Anyone have experience using the .416 Barnes 300 grain TSX for plains game in their .416 Rigby, Remington , Hoffman or other .416 variants?

Thinking of taking only one rifle and use the 400 grain Trophy Bonded for Buff and the 300 grain TSX for plains game. The rifle has a 1-8 Schmidt & Bender Exos so have plenty of magnification for all around hunting. I have heard second hand of a few instances of non expanding pass through with the Barnes .416 TSX on medium sized plains game, but no first hand knowledge.

I’ve used my .416 Rigby on everything from Duiker to buffalo, shot quite a few kudu and impala. I don’t think there was any expansion but it killed every one.

Haven't used the 300 TSX in 416 but I've used the 350 gr TXS extensively. It's literally the Hammer of Thor. From Duiker to Buffalo, it's my go to. In fact, I've not shot the 400gr at all in my Rigby. That 350 gr TSX moves out at 2,700fps from the big case. Good enough!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Williams:
Haven't used the 300 TSX in 416 but I've used the 350 gr TXS extensively. It's literally the Hammer of Thor. From Duiker to Buffalo, it's my go to. In fact, I've not shot the 400gr at all in my Rigby. That 350 gr TSX moves out at 2,700fps from the big case. Good enough!!!

My daughter has used them in her 416 Remington
For everything from Dall sheep to brown bears and Cape buffalo .

I had problems with early Barnes bullets and have avoided them since. That was quite some time ago. It takes me awhile to make changes after having quality issues, probably time to try the Barnes TSX.
Comments here, gun builder friends with many years of DGR build experience and their clients with many successful hunts, having very good things to say about their experiences using TSX bullets.
Past reading was always about 400 grain bullets in the .416. The 300 and 350 grain .416 TSX bullets may make the .416 Rigby more of a versatile and all around African rifle than the .375’s.

I have used the 350 gr. bullets in several makes on plains game and they killed well, some ran 50 or so yards, but left a blood trail that was easy to follow, same with the 450 gr. bullets or my .416 and 350 gr. in my 375 for that matter..Game may run a bit sometimes but you wont have any trouble finding them, big holes bleed. surprisingly to some they are astonished at the lack of meat waste..

I actually prefer the woodleigh 450 gr. in my 40 calibers, the 350 Woodleighs in my 375, just had such good luck with them on everything. Have not used the heavy TSXs at all for PG and only a couple of buffalo.

I've been using 400gr Woodleigh's and 400gr Barnes Originals in my 400 Whelen turned into 411 KDF. But I like to shoot,plink with my hunting load and it's a bit much for anything over 3 shots for me, (400gr @2185fps),the 300gr Horn 300's are a breeze to shoot though. So I layed in a stock of 300gr bullets to keep in practise,,my plan in the 300gr Barnes X @2400fps in the field as they have behaved perfectly for me in the past. As I spent 25 years hunting as much as I could instead of earning a real living my bullets got a workout. When Barnes discontinued the 350gr >423 and I ran out I sold the rifle!! There's more but I'm typed out ,,,,,

Some pretty good experience here.
I too like to shoot, practice and plink with my hunting rifles. I don’t like getting rocked with full power loads much anymore. It’s great to shoot some reduced loads for practice throwing in enough hunting loads to keep honest. Are there any notable performance difference between the .416 Barnes TTSX BT and the TSX FB ?

Water rat
Look forward to reading more once you get rested up and feel like typing more.
4WD

I did quite bit of load development in my 375 H&H, 416 Remington and 458 Lott 6-7 yrs ago dropping the weight of what might consider legacy loading

375 H&H : 270 TSX @ 2850 FPS
416 Remington : 370 NF @ 2520 FPS
458 Lott : 450 TSX @ 2430 FPS

I used the 416 load quite a bit in Africa and it performed outstanding.
There is something to be said if you can drop down in bullet weight with these modern bullets and add some flexibility and reduce some recoil on max loads.

I used some load data right of the Accurate powder web site for the Lott.
86 gr. AA2520 behind a 500 gr Hornady bullet. That load drove that 500 gr. out of the 23" barrel of my CZ at 2340 FPS across my Ohler 35.
Rather brutal ...My written (notes) suggestion was to drop a couple grains to negate the recoil

Used the same charge behind the 450 TSX and got 2430 FPS. Adds some mid range to that cartridge and less recoil to the 500 gr. slug.
What was neat about this load is that could seat the bullet right to where I felt a touch of compression. AA 2520 is a fine ball powder it does not compress.
The bullet seated about to the middle of the second groove into the 450 TSX. Put a light crimp on it and it just about filled the length of box magazine in the CZ 550.
Great shooting load.
Can load 6 of these in the CZ..

EZ

I have used 350 and 400 grain Swift A-Frames, but not 300 grainers of any stripe.

The 350 grain Swifts strike like lightning bolts.

I shot a lot of PG and camp meat on Safari with both Northfork370 gr and GS Customs flat nose solids, with my 416 Rem and 404 J to expect clean fast kills, break them down with shoulder shots for a no run kill, but if they run it will be short...

the 375 performs as well, and would be a better pick with 300 gr. bullets and shoot a bit flatter in my opine..I base this totally on my target shooting at up to 400 or perhaps 500 yard targets in the desert..plus longer heavier shoot flatter and faster than 300 gr. 40 and 375 calibers out there at 500 plus.

I have no doubt the 416 or 404 would work on deer, antelope and elk with about any bullet weight within 300 yards or more..

I have some factory rem .416 350 TBBC listed at 2700 fps. One day I’ll chrono them but if you can get that kind of velocity with a 350 that would be the lightning of death I would say. With a TSX it would be close to all your need

The 450 in the Lott a good idea too I got 2250 out of 22” with 500 grain good Buffalo medicine but I doubt a Buffalo would no the difference with a 450 and get a couple hundred more fps

Why complicate things with two bullets?

I have used the 400 grain TB on several hunts.

Shot practically everything with them, including plains game, buffalo and lion.

Worked great!

For BC and easier guaranteed expansion, a person will want the 350gnTTSX over the 300gn TSX. One bullet to rule them all. (But see below.)

In the Rigby a person can easily load the 350gn to over 2800fps, safely. However, an accuracy node is what one wants. Try working up to 104.2gn of StaBall6.5, the new Winchester temp-insensitive ball powder.

Meanwhile, Hammer bullets now have a 325gn Shock Hammer that is available. I have just starting testing them and 107gn StaBall looks pretty good at 2930fps, sub-MOA. They are a remarkable bullet and I will probably defer to them over the TTSX. One bullet, deer-elk, plains-game to buffalo. But I still have a large stash of 350gnTTSX in Africa to work through.

I agree with Saeed, the 400 gr. bullet is as close to perfect as you an get as is the 300 gr. in a 375..In the field, Id bet nobody can actually tell any difference short of an over active imagination..which I may be guilty of as I love those woodleigh 550 gr. bullets in 458 Lott, the 450s in 416 and 404 and 350 in the 375, all I can say is they sure do work..but hey I had a hand in their development, ang got a ton of them for my suggestions, thanks Geoff..

Lets face it bullet placement helps success more than anything else..

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Why complicate things with two bullets?

I have used the 400 grain TB on several hunts.

Shot practically everything with them, including plains game, buffalo and lion.

Worked great!

Saeed,

What caliber were you shooting and how fast were those 400 grain TB going?

Thx

I agree with the above "why complicate things with two bullets":...
But, to answer your question I have shot a couple of elk, one cow one bull with a 300gr TSX out of my 400H&H (.411 dia) at 2700fps very effective

Shooting two or even more bullets is a plus if your gun shoots them all to the same POI, most of my keepers will do that, but takes a lifetime to find the ones that will do that, unless you get lucky but I have to say its much easier today than in years past, bullet makers have come a long way and accurate rifles are much more common today mostly due to barrels IMO..

quote:

accurate rifles are much more common today mostly due to barrels IMO.

Better barrels, better machining, better bullets, better optics ect.

4WD,

I think Todd summed it up nicely. A 350 TSX at 2700 will hammer any buffalo and easily reach out for PG. Two bullets weights is unnecessary with the Rigby.

Mark

If a 300 grain .375 bullet will kill a buff dead, a 350 grain .416 should kill deader. Seriously, I am shooting 350 grain TSX's in a Sattlerlee .416 Ruger and they are just about perfect.

I just finished a morning hunt for hogs, gun used Krieghoff DR 500-416,loaded with the 300 gr TSX @2500fps,killed two hogs120,200 lbs,DRT both one shot,exit wound pretty impressive,I would use this load on any plainsgame no problem.

It is fun thumping hogs with big bores.

I use the Barnes 350 gr TTSX at 2700 for everything in Africa-- and the Barnes flat nose 350gr solid where needed for the thick skinned animals in Africa