The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post

stevedscross · December 1, 2012, 07:57 PM

I load the 55gr TAP rounds for home defense and general stuff, but for survival situation I keep the 62 gr TSX and the 62gr Green tip. The Barnes TSX does not tumble. it expands and mostly straight line pentrates. Its good for hunting (I have shot hogs with it, and its always bang flop, bullet exits.) I would have no problem using the 62gr TSX for whitetails, just have'nt gotten a shot on one yet while carrying it. For people (bad guys) the TAP bullet will do more damage to the chest or head and have very little risk of over pentration. The 75gr Match bullets are not really great at the terminal end, but they do yaw and then break. The 75 gr match and the MK 262 77gr load are best for accurate shots vs people but I would not personally use this load for hunting. So home defense go with the lighter TAP rounds (as the 75gr TAP is the hornady match bullet) like the 55gr, or 62 gr. If you want a load for end of the word and want to only use one kind of bullet for everything then I would go with the 62 gr Barnes TSx even with the risk of more penetration.

My solution is that I just noted to myself were the TSX's and the TAPS rounds impact with one zero. In one of my rifles I found that if I zero for the 55gr tap out to about 150 I only have about a 1.5 MOA impact shift. Now this is luck for me, and your rifle may be different so check. I also keep a large amount of 55gr Wolf ammo about of SHTF. I expect that sometimes I will just want something that has moderate terminal ballistics and acceptable accuracy. My rifle will do 2 MOA with wolf, 1-1.5 MOA with TAp & the TSX. My twist rate is 1/9" so your rifle will shoot differently.

Another important thing to remember is that the TSX bullets are all long for their weight. Copper has less mass than lead so a FMJ bullet with a lead core is going to be shorter than a solid copper X bullet. Since the twist rate is affected by the OAL of the bullet and not he weight you can use the same weight of bullet but go to the X bullet for better twist rate match. Hope this helps, and if you have anything more you wan to know just shoot me a message.

December 1, 2012, 07:57 PM	#22
stevedscross Member Join Date: June 5, 2010 Location: Michigan Posts: 48	I load the 55gr TAP rounds for home defense and general stuff, but for survival situation I keep the 62 gr TSX and the 62gr Green tip. The Barnes TSX does not tumble. it expands and mostly straight line pentrates. Its good for hunting (I have shot hogs with it, and its always bang flop, bullet exits.) I would have no problem using the 62gr TSX for whitetails, just have'nt gotten a shot on one yet while carrying it. For people (bad guys) the TAP bullet will do more damage to the chest or head and have very little risk of over pentration. The 75gr Match bullets are not really great at the terminal end, but they do yaw and then break. The 75 gr match and the MK 262 77gr load are best for accurate shots vs people but I would not personally use this load for hunting. So home defense go with the lighter TAP rounds (as the 75gr TAP is the hornady match bullet) like the 55gr, or 62 gr. If you want a load for end of the word and want to only use one kind of bullet for everything then I would go with the 62 gr Barnes TSx even with the risk of more penetration. My solution is that I just noted to myself were the TSX's and the TAPS rounds impact with one zero. In one of my rifles I found that if I zero for the 55gr tap out to about 150 I only have about a 1.5 MOA impact shift. Now this is luck for me, and your rifle may be different so check. I also keep a large amount of 55gr Wolf ammo about of SHTF. I expect that sometimes I will just want something that has moderate terminal ballistics and acceptable accuracy. My rifle will do 2 MOA with wolf, 1-1.5 MOA with TAp & the TSX. My twist rate is 1/9" so your rifle will shoot differently. Another important thing to remember is that the TSX bullets are all long for their weight. Copper has less mass than lead so a FMJ bullet with a lead core is going to be shorter than a solid copper X bullet. Since the twist rate is affected by the OAL of the bullet and not he weight you can use the same weight of bullet but go to the X bullet for better twist rate match. Hope this helps, and if you have anything more you wan to know just shoot me a message.