Wounded ~250 kg brown bear was shot from a ridge above, facing away - steep angle - hit in the middle of the back - bullet missed the spine went through the chest cave and was found on the sternum under the hide - it knocked the bear down, but after couple of seconds it jumped back on his feet so another one to the neck was needed.

250 gr. TSX from 9,3x62 going V0=2400fps









The bullet has made the job done - however I was expecting it to exit but it didn't.

WOW, the TSX performed perfectly and congratulations on your bear; would you post some photos of the animal as well?

Nice, thanks for posting Mouse!

Were you the shooter?? Was it a bear bear wounded by another shooter, and you (and your dog) were part of the tracking and recovery effort??

How far away was the bear when hit with the bullet in the pitures?? What is interesting to know, is the impact velocity for which perfect expansion was demonstrated.

- mike

Congratulations

I'm also surprised it didnt exit, but you have to love those bullets. And give us the pictures now.

Mouse: Thanks for sharing. That's the kind of performance we got in Namibia with that same bullet at about 2500. I have a couple that we cut out of the hide on the opposite side of two large kudu.

Excellent bullet performance. Thanks for the report and photos.

It looks just like it is supposed to. I've had good luck with TSX's in a number of calibers.

I posted moose hunting results last fall over in the Alaska forum using the 9.3x 62 and 250g TSX's. I was shooting at a lot farther ranges than what I thought was prudent and the TSX performed very well. I'd hate to be thought of as some kind of "one bullet only freak", but these days I'm not inclined to use anything other than the TSX in a variety of calibers.

quote:

Originally posted by Scott King:
I posted moose hunting results last fall over in the Alaska forum using the 9.3x 62 and 250g TSX's. I was shooting at a lot farther ranges than what I thought was prudent and the TSX performed very well. I'd hate to be thought of as some kind of "one bullet only freak", but these days I'm not inclined to use anything other than the TSX in a variety of calibers.

.

Now there is something we can definitely agree on Scott .....

quote:

Originally posted by mho:

Were you the shooter?? Was it a bear bear wounded by another shooter, and you (and your dog) were part of the tracking and recovery effort??

How far away was the bear when hit with the bullet in the pitures?? What is interesting to know, is the impact velocity for which perfect expansion was demonstrated.

- mike

Mike bear was shot by my friend (tracker with dog) - it happened last full moon in Croatia (Gorski Kotar) and it was one of the 3 bears wounded by visiting clients that last full moon there. Distance was 30m and the load is 60gr of R903 coming out of the 22" barrel.

Thanks Mate!
- mike

Np - will try to get some pics from the mentioned hunts and post on EU forum - some interesting stuff - among others a clean bang-flop of a 180 kg bear shot through both shoulders (bullet exited) with Norma's factory 230gr Oryx bullet from 9,3x74R .

quote:

Originally posted by mouse93:

The bullet has made the job done - however I was expecting it to exit but it didn't.

No wonder. The diameter after expansion is too big.

So sectional densitiy becomes poor. A TUG would have made an exithole allthough losing some mass. Same with partitions cause they do not mushroom so wide.



A friend of mine shot a small boar. Distance 60 yards. 3006 180gr TSX Federal AMMo.

Bullet entered just under the spine behind the shoulder from the right side a little bit from back. No exit. The boar had 23 Kilos whithout Stomach...and liver...

Bullet mushroomed perfectly and was found under the skin.

quote:

Originally posted by Safarischorsch:
No wonder. The diameter after expansion is too big.

So sectional densitiy becomes poor. A TUG would have made an exithole allthough losing some mass. Same with partitions cause they do not mushroom so wide.

A friend of mine shot a small boar. Distance 60 yards. 3006 180gr TSX Federal AMMo.

Bullet entered just under the spine behind the shoulder from the right side a little bit from back. No exit. The boar had 23 Kilos whithout Stomach...and liver...

Bullet mushroomed perfectly and was found under the skin.

The (TS)X is one of the deepest penetrating, expanding bullets available. It achieves such deep penetration with almost perfect weight retention and modest expansion. A Nosler Partition, also an excellent penetrator, also displays modest expansion, but it looses a lot of weight in the process.

The TUG, relies on a front half which will expand into a bunch of shrapnell, the remaining (pratically solid) rear half penetrates.

Which system is better? We can argue about that for days and never reach a conclusion. But any attempt to reach a conclusion based on just a few kills would be woefully inadequate. No bullet always exits - even solids.

- mike

that the TSX did not exit is a true puzzle, I always read that they penetrate more than any other bullet. Perphaps a smaller caliber TSX traveling faster would have shot thru the bear?

I will wager that there bullet done some major cutting of tissue etc..good pic.

Wonder tho - would it penetrate the hide on exit side if that 250gr would go faster ~ 2500fps or 286gr TSX going those same 2400fps?

Where's the bear picture?

Here is the bear as it ended - the ridge from where it was shot is on the left and up side - I had to cut out the client's face since I didn't get the permission to publish the pic with him on. You can see the initial exit wound (from previous night) - belly - near far ribs.

Great bear, Mouse!! Sending you a PM......

I had a similar case with a 225 gr TSX .358 bullet. Not sure what the velocity was but I shot an elk @ 300 yds through the shoulders with my whelen and the bullet came to rest under the skin on the offside. Starting velocity was 2730 fps and was approx. 2100 fps (ballistics program #'s) at impact. Perfect mushroom and weight retention. The elk traveled about 5-10 yds at the shot, basically he lunged forward and nosed down.

quote:

The (TS)X is one of the deepest penetrating, expanding bullets available. It achieves such deep penetration with almost perfect weight retention and modest expansion. A Nosler Partition, also an excellent penetrator, also displays modest expansion, but it looses a lot of weight in the process.

The TUG, relies on a front half which will expand into a bunch of shrapnell, the remaining (pratically solid) rear half penetrates.

Which system is better? We can argue about that for days and never reach a conclusion.

All considered the Barnes X or TSX will give the best terminal performance. Its the most durable bullet of the lot, retains its weight the best, mushrooms with even but sharp petals, does not overexpand or shatter like most other Softs and its penetration is excellent considering its twice diameter expansion.



Warrior

Warrior, how do you think the 250 grain TSX bullets would work on buffalo?

Dave

Looks just like the catalog. Congrats on the bear!

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Bush:
Warrior, how do you think the 250 grain TSX bullets would work on buffalo?

Dave

Has been done many a time and works well. The 286 gr bullet is rather long; I pressure tested it in the 9,3x62 and it ups the pressure with its long bearing surface, so I prefer the shorter 250 gr bullet. Also the 286 gr bullet seats too deep for my liking and robs powder capacity.

Warrior

Great post Mouse, thank you for sharing your pics with us..........................DJ

quote:

Originally posted by Warrior:

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Bush:
Warrior, how do you think the 250 grain TSX bullets would work on buffalo?

Dave

Has been done many a time and works well. The 286 gr bullet is rather long; I pressure tested it in the 9,3x62 and it ups the pressure with its long bearing surface, so I prefer the shorter 250 gr bullet. Also the 286 gr bullet seats too deep for my liking and robs powder capacity.

Warrior

I also prefer the 250 grain TSXs in my 9.3

Thanks!