as you can see by the pictures submitted their are instances where the Barnes bullets did not expand as well as they should..I have had several failures on plainsgame, deer and one elk with Barnes bullets simular to those pictured..On heavy stuff like buffalo I have had 100% excellent results with Barnes bullets. I had very good luck with the Barnes 75 gr. bullet in my 6x45. So it can work both ways.

I have not had any problems in any caliber with the GS Customs monolithic bullets and have used them extensively...I also have had wonderful luck with Noslers, Woodleighs, and Northforks.

I personally don't use the Barnes bullets anymore as I have had some failures, they either worked like a charm or failed me miserably, but I know a lot of folks that like them and swear by them...

Guess thats what makes a horse race, why we have Fords and Chevys and more than one brand of bullet to chose from...