Bullet Performance Database

I use Berger hunting VLDs. They act more like a hand grenade after they penetrate the hide. Shot roughly 100 plains game with them and have yet to recover anything more than fragments. 99.9% drop in their tracks and if any tracking needed, it's less than 10 yds. If there are other options, I am not a fan of the sledgehammer type bullets. YMMV.
fantastic mushrooms!
 
Swift A-Frame, .375" / 270 grs

Caliber: 9,5x66SE vom Hofe (approx. 10% more power than a .375 H&H)

Retrieved from a 850 kg Eland bull
Weight retention 267,4 grs...

Performance as described in the catalogue. My favorite bullet for Africa!

View attachment 484734

Can’t ask for any better than that!
 
I may reach out to Barnes and see what they say.

That said, they did do their job of successfully taking animals.

As a follow up tp this post, I have heard back from Chase at Barnes and he had some interesting input regarding the .30 TTSX bullets.

"The 180 gr TTSX bullet generally will always retain 100 percent weight but at certain higher velocities one or two and sometimes rarely, all petals, can break off after fully expanding and dumping a huge amount of hydrostatic shock/energy. In our research and testing (as well as my personal use on over 30 elk plus a few deer and even antelope all using 180 gr TTSX, 168 gr TTSX, 175 gr or 190 gr LRX’s fired at very high muzzle velocities) when the bullet sheds its petals after fully expanding , the bullet is not losing much performance or really any at all. In fact it has basically dispersed all energy at that point but is still travelling fast enough to keep expanding and the petal(s) breaking off. The trauma and tissue/organ damage is extremely high. 99.9% of the time the 180 gr TTSX retains near 100% weight or at least up wards of 80 to 90 percent weight retention and fully expanding with very large expansion. If the petals do shed, it is no less then around 15 inches to 20 inches AFTER penetrating the animal. The petals I have personally recovered from elk have been either against or stuck in the off side hide. There is certainly no other bullet that will retain as high of weight, holding together without fragmenting, yet still provide great expansion if a further shot is needed. That bullet will expand clear down to a minimum IMPACT velocity of 1500 fps."

"But for whatever reason if you want the picture perfect looking bullet for high velocity close range shots that retain all four petals, then I recommend either the 165 gr TTSX, 165 gr TSX or 200 gr TSX. Those bullets require a minimum of 1800 fps and also require a higher velocity before the petals break off. But to me I would rather have a bullet that I know will expand a longer range if needed, yet performs just as good up close. I have shot way too many gelatin blocks and game animals and seen how it absolutely does not affect performance if the petals break off a Barnes Bullet. Because they can’t break off till fully expanded and each time they do it is well after passing through the vitals and on the off side hide.

Not to mention the hundreds of thousands of animals that have died to a Barnes 30 caliber 180 gr TTSX. That is by far our most popular bullet hands down. "

The take away that I found most interesting, is that Barnes designed the 180gr .30 bullets to expand down to a minimum impact velocity of 15000fps, while the 165gr TSX/TTSX and 200gr TSX both need a minimum impact velocity of 1800fps.

Chase also provided the attached two photos of TTSX bullets he's personally recovered from game.

Shedding%20petals2.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The take away that I found most interesting, is that Barnes designed the 180gr .30 bullets to expand down to a minimum impact velocity of 15000fps, while the 165gr TSX/TTSX and 200gr TSX both need a minimum impact velocity of 1800fps.
First, I will make the assumption that you meant 1500 fps and not 15,000 fps.

The 300WM / 165 grain bullet (loaded by Barnes) is traveling over 2100 fps at 500 yards with over 1600 lb-ft of energy according to Barnes data. More than enough for Elk at that distance. However I'd like to be MUCH closer...maybe 300 to 350 yards would be my max range for game if conditions were ideal.
 
Type of bullet: Barnes TSX
Bullet speed: 2860 at the muzzle - 10 shot avg, handloads
Distance of shot: 260 yards
Original weight: 180G
Recovered weight: pass through, unrecovered
Calibre: 300 WSM
Species: Kudu
Shot placement: Animal quartering slight toward me. High shoulder entry, exit midway down the body

Type of bullet: Barnes TSX
Bullet speed: 2860 at the muzzle - 10 shot avg, handloads
Distance of shot: 150 Yards
Original weight: 180G
Recovered weight: pass through, unrecovered
Calibre: 300 WSM
Species: Black Wildebeest
Shot placement: Animal quartering towards. mid shoulder entry, exit midway down the body

Type of bullet: Barnes TSX
Bullet speed: 2860 at the muzzle - 10 shot avg, handloads
Distance of shot: 320 Yards
Original weight: 180G
Recovered weight: pass through, unrecovered
Calibre: 300 WSM
Species: Gemsbok
Shot placement: Quartering slightly away. Entered high shoulder exited about 10 inches angled down the body

Type of bullet: Barnes TSX
Bullet speed: 2860 at the muzzle - 10 shot avg, handloads
Distance of shot: 100 yards
Original weight: 180g
Recovered weight: pass through, unrecovered
Calibre: 300 WSM
Species: Impala
Shot placement: low shoulder exited directly across. Exit hole showed what looked like minimal expansion on the bullet
 
@Hooks&Ammo - first allow me to welcome you to AH!

You have some excellent information in your post. If possible, can you please share how the animals reacted to the shot? Or how far they went before they were recovered ? A few pictures of the animals would be cool too.
 
@Hooks&Ammo - first allow me to welcome you to AH!

You have some excellent information in your post. If possible, can you please share how the animals reacted to the shot? Or how far they went before they were recovered ? A few pictures of the animals would be cool too.
Thank you for the welcome.

No follow up shots were needed on any animal. My data is at 100 yard ranges so bullet speed is a rough speed in some cases, but should be close.

Kudu ran 20-30 yards (estimated) and went down. According to data chart bullet should have been at about 2400FPS

Gemsbok fell where she stood. According to data chart bullet should have been at about 2300FPS

Black Wildebeest dropped where he stood but kicked for 30 seconds or so. According to data chart bullet should have been at about 2600FPS

Impala made it 30-40 yards and went down, unlike the rest of the herd it did not bound off, but it did run. According to data chart bullet should have been at about 2690

Gems.jpg

Kudu sm-1.jpg

Wilda .jpg
 
Well, I guess I can finally contribute something.
below is a recovered round from a hippo shot with a :Vomit: 375H&H:Vomit: that I used as a camp rifle to shoot some bait animals.

ammo used was Barnes 300gr tsx.
shot distance was probably around 100yds or so. Quartering towards me from the bank, shot through the eye into the brain and recovered embedded in the skull somewhere by the skinners.
this was a bait hippo for the lion and leopard hunt the client had come in for.

One of the 4 petals had sheared off but otherwise a good result.
Retained weight is unknown at the moment but I will update this when I can.

427BA70E-20E8-4459-AED0-8563384DBD2E.jpeg


2325F211-2624-4865-BD9A-5B14D1DE5910.jpeg
 
Canadian bull Elk that I shot a few days ago. Range 85M. Cartridge 30-06 Norma Oryx 180 gr. factory load. First shot was placed properly, destroyed both lungs, exited. Elk began death dash, and I shot again as it turned towards me, hitting it too far back. Recovered bullet from the second shot was impressive! 0.78" diameter, 169 grains retained weight. 94% weight retention. Bullet recovered after penetrating almost a meter of elk. No heavy bones were hit, but wow what expansion and penetration and bullet integrity. This bull ran about 15M and died very quickly compared to most others I have shot. Body size is comparable to a big Kudu or Gemsbok. I like Norma Oryx bullets!
IMG_6530.jpeg
IMG_6554.jpeg
IMG_6553.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Canadian Cow moose that I shot a few days ago. Range 90-95M. Cartridge 450-400-3" Nitro Express 400 gr. Hornady DGX ( bonded) handload which I loaded to factory load velocity. First shot from my Merkel 140AE was placed properly, put a large hole through both lungs, exited opposite shoulder. Moose began death dash, and I shot again as it turned away from me, hitting it in the right buttock. Both bullets exited and were not recovered. Both appeared to expand well, lungs were very damaged and death dash was only about 5 Meters. My second shot, which dropped the moose, exited after penetrating (measured) 1.2 meters. I would have to say both penetration and expansion were very good, and due to the low velocity, little meat was lost despite the location of my second shot. Results were very satisfactory.
IMG_6648.jpeg
IMG_6644.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Awesome thread!! Love the perfect mushroom lol I've gotta take pictures of some factory loaded Fed trophy bonded tips that didn't quite make it through a zebra and blue wildebeest.
 
I used 110 gr Barnes ttsx out my dad’s 308 @ 3000 fps on water buck. The distance was 182 ms the bullet open like advertise very happy the shot was quartering away entered on the 3rd last rib and stop under the shoulder. The water buck ran 23ms one lung was collapsed.
 

Attachments

  • barnes 110.jpeg
    barnes 110.jpeg
    1 MB · Views: 76
  • barnes 110-1.jpeg
    barnes 110-1.jpeg
    969.3 KB · Views: 87
I also used 150 gr Barnes tsx out my tikka 270 @ 2600 fps on springbucks. The distance was 121 ms the bullet did not really open like advertise the shot was a texas heart shot and the bullet stop in the heart . The springbuck did drop just there
 

Attachments

  • IMG-20210924-WA0016.jpg
    IMG-20210924-WA0016.jpg
    106 KB · Views: 93
Canadian Cow moose that I shot a few days ago. Range 90-95M. Cartridge 450-400-3" Nitro Express 400 gr. Hornady DGX ( bonded) handload which I loaded to factory load velocity. First shot from my Merkel 140AE was placed properly, put a large hole through both lungs, exited opposite shoulder. Moose began death dash, and I shot again as it turned away from me, hitting it in the right buttock. Both bullets exited and were not recovered. Both appeared to expand well, lungs were very damaged and death dash was only about 5 Meters. My second shot, which dropped the moose, exited after penetrating (measured) 1.2 meters. I would have to say both penetration and expansion were very good, and due to the low velocity, little meat was lost despite the location of my second shot. Results were very satisfactory.View attachment 493849View attachment 493850
a follow up to this post... I butchered the moose today, and discovered the bullet performance was not quite what I first wrote. It was better! The first shot not only shattered the humerus but ribs on both sides of the chest in-between and scapula on the far side before exiting. Two exit holes in the far side ribs, one was from a big chunk of bone. The shot from the rear smashed the femur, and ended up near the exit holes of the first shot, and just under the skin.
I'm quite convinced now that the Hornady DGX Bonded is a good bullet. Nearly double diameter at 0.76" and weight retained was 98%! After hitting a big bone and more than a meter of penetration!
IMG_6684.jpeg
IMG_6680.jpeg
 
Sako super hammer head 180 grain 30-06 factory ammo 2600 fps It shattered the ribs just before the shoulder bone and stop in the opposite shoulder square on shot at 100ms on wildebeest . major damage to the rib cage .. wildebeest still ran 100ms thou
 

Attachments

  • 20221012_083955.jpg
    20221012_083955.jpg
    1.6 MB · Views: 109
  • 20221012_084034.jpg
    20221012_084034.jpg
    1.4 MB · Views: 79
Last edited by a moderator:
Pmp 165 gr brown box 30-06 factory ammo 2710 fps It shattered the first ribs from behind quartering away (walking slowly away ) went through one lung highish shot and it stop in just under the neck joint on a kudu bull it loss about 30% weight . Kudu ran 40ms and needed a second shot .

20221012_083823.jpg
20221012_083834.jpg
20221012_083843.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Forum statistics

Threads
53,624
Messages
1,131,351
Members
92,678
Latest member
LynnePhife
 

 

 

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

Impact shots from the last hunt

Early morning Impala hunt, previous link was wrong video

Headshot on jackal this morning

Mature Eland Bull taken in Tanzania, at 100 yards, with 375 H&H, 300gr, Federal Premium Expanding bullet.

20231012_145809~2.jpg
 
Top