7MM Rem Mag Black Hills Gold Barnes TSX 140 grain, elk medicine?

[Ridgerider]

Just curious what the forum thinks of the 7mm rem mag 140gr. TSX. I had success this year at close range on an elk. Thoughts on pushing this set up out to 450 to 500 yards. Its lighter than I would like to use, and I am looking for a 175 grain TSX factory load for 2021. I was told the monolithic barnes bullets require less grain, not sure if I believe this... thoughts?

 

[JLS]

It’ll work fine.

 

[Caseknife]

You want lighter mono bullets to keep velocity up for expansion at longer distances. The other thing about Barnes TSX or TTSX is that the bullet coming out the other side of the animal weighs as much as when it went in, can't say that about cup and core construction. Another plus with Barnes is the lack of blood shot meat around the wound channel from bullet fragmentation. My 6.5s kill elk just fine with 120 TTSX and 127 LRX bullets.

 

[stk]

Generally the copper bullets (Barnes being one of the best) penetrate deep, expand reliably and retain weight but don’t expect a very wide wound cavity unless you’re impacting at very high velocity. They’ll kill for sure, though. Don’t be afraid to aim for bone. I killed a big cow two years ago with a 140 gr out of a .270 WSM. She ran farther than I’d expect a double lunged animal to run, but elk are tough.

 

[nmassey]

I used this same setup on my only Elk. It was a quartering away shot at 275 yards and lodged in the offset shoulder. The bull went about 45 yards. Would use again in a heartbeat

 

[nrpate05]

I was hunting with a friend and he was using the Barnes factory 7mm mag 140 ttsx ammo. He hit a broadside bull in the hindquarter at about 300 yards. Bullet broke the hip, deflected forward and penetrated through the diaphragm, one lung, and we found the bullet in the hide near the offside shoulder. Penetration was impressive.

 

[6mm Remington]

I would absolutely hunt with the bullet you list or the 140 gr. Nosler E-tip if your rifle doesn't care for the TSX. As others have stated it will serve you well. My son took his first elk with a 6mm Remington shooting a 90 gr. Nosler E-tip at around 3150 fps (can't recall exact speed but that's close). She was 350 yards standing broadside. He hit her in the lungs tight behind the shoulder on the right side. The bullet angled forward and "exited" out the center of the left shoulder. She staggered about 20 yards and dropped. He's also shot several antelope and a couple deer with the same bullet. Performance has been spot on.

 

[MThuntr]

As stated you need the velocity for expansion at distance. The 140 will serve you well within the distances you mention. I don't know your rifle but Barnes says the 175 needs at least a 1:9. I didn't know if they make 175gr TSX ammo.

Personal preference would be the TTSX bullet...I don't have first hand experience between the TSX and TTSX but claims are the tip helps initiate expansion and the improved BC may help a bit (negligible though still a benefit).

 

[buffybr]

You want lighter mono bullets to keep velocity up for expansion at longer distances. The other thing about Barnes TSX or TTSX is that the bullet coming out the other side of the animal weighs as much as when it went in, can't say that about cup and core construction. Another plus with Barnes is the lack of blood shot meat around the wound channel from bullet fragmentation. My 6.5s kill elk just fine with 120 TTSX and 127 LRX bullets.

Generally the copper bullets (Barnes being one of the best) penetrate deep, expand reliably and retain weight but don’t expect a very wide wound cavity unless you’re impacting at very high velocity. They’ll kill for sure, though. Don’t be afraid to aim for bone. I killed a big cow two years ago with a 140 gr out of a .270 WSM. She ran farther than I’d expect a double lunged animal to run, but elk are tough.

Yes, it's generally true that the mono bullets weigh as much going out as they did when they entered the animal. So for example, the 168 grain TSX/TTSX bullets that I've recovered from animals have all weighed more than the 180 grain Partitions that I have recovered from elk. BUT I have recovered Barnes bullets that lost a petal on their way through, AND I have recovered cup and core bullets that hardly lost any weight.

My favorite shot on North American animals is broadside, right behind the shoulder. The first elk that I shot with my (then new) .300 Weatherby and a Barnes 168 grain TSX bullet was one of those shots, and I was impressed at the minimal bloodshot meat, especially compared to the amount of bloodshot meat that I had been getting on the elk that I had shot with 180 grain Partitions.

So a couple of years later I had been playing cat and mouse with another elk along a private property line. When the bull crossed to my side of the fence and stood quartering to me and facing away from the fence, I thought about the minor meat damage that the TSX bullet did to my previous bull, and I broke my broadside shot rule and put a 168 grain TTSX square into the shoulder of this bull.

My bullet had hit his upper front leg bone near it's joint with his shoulder blade. About 1/4 of that shoulder was a gooey, bloodshot mess. The bullet penetrated almost the full length of that bull as I found it in his opposite side ham, and it had lost one of it's petals.

I do not recommend shoulder shots on animals that you intend to eat.

 

[Ridgerider]

Thanks for the input, I will stick with the BH ammo Barnes 140gr tsx as it's easy for me to buy locally here in the Black Hills and shoots well in my rifle. Appreciate the info!

 

[HighDesertSage]

140's will bounce off, 160's will pass through.

 

[Valgrego]

Thanks for the input, I will stick with the BH ammo Barnes 140gr tsx as it's easy for me to buy locally here in the Black Hills and shoots well in my rifle. Appreciate the info!

Maybe try the 150gr TTSX if you want just a little more weight and negligible loss of velocity. That is, if you can find any...My Browning A Bolt II loves those.

 

[stw]

I shoot 140gr txs in STW hand loads 3400fps shot deer elk bears caribou all pass throughs from 50yds to 600yds great bullet

 

[Durango Mike]

Just curious what the forum thinks of the 7mm rem mag 140gr. TSX. I had success this year at close range on an elk. Thoughts on pushing this set up out to 450 to 500 yards. Its lighter than I would like to use, and I am looking for a 175 grain TSX factory load for 2021. I was told the monolithic barnes bullets require less grain, not sure if I believe this... thoughts?

Depending who answers it is a nice rock marmot round out to 500, maybe even coyote, but the 338-378 Weatherby is really what you need (laugh track starts now). My experience with 7 mag 150 gr nosler partition, 145 grain Grand Slam, and 7X57 and 140 ABLR did just fine on elk from 100-350 yards at my place (10 plus cows and 2 bulls) all with patient bullet placement and none took more than a few steps. The quality of modern bullets is fantastic and with reasonable shot placement it will do just fine a little further (500). My take has been the longer the shot the more perfect the shot needs to be, any marginal shot, even with the 338-378 is a non starter, follow Randy's discipline. I think the 7 mag tends to be overlooked with all the 6.5 talk, it is a nice balanced cartridge, I have used one extensively and worked great on Nilgai in Texas and plains game in Africa with 140-150-160 grain pills. My 7 mag was built in 1972 and my 280AI in 1986 and with 140-150 gr bullets I can see no difference, get another 100fps with the 160 vs the 280ai, never seen the need for the 175.

 

[stk]

Yes, it's generally true that the mono bullets weigh as much going out as they did when they entered the animal. So for example, the 168 grain TSX/TTSX bullets that I've recovered from animals have all weighed more than the 180 grain Partitions that I have recovered from elk. BUT I have recovered Barnes bullets that lost a petal on their way through, AND I have recovered cup and core bullets that hardly lost any weight.

My favorite shot on North American animals is broadside, right behind the shoulder. The first elk that I shot with my (then new) .300 Weatherby and a Barnes 168 grain TSX bullet was one of those shots, and I was impressed at the minimal bloodshot meat, especially compared to the amount of bloodshot meat that I had been getting on the elk that I had shot with 180 grain Partitions.

So a couple of years later I had been playing cat and mouse with another elk along a private property line. When the bull crossed to my side of the fence and stood quartering to me and facing away from the fence, I thought about the minor meat damage that the TSX bullet did to my previous bull, and I broke my broadside shot rule and put a 168 grain TTSX square into the shoulder of this bull.

My bullet had hit his upper front leg bone near it's joint with his shoulder blade. About 1/4 of that shoulder was a gooey, bloodshot mess. The bullet penetrated almost the full length of that bull as I found it in his opposite side ham, and it had lost one of it's petals.

I do not recommend shoulder shots on animals that you intend to eat.

Fair enough. You certainly risk losing more meat by intentionally putting it through a shoulder bone. I recovered a Barnes bullet before that had lost one of its petals as well...it might’ve been a .270 140gr TSX or a .25 100gr or 110gr TTSX, I don’t remember, but I’ve definitely seen it. I think I still have the bullet somewhere. It didn’t seem to affect performance much and there doesn’t seem to be much risk of losing all or most of the petals.

Personally I’m willing to give up 1/4 of one shoulder’s meat on an elk if it anchors it right there. I’m ok with only packing out the other 200+ lbs of meat! Others understandably want to avoid any meat damage as much as possible. The bullet will kill an elk if placed behind the shoulder and do it with little or no meat damage, but you’re much more likely to have some tracking involved.

I’ve shot maybe five or six deer and antelope with the Barnes bullets but only one elk with them. I like the bullets very much, but in my limited experience, they don’t produce immediate, emphatic kills unless you hit bone or high shoulder.

 

[BillDoe708]

Yes, it's generally true that the mono bullets weigh as much going out as they did when they entered the animal. So for example, the 168 grain TSX/TTSX bullets that I've recovered from animals have all weighed more than the 180 grain Partitions that I have recovered from elk. BUT I have recovered Barnes bullets that lost a petal on their way through, AND I have recovered cup and core bullets that hardly lost any weight.

My favorite shot on North American animals is broadside, right behind the shoulder. The first elk that I shot with my (then new) .300 Weatherby and a Barnes 168 grain TSX bullet was one of those shots, and I was impressed at the minimal bloodshot meat, especially compared to the amount of bloodshot meat that I had been getting on the elk that I had shot with 180 grain Partitions.

So a couple of years later I had been playing cat and mouse with another elk along a private property line. When the bull crossed to my side of the fence and stood quartering to me and facing away from the fence, I thought about the minor meat damage that the TSX bullet did to my previous bull, and I broke my broadside shot rule and put a 168 grain TTSX square into the shoulder of this bull.

My bullet had hit his upper front leg bone near it's joint with his shoulder blade. About 1/4 of that shoulder was a gooey, bloodshot mess. The bullet penetrated almost the full length of that bull as I found it in his opposite side ham, and it had lost one of it's petals.

I do not recommend shoulder shots on animals that you intend to eat.

What distance did you shoot it at?

 

[buffybr]

What distance did you shoot it at?

Both were at or about 100 yards.