Hi Tonk. Thanks for your response.
Like you I've had mixed experiences with Barnes "X" bullets. I have not tried the new TSX bullets yet.
A friend, now deceased, jumped on the X bullet band wagon when they first became popular. He had the blue bullets too and told me about the increased velocity he was going to get with them. Unfortunately for Barnes, my friend actually had a chronograph and those claims of extra muzzle velocity were unsupported. They were OK in one of this .270's and one .308, but terrible in his other .270, and god awful in his .338 Win Mag (the 225 grain X bullets produced sub standard velocities and shotgun pattern like groups) and god awful in his 30-06 (shotgun pattern size groups, but good velocities, as I recall). However, the Barnes 140 grain X bullets attained 3,400 fps and produced dime sized groups in his .300 Win Mag, which also shot well with 180 grain X bullets. They were also OK in his old 8x57 milsurp. I don't know how they performed on game. Sadly, he passed away before using them on game as I recall. He bought the 338 Win mag specifically for use as an elk rifle with 225 grain X bullets. He was so disappointed with the erratic performance of the Barnes X bullets he got rid of the gun.
JJ Hack has written about how well they've worked for him in Africa, primarily in the .308" 165 grain TSX at 2,900 from his 30-06 and the .375 270 grainer in his .375 H&H. I read the reviews on Midway's Bullets sections and the consumer comments about Barnes TSX bullets are overwhelmingly positive.
A gun writer in either Rifle or Handloader magazine addressed the issue of hunters/shooters who complained about the field performance and failures of Barnes X bullets. He said Barnes was getting a lot of grief from disillusioned shooters about bullet failures in the field. I forget who the writer was, but I remember that he viciously attacked the people who complained about defective Barnes bullets, and was sympathetic to the manufacturer of the defective product who sold them for a pretty penny.
I thought it was kind of weird that he would attack consumers who complained about a flawed product (an expensive product) rather than criticize the company who produced and sold them.
I read about a European all copper 8mm bullet weighing 140 grains and getting 3,100 fps. Kind of like a super .270.
Their web site was full their product line in most calibers and glowing testimonials about how well their bullets performed. I was really impressed with that, but the web site has disappeared and I've found no other reference to these products. A .323" 140 grain all copper bullet at 3,100 fps really got me going I'm here to tell you.
I would like to fool around with the .323" 160 TSX but using it on game is another thing. I'll keep you posed if I get any further info.
