Barnes TSX 300 gr 375 perfect lion load

[M70375!]

I have a few guys tell me not house the Barnes TSX 300 gr 375 bullet for my upcoming lion hunt , because they say the bullet won't open up on a lion, so I decided to do a little field research today. I went out and called in a coyote to 100 yards and shot him in the throat just below the jaw as he was looking at me in the sagebrush , all I could see was his head. I am now convinced that the 300 gr Barnes TSX is the perfect bullet for lion. Nearly a 4 inch hole in the back of his neck.

 

[PARA45]

I shot a Lioness with Barnes 300 grs TSX ammo, and it was a one shot kill. About an inch or so exit wound, with lots of internal trauma. Lioness was probably 20 ft from where it was shot, and I believe is where she landed after the somersault she did after being shot. I checked with the owner/PH, and he game the green light bring and use that ammo.

 

[Rare Breed]

I have a few guys tell me not house the Barnes TSX 300 gr 375 bullet for my upcoming lion hunt , because they say the bullet won't open up on a lion, so I decided to do a little field research today. I went out and called in a coyote to 100 yards and shot him in the throat just below the jaw as he was looking at me in the sagebrush , all I could see was his head. I am now convinced that the 300 gr Barnes TSX is the perfect bullet for lion. Nearly a 4 inch hole in the back of his neck.

I agree! While my Barnes TSX did expand on my lion taken last August at 7 yards I would use Swift A-Frames instead based on my real life experience

 

[M70375!]

I think the a frames are harder than the TSX and will expand slower, what say you?

 

[Ruraldoc]

I have not shot a lion with my 375 but I have shot that exact bullet into wild pigs from 40 pounds to around 200.

The bullets expanded and exited on every animal. All very were rapidly incapacitated and every case there was a huge amount of blood on the ground.

My 470 double has killed a big male lion with a single 500 barnes tsx. It expanded perfectly and was recovered but the lion lived long enough to mount a serious charge.

I think at the high impact velocity of a 375, the 300 grain tsx is a fast killer.

At lower velocity, from a 458 or 470, I would pick a softer bullet for lion. You may be better off with a softer bullet in your 375 as well.

I am talking to my PH friend about hunting lion soon, he told me to bring a 375 with 270 grain soft points because they expand very rapidly on big cats.

 

[matt85]

I don't see a problem with using the TSX on lion. But I would use a lighter bullet. The faster the TSX is moving, the better it will work.

 

[M70375!]

I have a few guys tell me not house the Barnes TSX 300 gr 375 bullet for my upcoming lion hunt , because they say the bullet won't open up on a lion, so I decided to do a little field research today. I went out and called in a coyote to 100 yards and shot him in the throat just below the jaw as he was looking at me in the sagebrush , all I could see was his head. I am now convinced that the 300 gr Barnes TSX is the perfect bullet for lion. Nearly a 4 inch hole in the back of his neck.

I have not shot a lion with my 375 but I have shot that exact bullet into wild pigs from 40 pounds to around 200.

The bullets expanded and exited on every animal. All very were rapidly incapacitated and every case there was a huge amount of blood on the ground.

My 470 double has killed a big male lion with a single 500 barnes tsx. It expanded perfectly and was recovered but the lion lived long enough to mount a serious charge.

I think at the high impact velocity of a 375, the 300 grain tsx is a fast killer.

At lower velocity, from a 458 or 470, I would pick a softer bullet for lion. You may be better off with a softer bullet in your 375 as well.

I am talking to my PH friend about hunting lion soon, he told me to bring a 375 with 270 grain soft points because they expand very rapidly on big cats.

Yes, I thought about using Accubonds, but after seeing the performance of the TSX on that little coyote, I just find it hard to think that anything else could be better

 

[M70375!]

I don't see a problem with using the TSX on lion. But I would use a lighter bullet. The faster the TSX is moving, the better it will work.

That's what I thought , but my PH says to use the 300gr TSX, my rifle shoots the 300gr better than the 270gr

 

[gizmo]

Barnes bullets in general are the best on the market imo. The TTSX is fantastic for medium sized game and/or long range. In the big game category the TSX is king for anything that you need an expandable bullet. I killed an asiatic waterbuffalo with my double in 9.3x74r. First shot was head on and drove 3/4 of the way through the body. 2nd shot was a raking shot as it spun around. It broke the hip joint at the spine and was lodged in the skin on the opposite side. Excellent performance and both bullets looked like the ones in the advertisement.
I’ve hunted with Barnes TSX/TTSX bullets exclusively for the last 10 years or so. I’ve never had one fail or had a bad experience. I trust them 100 %.
In the interest of transparency I have exactly 0 experience with their solids. I have a box of them for my 9.3’s and 375’s but have never loaded any and shot anything with them.

 

[Rare Breed]

I think the a frames are harder than the TSX and will expand slower, what say you?

You may be right. The best quick expanding bullet is probably the Nosler Partition. I would be fine with it in leopard but would be concerned too much expansion for lion

 

[Hillcountry63]

I will be using Barnes TSX 300gn in my Winchester 70 375 H&H next month on my lion at the preference of my PH, which is fine since I use it for pretty much everything else.

 

[Philip Glass]

You may be right. The best quick expanding bullet is probably the Nosler Partition. I would be fine with it in leopard but would be concerned too much expansion for lion

Swift Scirrocco is what I shot the leopard with. Very similar to partition.

 

[Philip Glass]

I love Barnes TSX for most everything. I do hear what others are saying about a softer bullet for a cat. I more understand the rationale for leopard than lion. I used the soft Swift Scirocco last year for my leopard with devastating results. My lion was with a 300g Accubond. I would not hesitate to use the TSX for your lion.

 

[wvfred]

I've used Barnes TSX 400 grain in my 416 and shot everything from buffalo to hyena with perfect results.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

What custom loaders at Hendershots recommend:

 

[dogcat1]

300gr TSX is perfect as is the A-Frame and Partition.
Hit him in the shoulder/heart-lung and he is very very dead

 

[Shotall]

I have a few guys tell me not house the Barnes TSX 300 gr 375 bullet for my upcoming lion hunt , because they say the bullet won't open up on a lion, so I decided to do a little field research today. I went out and called in a coyote to 100 yards and shot him in the throat just below the jaw as he was looking at me in the sagebrush , all I could see was his head. I am now convinced that the 300 gr Barnes TSX is the perfect bullet for lion. Nearly a 4 inch hole in the back of his neck.

As for me, that's a wild test run! You put that coyote to sleep, fam! 4-inch exit hole? That TSX bullet is straight flames! Lion hunt's gonna be a cakewalk, you're ready.

 

[DLSJR]

You’ll be fine with a TSX, just hit him in the right place and you’ll have a dead simba.

That said, I think there are better bullet choices for lion, especially the Trophy Bonded Bearclaw, but also Nosler Partition or a Swift A-Frame. They’ll all kill a lion or pretty much anything else very efficiently. I’ve only shot one lion and it was with a 400 grain Bearclaw in my .416, at about 100 yards or a bit more. The lion died quickly, going maybe 20 yards or so. The 3 leopards I’ve shot were were a 180 grain Partition from 300 Winchester and that cat was dead before he tumbled off the limb, instant lights out! Two were with a 225 grain Bearclaw from my .338. They both died very quickly, found within 20 yards of where I shot them.

A TSX will be fine for a lion, but if I ever shoot another one, it’ll be with a 300 grain Bearclaw from my 375.

 

[Datchew]

I shot a bobcat this spring at 150m with a 168gr TTSX in a 300WM.
It opened up a 3-4" hole on the backside of the front shoulder.
Bear in mind that is a very small, soft, cat, and the bullet expanded within approximately 4-5" of shoulder width traveling at 2900 FPS.

I was pleasantly surprised and plan to use the TSX in my 375H&H next year on cape buffalo.

 

[Frank Cavallo]

I had used TSX exclusively since '05 until my Save lion in '18. Had 300 TSX out of a 3-7-5 H&H fail to open up adequately on an eland & zebra. Acted like solids. After we recovered a 180 gr TSX from a .300 Win my PH decided to ditch the 3-7-5 and use the .300 Win instead on the lion. He was really worried it wouldn't open up and not something to fuck with on lion.

We also showed the 3-7-5 TSX to two other Save PHs who came by camp to visit- both looked, and without hesitation said: "A frames."

Lions are thin skinned and don't need anything bigger than a .300. TSX are fine at higher velocities but have a sweet spot- too fast/too slow they kinda suck. Now, other than brown bears & DG I wouldn't use anything else though.


300 gr TSX from eland & zebra

180 gr TSX from I forgot