Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Barnes TTSX/TSX vs Nosler Etips?

I've had good results from Barnes TTSX and TSX, but have no experience with Etips.

Barnes or Etips, which is more accurate in your deer loads?

TTSX for me.

TTSX for me as well 6.5, 7mm, .30, 338 & 35 caliber all shoot very well.

I have two friends who have been mono loonies for the past decade. They have told me it's usually easier to get TSX/TTSX's to shoot more accurately than E-Tips. But that doesn't mean E-Tips won't work great in a particular rifle and load.

I like the TTSX and LRX's from Barnes. I saw the first E-Tips on the shelf today for the first time in a long time. They were $51.99 a box and the same grain and diameter Barnes bullets were on the shelf next to them for $10 less. I'll buy Barnes at those prices.

I've spent less time with load development when using the TSX and TTSX in comparison with the ETip.

Loaded them in a Ruger compact 308 and got a working load pretty quick .
I used the same coal start as the TTSX with .050 off the lands and 748 with magnum primer .
Shot pretty consistent 3/4”-1” three shot groups .
110 gr , had a Tom crossing a field about 100yds , aimed were the neck connects to the body , hit a little low in back , thankfully I didn’t hit him in the body .
Feathers puffed out in a cloud like a cherry bomb went off in him .
When I got out to him there was a gap you could lay three fingers in .
The shock even that high pulped his lungs , but breasts were still in tact and pretty good eating .
About an eight inch beard , healthy set of spurs too .
Have tried on a pretty regular bases to get some more but so far no luck .
Kenneth

I use the TTSX bullets, accurate in every rifle I’ve tried then in

I've only developed 2 loads for the E-tip, which was a 130gr for the 270win and a 140gr for the 280AckImp. Both were 3 shots around ¾inch.

I've used a Barnes TSX, and TTSX with the130gr for the 270win and the 110, and 120gr for the 7x57.

Id say accuracy was about the same in my rifles, and both bullets killed deer, but personally I don't care for the terminal performance of mono metal bullets. Yes they kill deer but for me, they don't deliver the bang / flop kind of hydrostatic shock like a traditional lead core bullet. The E-tips are made of a harder alloy and they do expand but they don't leave a big hole compared to a like weight Ballistic Tip. The Barnes seem to dip better, maybe a bit softer, and I truly believe they penetrate better than the E-tips. They still at least in my rifles don't seem like they kill very quickly. If I was forced to use a mono bullet I'd be picking the Hornady GMX which has now been replaced by the CX, but for me and the rifles I load for I'll stick to Ballistic Tips, Accubonds, ProHunters, Game Changers, Game Kings, SSTs, and ELD-X, etc.

Regardless of what you pick, I wish you good hunting / good shooting

I've used both considerably, though more TSXs since they appeared before either the TTSX and E-Tip--both of which appeared in 2007.

Had some trouble with the original E-Tips, the model without the concentric groove around the rear of the ogive. Sometimes they'd be very accurate, and other times not-like pre-TSX Barnes bullets. But the grooved E-Tips have usually grouped very well--a good example being the 100s in my NULA .257 Weatherby, which will put 5 (not just 3) 100s into less than 1/2". Like TSXs they normally group tighter when seated farther off the lands. Sometimes have found .1" or more necessary for the smallest groups,.

The E-Tips also generally have a little higher BC, due to fewer grooves. But when trying out monos I generally use the one that groups best. Have not been able to discern any difference in terminal performance between Barnes, Nosler or Hornady GMXs so far.

I have been a Nosler fan for decades but have been playing with the TTSX bullets and am very impressed with them. Doesn't mean I'll switch everything over to them since I already have loads for a lot of rifles but the TTSX seems really good.

Mule Deer,

You mentioned the groove on the E-Tips improved accuracy. I spoke with a technician at Barnes, and he stated that they test accuracy both before and after the grooves are added to the TTSX bullets. He was not sure the mechanics, but relayed that accuracy almost always improves after the grooves have been cut.

Federal adds grooves to E-tips for their Trophy Copper ammunition. In my limited (7mm-08, 270 & 308) experience, the Barnes TTSX and factory Trophy Copper both are more accurate than factory and hand loaded E-Tips. Again, just my experience with my rifles.

Do you think there is any correlation between the added grooves and accuracy?