I am considering making a handload using the Barnes TTSX .95gr or real interested in the GMX 100gr. If anyone is using these, I am curious how they are working out?

I've used the Barnes in .223s, .243s, .257 .270 and they all work the same. In .270 the 95 and 110 grainers have been really impressive. This year or next, I am going to shoot a couple with 85 grainers at > 3900 FPS.

Yeah if they don't bust up at those velocities, those lighter bullets will make the .270 Win a, hold on target, laser death ray out to 300 yards. My decision is which to try the 100gr GMX or the 95gr Barnes. or even the 85gr Barnes.

Well, I have slammed 25-06 80 grainers into water jugs at >3600 FPS and they look just like a Barnes ad picture.

I have only had one that I know of that did not stay intact. It was one of the older 150 grain XLCs out of a 300 WM. I put it into the teeth of a deer at 25 feet. Went the length of the jaw and then through the atlas right beneath the skull. I know it lost one petal. That's the only one I know of that did that. I butcher all my deer, so it's all but certain that I did not have any others that so much as lost a petal.

One deer I shot with the .270 110 grain TTSX put a fist size hole in the onside shoulder blade, then four ribs edge wise near the spine. It took out a fist size chunk of spine, then two more ribs edge wise. It exited through the off side shoulder blade with a quarter size hole in it. The entrance hole in the hide and the exit hole in the hide were both caliber sized. No indication of so much as a single petal being shed.

That's a gawdawful amount of bone to be crunching. Ribs are very hard and springy. Spine and scapulae are not so hard and disintegrate into gravelly grit.

Recoil was light enough that I could watch the deer flop and drop.

I wasn't aware that ribs were hard and springy, I know a 222 varmint bullet will shoot through ribs and stop on the off side skin..IMO the spine will destroy a bullet faster than any other part of a animal, of course that depends on the caliber used and the size of the animal.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael b Freeman:
Yeah if they don't bust up at those velocities, those lighter bullets will make the .270 Win a, hold on target, laser death ray out to 300 yards. My decision is which to try the 100gr GMX or the 95gr Barnes. or even the 85gr Barnes.

Don't forget the CEB copper raptor at 115 grain and a decent BC.

quote:

Originally posted by miles58:
Well, I have slammed 25-06 80 grainers into water jugs at >3600 FPS and they look just like a Barnes ad picture.

I have only had one that I know of that did not stay intact. It was one of the older 150 grain XLCs out of a 300 WM. I put it into the teeth of a deer at 25 feet. Went the length of the jaw and then through the atlas right beneath the skull. I know it lost one petal. That's the only one I know of that did that. I butcher all my deer, so it's all but certain that I did not have any others that so much as lost a petal.

One deer I shot with the .270 110 grain TTSX put a fist size hole in the onside shoulder blade, then four ribs edge wise near the spine. It took out a fist size chunk of spine, then two more ribs edge wise. It exited through the off side shoulder blade with a quarter size hole in it. The entrance hole in the hide and the exit hole in the hide were both caliber sized. No indication of so much as a single petal being shed.

That's a gawdawful amount of bone to be crunching. Ribs are very hard and springy. Spine and scapulae are not so hard and disintegrate into gravelly grit.

Recoil was light enough that I could watch the deer flop and drop.

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That is precisely 110% my philosophy when I say I like a pass through completely, not a partial with an energy dump inside.

And too what I say about shot placement being paramount.

I have shot the all coppers for years, both the old blue coated and the more recent belted's.

I have even ordered French all coppers from GPA

http://www.cartouches-sologne.fr/eng/gpa.html

Shipped by their distributor in Monaco. Rather expensive. The Barnes, , French and South African are all about the same.

The last moose and last caribou I shot were both with all coppers *( Actually the GPA's ) with fold out petals. I spined both animals at about 200 yards, roughly, using a .338 Winchester Magnum Ruger 77 bolt action. Both pass through's. Both animals fell instantly in their tracks.

I also have all copper solids, no petals. I wouldn't even think twice about shooting them.

I use the 95 grain TTSX with my 6.8SPC AR for whitetails. Launched at 2900 fps every deer has been a one shot kill, complete pass through. Shots ranged from 50 to 150 yards.

The first time I heard this argument was in 1940 when I read my first outdoor Life magazine, then ever year of my long life since then...The real answer is like most real answers is moderation, not to heavy and not to light..The 130 is still the best .270 bullet made for deer and the 160 is best for elk. Then we have to take into consideration meat damage and most high vel folks don't really care about that, which is a dead giveaway when they love the light fast bullets..another fact of life but the denials are many.

In my opinion, those light weight bullets are not really designed as super high velocity.
Not saying you can't or they won't work.
I think they are more for a astandard velocity of 2800-3000 fps to give recoil sensitive shooters an easrier to shoot rifle.
As in most ammo makers are selling reduced recoil loads. These loads are lighter bullets at these lower velocities. This reduces recoil.
Leo

quote:

Originally posted by 44magLeo:
In my opinion, those light weight bullets are not really designed as super high velocity.
Not saying you can't or they won't work.
I think they are more for a astandard velocity of 2800-3000 fps to give recoil sensitive shooters an easrier to shoot rifle.
As in most ammo makers are selling reduced recoil loads. These loads are lighter bullets at these lower velocities. This reduces recoil.
Leo

I would beg to differ on the reasons for some of these. Both CEB and GSC take bullet stability very seriously and check out their bullets for the ability to 'go to sleep' quickly if the bullet will be used at 100 yards. CEB carefully lists the minimum twist that is necessary to shoot its "Copper Raptor" bullets and 10" is already the limit for its 115grain Copper Raptor. Most 270's are manufactured with a 10" twist, so 115grains is about as heavy as a Copper Raptor can be made.

GSC works with wimilar constraints. In 243 their normal hunting bullet is 69 grains and recommended for a twist that is 11" or faster. For 270 the heaviest bullet recommended with a 10" twist is 120 grains. However, in calibre like 338 they will produce very long bullets with very high BC, and then stipulate barrel twists like 7.2" for close range hunting and a minimum of 9" twist for very long range hunting (over 600 yards). The slower twist allows a long bullet to relax its 'nose-up' position as it sails hundreads of yards and starts to drop with its nose in line with the trajectory.

So it looks to me like these bullets are special designs for their ballistic effects in flight and in terminal impact, not for recoil reduction.

I do not have any experience with the bullets you listed.

I do have plenty of experience with 110gr Barnes out of a 270. They have worked on hogs, blackbuck, Axis, deer, antelope, and coyotes.

My son did use an 85gr TSX on a couple of deer in a reduced (1900 fps) load with no problems.

I would have zero issues using either of the above listed bullets, driven as fast as possible.