2010 Big Game Bullet Performance

[Rocks]

I'd like to hear what everyone used this fall for cartridge and bullet combination, and how the bullet performed on your big game animals.

I used a 270wsm for all my hunting this fall, with 140gr TSX's going just under 3300.

Bighorn ram, 240 yard high shoulder shot from above, took out spine and front of off shoulder, dead before he hit the ground, bullet stopped against the inside of the hide on the far side.

Mulie buck, 80 yard shot, double lung pass through, he went about 100 yards through the timber spraying blood out both sides.

Whitetail buck, 50n yard shot, double lung/windpipe pass through, he only went about 50 yards, bleeding out both sides.

Recovered TSX from ram:

[Rackmastr]

They dont get much better than that Rocks!

[PoppaW]

I used my wifes 7mm Weatherby on my calf moose. 150gr TSX at 3330 over the chrony. Pass through behind the shoulder bone and it did a 360 and fell over. My wife shot a WT buck at about 30yds with the same load and with the same results. She almost got her calf moose also but the cow was a little to nosey and ran her out of the field. Always next year. And will use the same load.

[justinO]

Thats a nice mushroom sounds like a nice hunt How big was the ram?
I use a 190gr berger hunting VLD out of my LRT 300 win mag. Im in love with it. I just got it a month ago so only 2 kills with it. I let my uncle use it on a whitetail buck at 320yrds because he wasn't confident in his gun at that range. Got the kill on video stone dead huge damage no bullet it exited. And I also killed a yote at 562 did one spin and down, missed another at 760 by 5-7 inches just high from what my spotter said would have been my record. I cant wait to get back for Christmas and do some more hunting/shooting.

[slopeshunter]

Rocks, that TSX looks just perfect.

[KBF]

Who makes TSX?

[berjerkin]

Originally Posted by KBF

Who makes TSX?

barnes. TSX = triple shock x

[Rockymtnx]

Mule Deer Doe
375 H&H
260gr Nolser Accubond
2760 FPS
Shot her at 100 yards looking straight on at me through teh front of teh chest. I hit her a little high and caught the lungs. The bullet was traveling slightly upwards. It ended up taking out 15" of spine and backbone before entering the backstraps and exiting the animal.

Whitetail Doe
300 Weatherby
180gr Nosler E-Tip
3205 FPS
Shot her at 75 yards broadside. The bullet entered the chest and took out the lungs and heart. Clean pass through and no bullet recovery.

Whitetail Buck
300 Weatherby
180gr Nosler E-Tip
3205 FPS
Shot him at 245 yards broadside. The bullet entered his chest taking out the lungs. The bullet exited through the opposite shouldler joint. No bullet reovery.

So all in all I guess the bullets did there job. No recoveries this year so I am not sure that they expanded like they were suppose to. I was super impressed with the penatration of the Accubond in the 375 H&H.

In a three weeks time I will be going elk hunting. I will be using the 300 Weatherby again and most likely Nosler E-Tips. However I would be curious to see how Accubonds would work on a elk.

[AxeMan]

WT Buck
270 Win
140 grain Nosler Accubond in a Federal Premium.
2950 fps

Shot broadside at 50 yards just behind the shoulder and low in the boiler room. Hit no rib going in or out. Shmaged the boiler room pretty good and took out the bottom of the heart. No damaged meat at all. He only went about 25 yards and died.

I switched to these bullets this year after shooting 130 grain Sierra Gameking BTSP for years. Probably not a real good test for the Nosler Accubond this year but it did do the job.

[deanmc]

Whitetail buck
250 yards
30-06 Remington 760
164 gr hornady interlock
54.4 grains 4350

In behind his left leg through ribs bottom of heart and out through right leg. More meat damage than I would like. Hit a little low but took the bottom off the heart.Blood trail was 6 feet wide and only 20 yards long.

[Arn?Narn.]

Whitetail Doe....70 yrds...140 gr Barnes TSX....headshot that was devastating

Whitetail Doe....280 yrds...140 gr Barnes TSX...vitals toast,,,busted far shoulder pretty bad,

Whitetail Buck....210 yrds...140 gr Barnes TSX....destroyed two ribs on entry, ...vitals to mush...looked like a freight train tried to come out the top of the shoulder....meat damage was minimal, bone damage was incredible.

Cow Moose...big one...140 gr Barnes TSX... she fell within what I gues was 6 seconds right where she stood. One shot, Vitals done.

Black Bear....185 yrds...140 gr Barnes TSX....Rolled him and it was over....

[ecellitti]

WT Doe
30-06
150gr Hornady SST
MV 2975 (chronoed)

Bullet entered just behind the left shoulder and exited out the the opposite side. Range was 45-50 yards. She ran about 40 yards and dropped. Massive blood trail and half of her heart was gone. Exit hole was about one to one and a half inches in diameter. I was happy with how the bullet performed and yet it was not overly distuctive.

[BrownBear416]

Hey Rocks I have the twin brother to your bullet

140gr tsx 270win..

196 yrd shot on a big ol stomper mule buck..

Bullet entered dead center on the back of the neck breaking the spine,traveled all the way through the head and lodged sideways (perfectly mushroomed) in the nasal cavity...

I shall snap a pic today..

[steve]

130 grain TSX .270 Win

Shot just under 200 yards on a bear that was quartering away hard. Entered on one of the last ribs, recovered under off side ear.

Recovered weight is 128 grains.

[Cowtown guy]

WT buck at 135 yards
Quartering hard towards me. Entered at the point of the shoulder and exited just before the rear quarter only hitting one lung. There was absolutely nothing left of that lung however. Went thru close to 3 feet of deer. The deer ran hard up a very steep hill and jumped a fence at the top of it. He piled up after about 60 or 70 total yards.
7mm-08 120 grain TSX at 2900 fps

WT buck at 95 yards.
Broadside shot that passed thru the lungs and smashed the top half of the heart to bits. Deer ran drunkenly for about 15 yards
7mm-08 120 grain TSX at 2900 fps. My dad for some reason left his gun in the case, in the back seat, while travelling between the pieces of land we have permission to hunt on so he used mine.

Large mulie doe at 225 yards
Slightly quartering away. The bullet entered about 5 inches back of the near leg and smashed the shoulder on the offside before exiting. Lungs were jellied. Stumbled 25 yards after doing a hard faceplant.
243 Win 85 grain TSX at 3300 fps

No bullets were recoverd again this year as usual. I don't seem to get lucky enough to find them. I have only ever had 1 TSX bullet that didn't exit and the fella that did the butchering for us lost it before I could get it back.

All deer had great blood trails that any rookie could follow.

[Huntnut]

Bighorn ram-100yds. 150 gr interbond out of my 300wsm traveling at 3100fps. Through the front shoulder-took top of the heart off, through a couple of ribs and just barely stopped by the hide on the far side.



Bullet weight was 112 gr.

[KegRiver]

I didn't shoot anything this fall. So no animals down, no bullets recovered.

I did however hunt, so, minus the terminal performance, here is what I used.

I used 150 g Sierra bullets in handloads tested to give 2200 fps out of my 30-30.

I hunt up close and personal. Just my style.

So far as terminal performance goes, I wonder. How is one to choose a bullet when the hunter wants (in some cases needs ) a bullet that will preform the same at 20 yards as it will at 600 yards and beyond?

I use the cheapest bullets I can find. I am strongly considering going to cast bullets and using lead I melt down from local sources, car batteries for instance.
At the ranges I hunt, any bullet will do. I simply pass on shots I'm not happy with. Sure I didn't get an animal this fall. But I and the wife will survive the winter. And, I didn't wound any animals.

[6tmile]

300 min mag, 70 grns imr 4350, 180 grn accubonds, 2 grizzlies, one big old yukon moose(67 inch) one white tail buck, all pass throughs and DRT, ranges from 130 yards to 275 yards. This works good for my brother,myself and my son, gonna see how "old death and destruction" likes the hornady's

[gitrdun]

Never been one to jump on the monometal bandwagon. But as faith would have it, I shot my whole supply of Nosler BT's from my 7-08. As a matter of necessity, I drove to town in a frenzy, not BT's in stock. So I pick up a box of Barnes 120gr TSX's. Load development came in effortlessly. 4 animals came down, one shot kills, complete pass thru, no stalking. So I keep my mouth shut, they are expensive though. Arrrrgh, meat ain't meat 'till it's in the pan!

[209x50]

Bighorn, ram, bull moose, bull elk and 2 buck deer. 130 VLD - 260 AI.

[JohnB]

Bull elk with 140gr. Berger VLD from 270AI. One shot and he didn't take a step.

[Cal]

Mulie buck. Slick trick on a carbon arrow, worked great.

Two white tail does shot with a .270 and 130 grain corelocs. One a steep quartering shot at 100 yards, broke 3 ribs going in and a couple on the other side, no exit, bullet in pretty rough shape. The other a quartering shot at 280 yards was a pass through. Good performance on deer but the bullet I pulled out of the first deer has me thinking twice about using it for moose, will go back to 150's probably.

[Rockymtnx]

Originally Posted by 209x50

Bighorn, ram, bull moose, bull elk and 2 buck deer. 130 VLD - 260 AI.

Any recoveries?

[benamen]

My son shot an average size cow moose using a 180 Nosler Partition 2950 muzzle velocity. Hit just behind right front shoulder and exited just ahead of left hind quarter. Hit ribs going in and out with part of the bullet making a small hole in the left front shoulder. She ran 50 yards and dropped.

A couple days later I shot a large cow moose (900 lbs) using 168 gr TTSX 3150 muzzle velocity. Full pass through and took out the spine on the way through. Dropped on the spot.

[leo]

Originally Posted by Rockymtnx

In a three weeks time I will be going elk hunting. I will be using the 300 Weatherby again and most likely Nosler E-Tips. However I would be curious to see how Accubonds would work on a elk.

This may answer your question Rocky. Bull moose at about 80 yards quartering away with 300WSM , 180gr Nosler Accubonds. 2 shots a hand width apart, complete penetration with both( 1 through the shoulder). They should work great for elk if your rifle likes them.

[foothills26]

Mule deer buck 75 yards quartering towards me. 180gr federal fusion factory loads for 300 win mag. Dropped in its tracks in oneside just in front of the shoulder, through the lung and out the other shoulder never to be found again.

[Jerry D]

1 deer in our group was shot with a 110 grain accubond in .257. Deer went no where

4 deer where shot with remington corelokts... All animals were recovered with ease. All passed through broad side.

[ceedub]

Whitetail buck at 125 yards shot quartering towards me, 100 grain TSX out of my 257 Weatherby. Entrance just behind the front leg and exited near the flank on the off side, no recovery. The buck ran about 100 yards and piled up.

Mule buck standing at 317 meters (measured with GPS), 117 grain Hornady SST out of 257 Weatherby. Hit in the front shoulder, buck folded immediately with massive damage on the quarter with the entrance wound. Bullet broke apart on impact, as expected. No recovery.

Craig

[Traps]

338 Fed 160 grain TTSX impact velocity at 2690 fps, broke front shoulder of moose and took out two ribs. Found on off hide side.

[elnino54]

Trophy Antelope
245 yards with a 130 gr TTSX out of a 300 Weatherby, 3600+ fps
DRT. No bullet recovery.
AIMG_3063.jpg
WT Doe
Same bullet at 30 yards. Completely exploded the heart. DRT. No bullet recovery.
WT Buck
140 yards with 140gr Ballistic Silvertip from 7-08. Complete pass through dble lung.
Deer travelled 30 yards. No bullet recovery