270 WIN. BARNES TRIPLE-SHOCK X BULLET hunt report

[fr0sty]

I used this round for the 2012 deer season. The shot was about 80-90 yards from an elevated blind. I would say gun height was about 12 feet or so. The deer was off to my right, so I guess that would make it slightly quartering to.

The shot went into the front left scapula and broke the spine where the ribs meet it. The deer dropped right there. I could find no exit wound in the far side hide after skinning it. There was a lot of blood mess on the far side hide around the rear end. There was a noticeable amount of blood shot and small holes in both side's roasts. One hole (on the far side) was finger sized. So far I have found no bits of the round. Not sure where they ended up.

[Archerysniper]

So he was quartering hard towards you then darn near straight on. Sounds like that was a huge mess of blood,bone and blood shot meat. The bullet peices were probablly in the the guts.

[fr0sty]

I didn't describe it very well. Here is a pic from my stand showing the setup. The small red X is where he was. He came from the right and stepped into the trail. Now that I look at the pic, it really was a mostly broadside shot.

There were no bone fragments in the back straps or shoulder meat. It's hard to image how that bullet traveled.

[Archerysniper]

They will deflect off of the rib's or other bones great shot and many great meals in the frezzer.

[bigg edd]

I have shot 4 deer with hand loaded triple shocks. 53g in .223, 85g .243, and 2 with 150g 30-06. I recovered the .243 round after it passed the length of the deer from front to rear. It mushroomed perfectly and it weighed 85g. Excellent bullet. The .223 destroyed both lungs and the deer went 20 yards. I doubt your bullet came apart.

[fr0sty]

I was surprised there wasn't a pass through. Maybe those blood shot areas were just a few bits that fragmented off. I suspect the main part of the round was left in the guts somewhere. Maybe I will find some in the roasts when I cook them.

bigg edd, did you take heart/lung shots with the tsx?

[bigg edd]

The one I shot with the .223 was broadside. 243 was a straight on shot, went in the front chest and I found the bullet near the tail bone. The 06 one was a neck shot that completely severed the neck and the buck I shot Sunday the only shot I had was high on the shoulder broadside. It completely severed the spine and caught the top of both lungs. It dropped like a sack of rocks. There were small chunks of spine and meat on the exit side of the deer 10' from the deer. I'm betting your bullet held together even after going through bone. 3 of the 4 deer i shot with these bullets were 30 yards or less. The one I shot in the neck was 80 yards with the 30-06

[fr0sty]

My daughter killed a button buck this weekend with my .270 and used the same round. It was a broadside shot at 80 yards. The round went through both lungs and expanded perfectly. Even though I couldn't find the entry hole, the round had expanded by the time it went through the near side rib cage.

A moderate blood trail went about 20-30 yards with her deer at the end.

[swamptiger]

Frosty, what weight grain bullet were you using?

[fr0sty]

130 grain

[swamptiger]

I'd go with a heavier weight in the same bullet, and you would probably get at least as good of results plus an exit hole for the same shot.

[NoWiser]

Frosty,

I have a hard time believing that the bullet came apart. My guess is that bone fragments did that damage. In the past two years between my dad and I we have recovered 3 Barnes TSX bullets that we've shot moose with out of our 270 WSMs. They all started out at 140 grains and were between 139.8 grains and 140 grains when recovered. This is after punching through moose ribs, too.

I'd stick with those 130 grain. The Barnes bullets really shine with when moving at high velocities. 130 is perfect for a 270 and deer.

I loaded up some 130 grain TTSX for my 270 WSM this year. They are super accurate and are moving out at about 3,380 fps. I was hoping to see what they would do to a nice whitetail buck last week, but the deer gods were not shining down on me. I know they will drop a 117 pound timber wolf in its tracks, though. Next week I'll be in Montana for mulies, so I can't wait to see what they do out there!

[fr0sty]

You are likely right. I was trying to describe the rounds performance as much as possible without any bias. I see that I did imply it fragmented though

All I can say for sure is it wasn't a pass through and I haven't yet found the round inside the animal.

In the end, it did what I wanted with the shoulder shot (stop drop and flop)

[fr0sty]

nowiser, you seem well informed on this stuff. Federal is longer making ammo with the barnes tsx bullet. Once store stocks are gone, that's it. They said the replacement bullet is their trophy copper. Do you have an opinion on that bullet?

[NoWiser]

Frosty,

This is the first I've heard about that bullet. Being I use handloads, I don't really pay much attention to what the ammo companies are up to. I looked briefly at them, and I bet they will perform pretty similarly to the TTSX. I haven't read any reviews, but I'm guessing it would be hard to notice a difference. Otherwise, you could buy some Barnes Vor-TX bullets if you wanted to stick with them.

[DRH1175]

Federal is using the Trophy Copper like stated. It is their own design. Barnes has their own line now also called the Barnes Vor-tx. And another monolithic bullet is the Hornady GMX. All three are premium bullets that will take down any animal on this continent with ease out of a .270.

[DRH1175]

Whoops NoWiser, Pretty much repeated your post. So I will second what you said.

[fr0sty]

Thanks guys, I am going to stick with federal, because all the 130's shoot about the same from my gun. That way, if I forget my copper, in a pinch I can hit a local store and pick up the blue box and still be sighted in.