This bullet shoots to the same point of aim as the Sierra 168gr SMK in my 26" heavy bbl .308 and group size seems as good or better using the same charge of Varget

The only draw back is the price being more than twice that of the SMk's

Has any one used these on deer sized game? The hollowpoint seems a bit bigger than the other Barnes bullets I've used.

I have also found the TXS to be extremely accurate in a variety of rifles as for as the TXS's performance on game I found them to be extremely effective

The July Rifleman has a cover story on an African Safari where that bullet was used on plains game.

I would not bother with X bullets for just deer hunting but that's me.

What cartridge was used on that plains game hunt?

Chuck

The American Riflemans editor Mark Keefe wrote "The Kimber Model 84M Montana .308 Win. stole my heart with it's graceful lines and outstanding performance."

Someone at Kimber made up "benchrest quality" ammo for it and that rifle was extremely accurate.

I used the bullet you mention on Deer (Whitetail and Mule Deer)..168 grain TSX in both a 308 win. and 30-378 whtby. and it worked very well and super accurate.

I recently start using the Barnes TSX in a .308. They shoot to the same point of impact as the Sierra 165 SBT in my gun. I was also using Varget. I have shot 5 whitetail with the Barnes and it has been devestating. I shoot for the front shoulder and have always gotten complete penetration with the off shoulder showing an exit wound baseball to softball size.

quote:

Originally posted by Paladin:
This bullet shoots to the same point of aim as the Sierra 168gr SMK in my 26" heavy bbl .308 and group size seems as good or better using the same charge of Varget

The only draw back is the price being more than twice that of the SMk's

Has any one used these on deer sized game? The hollowpoint seems a bit bigger than the other Barnes bullets I've used.

YES. I've used it with remarkable results. Search the archives in Big Game hunting and you'll find a few of my deer pics.

30-06, H4350, 168 TSX.

quote:

I shoot for the front shoulder

Just wondering..do the barnes work well enough with the normal just behind the shoulder shot on deer?
I've never shot deer with a Barnes but just bought some 168gr TSX to try out this year. Also can you tell any difference as far as knock down power?

I shoot the 168grs TSX in my .300 Win Mag. Shoots very decently. If it will shoot in my .30-06, it is the plains game bullet planned for the next African trip.
- mike

quote:

Originally posted by Sendero:

quote:

I shoot for the front shoulder

Just wondering..do the barnes work well enough with the normal just behind the shoulder shot on deer?
I've never shot deer with a Barnes but just bought some 168gr TSX to try out this year. Also can you tell any difference as far as knock down power?

Works great on heart/lung shots. I do my very up most to never shoot any deer through the shoulder. Un-necessary to do so. Lawdog

Any Barnes TSX bullet will cleanly kill any game that the caliber you are using is suitable for. I.E. I wouldn't go elephant hunting with the 168 TSX but anything short of dangerous game wouldn't be a problem.
My limited experience with Post-Mortem TSX'd game is that they drill straight through like a light sabre if they don't hit bone, if you hit the vitals it will put nice holes in them. If they hit bone they will make a lot of shrapnel damage and still penetrate straight through.
They are great bullets but if you want them to drop in their tracks you may want to hit the shoulders, they will likely run a ways with a heart/lung only shot...........DJ

Because of the area I hunt with a rifle-- A family farm in Kentucky that has not been worked in 40 years or in northcentral PA. where there seems to be an unbelieveable amount of hunters. I have to have my deer drop on the spot if possible. A 100 yard run in KY. will bring a real possibility of not finding your game-- or pulling up a steep slope through rosebushes and brush you would not believe. In Pa. a 150 yard run by your game will result in somebody else tagging it before you get there in some cases.
This being the case, the last deer shot behind the shoulder in the "classic" style was in 1974.

Sounds like the TSX will work for my needs I don't like deer running too far, but if they run a bit they'll still be on the properties I hunt.

I've got one place where I could set up along a power line right of way and long shots could occur. But here in WV most places offer sub-50 yard shots. I've got to try this load in my M77RSI and see if it likes it.

I am not going to bother with Barnes or other copper bullets yet. I did try the X bullets a decade ago after the wife got a piece of lead in her venison. I had shot two deer real quick and one shot was difficult and some bullet fragements went into the good stuff.

The X bullets fouled the bores and were not as accurate as other bullets. Worse of all is that the petals blew off at short range from a magnum. Then I found that X bullets don't expand to nearly as large a diameter as other bullets.

Another weakness of the X bullets hollow point design is that it is not as flexible in terms of it's meplat being damaged and still being able to expand. If a X bullets meplat was folded over some from recoil in your magazine, handling, a manufacturing defect or some other cause there is no core underneath to open up. Thus unless the X bullet hits the game in perfect condition it may not expand right or at all.

So for deer and black bear hunting they might be of use if I used small guns on large animals and I do the opposite.

I see the X type bullets having a niche and I welcome them. It's just that they are not worth the bother to me.

Some guns like Barnes regular flavor X's and some don't. Seems the ones that do, don't foul with them. The TSX's are supposed to be a fix.

I think I'll use them this year for deer and we'll see how things wring out. They're overkill for our Eastern whitetail but maybe it'll be good practice for bigger and better hunts down the road.

I have had devestating results with XBT bullets,
on whitetails. I have put in a good stock of
TSX bullets, and as of yet, only punched paper
with some early load work. The accuracy is
very impressive. If the TSX bullets perform
at even 75% of what I have seen out of the
XBT bullets, I will be very happy. The XBT
is almost too much bullet for whitetail, but
for those that want or need "Bang Flop", it
is an excellent choice, when bone is hit going in.
A simple rib cage hit, may mean some tracking,
but the vitals will be turned into blood pudding.
At least that is what my experience has been.
Obviously, I am a fan of Barnes XBT bullets, and
look forward to becoming a big fan of the TSX
line.

Squeeze

The one thing I have found out about the TSX bullet is to drop down in weight for the best expansion. I found out that the 100 gr. .257 TSX will out penetrate the 115 gr. Nosler Partition and the results we had this last hunting season(19 Mule Deer/Blacktail bucks, 7 Wild Boar, 1 Elk and 3 Black Bear) this last year using nothing but TSX bullets(in calibers from .257 to .338) showed this to be true. Example is if you are used to using 165 to 180 gr. .308 lead core bullets for deer size critters then drop down to the 150 gr. .308 TSX’s. The TSX is a hugh improvement over the original X or the XLC’s. Copper fouling isn’t any worse(in fact I find it much less) than any lead core, copper jacked bullet. Lawdog

quote:

A simple rib cage hit, may mean some tracking

If I were to use an X bullet on deer I would aim for the shoulder or if an easy shot then the neck shoulder junction. This should work fine and its a rather large area.

On the other hand I am shooting Ballistic Tips starting at 3200 and the shoulder shot is not a good idea with BT's so there is a aiming place for X's.

Here is another point of view on X's:

"There was also a single X bullet recovered from a 375HH that was shot into a Black Wildebeast quartering towards us at 150-175 yards. This is the first bullet in the photo. It was under the skin on the entry side near the hind quarter. I still see enough of this with the X bullet to spook me away from them. I just don't get that 100% performance that the bonded core bullets provide me. I love them and use them in my 458 Lott 100% now. However the smaller the caliber and higher the velocity the X bullet the more wierd performance they seem to have.

At the first shot the wildebeast bucked like a horse so we knew it was hit. The second shot into that Wildebeast was a centered chest shot and exited with a bore diameter hole as well. The third was the finisher put into him at at least 350 yards. Since when do you need 3-375HH bullets for a 450-500 pound animal? A single GS custom bullet was recovered as well. The waterbuck it came from was a near loss of the trophy due to the wierd bent and deforemed bullet. It did not open and just had the tip bent over. The follow up shots exited with bore diameter holes. They have massive penetration but seem to have the same issues as X bullets were consistancy is concerned. If this happened on the only one recovered then what did the others look like that blew right through? I'll never know but seeing one like this was enough to spook me! It was involved in the only animal that required tracking and follow up by that hunter who is among the best shooters I have ever met. The loss of that animal would have been heartbreaking and expensive. It would have also been hard to sleep at night knowing "he screwed up the shot" when it was not the shot at all but rather the bullet!"

You might want to try some of the 130 gr tsx from your .308. The bullet can handle the higher velocity, and will penetrate as deeply as a heavier conventional bullet.

I was thinking about trying the 130's but was hoping that the 168's would shoot with the Federal 168gr match ammo that I already use. And so far they're with in a half inch of each other at 100yds.

Now to go to a range with a bit more leg room...