Barnes 100 Gr TTSX expansion

[Coty]

I've been hunting with the Grendel and 100 Gr TTSX for 3 years now. I used a load from PA Allen with 8208 XBR. I've found it to be very accurate and have shot 12 deer and 20 or so hogs with the load. To this day, I've yet to recover a bullet. They pass right through leaving an entry and exit wound of about the same size. It looks like someone stabbed them with a pencil. They typically don't leave a blood trail. I'm hunting in the Texas Hill Country, so I can see where they go.

So a few questions for you guys shooting TTSX.

• Where is your shot placement? Do you go for a shoulder or vitals?
  
• Have you retrieved bullets with expansion?
  
• Where these developed more with the 6.5 Creedmoor in mind with higher velocity?
  
• Have you seen better expansion on hogs? (So far mine have all drilled right through, even on a 350 lb one.)

I tend to go for the vitals, behind the shoulder for minimal meat damage.

My rig is a Rock River lower, a Loki weapons 18" barrel, suppressed.

I've shot 4 deer this year and have 1 more tag left (buck or doe). I loaded up some Hornady SST 123 grain to try on the final deer of the year. I went to the range this weekend and zeroed for 123 gr. Just interested to hear others experiences.

[toolsofthetrade]

Only killed one deer with it so far.
Neck shot, had to give out a finisher, recovered the finisher bullet pot of the ground.

Initial shot was 140yds and blew out his spine in the neck. Good sized exit, but that is normal when you hit bone

[explorecaves]

What is your MV on your load? Minimum expansion is claimed at 1600 but from what I have seen online, it is minimal at that velocity. You need speed with the mono bullets to get reliable expansion.

[Kilco]

I only have experience with TTSX in larger cartridges, always seem to expand and penetrate as long as you stay above the minimum expansion velocity.

[Coty]

What is your MV on your load? Minimum expansion is claimed at 1600 but from what I have seen online, it is minimal at that velocity. You need speed with the mono bullets to get reliable expansion.

With my load of 30.0 grains of 8028 XBR, the 10 string average muzzle velocity was 2793.3. So pretty much at 2800 fps, well above the 1600 number. That should still be over 2300 fps at 200 yards.

[LRRPF52]

This is covered in Volume II of the 6.5 Grendel Reloading Handbooks on Page 49.

Expansion threshold for the 100gr Barnes TTSX was somewhere between 1847fps-2000fps in that testing, so it is a tough bullet that likes speed for expansion.

Impact...Penetration...Expansion...Weight Retention
2744fps.......30".........(.530")......99%
2176fps.......25".........(.416")......99%
2021fps.......29".........(.410")......99%
1847fps.......34".........(.264")......99%

From a longer barrel 20" + with a 2760fps mv, you hit 2000fps at 325yds.

With a 2650fps mv, your 2000fps thresh comes back to 280yds.

Something to consider if you are shooting that bullet and want to know your hunting reach. This was one of the main things we wanted to pin down when working on Volume II.

[sneaky one]

Coty, how far are the animals running after the shot? What's your distance- average to game?

I aim for the spine,-- neck area , or high shoulder . Study the anatomy of game.

I went for speed with the 75-85 grn. Gmx pills. 2900-3000 fps. does the job.

[rickOshay]

The 100 gr TTSX needs >2000 fps to open. Here's the picture from an earlier post of my testing of lead free projectiles


Left to Right:
95 gr GS Custom at 1891 fps
95 gr E-tip (Sneaky cut down) at 1974 fps
100 gr TTSX at 1894 fps
105 gr LRX (Sneaky cut down) at 1885 fps
90 gr GMX (Sneaky cut down) at 2930 fps

[thedudeabides]

Lots of info here, even if it is a 6.8

http://68forums.com/forums/showthread.php?33178-6-8-SPC-Bullet-Performance&p=456500&viewfull=1#post456500

http://68forums.com/forums/showthread.php?33178-6-8-SPC-Bullet-Performance

[Greg Skinner]

I've shot 2 whitetail does with the 100 TTSX. MV from my 18" PF is 2590 with 29.2 gr 8208. The first was right at 100 yds - broke upper leg and went through front of lung. She took a step or two and died; bullet not recovered. 2nd was about 150 yd, took out the top of the heart and got a little bit of lung, but hit no bones. She ran 40 or 50 yards before collapsing. No blood trail and I did not see exactly where she went, but I knew the main trail the deer used to access the field in which they fed at dusk, so I was able to locate her. I felt as though I should have gotten better expansion and a quicker kill based on the tsx I have used in the past - .257 Rob and 22-250, but both those calibers are higher velocity. I figure 175 yards would be about as far as i would feel confident with this bullet in the 6.5G. I may try a different bullet next year, although I like not having pieces of lead in the meat.

[Coty]

I was able to try my new Hornady SST 123 grain load this weekend. I had a quartering away shot at 70 yards. I hit heart and lung. The bullet did not exit the far side. I searched and searched but didn't find the bullet. It only hit rib, but must have expanded. Looks like I drilled the heart dead center.

Deer #5 for the year, no more tags, season's over!

2016-12-10 16.22.06.jpg2016-12-10 16.40.13.jpg

[Happy2Shoot]

Does anyone have experience with both the 100gr and the new 115gr TTSX? Either game or water jugs? The 115gr is heavier, and therefore slower, but it has a larger hollow point so may expand well at lower velocity. Curious if there is a side by side comparison out there. Thanks.

[grayfox]

There are some gel tests in the LFP portion IIRC. A pic of it at 1940 ft/s, expanded to 0.51" -- the 115 gr.
Barnes apparently does their testing in water, which is harder, so they say it will expand down to 1600, but the gel test suggests more like 1900 for gel... pick your medium.
That is still better than the ~2000 for most of them, but I believe 100 will expand down to maybe 1800...
The Grendel handbook has some gel tests of that 100 grainer.

I found a couple boxes of the 115's at Brownells but they sold out almost immediately.

[Happy2Shoot]

You are correct! The 115gr are in the LFP page. Thank you.

[Oso Polaris]

I am new to 6.5 Grendel, but have been using a 300BO for years. I shoot the 110Gr TAC-TX in 300BO at around 2300fps (so 100-200fps slower then Grendel) and it expands. This is a picture a one of few bullets that I recovered from a 350lbs hog. I literally found it just beneath the skin as I was butchering the pig... I thought it was going to be a bone fragment. Here is my recovered bullet.
300BO - 110gr Barnes TAC-TX (Resized).JPG

The Barnes bullet may exit the animal, but if it does then it will barely have any velocity (few hundred fps) as compared to the typical hunting bullet. The design of the Barnes bullet really delivers a massive hydrostatic shock as it dumps all of its energy and turns "Everything into Jelly" around the wound channel. My experience is very little to no blood flowing out of the exit wound as all of the tissue is so damaged that blood can't flow through/out of it. This can make tracking a wounded animal difficult if you made a poor shot placement. Even without recovering the bullet there should be no doubt if the Barnes TAC bullet has expanded... it is clearly evident. The soft tissue/meat around the wound channel is destroyed from the energy dump that the bullet is designed to do. It looks like someone has stuffed a jar of grape or blackberry jelly around the wound channel...meat is bright deep maroon to blue-purple. This hemorrhaged area can extend several inches on either side of the wound channel. On a pig/hog, this tissue damage would destroy the front shoulder and possibly even a portion of the backstrap (depending on size of pig). If I am wanting to keep meat, I no longer take the heart shots. Instead, I take the ear-hole shot on pigs. Even if I miss the spine the hydrostatic shock usually snaps it anyways. The only time I have seen a blood trail is when a buddy shot a little low. Bullet severed the jugular arteries...and still snapped the spine.

I scored a few boxes of the 115gr 6.5mm Bullets. I started some load development, but need to go back and finish it up. I have not done any water Jug or Ballistic Gel tests, yet.