Barnes 416 TSX 350gr Bullet For Buffalo

[geoff rath]

Congratulations, Sir! A great animal, taken with a perfect shot.

 

[IvW]

View attachment 240475 View attachment 240476 Well I went with 400 grain Swift A Frame bullets, and here is the result. One frontal chest shot at around 75 yards, and the bull only ran maybe 20 yards before going down. The death bellow came about a minute later. The gun is a Winchester 70 416 Rem Mag. Load was around 2325fps. A soft recoiling, low pressure load in this rifle.

You Sir, are a wise man. Great choice of bullet at perfect velocity in the best buffalo caliber(.416).

Congratulations!

 

[TOBY458]

You Sir, are a wise man. Great choice of bullet at perfect velocity in the best buffalo caliber(.416).

Congratulations!

Thanks IvW!

 

[TOBY458]

Congratulations, Sir! A great animal, taken with a perfect shot.

Thanks Geoff!

 

[ARod]

Hello

I picked up a box of 50, 416 Barnes TSX bullets today for a steal. They are 350 grain. Do any of you have experience with this bullet on Cape Buffalo? I'll be shooting them in either a 416 Ruger or 416 Rem Mag. I've read good things about this bullet weight in a 416, but I usually prefer heavy bullets. I know the Barnes changes the rules on bullet weight a bit, so they may be good. Thoughts?

This response is a bit late. However, my 416 rigby was used on a Cape Buffalo. The bullet a 350 Grain Barnes TSX. Velocity of 2,550 FPS. It had 4’ of penetration the long way for the banded solids.

A total of 10 shots fired and hit! The TSX pedals sheared as the bullet tumbled. The banded solids penetrated deeply. The skinners recovered only 2 of the 10 bullets. See the pictures below.

I suspect that at least 7 of the solids cleared the carcass in the full frontal shots!

-Langosta

 

[TOBY458]

This response is a bit late. However, my 416 rigby was used on a Cape Buffalo. The bullet a 350 Grain Barnes TSX. Velocity of 2,550 FPS. It had 4’ of penetration the long way for the banded solids.

A total of 10 shots fired and hit! The TSX pedals sheared as the bullet tumbled. The banded solids penetrated deeply. The skinners recovered only 2 of the 10 bullets. See the pictures below.

I suspect that at least 7 of the solids cleared the carcass in the full frontal shots!

-Langosta

View attachment 454014View attachment 454015View attachment 454016View attachment 454017View attachment 454018

I bet penetration would've been even more than 4 ft if you had used a flat nosed solid. (Not that 4' isn't enough!) Also would've probably done more damage. How many TSX were used? Just the first shot?

 

[ARod]

I bet penetration would've been even more than 4 ft if you had used a flat nosed solid. (Not that 4' isn't enough!) Also would've probably done more damage. How many TSX were used? Just the first shot?

ten shots total. One TSX Ann’s nine solids. The skinners recovered 2 bullets, the TSX and one solids. I suspect that 7 solids entered and exited the long way on a full frontal volley of fire. The TSX petals broke off as the bullet tumbled inside the carcass the bullets were recovered from the rumen, filled with 100 lb of grass. It was amazing to see the internal damage and the bull’s effort to get back on its feet!

 

[TOBY458]

ten shots total. One TSX Ann’s nine solids. The skinners recovered 2 bullets, the TSX and one solids. I suspect that 7 solids entered and exited the long way on a full frontal volley of fire. The TSX petals broke off as the bullet tumbled inside the carcass the bullets were recovered from the rumen, filled with 100 lb of grass. It was amazing to see the internal damage and the bull’s effort to get back on its feet!

View attachment 454074View attachment 454075

I've shot a few buffalo with the 300gr 375 caliber TSX and never had the pedals break off like that. Hopefully that's not a normal thing for the 350gr 416 TSX bullets. Great buffalo!

 

[Nhoro]

Great feedback. What distance did you shoot the tax and solids from and do you know the velocity?

I guess you were testing the solids otherwise you must have an interesting story to tell. 10 shots is more like a Russian invasion than a hunt

 

[ARod]

Great feedback. What distance did you shoot the tax and solids from and do you know the velocity?

I guess you were testing the solids otherwise you must have an interesting story to tell. 10 shots is more like a Russian invasion than a hunt

The distance was 80 yards and muzzle velocity 2550 FPS. The first shot anchored him, but he was struggling to get back on his feet! He was a tough bull. Bullet are cheap insurance, sometimes they just go down hard. It was a exciting hunt. I think 7 of the 9 solids exited. The one solid that was recovered was in the stomach full of 100lb of grass!

The Barnes tech support guy, explained that the petals often break off if the bullet tumbles and travels backwards. They are rather brutal once they expand. I thought you guys would like that “fun fact!”

 

[Tanks]

...

Ideally you want the bullet to mushroom 2 or 2.5 times bullet diameter(every time not only sometimes and not loose petals), have enough weight to smash through heavy bone if needed, end up under the skin on the opposite side, travel at a muzzle velocity of 2200-2400 fps(more is not ideal).
...

Here are pics of those kind of expansions. 570 grains at 2,150. .510 diameter bullet. Found the bullet just under the skin opposite side.

 

[oldfart009]

The 350 gr TSX worked (416 Rem) like a champ on my Zim buffalo. I see zero reason to go lighter.

 

[ARod]

Here are pics of those kind of expansions. 570 grains at 2,150. .510 diameter bullet. Found the bullet just under the skin opposite side.

That is massive damage! What caliber? A 500 nitro express? It’s amazing to see the tissue damage and the bone damage at the entry. I am surprised that the lung tissue stayed in tack at the entry.

In the case of my buffalo, most of the left lung disappeared disappeared. The 350 g TSX vaporized the lung it struck. Two thirds of the lung completely liquified on my buffalo. The lung on the left, only 1/3 remained.
Anyhow it’s truely impressive to see the damage that these powerful rifle can produce.

 

[ldmay375]

I've shot a few buffalo with the 300gr 375 caliber TSX and never had the pedals break off like that. Hopefully that's not a normal thing for the 350gr 416 TSX bullets. Great buffalo!

This is definitely not a Buffalo experience. But, I have recovered one 416 350gr TSX and one 375 270gr TSX. Both were somewhat similar shots. The were around 25 yards, face shots on moose, driving the bullets lengthwise through the neck vertebrae. The 416 lost 2 petals, one of these was found near the bullet in the bone destruction. The 375 270 grain lost at least 2 petals, if I recall correctly. One of these was also found in bone wound channel. In my opinion both bullets performed well. After shearing various head bones their entire travel was through bone.
Tumbling can certainly pull the already flared / mushroomed petals forward and breaking them. But, I do not think petal loss is always a sign of tumbling. Hitting something that is substantial enough with fairly high velocity, can do it also.
Not unusual for a bullet nearing its very end of penetration to tumble either. But by then it has slowed so much that it is doubtful if it has much detrimental effect.