Nosler E-tip and Hornady CX

[Nosler guy]

Wondering if any or many members out there are using either of these bullets, and if so, very interested in hearing about how they performed taking game.

Background : Used the old Barnes X bullet exclusively from the time it came out. Phenomenal / devastating results with 150 grain bullets in a 7mm WM. Had a huge stock pile of them bullets, now they are gone. So we moved on to the newer TSX. We tried them in the 7 Mag, a .280, a couple of 7mm-08's, and the 30 - 06. We experienced some very poor bullet performance - especially with the 7mm - 08 and 30-06 (suspect that lower velocities were part of the problem) Very poor expansion, and the 280 wasn't much better - long follow ups or second shots needed even after well placed original shots. Had to wonder if the 30 calibre wasn't just a poor lot - they were by far the worst - just pencil sized exits. Have to admit - we never tried the newer TTsx

I like the monolithics - so was looking for an alternative. The Nosler E-tip, of course is a dead ringer in design to the Barnes, and Hornady entered the mono market a while back and the CX is their current offering. Loaded and shot 160 E-tips in the 7mag. They grouped very well - but everything does in that old girl. Loaded and played with 150 and 160 Hornady CX's in the .280. Grouping was acceptable but not great - that rifle is a Ruger Hawkeye and never has been a paper puncher.

So time to go hunting. Here in Northern Saskatchewan - we don't get a lot of tags, so it takes a fair while for one guy to accumulate enough hands on observations to access the performance and results of new bullets. And to make matters worse, none of my daughters were able to get time off to hunt this fall, and none of my buddies shoot similar calibres. So just 3 tags in my pocket. Can't resist the gorgeous weather in early Oct - so the Pronghorn was a muzzleloader hunt. Took a mature northern Whitetail with the .280 and the Hornady CX - 150 grain. Frontal quartering shot (shoulda been more patient) - very pleased with bullet performance - excellent expansion. Very dead deer. Similar to what we used to see out of the old X bullets. (unfortunately - having some computer issues, so haven't been able to load pics from my phone, or I would share the recovered bullet.) Elk - fell to the Nosler E-tip from the 7mag. Didn't recover bullet - but the Elk never left the spot. Looked like stellar results when we processed.

So just two hands on situations - one for each bullet. So hoping for and looking for more feedback and a larger cross section of experiences, to help assess these bullets.

 

[Art Lambart II]

I'm a TBBC guy, but I'll be following this thread.

 

[dchum]

Have to admit - we never tried the newer TTsx

I think you should try the newer TTSX.
Sorry you had such a bad experience with the TSX

140 TTSX in 7mag is one of the deadliest bullets I have ever seen.

168 TTSX in 30-06 is incredible.

 

[Tex .416]

Different monometal bullets vary as much in performance as different cup and core bullets.

Try the Barnes TTSX.

I tried TSX’s on deer and quickly quit them.

Fifteen years ago, someone I respected with a lot of experience encouraged me to try the TTSX, so I did. It quickly proved itself and the TTSX has been very consistent in terminal performance. It became the go to bullet for our family and has accounted for hundreds of deer and pigs at this point. We have never lost an animal and usually have minimal or no tracking.

Couple of key points - use lighter weight than would be used with a cup and core. Our most used combo is a .308 with the 130 TTSX. For a .300 Win Mag, the 165 TTSX gets the nod even for nilgai, which are large with thick rubbery hides. A high shoulder shot with the 165 TTSX knocked a nilgai off its feet.

The preferred shot placement is to the high shoulder. Come down 1/3 to 1/2 from the top of the back and the deer will drop where it stands. If the deer is quartering towards the hunter, put it on the point of the shoulder. Head down improves the result for reasons I do not understand, but have observed it over and over.

Avoid lung shots. High behind the shoulder and that animal can run run 100 - 150 yards. In big open areas that does not matter. In thick thorn brush that is a long and slow tracking job. Also, holes high in the chest result in blood draining into the chest and not leaving much or any blood until that space fills up. I’d say the same thing for cup and core bullets too. I never have liked lung shots.

Here are some clips of the 130 TTSX with my wife doing the shooting.

Here is a recent one with the TSX from a .45-70. This bullet is more similar to a self-defense pistol bullet with a large hollow point. Shot placement was low and behind the shoulder to the heart.

 

[Nosler guy]

Thanks for the replies - guys.

Tex. 416 - just what I was hoping for - info from guys with multiple kills. "100 deer kills" is a lifetime of hunting up here, where we are at one tag / season (unless you have multiple hunters)

And Tex - you make a very valid point. When using mono bullets, light for calibre bullets really seem enhance performance (my opinion is that - the higher the velocity, the better the performance). And I gotta admit, I have a tendency to want to use "heavy for calibre bullets." However, exactly the reason I chose to use the 150 gr. bullet in the 7WM, when I started out with the X bullets.

We never took any mono's to Africa - stuck with stuff we knew performed and we trusted.

 

[coreydb]

I'd go for the TTSX. I saw their performance first-hand and am a firm believer.

 

[dchum]

Thanks for the replies - guys.

Tex. 416 - just what I was hoping for - info from guys with multiple kills. "100 deer kills" is a lifetime of hunting up here, where we are at one tag / season (unless you have multiple hunters)

And Tex - you make a very valid point. When using mono bullets, light for calibre bullets really seem enhance performance (my opinion is that - the higher the velocity, the better the performance). And I gotta admit, I have a tendency to want to use "heavy for calibre bullets." However, exactly the reason I chose to use the 150 gr. bullet in the 7WM, when I started out with the X bullets.

We never took any mono's to Africa - stuck with stuff we knew performed and we trusted.

If it’s numbers you want… I can support some!
I guided for two seasons in South Texas with my loaner camp rifle being a Remington 700 in .300 Win Mag, shooting nothing but 180gr Barnes VOR-TX (TTSX) factory ammo. The performance was exceptional—borderline overkill on whitetail and absolutely outstanding on Nilgai.

That rifle/load combination was simply deadly.
Over those seasons it accounted for:

• 20+ Nilgai
• 20+ South Texas whitetail
• Countless hogs

I’ve also guided, accompanied, or personally hunted a dozen+ free-range Trans-Pecos aoudad rams, all taken cleanly with either the 7mm Rem Mag using 140gr TTSX or the same .300 Win Mag with 180gr TTSX. I was also part of a pack crew on a Trans-Pecos elk hunt where a mature bull was killed using the 180gr TTSX.

I don’t have many whitetail photos because the TTSX almost always produces an exit wound on our smaller deer—but the results are always the same: fast, ethical kills and tremendous internal damage.

I also believe the Hornady CX is every bit as good. And yes—the bad taste some shooters have from the older Barnes TSX is fair. In my experience the TSX is clearly inferior to the TTSX and CX monos. But if your rifle shoots TTSX well, run them. If it prefers the CX, then use those.
Just don’t write off Barnes because of the old TSX.

Some examples from the field:

• 200 yards – 580 lb Nilgai bull → ran 10 yards, lungs shredded (180 TTSX)

• 320 yards –Aoudad ram .300 Win Mag, 180 TTSX (personal hunt)

• 270 yards – Mature bull Elk, 180 TTSX, clean exit through both shoulders and centered the heart (pack crew / guided)

• 220 yards – 168 TTSX from a .30-06 on a Hartmann’s zebra

(Apologies as I’ve posted most of these pictures before, just wanted to show OP my case)

After years of guiding behind them, I have full confidence and trust in the Barnes Tipped Triple-Shock (TTSX). It is significantly more effective than the older TSX design, and one of the most reliable monolithic bullets I’ve used.

 

[analog_peninsula]

This is a fascinating thread. I used the 160 grain TSX out of my 7mm RUM for my 2016 Namibian hunt and had a wide range of bullet performance even though the bullet was obviously driven fast. I'll save my remaining 7mm TSX bullets for practice and move to the TTSX as this thread has suggested.

 

[dchamp]

I used to use TTSX and TSX in various calibers. A few years back what I wanted were unavailable for a good while. So, luckly for me, I stumbled upon Hammer Bullets and have never looked back.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

Hoping for good things from the CX. I have a load for my 7mm that's shooting lights out at the range. I hope to test it on caribou and moose in the next couple months - if we get snow/good travel conditions.

 

[Russ16]

I’ve been very happy with the TTSX in k 30-06. I load a 165 grain at 2750 on both a pronghorn at 292 yards and chamois at 256 yards so far this year. Excellent performance on both with large exit wounds.

 

[Tgood1]

As I much prefer and endorse ttsx, I observed a hunting buddy of mine kill a nice colorado bull elk at around 300 yards with an etip .280 remington, no idea of the bullet weight but bullet recovered on far side of skin, very impressive wound channel, went approx 50 yards.

 

[BourbonTrail]

I have 168gr and 180gr Etips for my 300 Weatherby, but I haven’t had time to finish load development for them yet.

 

[mdwest]

I’ve shot a lot of 190gr CX in my 300 prc… 260 rounds… I’ve only shot paper however… no animals…

My PRC really likes the hornady outfitter load with the 190 cx bullet… I was consistently getting roughly .75 moa 5 shot groups at 100 and keeping groups slightly under 4” at 400…

But… I’m a dyed in the wool Barnes guy… as soon as I had enough brass (from shooting the factory hornady stuff) I started developing a hand load using the 208gr Barnes LRX… I settled on a load that’s producing .65 MOA and pushing the 208gr Barnes about 50 fps faster than the factory CX load …

From a down range performance perspective I can’t imagine the CX being much different than the TTSX or the LRX.. they’re all monometals with high BC designed to deeply penetrate and rapidly expand at high velocity…

If for some reason I hadn’t been able to get the LRX to shoot well in my gun I would have been perfectly happy taking the CX after anything appropriate to hunt with a 300 prc…

 

[30-06Ken]

I must be the anomaly on here - LOL I've had great success using the Barnes TSX in my Weatherby 7mm-08. I reload so I'm using a 120 grain TSX going 3095 FPS. To date 30+ Pennsylvania whitetails (150 # avg) one shot kills and complete pass throughs. The furthest one ran was 50 yards. My wife used it on our last trip to SA and took Sable at 80 yards, complete pass through both shoulders, DRT. I opted to use the TSX over the TTSX because I get better accuracy out of the TSX.

Either way - Barnes bullets for the win.

 

[Nosler guy]

Thanks for the all the additional responses - very interesting

So my daughter remedied some of my computer issues, so now I can share pics of the recovered 150 grain Hornady CX - kill bullet from a mature northern whitetail, frontal quartering shot. Fired from a .280 Rem loaded over a healthy charge of Reloader 22. Velocity wasn't chrono graphed, but should be give or take from 2900 fps. Never weighed the bullet, didn't see the use in that.

So now we ended up with another tag - a late season population control / anterless elk tag. My wife drew the tag. She's kind of a fair weather hunter - so if it's not 30 degrees below, and the snow isn't up to her waste - chances are we'll get to see how this same bullet and load performs on the larger animal. Typically the Elk move pretty much into our back forty - so often, not that difficult a hunt, if the weather is favorable