I have a 308 shooting barnes 150gr ttsx ocer 43gr of H4895 and two bucks in a row now the exit wound was smaller than a quarter. Not sure if this is typical or not but the last two bucks i have hit with this run a pretty long ways before stopping. Im considering switching to sierra game kings instead. Granted my shot placement tonight could have been better (i think it was a lung shot) but it just feels like it could perform better. Thoughts?

It's all about shot placement.

Remington kore lokt. The deadliest mushroom in the woods!

Barnes TSX bullets suck on deer sized game, imo.

I've guided probably a dozen kills with Barnes bullets and if you don't break a shoulder the results are exactly as you described. they looked like they were killed with an icepick. I would switch, the sierra gameking is a great bullet.

one other option is to drop down in bullet weight. try shooting a 130 grain TSX instead of the 150. at .308 velocities it probably isn't expanding worth a darn. the lighter weight will help

That's what Barnes TSX of TTSX bullets are supposed to do. Solid copper, peel back mushroom, stay together, and passthru. Designed to passthru without coming apart, and leave a good blood trail.

If you make perfect placement, they won't run far.

That's the theory anyway. And many good hunters swear by it.

I, however, prefer a fragmenting bullet with massive hydrostatic shock.

I like the HSM VLD with 168gr Berger bullets for the .308 - usually they drop in their tracks or gush blood for the few yards they run.

Exit wound from quartering away should. Nothing left of the heart, and actually blew bone out of the shoulder - and he still ran 25 yards - but there was a gallon of blood on the trail.

I've used them in the past and for the price was very disappointed. Sometimes the perfect shot placement isn't there and you walk forever looking for the smallest drop of blood. Went back to the normal ol' Winchester bullets and they either drop like a sack or a blind person can track them if the placement isn't perfect.
I think I'm finished trying different bullets, stick with what works!

they need to bring back the ol' silvertip.

that thing was a winner. the way the marketing is designed nowadays, you would be surprised anyone ever killed a deer before 2008 with the way the bullets were designed.

Somehow "game bullets" has come to mean maximum penetration without using a solid or an FMJ, and "varmint bullets" has come to mean anything that might fragment at 3600 fps or less. Well, it's BS. You want a bullet capable of reaching the vitals of what you're shooting at any angle you might make the shot. That's about 12" on most quartering WT. Beyond that the more expansion the better. Pass-throughs do help with trailing. The old BTs were basically the BT Varmint of today. Shoot 'em too fast and too close and you'd get bullet failures on the surface, but impacts under 2800fps all the way down to 1600fps were super deadly. Wish I could get one in a 168gr. The new BT Hunting is so thick that it doesn't open enough on small animals at low velocity. They still fail sometimes when a guy loads 'em in a 7mag and shoots a deer at 25yrds.


Short story: a .308 doesn't shoot fast enough to need a tough bullet for all but the closest shots. Partitions and varmint type bullets are the only things goin to open up drastically out of a .308 without going to a lighter bullet, the problem is, if you hit bone, it's not gonna work out as well. You gotta pair the bullet, the expected impact velocity and the shot placement. Most people jut focus on one part of the equation.

I've seen the TSX and TTSX shot in a variety of calibers over the past year and we trailed more game than ever before when put right behind the shoulder.
When they put it in the shoulder it was DRT almost nearly every time.

Tsx need to be run light for caliber. They are awesome I do shoot in shoulder the more bone they hit the better the performance

They don't suck but in .308 should be running 130's not 150's

I have a box of winchester ballistic tip silvertip 150 grain. And barnes vortex 168 grain tsxbt, but ive not used them yet. My go to round is the plain jane remington premier match 168gr bthp. And .308 is my calibur. Whats the better round? Ive read ballistic tips can fail to exit leaving a smaller blood trail but doing more internal damage.

Ballistic tips suck they are varmint bullets but 168 gr tsx is way to heavy for 308 with tsx bullets I run 168 in my 300 win mag

ive shot at least 20 deer with the 150 gr ballistic Silvertip and I've never had it not exit the other side.

Thanks for all the insight guys. Ill be taking my father-in-laws 270 with 150gr core lokts out tomorrow morning instead.

I use ttsx in all my rifles but run light for every caliber. Haven't had any problems in last three years. Just to give you the info 110 gr in .270, 80gr in .243 and the 55gr in .223. I really like there performance.

Killed two elk and a lot of deer with Nosler Partitions in my '06 over the years.

Remmy kore lock is what i always use usually drop in there tracks.

For 5 years, I have loaded nothing but Sierra Game King. I load for my both my AR's (223 and 308) and 7 mag. I lost my first hog Thanksgiving with the 223. Other than that all shots delivered DOA results.

They work fine if you stay off of bone but even then in the heavier calibers work very well.

They are a great design but where they really shine is on a caliber a little light for the animal. They are designed for max penetration, bone busting, and very consistent performance. I think they are great in a .22-.26 caliber for deer, antelope, etc. .25-.30 for elk, bear, moose, Plainsgame, etc.

I shoot them out of a 25-06 and they have done great on elk and larger plains game - I would not normally feel that confident about a lighter caliber on game like that, but with the tax design I know that I can bust the on-side shoulder and still pass through the vitals.

They are also awesome on dangerous game in appropriate caliber for the given animal

IMO - TSX/TTSX is a waste of money at 308 Win speeds. Just about any off the shelf ammo will do a good job.

Are you getting complete pass through with those numbers? What is your average shot distance? I just changed to Barnes. I was shooting Nosler bullet 125 grain with 30.06 and never got a complete pass through. I've never lost and an animal, but just a matter of time if hunting thick terrain with no blood trial.

I had the same thing happen with my 150gr Hornady SST Superformance 308 win. It was a 50yrd shot and the deer dropped in its tracks. I am glad the placement was spot on because the exit was the same size as the entrance.

Shoot the 130gr in the 06 and you will be good.