100 grain TTSX load success

[longdayjake]

I am highly impressed with the 100 grain Barnes TTSX. I loaded 28 grains of AA2230 in a fireformed winchester 7.62 casing. My chrono showed those loads going 2795 fps from my 20" barrel. There were no pressure signs whatsoever with that load so I don't doubt that more velocity would be possible with a little more powder. (If you don't have AA2230, the same load of Ramshot x-terminator should give similar results ). Anyway, I shot 5 shots with this load and 3 of them were exactly 2795 fps. Accuracy was fine but not insane (my rifle is just a cheap double star so your results may differ).

I was impressed with the velocity so much that I decided to see what it could do in real life. A friend of mine has some farm land that was being raided and destroyed by a herd of elk so I took the Grendel out and to do some depredation hunting on a special tag. Basically all we did was lay down on top of a hill and wait for the herd to enter the property to feed on the garbonzo beans. Once they crossed into the field we took our shots from only about 75 -100 yards away. Here are the results.

[VASCAR2]

Well I'm impressed, I'm going to a large gun shop Monday that usually has Barnes in stock. I'll probably buy a box of these to load. How far did the elk go after it was hit?

[longdayjake]

It went pretty far. I am a little ashamed to admit that I was slow picking my target and by the time I pulled the trigger she was running away from us. I hit her in the right rear femur (which broke it) and the bullet traveled about 2 feet through her body and ended up just under the skin and you can see in the picture where we cut it out. Luckily it caught a piece of her lung and she only hobbled over to the back side of the hill and layed down to die. I am convinced that the same shot from a .30-06 would have produced similar results. I had a little bit of goading from the hunting party I was with otherwise I probably wouldn't have taken the shot. Peer pressure is pretty strong when you are only about 75 yards from a huge herd of elk.

[warped]

I think your assessment is correct, shot placement is more important than any other criteria.

[MikeinGa]

Thanks for the info. good pics. Happy hunting.

Mike

[Bigfoot]

I expected more expansion at that impact velocity and going though 2 feet of elk and bones. Usually TTSXs expand that much at 500 fps less. Looks like it's made more for the bigger 6.5mm cartridges. It might be a good idea to contact Barnes and find out the expansion envelope before taking any long shots at smaller critters.

They make a special annealed 110 TTSX that the fellas at the 300 Whisper forum were talking about, I forget the minimum impact velocity but I'm thinking 1400. Maybe Barnes can do the same for the Grendel.

Nice review Longdayjake.

[PA_Allen]

Nice writeup longdayjake.

About a year ago, a Barnes Tech told me that the expansion threshold for the 6.5 100 gr TTSX was 1800 fps and the approx. BC was .360. I shot some reduced loads at approx. 2000 fps into water filled milk jugs stacked in a row. By the destruction done, I'm sure the bullets were expanding, but I was not able to recover one. After penetrating a few jugs, the reduced velocity barnes bullets would veer off course and exit out the side of a jug.

I was able to recover one at full velocity though that looks similar to what you pulled out of your elk:




I also shot a pronghorn at a little over 300 yds with this bullet. It's impact velocity should have been around 2000 fps, and by the damage done to the pronghorn, I'm sure the bullet was expanding nicely at that range. The shot was not ideal...strongly quartering away... The bullet entered the left rear hip, penetrated through the paunch, diaphram, vital organs, and exited out just inboard of the right front shoulder. The internal damage was extensive.

- PA

[longdayjake]

PA-Allen, It looks to me like yours expanded a little better than mine did. I am thinking that the reason mine didn't expand that far was because it hit the femur right off the bat and it used a lot of its energy getting through it. That is just my guess. BTW when that bullet hit I have never heard a harder or louder thump. I could tell I hit something pretty solid.