big ears
Well-Known Member
Both. Found little difference between the two. The TLR were the worst but the hollow point still made a mess. I found they were too aggressive on small deer which is a shame as they are really accurate.
Choosing Lead-Free Bullets
- Thread starter Too Deer
- Start date
Now I can't comment on the 6.5 version but I have shot around 250 of the 6mm TLR bullets over the last 2 months .
What I have found is they poke holes through deer and fox , they run a short distance and fall over dead unless they are shot through the shoulder where they will drop on the spot .
I havnt managed to find any of the rounds after they have passed through deer (out to 515 yards) but have recovered 2 from fox's , one shot at 120 yards and the other 190 yards .
Bullet must of been destroyed after hitting the banking behind .
Attachments
Quite right, I've killed 2 muntjac and 2 foxes with single rounds, .22, 55 grn lead. A friend of mine killed 2 roe with one shot, it probably happens more often than we realise.
ItalianHound
Well-Known Member
Hi! this is a very interesting topic. I came across the sako/barnes since my tikka was being very picky with loads. shot them great. then started working on a load with LRX. Great bullet. 175gn , norma brass and RS70
Rutland lad
Well-Known Member
Same here. Use 123 grain Fox Classic Hunter in homeloads. I’m about 50 deer in with them and I’m pleased with the results. I use Barnes TSX in my bigger calibre rifle, but in the favoured 6.5x55 (Swede not Creedmore) I just could not get Barnes to group, so I tried Fox and they both group and work well on deer.Hi NDS,
I, like you, am interested in results on deer (but hopefully less abrasive towards others coming from a different angle).
For over 20 years I used Swift Sciroccos in my 6.5x55 and Nosler Partitions in my 308. No huge exits from either, like you get with SSTs. Just small holes in, somewhat larger holes on the way out, no blow ups, dead deer every time.
There's little on this thread about Fox Classics from Ed up in Edinburgh, but they are accurate and do an identical job, see attached. I'm 72 deer in with these Fox bullets on roe, Fallow and muntjac, so not thousands, but I'm convinced. Small hole going in, destroyed vitals, a little larger hole on the way out. I've stocked up on these and no doubt will see me out. I'm so pleased I've yet to work up a load in my 308, the Varberger gets pulled out of the cabinet every time.
Attached photos are tonight’s muntjac. Entry point not on shoulder as I prefer but a little further back - my fault entirely. Deer ran for perhaps 10m which is unusual, but was down with a good blood trail I could easily follow.
I know people still doubt non lead, but entry and exit are clearly distinct.
Attachments
big ears
Well-Known Member
That is I interesting. One if your pictures shows a pretty destroyed shoulder with a large exit in keeping with and exploded round. Picture below is same.
Once skinned it showed the real damage
That’s too much for my liking and not a pass through rather a big explosion.
BE
Not everyone wants small exits and little shot Damage. I for one at a massive sst fan, and if they can replicate that performance with a copper bullet then that’s great. Just because you like the tsx doesn’t make it superior to anything else, there are a lot of people out there who are killing a lot of deer who wish for more expansion and fragmentation then the tsx offers.If the damage is like the SST you can keep them!
i have shot the ttsx for a very very long time, most of the time people have big holes from Barnes because they’re going too quick!
My 130 grain load for my 270 was only doing 2900 ish which is very mediocre.
Yup.... As per the OP, there is no perfect projectile (yet) it's about what suits YOU best.
I really don't like SSTs but I know plenty of people who swear by them so, they can't be that bad!
I think it would be perfect if the market is filled with a range of lead free options ranging from really hard mushrooming bullets all the way through to volatile fragmenting type bullets. No one bullet would be better than an other they would simply be different in how they work, and everyone could pick a bullet that suits their needs!
Exactly that.
Exactly that.
I thought some of you might appreciate me sharing my most recent experiences with copper bullets as they support the opinions of a few other people in this thread, as well as my own.
Having failed to pick up any Virtus bullets for a hunting trip in South Africa, I had no choice but to go cap in hand to my Father-in-law for some Barnes TTSXs. As I kinda mentioned in the OP, Barnes aren't really my cup of tea but beggars can't be choosers.
I threw a load together for my 6.5 and boarded the plane. Fast forward 5 days and the ammo accounted for over 10 animals, including a big Kudu bull, Nyala, and several of the smaller antelope species, at ranges of up to 230yds. None of the animals made it more than 30yds.
Having about 20 rounds left over, I thought I'd put them to use on Fallow once I got back to the UK, specifically for a park cull that predominantly involves head shooting.
Long story short, 1 of the animals remained alive for some time despite taking 2 shots to the head; the projectiles appeared to basically 'pencil' through. Not only was I pretty saddened from an animal welfare perspective but also pretty shocked at the terminal performance.
This is the second time I've had such performance with Barnes while head/neck shooting and I've not shot many of them. I can honestly never had the same issue with anything from @Virtus Precision UK so, I'll stick to what I know in future...... If my admin allows!
Clearly, I'm not saying that Barnes are crap; they were awesome for chest shooting African plains game. However, in my experience of using them, they're not up to head/neck shooting UK animals as they require a little too much resistance to impart sufficient energy reliably.
Having failed to pick up any Virtus bullets for a hunting trip in South Africa, I had no choice but to go cap in hand to my Father-in-law for some Barnes TTSXs. As I kinda mentioned in the OP, Barnes aren't really my cup of tea but beggars can't be choosers.
I threw a load together for my 6.5 and boarded the plane. Fast forward 5 days and the ammo accounted for over 10 animals, including a big Kudu bull, Nyala, and several of the smaller antelope species, at ranges of up to 230yds. None of the animals made it more than 30yds.
Having about 20 rounds left over, I thought I'd put them to use on Fallow once I got back to the UK, specifically for a park cull that predominantly involves head shooting.
Long story short, 1 of the animals remained alive for some time despite taking 2 shots to the head; the projectiles appeared to basically 'pencil' through. Not only was I pretty saddened from an animal welfare perspective but also pretty shocked at the terminal performance.
This is the second time I've had such performance with Barnes while head/neck shooting and I've not shot many of them. I can honestly never had the same issue with anything from @Virtus Precision UK so, I'll stick to what I know in future...... If my admin allows!
Clearly, I'm not saying that Barnes are crap; they were awesome for chest shooting African plains game. However, in my experience of using them, they're not up to head/neck shooting UK animals as they require a little too much resistance to impart sufficient energy reliably.
Brave Echo Niner
Well-Known Member
Draw a line from the base of the ear to the eye. Both bullets impacted about an inch below that and an inch apart.
Brave Echo Niner
Well-Known Member
So you’ve gone through the back part of the jaw, rather than the brain cavity?
While you may get away with this shot placement with a very frangible bullet it’s still too low either way and you’re relying on the bullet making up for the incorrect placement?
I’m afraid I don’t think that can be blamed on the bullet, you just need to be higher in the head with your shot placement.
Ben
Agreed but as mentioned in previous posts, the Barnes is less forgiving than the Virtus..... Hence less suitable (in my opinion) for such shooting as the Virtus.
As per the original post, I'm not trying to condemn any particular brand or model, just share information that may help others make an informed choice.
Brave Echo Niner
Well-Known Member
Brave Echo Niner
Well-Known Member
Fully appreciate that and I would agree with you that the Virtus/Yew Tree may be a better choice for those primarily Head/Neck shooting for the greater leeway you may get (ie. when culling in a park scenario).
I personally head/neck shoot approx. 40-50% of the deer I cull and find for me the Barnes are just the ticket as a balance for chest shooting with reasonable damage and also being effective at head/neck shooting.
My point was really aimed at this part of your post:
I think it's better to state you prefer the margin of error that the other designs give you when head shooting and as such the Barnes is in your opinion less suitable/ideal for that specific task, rather than making that somewhat questionable statement as it's not the bullet that's let you down in reality, more imprecise shot placement.
Ben
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