strike 4 with tsx bullets'

[Lloyd Smale]

If you been following my tales of the deer shot with tsx bullets youd know im not impressed. I had one that failed to penetrate and two that didnt appear to open up ealier. I recovered all 3 of those deer luckily but luck wasnt on my side last night. I talked myself into taking one more chance with them hoping theyd redeem themselves. I took out my 2506 #1 using 80 grain tsx bullets. I had a deer come in at 200 yards. the rest was rock solid and i know my crosshairs were right behind the shoulder at the shot. Both myself and my hunting partner heard the bullet hit the deer. I knew it didnt go down at the shot but saw the direction it took. We went over there and searched for 2 hours and never found a drop of blood. All i can figure is another one didnt open up. I wouldnt be caught dead in the woods ever again with a barnes tsx loaded in my gun!!! This was the first deer i didnt recover in over 3 years. It makes me about sick when it happens and I feel pretty stupid for paying twice or more the cost of a good ballistic tip or sierra just to loose an animal!!!!

[shot1]

Get you some 117 Sierras for that 25-06 and you will not be trying any other bullet. It is the most awesome killing bullet I have ever tried on deer.

[ND Sharpshooter]

Last season I had a similar experience with a 110 grain TSX in my 6.8 Rem SPC.  Put one into the right front shoulder of a nice buck at 180 yards.  Rest was rock steady and I saw him flinch with the impact.  Luckily he ran toward me (after the doe he was chasing) and collapsed about 30 yards from me.   I then put a second one into his neck.  There was no exit wound from either shot.  The velocity of my loading was 2600 plus.  I too won't be using any more TSX's.  Will be going with Sierra Pro Hunters this season.

[drdougrx]

Oh boy...you guys are gett'n me really worried.  I worked up a really accurate 35whelen load using the 225gr TSX for a TX nilgai/scimitar oryx hunt in a few weeks.   I hope the results are better on animals bigger than deer. 

[BRL]

Never had it happen but I've never used a TSX either. I just think they're too hard for deer...in my opinion. I like a softer bullet for deer size game...hence the positive remarks on the Sierra. I've never used one of those either but have considered tying them as another option to my tried and true Core-Lokts.

[Graybeard]

I've never used a Barnes bullet on game tho I have been trying to do so for years. At first I wasn't able to find a load with the older ones that was accurate enough to take hunting and now that I have found such in my .257 Whby I haven't had a shot opportunity.

I'm not sure I trust them to open as the concept of them seems a bit alien to me tho most folks who have used them rave over how well they perform especially on tough African game. I do think they are a poor choice for deer as premium extra hard bullets are not only not required but in my opinion not even desireable.

Based on their design tho that failure to penetrate seems rather odd. Can you give more details on that Lloyd? Failure to open I can understand failure to penetrate not so much so.

I'll again take my .257 Whby out this year at least some of the time I go hunting and with the 115 TSX in an attempt to gain some insight into them for myself.

I think we can never know with any degree of certainty what really happened when we fail to recover a deer we shot at and more especially so if no blood is found. I always wonder was it really a hit or a miss for some reason. Was the sound one of bullet hitting a limb rather than deer?

I had such an instance with my Browning LW243 once several years ago. The rifle was super accurate, the distance to deer under 75 yards and absolutely nothing but air between me and it as far as I could tell.

At the shot the buck took like like his tail was on fire. He never weaved or wobbled or in any way indicated he was hit. I watched him run for close to 200 yards as the woods were quite open at ground level in that area. I found the spot he was standing and there was no blood anywhere. I followed the path he had taken which I could determine pretty well from his tracks plus I had watched him leave so knew the path in general.

I never found a single spot of blood and he never fell down along the route. I gave up on him 300-400 yards out from where he had stood as I lost the path he had taken. From there he could have gone in several directions and I found nothing to tell me which he took. I gave it an hour plus of searching with no evidence I had hit him. Did I? I don't know.

A buck roughly matching his description was later found by other hunters when buzzards led them to him. It was another good quarter mile from where I lost the tracks. What kinda hit would allow a deer to go close to a half mile leaving no blood trail and then just lay down and die? I dunno honestly.

The shot should have hit the lungs at worse one lung and liver based on the angle of my shot and where the crosshairs were when the shot broke. He made a step just as I shot too late for me to adjust for it but the crosshairs were right when the shot broke.

To this day it is a mystery what happened. As a result I've not hunted with a .243 again since. I ended up selling the rifle mostly over this incident. I don't see how I could have just plain missed but the total lack of blood soured me on the use of such a light round on deer.

[Lloyd Smale]

bill the failure to penetrate was a does shot right on the shoulder with a 300 wby using a 180 tsx. the deer ran in a half circle for about 50-100 yards and dropped dead. When I skinned it i found the front shoulder the bullet hit was blown to smithereens and the bullet didnt go any farther. I didnt find the bullet as it was dark and by the time i got back to the carcus the next day critters had devouered it. Now a 100 lb does shoulder bone sure shouldnt have stopped that bullet. No doubt your right too about last night. I can only speculate but ive shot enough deer to know when a shot felt good and when it didnt and my partner and i both heard the bullet slap the deer. It likely could have been a high lung shot but i guess my point is that ive shot a ton of deer and just about allways i can at least fine a blood trail and with bullets like bts and seirras im pretty sure even with a high lung shot the deer will rarely go more then 25 yards. From the wound channels of the other two deer i shot with 25 cal tsxs the damage they do is minimal. I never got more then a dime sized exit wound with either. The season is about over for us and Ive decided to finish it out with my 264 mag using 120 bts. I havent had to track one yet with that combo yet and contrary to what you read about them i dont find that any more meat is wasted with a behind the sholder shot with bts then i do with something like a partition. If i would have only had one consern with there performance out of the 4 deer i could understand that but 4 out of 4 isnt a good deal and my buddy lost a deer last year he knew he hit will with a 115 tsx out of his 2506. He didnt pay much attention to it till i had my problems as hes isnt really a gun nut of any kind. He bought them because he heard they were so good and had me load them for him. Right now i could read 50 reports on how good they are and i wouldnt use  one to shoved up my ex wifes @@@!!!

[Lloyd Smale]

ive killed quite a few with 100 and 117 seirras and have to agree with you. Ive never found them lacking in any way.

Get you some 117 Sierras for that 25-06 and you will not be trying any other bullet. It is the most awesome killing bullet I have ever tried on deer.

[killadeaux]

I've never had a problem with Barnes bullets.

[yooper77]

I witnessed an old 100 grain Barnes X-Bullet failure to expand out of a 25-06 Remington on a doe Antelope, so no one can ever convince me on using any Barnes bullets. During the same Antelope hunt I harvested two does with my German Mauser in 243 Winchester with 100 grain Nosler Partition's and both were complete pass through shots and dropped within sight.

Nosler Partitions are the best there is for a premium bullet.

My daughter uses the little 60 grain Nosler Partition from a T/C Encore in 223 Remington for her two successful Michigan youth deer hunts and both bucks were complete pass through, one 75 yard double lung heard crashed in the woods about 100 yards and one 60 yard high spine dropped on the spot.

I am certain Nosler's E-Tip bullets will easily out perform any Barnes bullet, but I have no need for either since I don't hunt California's lead free Condor range.
http://www.nosler.com/Bullets/E-Tip-Lead-Free.aspx

yooper77

[Siskiyou]

Lloyd are you using the original TSX bullet or the TTSX bullet.   It is my understanding that the TTSX was developed to expand better on light/medium game. http://www.barnesbullets.com/products/rifle/tipped-tsx-bullet/

My only experience with Barnes bullets is with the 130-grain in the 270 Winchester on paper.  The TTSX proved to be very accurate, but I have not fired it at game.  Club member took a Wyoming mule deer with it and recommends it.

The good thing about your post is the number of deer you have experienced failure.

Over the last fifty plus years I have learned that deer do not always react the same when hit by a bullet. 

I had a small buck run 231 yards measured track on my gps that was shot behind the shoulder.  The 150-grain Hornady Spire Point centered a rib; break it, and shattering the ribs on each side.  The bullet vaporized one lung, and deflated the other one, created a 2-inch exit hole on the off side.  The hide rippled like water on a pond on impact, and the buck took off on the run

.

A hunting partner lost a buck he shot with his –06 using a 150-grain power point.  The buck reared up, and was gone.  I have been with him when he has taken numerous deer with this bullet, and a black bear.  No blood was found and after it turned dark, and two hours of searching we gave up.  We returned the next day and did not find any thing.  The country was a steep, tangled jungle with a healthy bear population.   

It reminded me of the time I shot a buck behind the shoulder with a 130-grain CL from my 270 Winchester.  The buck reared up on its hind legs, and took off around the shoulder of a ridge.  I found a dime size spot of blood at the point of impact and found occasional spots as I proceeded around the slope.  After running out of sign I back tracked on the deer trail looking down slope.  It was about a 75-80% slope.  I spotted a tuff of white about 200 feet below the trail.  I recovered a nice 3x3 buck.

I understand a hunter giving up on a bullet.  Back in the last century I gave up on the Remington Bronze Point in my .270 because it always blew up inside the ribcage and seldom left a blood trail. 

[charles p]

Maybe an 80 grain TSX is made to varmint specs rather than big game specs.  Try a little more bullet, at least 100 grains.  The resulting drop in velocity might help as well.

[Rock Home Isle]

I've never had a problem with Barnes bullets.

I've never had a problem with Barnes bullets as well.

[Rock Home Isle]

...................
 
I think we can never know with any degree of certainty what really happened when we fail to recover a deer we shot at and more especially so if no blood is found. I always wonder was it really a hit or a miss for some reason. Was the sound one of bullet hitting a limb rather than deer?
.......................

The animal could have been hit too far back...That situation would give the sound of a solid hit, but allow the deer to run off and not leave a blood trail.  There's not a lot that can be said one way or the other until the animal is recovered and the projectile examined. Until then, its just conjecture.
 
Sorry to hear about your loss Loyd, its hard to loose an animal.

[Rock Home Isle]

..........
Nosler Partitions are the best there is for a premium bullet.

......

I've shot Noslers for many years, very effective projectile.