Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Barnes TSX vs Barnes TTSX

I just returned from a very successful ek hunt.....we went three for three and was filled out by 9:00 AM the second day of the hunt.

I'll post photos of he recovered bullets shortly.....but we used .308 caliber Barnes TTSX in 165 grain and 180 grain. Alll three elk was taken with one shot each.....not bad performance.BUT HERE'S MY QUESTION Is the tsx better than.less than, or equal to the TTSX?

I'm going to try a TTSX this year for elk, but in the past have used the regular TSX BT in .270 (130 grs.) 7x61 (150 grs.) and .308 (168 grs.). Never a problem; apparently they opened just fine, though some say they don't open as dependably as the tipped version. Probably both excellent bullets.

Hopefully I can report back my experience with the .308 150 TSX as we leave tomorrow for our hunt.

TTSX for better BC longer range, but both bullets are excellent. Love Barnes.

[I have used Partitions, A-Frames, Northforks, Accubonds and SSTs from Hornady and now with only three examples to my personal experience, will be using Barnes for not only environmental reasons but also because they are simply an extremely good performing projectile.

I've witnessed my hunting partner kill 5 elk w/either .338 210TTSX via 338Win or .284 150TTSX via 280AI. I've killed 9 with standard TSX in either .308/200 via 300Win, 257/100 via 257Wby, or .277/140's via 270Win. 2 other hunting buddies have killed 4 elk w/TSX's in .308/200 300Win or .277/140 270Win (2 ea). You can throw 1 moose for each of us in that category as well. Both were ~200yds, one w/338Win/210 TTSX, one w/300Win/200TSX, again, virtually 0 difference in effectiveness, wound channel, or even in the recovered slugs.

I cannot determine a hill of beans of difference in accuracy or effectiveness. No difference in how long they last on their feet after hit that could be contributed to construction over placement and virtually 0 difference in what the wound channels looked like as I helped to cape/quarter all 17 I've either killed myself or watched killed through binocs.

If your rifle shows a preference, use that 'cause the elk won't care.

My 25/06 shoots slightly better with the tsx but both shoot really well. I was curious about the same thing.

Best I have found is the 168 TTSX IN 300 WBY. MY guide after cleaning and packing out went right to his cabelas and ordered him some !

North Fork

Yet to shoot an elk but running 168 ttsx out of 30.06 with a max load of imr 4064. I imagine it will do fine.

I killed one bull elk with a 168 grain TSX and one bull elk with a 168 grain TTSX from my .300 Weatherby. Both bulls were DRT where I shot them. I killed a pile of PG critters in South Africa with 168 grain TSX bullets from my .300 Wby, I then killed a pile of critters in New Zealand and Mozambique with 168 grain TTSX bullets from my .300 Wby. Last year I started using 180 grain TTSX bullets. So far the only animal that I've shot with this bullet was a Dagestan Tur in Azerbaijan that was DRT with a 327 yard shot through his shoulders.

Put in the right place, and both TSX and TTSX bullets work well.

I was on this hunt with Vapodog-- we obviously caught 2 of the 3 bullets, a 180 TTSX (30-06) broadside chest, and a 165 TTSX (300 H & H) quartering away. Both at 200 yards. Both found under the skin on the off side. Excellent results, no complaints. Couldn't find the colorful tips unfortunately. So for anyone that has used both versions, do you see more pass-throughs with one version?

My wife and I have been using TSX's and TTSX's since they were both introduced, the TSX in 2003 and the TTSX in 2007. Have also seen a lot of other people use both, partly through going on several cull hunts from 2000-2010, incuding one month-long cull with a dozen other hunters in South Africa.

The big difference I've seen is the occasional failure of TSX from 6mm to .30 to open up.. My guess is the hollow-points sometimes get battered closed (or partially closed) during recoil on the front of the magazine box. Have never seen it happen with .224 TSX's, or over-.30's, probably because the recoil of .22 centerfires isn't enough to do it, and because the hollow-point in TSX's over .30 is significantly larger.

Have never seen a TTSX fail to open, though have seen one credible report that it occurred, apparently due to angling shot that bent the tip, probably on a rib..

That said, the failures of TSX's to expand have been rare, especially considering the total number of animals.

Anymore we use TTSX's, except in calibers over .30.

Yup....and let me tell ya.....PA_Bob can shoot with the best of them.

Can anyone comment on how the Hornady and/or Nosler stacks up against the Barnes TTSX for terminal performance?

Of the few animals I've shot with each, I cant tell a bit of difference between the two.

It’s not a question that can be answered unequivocally IMO. I’ve used the 210 .338 TSX out of a 340 very successfully for years; a 270 .375 TSX on plains game, and the TTSX 150 and 140’s out of a 284 Win all with the same results — one shot affairs and superb hunting accuracy. Both types have been the most accurate bullets I’ve used out of these various cartridges for big game.

Until I received a Tikka T3 in 300 WSM. Based on my past experience, I expected my first handload with a TTSX to be accurate. I chose a 168 and used R17, the powder on hand which I also expected to do well in this cartridge. Over about twenty plus, 3-shot groups, accuracy ranged from 1.25 to 2.25” off of a bench, sufficient for elk hunting certainly but not for someone rather obsessive-compulsive. Velocity was good though. That’s my lone experience with the first load I tried with either bullet being just average accuracy-wise.

I have lost a few TTSX tips in the boxes over time which isn’t a such big deal. The TTSX’s have a slightly better B.C. for what that’s worth and a bigger hollow point but I also have not had expansion problems with the TSX’s.

There, I’m sure that was helpful..🤔

Ive used them both quite a bit and can't detect a difference. I gravitate towards TTSXa mainly because of reports ( VERY few..but some from people I actually believe...) of an occasional failure to open with a TSX. Ive never experienced it......and probably never will, but the only thing I have left in a standard TSX is a 62 grainer in .224...and I have a lifetime supply of them.

I have successfully used both TSX and TTSX from 6mm, thru the 7s and 30s and up to 338.

I have found several of each bullet in pigs, deer, elk and plains game against the off side hide.

They all look the same, as advertised, when removed. I have never had a failure from either bullet.

donsm70

I should add that I’ve only collected a few — a 270-grain 375 TSX that a big Burchell zebra stopped on the off-side shoulder; a 150-gr TTSX 284 that hit a big mule deer under the chin facing straight on at about a hundred yards. It was next to the scrotum after about four feet of travel. The third was another TSX 270 375 that went through a waterbuck sideways after hitting a twig in front of the animal. It was under the off-side hide.

Maybe the most impressive was this fall’s 140 TTSX (284 Win, started at 3050) that hit high on the shoulder of a young 6x6 bull at ~ a hundred yards, shattered the spine at the shoulder and exited.