308 168gr TTSX field results on Moose

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I undertake an annual moose hunting trip with some Swedish friends. About 4 years ago I switched from my 9.3x62 to a moderated 308
with 18" barrel. It doesn't like max loads but after some development I had a 168gr TTSX at 2,525fps using N150.

Year 1 was a blank

Year 2 I shot a bull at 80m with a perfect shoulder shot. The bull died in 60m quite normally. The expansion in the rib cage looked pretty small though.

Year 3 I used a 180gr partition to shoot a bull

Year 4 I went back to the 168gr TTSX as I had left a box with my mates to avoid extra airline charges. I had a great trip shooting 4 moose but bullet expansion was poor.

Cow - one lung and liver at 100yards - alive and walking after 15minutes - shot in the neck on follow up

Calf - both shoulders broken at 80yards - dead in 15yards

Bull - lung at 150yards, stood looking sick then walked off. Then hit once in the liver, once in the liver and lung and once in the shoulder. The liver shots showed only as much damage you would get poking a finger through it.

Calf - neck shot

Now I'll be the first to agree that 2 animals taking a bit of time to die isn't conclusive and that some of the shots were not the best even though they hit vitals. However I have come to the conclusion that this bullet is not exactly the hammer of thor. Then I add that to a couple of reds shot with lighter faster TSX and my friends experience of 150gr TSX on moose and I come to the conclusion that though they may be fine at much faster velocities they are not going to be used in my 308 again.

 
I use TTSX in 7mmWSM custom rifle and they perform exactly as advertised, for me. Barnes claim maximum bullet weight retention and 4x calibre expansion. This is what I've found on 18st Red and small Roe. I am pushing them at 3100, though.
 
its not the bullet its your shot placement,Ive shot all manor of big animals with Barns bullets and they didn't take 1 step.Barns are abrgeat bullet if you can get them to group they do the job on anything from a Munty to a Elan




 
Liver and lung = vitals. Even a moose should not be alive after 15minutes hit like that. Nor should expansion be so poor as to be only about 2x calibre hole in the organs. I am sure they can be great but it doesn't appear to me that they like to be at the lower end of the velocity range.
 
Liver and lung = vitals. Even a moose should not be alive after 15minutes hit like that. Nor should expansion be so poor as to be only about 2x calibre hole in the organs. I am sure they can be great but it doesn't appear to me that they like to be at the lower end of the velocity range.

One up the Ar5e is vital given enough time. Liver and a clipped lung aint gonna stop a rabbit never mind a feckin moose.
 
Very informative and honest post from OP, including the notion of lowish velocity possibly being the culprit.

No reason for Barnes fanboys to bash the shot placement, the shots were reasonable and another bullet might have done better in the stated velocity window. A shot through liver and one lung should not mean the beast is standing 15min later.
 
I drop a bullet weight when using Barnes. This will give you better velocities, expansion and penetration. Very good bullet. Drive them fast!:D
 
Very informative and honest post from OP, including the notion of lowish velocity possibly being the culprit.

No reason for Barnes fanboys to bash the shot placement, the shots were reasonable and another bullet might have done better in the stated velocity window. A shot through liver and one lung should not mean the beast is standing 15min later.

the shots were not reasonable,there is no such thing as a reasonable shot,of course a beast of that size could stand for 15 mins as it would probably take that long for 1 lung to fill up.
 
its not the bullet its your shot placement,Ive shot all manor of big animals with Barns bullets and they didn't take 1 step.Barns are abrgeat bullet if you can get them to group they do the job on anything from a Munty to a Elan

Do you mean an Eland ..... pic. 1?

They work on Zebra foal and baby Giraffe too :cry:
 
Do you mean an Eland ..... pic. 1?

They work on Zebra foal and baby Giraffe too :cry:

so sorry for the mistake you must be the "spelling police"
the Zebra was far from a "foal" in fact he was a very nice Stallion with not too many scars on is hide and the Giraffe wasn't a "baby either" but we did shoot some babies on that trip as part of the cull plan on that particular concession.
is there anything else you would like to comment on :finger:
 
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Does sound like a velocity issue.

From previously posted commentary on experience with GMX, Natraulis and Bi-metal poor expansion is a recurrent theme - and appreciate expansion/ penetration etc is a separate raging argument!



In which vein - SISI; calm down a bit eh :tiphat:
 
drop to 150gr and push them faster
IMO the full copper element does not expand as well, requires higher velocities to achieve the same expansion as a cup and core construction and is often the reason people go down a weight notch to get the velocities

from their own website:

When I use TSX Bullets, should I choose a lighter bullet than I’d normally use?Because Triple-Shock X Bullets retain nearly 100 percent of their original weight and penetrate so deeply, many shooters select a lighter-weight X-Bullet or TSX in place of a heavier conventional bullet (mainly so they can get expansion from higher velocities). The lighter TSX Bullet delivers higher velocities and a flatter trajectory, and outperforms heavier bullets of conventional design. It also produces less recoil.
What kind of penetration can I expect with the TSX Bullet?
Our tests have shown that TSX bullets can be expected to penetrate 28 percent deeper than lead-core bullets (they do this because they don't expand as much!). This is attributed to the high weight retention and superior expansion design X- and TSX Bullets feature. While lead-core bullets expand into a relatively smooth mushroom shape, the frontal section of the TSX peels back to form four sharp-edged copper petals. These petals help these bullets slice their way through game contributing to superior penetration.
 
At least in Finland and Estonia you need 140gr/9g to be legal for moose. Swedish hunting legislation is very very similar to Finnish but haven't read it in a while so won't say for sure.
 
I strongly reccomend you go for one of the partitions above 150 gr dependent on what your rifle prefers. My own experience in africa was one shot kills wildebeest, kudu, zebra, and numerous other smaller game. I used 160 gr nosler partitions ok it was a 7mm rem mag. Were the 180 gr partitions useful in year 3??


I undertake an annual moose hunting trip with some Swedish friends. About 4 years ago I switched from my 9.3x62 to a moderated 308
with 18" barrel. It doesn't like max loads but after some development I had a 168gr TTSX at 2,525fps using N150.

Year 1 was a blank

Year 2 I shot a bull at 80m with a perfect shoulder shot. The bull died in 60m quite normally. The expansion in the rib cage looked pretty small though.

Year 3 I used a 180gr partition to shoot a bull

Year 4 I went back to the 168gr TTSX as I had left a box with my mates to avoid extra airline charges. I had a great trip shooting 4 moose but bullet expansion was poor.

Cow - one lung and liver at 100yards - alive and walking after 15minutes - shot in the neck on follow up

Calf - both shoulders broken at 80yards - dead in 15yards

Bull - lung at 150yards, stood looking sick then walked off. Then hit once in the liver, once in the liver and lung and once in the shoulder. The liver shots showed only as much damage you would get poking a finger through it.

Calf - neck shot

Now I'll be the first to agree that 2 animals taking a bit of time to die isn't conclusive and that some of the shots were not the best even though they hit vitals. However I have come to the conclusion that this bullet is not exactly the hammer of thor. Then I add that to a couple of reds shot with lighter faster TSX and my friends experience of 150gr TSX on moose and I come to the conclusion that though they may be fine at much faster velocities they are not going to be used in my 308 again.

 
I would go go for the 130 in .308

I did go down one from the accepted standard of 180gr used by the majority of Swedish 308 hunters (Norma at one stage did 6 different 180gr loads!). 150 might have been better now I know what I know but given a large bull, fleeting shot opportunity etc the last thing you want is a nagging doubt which I would have had with 150s. 130s are not legal (140gr min)
 
I strongly reccomend you go for one of the partitions above 150 gr dependent on what your rifle prefers. My own experience in africa was one shot kills wildebeest, kudu, zebra, and numerous other smaller game. I used 160 gr nosler partitions ok it was a 7mm rem mag. Were the 180 gr partitions useful in year 3??

Yup - shot a smallish bull on a clearcut at 275m prone across my pack - traditional Swedish hunting style - not!

Next year I will shoot factory Norma 165gr Oryx or hand loaded 165gr partitions.
 
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