150gr TSX FN

[tarbe]

Anyone here killed deer or other game with the 150gr TSX FN?

Interested in hearing about anyone else's experience with this bullet.

[Milky Duck]

nope but Ive used the 110grn in .270w and the 50grn in .223 the solid copper jobbies will do NOTHING your cup n core cannnot do better in every way...penertration and less "so called" contamination are the only possible advantages...
yes they make the wee .224 centrefires into giant killers....but Im assuming your looking at using in .30/30 or the .307??? you NEED to get monos going quickly..... the quicker the better.....
in the mighty .270w the results were rather vanilla..yip they killed,and wound was clean...but the bog standard 140grn hornady interlocts do same job better....or at least just as well.

[FergusonTO35]

I would imagine they are just the thing for stout loads in a strong rifle. I would be worried about them not expanding much at longer ranges and/or with mild loads. I use starting loads in my .30-30's and seriously doubt they would offer me any advantages for 2x the cost of regular slugs. Of course, if you are stuck in an unleaded only area then it is probably a good choice. I would look to the Hornady Monoflex first, as it has the gummy tip to help with expansion. Supposedly the gilding metal alloy produces les pressure too.

[tarbe]

So, no one here has actually killed anything with this bullet?

I have killed lots of critters with Barnes X and TTSX (from 20 pounds to 900 pounds) but not this particular bullet.

It is designed with a huge hollow point and is intended for typical 30-30 impact velocities...but was hoping someone had actual field experience with it.

[Milky Duck]

nope as I have more respect for animals I hunt.....as said earlier,it would have to be one of the worst choices for the low velocity 30/30.

[Shawlerbrook]

Unfortunately in a growing number of places lead bullets are no longer a choice. I have a feeling these questions will become more common.

[tarbe]

nope as I have more respect for animals I hunt.....as said earlier,it would have to be one of the worst choices for the low velocity 30/30.

This bullet is designed to open at 30-30 velocity. It is not a bullet designed for 30-06+ case capacity.

Unless you are saying Barnes doesn't know how to design a bullet?

Or you have shot animals with THIS bullet and they failed to open at 30-30 impact velocity?

Set me straight.

[tarbe]

I would imagine they are just the thing for stout loads in a strong rifle. I would be worried about them not expanding much at longer ranges and/or with mild loads. I use starting loads in my .30-30's and seriously doubt they would offer me any advantages for 2x the cost of regular slugs. Of course, if you are stuck in an unleaded only area then it is probably a good choice. I would look to the Hornady Monoflex first, as it has the gummy tip to help with expansion. Supposedly the gilding metal alloy produces les pressure too.

Actually, I managed to buy 800 of these at 20 cents each.

As they are designed for the 30-30, I plan to use them for short range (under 50 yards) woods hunting. But was hoping someone had actually shot deer or similar animals with them at ~2,000 - 2,200 fps impact velocities.

I can use them in my 30 cal rifles up to 300 H&H, but of course you'd want to mimic the velocities the slug is designed for.

[Fishman]

I have not used that bullet, but have used the 110 gr version for the 300 blk many times. my experience has been different than Milky Duck's. The bullet has performed extremely well on a couple dozen deer and pigs. The two I managed to recover came from a very large sow and a very large buck, and expansion was textbook with very high weight retention, much higher than any conventional cup and core bullet or cast that I have recovered. Where I hunt in south Texas, if the animal runs 50 yards off the sendero, you will die of blood loss before you find it. So quick deaths are desired, and almost all of these animals have run less than 20 yards if at all.

I think you found a heck of a deal and if I were in your shoes, I would go shoot some deer with them.

[Milky Duck]

I have complete faith in the .224 50grn ttsx in the 223 if used within 150 yards....its going fast enough to expand enough to damage enough to kill cleanly...its also holding together enough to out penertrate most other .224 projectiles in that weight range.....
I tried the 110grn tsx which by all accounts of the folks who have tested hundreds of different loads in .277 is the very best of the monos in this bore size...and found the results rather vannila...yes they killed,but the kill was SLOWER than a cup and core poked into same place on same sized animals in same senario.
you got a great deal price wise...no arguements there.... and if you as you do say are going to...stick to shorter range...and keep velocity up as far as feasible in the 30/30 and that batch of projectiles is a good one (there have been issues in last few years with SOME batches being harder and NOT expanding properly,the 55grn tsx in particular) they should work fine. like all loads in the 30/30 if you bring point of aim forwards of front leg instead of behind it you will get faster kill and usually a drop on spot. and yes I did use a 30/30 for enough years to say this for a fact.
as I said the wee monos make the .224s shine the terminal preformance is like a slower 130grn .270 load but the terminal damage is OPPOSITE way around...EG quite a lot of damage nearside shoulder,1" hole through lungs and a smaller hole out through far ribs and skin..... with luck your 30/30 round will be same but more so.... good luck and dont forget to post up results so other will KNOW how they go and not just be best guessing.

[MGD]

I have killed several deer with the Barnes 150gr XFN in a 30-30 AI. They were all 1 shot clean kills, they were all on the ground in 10 yds. The bullet is well matched to 30-30 velocities. I might use it again this season.

[tarbe]

I have killed several deer with the Barnes 150gr XFN in a 30-30 AI. They were all 1 shot clean kills, they were all on the ground in 10 yds. The bullet is well matched to 30-30 velocities. I might use it again this season.

Ok...this is what I was waiting for! Actual data on THIS bullet.

Gents...I have killed several dozen animals with Barnes X from .270 to .458...but was hoping someone here had actually used this particular bullet.

[MGD]

I have used Barnes X Bullets of later versions of them on deer in the following

85 TSX in 240 Weatherby
130 XBT in 270 Win
150 XFN in 30-30 Ackley Improved
200 XFN in 348 Winchester
and loaded some 250 RN Originals in 300 Weatherby that my brother used to take a 58" moose in Quebec
I have also shot many thousands of Varmitors and Varmit Grenades at prairie dogs
Barnes bullets have ALWAY shot very accurately and performed superbly on the intended game.

[tarbe]

I wish Barnes would bring back that 200gr TSX FN for the 348 (mine is an Ackley Improved).

In fact, been toying with punching my 26" 30-30 out to Ackley, but I have a No 1 in 300 H&H for hot rod duty! :) I already have the dies though....hmmmm

[PB_Matrix]

I bought one box of 50 of these awhile back, when there were no GMX of any kind in .308 available. Used them to harvest 3 reh deer and two over 30kg boar using a Browning A-bolt in .308 Win loaded with 42 grains of N540 for around 2,600 FPS. All shots were fatal engine campartment shots, one reh ran about 50 meters and the rest were DRT or close to it. The outshot was simlar to what 150 gr GMX bullets, do at the same load. Farthest distance was 75 meters, closest was 25 or so. Acuraccy was 1 MOA at 100 meters. In other words, no problems.

[Tripplebeards]

Every Barnes bullet that is either a factory load or hand load won’t hit the broad side of a barn so I don’t use them. I started out with the blue XLC coated in my 243 back in 99’. Grouped so horrible they wouldn’t hit a 3’ target at 100 yards. I’ve since tried the tripple shocks working several powders and hand loads in 30-06, 300 RUM, and 35 Whelen. They are most inaccurate bullets on the planet. The best groups I’ve ever had were at best just under 3” at 100 yards. The 243 and 30 cal guns will ALL shoot hole for hole with copper jacketed lead bullets. So I know it’s not me or my rifles. I won’t and don’t shoot Barnes copper plated for hunting, practice, or plinking. Imo they probably work in barrels that are sized smaller than the bullet just like if you properly sizing cast boolits for your particular gun. Guessing every gun I tried them in the barrel diameter isn’t correct for the Barnes bullets. I even played with OAL up and down with all my rifles. Almost ZERO difference in trying to tighten my groups using Barnes projectiles. After trying them in 4 of my rifles with the same horrible grouping results I wouldn’t recommend Barnes to anyone.

[outdoorfan]

The 165 grain tsx and ttsx will do MOA or better out to 500 yards for me in the '06. Humming along at ~2950 fps. That's with a 5 power Leupold.

The 62 grain ttsx in my 556 and .223 will do MOA or better out to 250 yards tested.

Isn't it interesting how our experiences are so different.

[Tripplebeards]

Yep, you must have barrels that the bores are smaller than your all copper j words. Everyone I have talked to face to face over the last couple of decades have had similar poor grouping experiences as mine. Seems like every once in a while someone with tight tolerance barrels get them to group. I have plenty to sell you I got stuck with. I literally can't give them away. If you can shoot moa consistently at 500 yards with a 5x scope you should be on the Olympic shooting team...your crosshair width would be bigger than a 12" target.lol...I call BS. You must be a sales rep for Barnes.

[outdoorfan]

I've shot the -06 out to 250 yards several times over the last few years and 500 yards multiple times in one session a couple years ago. It did MOA or better with the Barnes and 168 grain sierras with the same powder charge.

The target was 2'x2' square steel. With a 250 yard sight in I was holding over to get them to drop in there, so that technically isn't a very accurate way to bench a rifle, now is it. But they still dropped in there (3 shot groups) into MOA. There was no bullesye; just center, or hold over the center of the steel.

Whether you believe me or not, I could care less.

And of course I'm not a rep for barnes.

I got the idea of the 165 tsx and 58 grains of imr 4350 from JJACK over on 24hourcampfire. It's not rocket science.

If you pm me with what you have for sale, I might consider it.

Thanks.

[j p sixguns welldone]

i'll take the barnes bullets if your giving them away.

[Tripplebeards]

Outdoorfan, I'm sure your guns probably shoot them well. Here is a link explaining how the bullet diameter either fits your gun or not....

https://www.ronspomeroutdoors.com/blog/28-years-hunting-with-barnes-x-bullets



I tried the .243 original blue coated non banded all copper barnes when they came out back around 99'. They hit the paper sideways and were keyholeing out of a brand new 700 VLS that will shoot .3"s at 200 yards with several of my jacketed hand loads. I figured I'd try some of the new banded TSX in my 300 RUM when they first came out. Bought them when the first year Barnes released them but never tried the bullets till last year along with some .358 180 grain TSX from another member I traded some of my group buy .358 HPs for. Three 3.5" groups or larger were the norm at 100 yards with both guns. I slugged both barrels to find out the whelen barrel was a thousands larger in diameter than the .358 Barnes and same with the 300 rum. Imo Barnes should offer various size diameters (ex .358,.359,.360) for proper fitment. I still both .308 180 grain and .180 grain .358 tsx bullets left. Shot a few of each I'm group testing. Would sell or trade for j words. I have the 1st year Barnes reloading manual as well that i will trade or sell with them.

[outdoorfan]

Thanks for the info. I'll pass on the bullets, although thanks for the offer. I doubt I'll ever use the 180's, as the 165's do everything I think I'll ever need them to do in the smaller 06 case.

My 06 is a Kimber 8400, and I do believe it is pretty much .300-.308 dimensions.

My only other limited experience with the x bullets is in my 556 ar with 62 grain, which also shot ~MOA out to 250 yards. That was without any real load development. I just wanted to see how they did. The AR has a ballistics advantage barrel and shoots bulk 55 grain Hornady fmj bt and 77 grain hpbt at ~MOA, also at 500 yards, 5 shot groups, (tested same day as 06). The AR at that time had a 4x Leopold, and I also centered high above the target.

So, not extensive testing, but enough to be very satisfied with.

I'm sorry to hear of your frustrations with the x bullet.